Month: July 2013

By: Antonio Busalacchi

In the not too distant future, your favorite style of French wine may not come from its namesake region, or even from France at all. Climate change is altering growing conditions in wine-producing regions, and in coming decades it will change the wines produced in these regions — in some cases shifting northward the growth of grape varieties long associated with regions further south.

Climate change will produce winners and losers among wine-growing regions, and for every region it will

A recent study in the Institute of Physics’ publishing’s journal Environmental Research Letters estimated that outdoor pollution caused by human activity attributes to over 2 million deaths each year. According to ESSIC Associate Research Scientist Dr. Hongbin Yu, fine particle matter (PM2.5) in pollution can damage the body because of its ability to deeply penetrate the human respiratory system. When these particles invade the lungs, they can eventually cause cancer and respiratory diseases …

ESSIC Faculty Research Assistant Stephanie Uz was recently asked by the NOAA Office of Education to participate in a briefing before the House of Representatives Oceans Caucus on NOAA Science Transforming Classrooms and Communities. The HOC is a bi-partisan congressional committee that targets oceanic issues. Uz was approached as a presenter for the event given her work with NOAA's Environmental Literacy Grant project that interprets satellite data for the Science On a Sphere® …

ESSIC Director, Professor Antonio Busalacchi will be featured in the fall 2013 edition of the University of Maryland Faculty and Staff magazine, Between the Columns.  The article highlights Busalacchi’s recent wine and climate related research. …

As a hydrologist and water resources engineer who has experience working within academia, international development agencies and the private sector, CICS Executive Director and Professor Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm, who began July 1, has developed an ability to view science with both a business and societal perspective.

Miralles-Wilhelm believes research needs to intersect with societal needs in order to find practical application of science, rather than approaching it just from a purely

The NOAA building at M-Square is now home to a café, a convenient spot for employees to enjoy lunch during the week. Open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., the NOAA Café offers a variety of choices. Breakfast is offered in the mornings and for lunch there is a selection of sandwiches and salads along with a daily lunch special. The café is vegetarian friendly as it offers a variety of veggie burgers and sandwiches with your choice of toppings. There is also a selection of classic …

Ragu Murtugudde  was an invited speaker at CSIR-CMMACS on May 17 and 20 speaking on ‘Dynamic-Thermodynamic Coupling and Ecosystem-Biogeochemical Response’ and ‘Do we understand ENSO?’  He also talked about ‘Do we understand ENSO’ at IISC, Bangalore on May 22, at CESS, Kerala on May 27,and at IITM-Pune on May 30. He gave a public lecture on ‘Climate Change Needs an Elephant Whisperer’ in Kerala on May 28….

Xiujun (Wendy) Wang  was elected President of the Biogeosciences section of the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) at the Annual Meeting, 24-28 June, Brisbane, Australia. Established in 2006, AOGS promotes geophysical science for the benefit of humanity in Asia and Oceania….