Category: Archive

The Lofoten Basin located in the Nordic Seas is home to a large mass of whirling fluid known as “The Lofoten Vortex.”   Commonly referred to as an “eddy,” the Lofoten Vortex is of particular interest to researchers due to its permanency and long-term stability. Dr. Léon Chafik, a research associate at the University of Maryland Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC), was part of a recent collaborative study that documented the …

According to a recent study released by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), it has been ten years since a major hurricane has made landfall in the United States. Of course, this isn’t to suggest that the U.S. has been immune to hurricanes during this same timeframe; Infamous examples include Hurricane Sandy’s devastation to the Northeast U.S. in 2012 and the financial hardships brought about by Hurricane Ike in 2008. Yet neither of these storms met …

Particularly interested in this year's festival focused on the Basque country – Basque fishermen showed up in my hometown in Canada around the end of the sixteenth century, which always fascinated me.

Check it out – the schedule has lots of interesting events: http://www.festival.si.edu/2016/basque/smithsonian  …

The air quality research of ESSIC / CICS-MD Scientist Chris Loughner was featured on May 26th as the “Image of the Day” on the NASA Earth Observatory website. The modeling study determined the number of high ozone days that would have occurred if NOx emissions had been 2002 levels during July 2011. The results estimated a reduction of three to nine Red/Orange Code days, as shown in the figure below. The post also quoted Loughner: The benefit of regional emissions reductions …

ESSIC Associate Research Scientist Can Li is a co-author of a newly published study in Nature Geoscience. The collaborative effort uncovered 39 previously unreported human-made sources of sulfur dioxide emissions, which are highly toxic. Data from the study was collected using NASA’s Aura spacecraft, which carries instrumentation capable of rapidly scanning an area’s atmospheric composition. http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo2724.html…

ESSIC Research Assistant Professor Melissa Kenney is one of five invited expert participants at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s second climate change game night.  The upcoming game-themed outreach event plans to emphasis water, focusing specifically on Arctic ice-melt and marine ecosystems.  In addition to their involvement in the games, each of the five invited experts will also present a brief talk and answer audience questions. The event will begin at …

A recent drought in southern Africa has led to massive declines in crop production and food availability throughout the region. According to the World Food Program, the United Nations’ food aid division, the shortages are predicted to put millions at risk of starvation in an area already plagued by poverty and malnutrition. The shortage of rainfall was attributed to the 2015-16 El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which led to unusually high temperatures and a 50% crop reduction in …

ESSIC assistant research scientist Ariana Sutton-Grier is an invited symposia speaker at the Society of Wetlands Scientists meeting in Corpus Christi, TX.  The five-day event (31-May / 04 Jun) will gather leading researchers, practitioners, policymakers and academics committed to the advancement of wetland science. http://swsannualmeeting.org/index.php…