Oil and gas operation

Air pollution from oil and gas production sites visible from space

Jan. 16, 2020

Oil and gas production has doubled in some parts of the U.S. in the last two years, and scientists can use satellites to see impacts of that trend: a significant increase in the release of the lung-irritating air pollutant nitrogen dioxide, for example, and a more-than-doubling of the amount of gas flared into the atmosphere.

A shot of clouds in the sky

Iodine may slow ozone layer recovery

Jan. 15, 2020

A new paper quantifying small levels of iodine in Earth’s stratosphere could help explain why some of the planet’s protective ozone layer isn’t healing as fast as expected.

The loss of Antarctic ice as seen inÌýLandsat images.

Ice in motion: Satellites capture changes to polar regions

Dec. 10, 2019

CU Boulder graduate student Devon Dunmire is searching for the lakes hidden beneath Antarctica's surface—features that, she said, could have huge influences on the future of polar ice sheets.

The group of 100 intrepid women seeking to become global leaders in environmental sustainability while on a three-week Antarctic expedition organized by Homeward Bound Project.

CU Boulder professor and 100 women set sail for Antarctica

Dec. 6, 2019

Cassandra Brooks is sharing her love and knowledge of the southernmost continent with a group of 100 intrepid women seeking to become global leaders in environmental sustainability.

A polar landscape

Warming at the poles will have global consequences

Dec. 4, 2019

The poles may be warming faster than anywhere else on Earth. A new study explores the consequences for these icy regions—and for the rest of the world.

An Arctic ice storm affects the RV Polarstern

A ship frozen in the Arctic ice confronts the first big storm

Dec. 4, 2019

A powerful winter storm swept over the German RV Polarstern icebreaker recently, tearing new cracks in the ice floe next to the ship, sending ice-based instruments adrift and forcing a rescue-and-reconstruction process that could take weeks of work by CU Boulder and other scientists.

Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica (Photo provided by British Antarctic Survey)

Thwaites Glacier: Antarctica’s wild card

Dec. 4, 2019

Nearly 100 scientists and staff from around the world, including CIRES scientist Ted Scambos, departed recently to conduct fieldwork in one of the most remote and inhospitable areas on Earth: Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica.

Reindeer nuzzling hand

Vanishing ice puts reindeer herders at risk

Nov. 20, 2019

Mongolia's Tsaatan reindeer herders depend on munkh mus, or eternal ice, for their livelihoods. Now, soaring global temperatures may be threatening that existence.

Peacock mantis shrimp

Mantis shrimp vs. disco clams: Colorful sea creatures do more than dazzle

Nov. 18, 2019

Pow! These underwater animals can punch through glass and create underwater shockwaves. And we’re studying them on campus.

Assyrian artifacts

Climate may have helped crumble one of the ancient world’s most powerful civilizations

Nov. 18, 2019

New research suggests it was climate-related drought that built the foundation for the collapse of one of the most powerful civilizations in the ancient world—the Assyrian Empire, whose heartland was based in today’s northern Iraq.

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