Current Events

  • Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm
    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm rep...Read more

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    Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm

    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm repeatedly. Daily levels of CO2 can vary due to weather, and there are seasonal trends as well. The level of atmospheric greenhouse gases continues to increase, now over 120 ppm since the Industrial Revolution began. For more on the Keeling Curve, see http://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/. Find out more about greenhouse gases and warming.
  • Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley
    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Io...Read more

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    Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley

    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. On May 20th, a massive tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, devastating communities - destroying over 100 homes and hitting two elementary schools and a hospital - with many casualties and deaths. Our thoughts are with our friends and colleagues suffering from these storms. For more on the May 20th storms, see the NOAA Storm Prediction Center Storm Report.
  • Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education
    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of ...Read more

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    Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education

    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of sustainability. Here is a link to the one-page bill: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/measures/documents/hb2366_00_0000.pdf. See report on Bloomberg News.

Postcards from the Poles Antarctica

Tracking Changes in Antarctic Ice Sheets

The amount of water locked up in ice sheets is so large that even minor melting can increase the rate of sea level rise around the world, affecting billions of people who live in coastal areas. POLENET (the Polar Earth Observing Network) is a project in which scientists and engineers are working together in the polar regions to understand how the Earth’s surface responds to changing polar ice sheets.

The POLENET project is collecting GPS and seismic data from remote sites on the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. These measurements will help the team model how much ice was lost over the past 10,000 years since the last major ice age. Combining this data with information gathered by satellites will allow POLENET to figure out how the ice sheets are changing in response to recent climate change. During late 2008, Kelly Carroll will be sending in virtual postcards to Windows to the Universe describing his experience with this research.

Postcards

It Takes a Lot to Get Here from Kelly Carroll, November 18, 2008

Last modified November 23, 2008 by Lisa Gardiner.

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