The ‘Game of Life’- alternate method to Earth’s climate modeling

by Paulina Ćwik With all the technological advancements of the 21st century, unveiling the future of climate change and its impacts on societies and the environment remains difficult. This is especially true because anthropogenic climate change involves a multitude of complex interactions and feedback between climate system components, such as atmosphere, land, surface, sea-ice, etc., …

Using Climate Projections in the (Almost) Real World

SEP 5, 2017     ADRIENNE WOOTTEN AND JESSICA BLACKBAND In recent years, numerous climate projections (such as MACA or LOCA) have been made available for use in impact assessments and adaptation planning. However, the breadth of available projections presents a daunting challenge to managers and scientists who are trying to determine which projections are appropriate for a particular decision context. …

We have these climate projections – now how do we use them?

JAN 8, 2017     RYAN BOYLES On getting climate model projections in the hand of managers.  In the past several decades, climate scientists have developed robust models that simulate past climate conditions and provide meaningful projections for the future. In the past several years, researchers have developed downscaled climate projections that provide the kind of local guidance …

Downscaled to an estuary: Making it easier on climate data users

APR 4, 2016     GENEVA GRAY Photo: Geneva Gray There is a lot of data out there. It seems like every agency has produced their own downscaled dataset using different methods, training data, and a hodge-podge of global climate models. They are all unique, but none of them are the “best.” This blog post will not give …

The Small Stuff Matters

MAR 21, 2016     ADRIENNE WOOTTEN There have been several times so far in my short graduate career where I have ended up arguing with one professor or another over something few would think of.  How much does the small stuff matter?  That is, how much does a small change in methods in research matter?  Let me …

Bye Bye Birdie: The Disappearing Avifauna of Hawaiʻi

FEB 29, 2016     LAUREN R. KAISER Critically Endangered ʻAkekeʻe (Loxops caeruleirostris) Photo Credit: Jim Denny As an isolated island archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the Hawaiian Islands have become home to many endemic species found nowhere else in the world. Hawaiʻi provided a unique place for ecological divergence, leading to the evolution of …

3rd National Climate Assessment Overview

 MAY 20, 2014     ROSIE RECORDS Photo credit: ian.umces.edu The third U.S. National Climate Assessment report, released in early May, provides a national synthesis of climate change and its effects that are already being felt across multiple sectors within the U.S., including coastal flooding and extreme heat in the Northeast, shrinking summer sea ice and thawing permafrost …

Modeling the 2000-2012 Global Warming Hiatus

 NOV 12, 2013     TONI KLEMM Global temperature increases have been stalled since 2000. Meanwhile, the extreme summer droughts of 2011 and 2012 left many US farmers in ruins. Most climate models failed to project these phenomena correctly. US researchers now took a new attempt on finding a solution. The hiatus in global warming since the year …

Climate, Weather and Water: A Quick Review From This Fall

 DEC 29, 2012     ROSIE RECORDS Photo: gettyimages.com The evening I’m writing this, our first real snow this winter has been on the ground for barely a day.  My desk (or rather, kitchen table) is in the watershed of the Cache La Poudre River, at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.  The Cache La Poudre is …