Could the rise of the Mongol Empire, the greatest land empire ever on Earth, have been linked to climate change? Aaron Putnam thinks so. In 2010 and 2011, Putnam, previously at Columbia University and now an assistant professor in the School of Earth and Climate Sciences and the Climate Change Institute at the University of […]
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In the context of modern anthropogenic climate change, many Peruvian societies are experiencing the brunt of abrupt climate change impacts. The Peruvian Andes are home to 70 percent of the world’s tropical glaciers, which provide surrounding communities with water for drinking, agriculture and pastoralism, energy production and tourism. Recent studies indicate that glacier coverage in […]
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This winter, University of Maine graduate student Kit Hamley will research an extinct species of fox called the warrah in the Falkland Islands. While on her expedition, the Bozeman, Montana native will connect with K–12 students in Maine and around the country through Twitter chats as part of UMaine’s Follow a Researcher program. From Jan. […]
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University of Maine researchers traced a portion of a route in the Southern Ocean made famous by polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, whose 1914–1916 South Pole expedition aboard Endurance has been called one of the greatest survival stories of all time. Paul Mayewski, director of the Climate Change Institute, led a team to recover ice […]
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When Samuel Belknap, Ph.D. anthropology and environmental policy student at the University of Maine, heard an increasing number of fishermen express concerns about the spread of a lobster shell disease and its potential impacts on Maine’s iconic industry, he was intrigued. “The thread that ran through all of these conversations was the need for more […]
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The European Geosciences Union is honoring Paul Mayewski for his achievements in ice research and climatic change. In April, the director of the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine will receive a 2016 Hans Oeschger Medal in Vienna, Austria. The EGU Division on Climate: Past, Present & Future established the medal in recognition […]
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Researchers at the University of Maine wanted to know how the Antarctic ice sheet reacts to climate change. To find out, they dove into the past to learn how the ice sheet behaved during the last glaciation, when the glacier achieved its greatest extent and what factors contributed to its ultimate retreat. In order to […]
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A research team that includes University of Maine scientists announced a 60,000-year-old ice core from West Antarctica reveals that ocean currents redistributed past abrupt temperature changes in the Arctic to the Antarctic, a distance of about 11,000 miles. In addition to demonstrating a consistent link between previous sudden, rapid temperature changes in the Arctic and […]
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