Author: Travis Swaim

According to data collected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Health and Retirement Study, older adults living in areas of high air pollution can be at risk to suffer decreased cognitive function. In an analysis conducted by Jennifer Ailshire of the Center for Biodemography and Population Health and the Andrus Gerontology Center at the University of Southern California, data suggests that fine air particulate particle matter – when inhaled – can deposit deep in the lungs, …

Scientists say that by the year 2020, geothermal energy harvested from volcanic heat in Iceland may be able to power homes in the U.K. Today in Iceland, around 80% of the country’s energy production is renewable. Looking to the future, scientists say renewable energy gathered in Iceland may one day be piped to power British homes. “This is a technically challenging project, there’s no doubt, but there is no doubt in our mind that it is doable,” said Hörður Arnarson, the head of Iceland’s …

In a live interview broadcast November 13, 2012, ESSIC Director and Professor Antonio Busalacchi spoke with Newschannel8 “NewsTalk” host Bruce DePuyt, about climate change, rising sea levels, and the recent increase in wild weather. Busalacchi also discussed the recent opening of NOAA’s National Weather and Climate Prediction Center (NWCPC) and how its research will both support more accurate forecasting and prediction, as well as how the public perceives and responds to the information. …

According to environmental analyst Lester Brown, armed aggression against the U.S. would not place in the “top five,” when ranking the largest security threats to the nation.

Named “one of the world’s most influential thinkers” by the Washington Post and the Founder of both the Worldwatch Institute and the Earth Policy Institute, Brown believes there is a major and overlooked threat to not only the U.S., but to the global community on a whole – food scarcity.

On Monday, November 12th at

“We want our kids to grow up in an America… that isn’t threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet.” said the president in his acceptance speech Tuesday night.

Throughout the three national presidential debates, a sub-plot developed regarding the omission of an open climate change discussion. Similarly, neither candidate openly embraced a stance toward global warming throughout the election season. However, the President’s post-reelection remarks seemed to suggest a willingness

Atmospheric scientist Richard Hansell’s work investigating the longwave radiation effects of dust aerosol in China was the subject of one of NASAs feature stories published on nasa.gov last month. On Oct. 31, NASA ran a story titled “Dust’s Warming Counters Half of its Cooling Effect,” which honed in on the study performed by Hansell and his colleagues in between the Taklamakan and Gobi Deserts. According to the story, much of the team’s research dealt with data gathered from work with NASA’s …

Associate research scientist Chris Kidd lectured in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, last month, during a training session for the International Precipitation Working Group. At the groups sixth international workshop, Kidd’s seminar was part of the “New and Emerging Technologies, Sensors, and Datasets for Precipitation” training course which ran from Oct. 15 to Oct. 19. Kidd also chaired a discussion session titled “Validation, Verification, and Uncertainty,” and another discussion dealing with …