Tags: climate change

photo of sunrise over frozen sea, with bow of ship
2022 Arctic Report Card

Tue, 12/13/2022 - 11:03am
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) presented the 2022 Arctic Report Card, highlighting that the warming Arctic reveals shifting seasons, widespread disturbances, and the value of diverse observations. Issued annually since 2006, the Arctic Report Card is a timely and peer-reviewed source for clear, reliable and concise environmental information on the current state of different components of the Arctic environmental…

graphic of never-ending staircase, purple
Noted and Quoted, November 2022

Wed, 11/30/2022 - 9:30am
From doing the math on Fibonacci numbers to a later and later hurricane season and layoffs in the tech industry, Franklin faculty offered expertise and had their research featured in a variety of media across the globe. A sample from November's stories:   Commentary: It’s not just the economy, stupid – Stephen Mihm, associate professor and head of the department of history, writing in The Washington Post Midterm elections are Nov. 8 — what will…

photo of Roman aqueduct
Classics professor documents changing climate

Wed, 10/19/2022 - 2:44pm
UGA's Jordan Pickett recently published findings which reveal that environmental and climatic changes in the eastern Mediterranean were part of a “perfect storm” that led to widespread settlement abandonment or transformation in the early medieval period, roughly 1,500 years ago. This new body of research, which challenges decades of scholarly work, provides modern humans with a case study for how our ancestors adapted creatively to changes in…

photo of bouncy castle, with blue sky
Noted and Quoted, summer 2022

Fri, 08/26/2022 - 11:09am
Broad coverage of big stories on race, health, climate change, weather safety, and history featured research findings and expertise of faculty from across the Franklin College over the summer. A sampling of ongoing, highly impactful scholarship from our colleagues: Black, Latino people more likely to remain masked during pandemic, polls show – research by Allison L. Skinner-Dorkenoo, assistant professor of psychology, reported at TheGrio, Hip-…

silhouette photo of woman
40 Under 40: Maria Augutis

Thu, 07/28/2022 - 8:00am
Recruited to compete for the UGA Track and Field team, Double Dawg avant le mot Maria Augutis thought she would be homesick for Sweden. But her time at UGA and the Franklin College turned into the best years of her life – producing two degrees and an SEC championship in the triple jump. Today,  the Swedish Television & StormGeo Meteorologist is helping modernize global weather forecasting from Sweden. Other career highlights include: The…

photo of woman in office with laptop, with graphic text
New Unscripted: Expedition to Antarctica

Tue, 06/21/2022 - 10:10am
The new episode of our interview podcast Unscripted focuses on Patricia Yager, professor of marine sciences, and her recent experience co-leading a research expedition to the Amundsen Sea Polynya in western Antarctica. While many research projects on the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration were focused on sea level rise and the physical processes related to the melting, Yager served as co-chief scientist and lead P.I. on the project…

map graphic of Eastern US coastline with two inserts
New study shows resilience of early coastal communities in Georgia

Wed, 04/20/2022 - 1:31pm
Archaeologists have hypothesized that more than 4,500 years ago, communities on barrier islands along the southeastern coastlines of the North America were abruptly abandoned due to a sudden shift in climate. But new research from the University of Georgia Laboratory of Archaeology indicates that environmental change was happening both during the settlement of these island villages and—over centuries longer than previously believed—during their…

photo of U.S. White House, with flag, day
Shepherd attends White House climate event

