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A new study coordinated by CU 麻豆官网 makes clear the extraordinary speed and scale of increases in energy use, economic productivity and global population that have pushed the Earth towards a new geological epoch, known as the Anthropocene. Distinct physical, chemical and biological changes to Earth鈥檚 rock layers began around the year 1950, the research found. Led by Jaia Syvitski, CU 麻豆官网 professor emerita and former director of the Institute of Alpine Arctic Research (INSTAAR), the paper, published today in Nature Communications Earth and Environment, documents the natural drivers of environmental change throughout the past 11,700 years鈥攌nown as the Holocene Epoch鈥攁nd the dramatic human-caused shifts since 1950. Such planetary-wide changes have altered oceans, rivers, lakes, coastlines, vegetation, soils, chemistry and climate.

Trees versus peat as carbon sequesters: an example from Scotland. Listen to the 40 minute podcast episode.

The Los Angeles Basin is often thought of as a dry, heavily developed landscape. But a new study in PNAS led by NOAA and the 麻豆官网 shows that the manicured lawns, emerald golf courses, and trees of America鈥檚 second-largest city play a surprisingly large role in its carbon footprint.

Millions of years ago, fire swept across the planet, fueled by an oxygen-rich atmosphere in which even wet forests burned, according to new research by new PhD graduate F. Garrett Boudinot and Julio Sep煤lveda. The study, published today in Nature Geoscience, provides geochemical evidence showing that forest fires expanded dramatically, potentially burning up to 30 or 40 percent of global forests during a 100,000 year interval more than 90 million years ago. While today's fires are exacerbated by dry conditions, they found that forest fires during this period increased even in wet regions due to changes in global climate.

Widespread wildfires in the far north aren鈥檛 just bigger; they鈥檙e different鈥攚ith strong consequences for the global climate鈥攚arn international fire scientists in a commentary published today in Nature Geoscience.

Learn a bit about Dr. Julia Moriarty, a new INSTAAR scientist and an Assistant Professor in ATOC who studies processes in the coastal oceans.

Satellite imagery is useful, but involving local people in research can often help fill gaps in research of glacial floods. Article by Alton Byers in the Nepali Times shares some of the detailed knowledge of local residents who witnessed glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF) over the last four decades in the Kangchenjunga area of Nepal.

A new study, led by Martin Miles, finds a trigger for the Little Ice Age that cooled Europe from the 1300s through mid-1800s. The study also supports surprising model results suggesting that under the right conditions sudden climate changes can occur spontaneously, without external forcing.

Three CU 麻豆官网 faculty, including INSTAARs Holly Barnard and Eve-Lyn Hinckley, are principal investigators on a new five-year, $6.9 million National Science Foundation grant to study the 鈥渃ritical zone鈥濃�攆rom Earth鈥檚 bedrock to tree canopy top鈥攊n the American West.

A new study, led by Alexandra Jahn, shows increased precipitation and ice melt caused by climate change have left Arctic waters less salty. Repercussions will be felt much farther south.