While many are focusing on atmospheric solutions to reduce greenhouse gases, some researchers are setting their sights on the ground -- deep underground. Li Li, an assistant professor of energy and mineral engineering at Penn State, is investigating geologic carbon sequestration (storing carbon dioxide deep beneath the surface of the Earth) as a way to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. (more)
As part of Earth Day/Earth Week activities at Penn State, which run from April 16 to 25, there will be a free screening of "The Island President," an award-winning documentary that follows former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed as he tries to shine a spotlight on the issue of climate change. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 25, at the State Theatre in downtown State College. (more)
Some climate cooling caused by past volcanic eruptions may not be evident in tree-ring reconstructions of temperature change, because large enough temperature drops lead to greatly shortened or even absent growing seasons, according to climate researchers who compared tree-ring temperature reconstructions with model simulations of past temperature changes. (more)
Michael Mann and David Pollard, both scientists in Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, have been elected as Fellows of the American Geophysical Union for exceptional contributions in original research in climate change. (more)
Engineering our way out of global climate warming may not be as easy as simply reducing the incoming solar energy, according to a team of University of Bristol and Penn State climate scientists. Designing the approach to control both sea level rise and rates of surface air temperature changes requires a balancing act to accommodate the diverging needs of different locations. "Basic physics and past observations suggest that reducing the net influx of solar energy will cool the Earth," said Peter J. Irvine, graduate student, University of Bristol, UK, and participant in the Worldwide Universities Network Research Mobility Programme to Penn State. "However, surface air temperatures would respond much more quickly and sea levels will respond much more slowly." (more)
Classroom dynamo Richard Alley will visit the School of International Affairs to speak on climate change on Jan. 19. Alley is the Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences in Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and an expert in polar ice. (more)
Both climate change and humans were responsible for the extinction of some large, cold-adapted, plant-eating mammals, according to research that is the first of its kind to use genetic, archeological, and climatic data together to infer the population history of large-bodied Ice-Age mammals. The research will be published in the journal Nature.
The study's findings are expected to shed light on the possible fates of living species of mammals as our planet continues its current warming cycle. Beth Shapiro, the Shaffer Associate Professor of Biology at Penn State University, is a member of the research team. High-resolution images are online at
http://www.science.psu.edu/news-and-events/2011-news/Shapiro10-2011 (more)
PBS will re-broadcast "Earth: The Operators' Manual," featuring Richard Alley, Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences in Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences as host, at 8:30 p.m. Friday (April 22). The show can be seen in the State College area on WPSU-TV. Check local listings for other broadcast times. (more)
Why has the U.S. government failed to join in climate change agreements adopted by much of the rest of the world? In honor of Earth Day, the School of International Affairs will present an event focused on this question featuring a film screening and discussion moderated by renowned Penn State researcher Professor Donald A. Brown at 7 p.m. on April 20, in 118 Lewis Katz Building, University Park campus. (more)
Richard Alley, Evan Pugh professor of geosciences in Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, is hosting a new PBS special on climate change and sustainable energy called "Earth: The Operators' Manual." The show will debut nationally at 10 p.m. on Sunday, April 10. Alley -- a geologist, contributor to the United Nations panel on climate change and former oil company employee whom Andy Revkin of the New York Times has called "a cross between Woody Allen and Carl Sagan" -- leads the audience through an engaging, one-hour special about climate change and sustainable energy, set to premiere during Earth Month 2011. Alley's book of the same name, a companion to the program, will be published by W.W. Norton & Co on April 18. (more)