Thu, 02/24/2022 - 11:44am
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy holds a first-of-its-kind roundtable with some of the nation’s leading scientists on Thursday, including UGA atmospheric scientist J.Marshall Shepherd, to discuss the urgent need to combat the climate crisis and to counter arguments for delaying climate action: The event, which has not previously been reported, will bring together a diverse group of 17 climate scientists, social scientists…

photo of icebergs and sea, with sky, day
Artemis project update

Mon, 02/21/2022 - 10:56am
Scientists from around the world continue their work in Antarctica near the Thwaites Glacier. Marine sciences professor Patricia Yager and her team are keeping us updated with great images and details about their progress and ongoing challenges to the work. Unstable sea ice and a large iceberg broken off from the deteriorating Thwaites Glacier are blocking two research ships with dozens of scientists from examining how fast the crucial ice shelf…

photo of container ships in ocean
Noted and Quoted, November 2021

Wed, 12/08/2021 - 11:35am
From the "Great Resignation" to cryptocurrency, La Nina, zoom fatigue, and fungal blooms, Franklin College faculty offered expertise, scholarship, and opinion in media platforms across the world. A sample of recent reporting and stories from the month of November and early December: Cameras off can lessen fatigue – Kristen Shockley, associate professor of psychology, quoted by Sales and Marketing Why it’s time for the term “minority” to…

photo of woman and child in pool, day
Noted and Quoted, October 2021

Mon, 10/25/2021 - 1:35pm
Franklin faculty members provided clarity and guidance in the media on a range of issues from climate change to workaholism over the course of October. As sampling of a few of the many recent stories: The “extra” Atlantic hurricane name list will likely be used soon — but not the Greek alphabet – Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of geography and atmospheric sciences Marshall Shepherd writing at Forbes Why Bezos, Musk, Page…

Photo of man with blurred crowds, street, in background
New heat exposure model can protect citizens

Thu, 09/23/2021 - 10:55am
Increasingly extreme heat threatens the health and comfort of city dwellers. That’s why researchers from the University of Georgia have developed a new dynamic heat exposure index that captures varying heat exposure within urban environments. “This is the first time a dynamic heat exposure model has been proposed, thanks in part to recent technological advances in sensing and big data,” said Deepak Mishra, professor, associate head of the…

photo of man in boat in the ocean
Franklin faculty co-lead new NSF center to study oceanic ecosystems

Thu, 09/16/2021 - 12:01pm
The University of Georgia, along with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, will co-lead a new National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center that will pursue and promote a deeper understanding of the microbial worlds and chemical processes that swirl throughout the Earth’s oceanic ecosystems. The new Center for Chemical Currencies of a Microbial Planet (C-CoMP), based at Woods Hole in Falmouth, Massachusetts, is one of six…

photo of spartina grass, water
Project travels up estuaries to find tipping points

Tue, 09/07/2021 - 3:40pm
Department of geography researchers are collaborating with faculty from the Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources and the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences on a four-year project supported by a grant from NOAA to connect marsh health with local economics and environmental impact. Our colleagues in the Warnell School report: The forces at work in a marsh require a delicate balancing act. Rising and falling tidewaters…

3-d-graphic rendering of root system on space background
Adapting Roots to a hotter planet could ease pressure on food supply

Thu, 07/29/2021 - 11:06am
The shoots of plants get all of the glory, with their fruit and flowers and visible structure. But it's the portion that lies below the soil — the branching, reaching arms of roots and hairs pulling up water and nutrients — that interests plant physiologist and computer scientist, Alexander Bucksch, associate professor of Plant Biology at the University of Georgia. The health and growth of the root system has deep implications for our future.…

photo of two people biking, day, with field
Georgia Climate Project receives $300K Anderson Foundation grant

Wed, 06/30/2021 - 11:48am
The Ray C. Anderson Foundation has awarded a $300,000 grant to Emory University and its partners for the next phase of the Georgia Climate Project, a state-wide consortium of nine colleges and universities working to strengthen Georgia’s ability to prepare for and respond to a changing climate.   The Georgia Climate Project was founded in 2018 as a collaborative effort among Emory University, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the…

photo of globe made from small puzzle pieces
How people solve global problems

Fri, 01/15/2021 - 11:59am
What do the 3,000-year-old actions of an Egyptian pharaoh say about how we should tackle the biggest challenges of the 21st century? Quite a bit, according to anthropologists at the University of Georgia who analyzed archeological evidence over thousands of years to examine how societies have approached adversity. Their work suggests that rigid, top-down approaches to complex problems have been a doomed strategy throughout human history. Instead…

