Author: Travis Swaim

Dr. Raghu Murtugudde has been quite busy these past few weeks in India as he taught a course on Tropical Biological-Physical Interactions at the Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services in Hyderabad, India from June 2 to 15 and gave an invited talk on “Optimal Physics for Adding Value to Global Predictions and Projections” at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology on June 18. From July 23 to 29, Murtugudde will be a convener at the Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and …

ESSIC Director Antonio Busalacchi appeared as a guest on the first edition of Research Matters, a new University of Maryland production, and he expressed a responsibility for this university to lead the charge to “Save the Bay.” The first edition of the program, which brings top faculty together to discuss a particular issue, focuses on the environmental and ecological challenges of the Chesapeake Bay and the role that the University of Maryland plays in improving the condition of the …

Aquarius, NASA’s pioneering instrument to measure ocean surface salinity from orbit, celebrated its first birthday on June 10. Aquarius is the first NASA instrument specifically designed to advance the understanding of what changes in the saltiness of the ocean’s top layer mean for the water cycle and variations in climate. The instrument studies superficial ocean salinity from space at a rate of about 300,000 measurements per month, according to an article by NASA. It uses three passive …

Assistant Professor Sujay Kaushal co-authored a recent study published in Urban Ecosystems that proposes an expanded view on urban watersheds. The study entitled ‘The urban watershed continuum: evolving spatial and temporal dimensions’ presents a new conceptual framework which addresses characteristics of watersheds that are affected by urban land uses. The study also describes urban watersheds as four dimensional eco-hydrologic entities across space and time. A large amount of that …

A bill approved in the North Carolina Senate this week states only the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission can calculate how fast the sea is rising for state governmental purposes. The bill also states those calculations must be based on historic trends, which are much lower than a state-appointed science panel’s calculation. The science panel projects sea levels to rise by more than three feet by 2100, which could threaten 2,000 square miles of coastland, according to The Daily …

NASA recently gathered information and created an animation of the nine tornadoes across Maryland earlier this month. NASA’s Aqua Satellite gathered information on the power behind the severe weather that moved into Maryland on Friday, June 1. NASA then created an animation of the tornadoes as seen from NOAA’s GOES-13 satellite. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounders (AIRS) instrument, which flies aboard NASA’s Aqua Satellite, provided a visible and infrared image of the severe weather, …

Wellness and Sustainability Tips are selected from the UMD “FYI” Listserv system. The “FYI” Listserv provides general announcements and information on programs of particular interest to the faculty and staff of the University of Maryland. I. Wellness

• Get up and move around

“Research has suggested that prolonged sitting can be harmful to your health, even if you exercise regularly. So, get up and move around as much as possible during your work day. Try using the restroom on a …

One U.N. official believes that it is unlikely that a conclusive deal will come out of the Rio+20 conference in Rio de Janeiro next week. Amina Mohamed, deputy executive director of the U.N. Environment Programme, told AlertNet that current economic troubles will make participating countries less likely to agree on a conclusive plan. “We need to do this but it is going to require energy, it is going to require resources, it's going to require a sense of focus and we …

More than a quarter of all farmers have led to a surge in the use of solar panels and wind turbines, according to The Guardian. “Renewable energy is promising to overtake rural tourism as a secondary income for the agricultural sector, with 200 megawatts of power – enough for 40,000 households – installed, according to joint research by the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and NatWest bank,” according to the article. Research found that one in six farmers will have solar photovoltaic …

A year has passed since a devastating tsunami hit Japan, but the U.S. government and the states along the West Coast still don’t have a unified plan for cleaning up the debris floating to American shores, according to Yahoo! News. According to the article, “The Japanese government estimates that 1.5 million tons of debris is floating in the ocean from the catastrophe. Some experts in the United States think the bulk of that trash will never reach shore, while others fear a massive, …