photo of woman outside of building, day
Focus on the Faculty: Sally Walker

Mon, 10/19/2020 - 12:03pm
Sally E. Walker, the inaugural Shellebarger Professor in Geology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, gives students field research experiences through which they propose hypotheses, collect and analyze data, and communicate their findings: What are your favorite courses and why? My favorite courses concern connections: how evolution of life on Earth affected geological and atmospheric processes and vice versa. The naturalist John Muir…

photo of Greenland Ice sheet from air
New Research Reveals Effect of Global Warming on Greenland Ice Melt, Consequences for Sea Level Rise

Wed, 08/19/2020 - 11:11am
New analysis of almost 30 years’ worth of scientific data on the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet predicts global sea level rise of at least 10 centimetres by the end of the 21st Century, per global warming trends. The estimates, which scientists warn are “conservative” given the powerful effects of changes in weather systems and possible ways of accelerating ice loss, are broadly consistent with recent predictions reported by the…

satellite photo of lake with large green patch of algae
Cyanotracker created to detect toxic algae

Wed, 07/29/2020 - 10:47am
Outbreaks of harmful algae have increased in recent years due to warming trends and longer summer seasons. Also called cyanobacterial algal blooms or CyanoHABs, these large-scale ecological disturbances are often caused by increased urbanization, nutrient pollution, poor waste management and warming weather. The algae can produce toxins that are harmful to humans, pets and aquatic ecosystems. The CyanoTRACKER project, a collaboration between…

aerial photo of coastline in daylight
Ancient oyster shells provide historical insights

Wed, 07/15/2020 - 2:36pm
An interdisciplinary team of scientists studying thousands of oyster shells along the Georgia coast, some as old as 4,500 years, has published new insights into how Native Americans sustained oyster harvests for thousands of years, observations that may lead to better management practices of oyster reefs today. Their study, led by University of Georgia archaeologist Victor Thompson, was published July 10 in the journal Science Advances. The new…

still image from undersea video game, with diver and whale
Joye consults on new video game ‘Beyond Blue’

Tue, 06/16/2020 - 12:47pm
In a gaming experience that takes players into the near future to explore the mysteries of the ocean, “Beyond Blue” is a new video game launched by E-Line Media in conjunction with the BBC and the researchers behind its “Blue Planet II” series. The game allows players to become part of a new research team using groundbreaking technologies to see, hear and interact with the ocean in a meaningful way. University of Georgia Regents’ Professor …

black and white engraving of puritan discussion and service
Noted and Quoted, October 2019

Tue, 10/29/2019 - 12:00pm
Franklin faculty contributed popular press articles about issues of the day and had their research reported around the world. A sample from over the past month: The grimy history of the Attorney General’s Office, associate professor of history Stephen Mihm in his regular column at Bloomberg Here’s your answer when someone asks “How can it be so cold if there’s global warming?”  Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric…

satellite map of three rivers converging on a green background
Plant physiology and river flooding

Mon, 10/21/2019 - 2:55pm
Earth system scientists have identified another culprit (other than rain) that causes a river to overflow its banks: leafy plants. In a study published today in Nature Climate Change, the UCI researchers describe the emerging role of ecophysiology in riparian flooding. As an adaptation to an overabundance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, trees, plants and grasses constrict their stomatal pores to regulate the amount of the gas they consume,…

aerial photo of a coastal marsh, with bridge
Scientists assess storage value in blue carbon ecosystems

Tue, 10/01/2019 - 12:48pm
When Hurricane Dorian roared up the East Coast during the first week of September, the places where people live and work in several states were under threat. The first line of protection against storm damage was made up of coastal vegetated ecosystems, including nearly 300,000 acres of salt marshes in Georgia. The salt marsh, seagrass, and mangrove ecosystems that bore the brunt of pounding waves are not, however, immune from damage.…
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