Climate Change

Website Notes Researcher’s Work on Study of Ancient DNA

Kristin Sobolik of UMaine’s Department of Anthropology and Climate Change Institute was noted in a story on the website io9.com for her work in paleofecal research. The story said there was a big breakthrough in human DNA extraction when Sobolik suggested samples found in Hinds Cave in Texas be tested. Contact: Jessica Bloch, 207-581-3777

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Searching for Extremophiles: Blog Four

Click here to see all Climate Change blog entries. It is now our fifth day at 15,750 feet. We had originally planned for 3-4 days at this camp, however, in the last few days the winds above 16,000 feet have steadily increased, with gusts up to 55 mph. We are waiting for a break in the weather […]

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UMaine Climate Change Research Team Explores Chiléan Glacier: Blog Three

Click here to see all Climate Change blog entries. Yesterday we reached the camp at 13,780 feet. It´s a small, flat, sandy area perched on a cliff within the Tupungatito lava flows. The view is spectacular, encompassing the Colorado Valley and many snow-capped mountain peaks. The two peaks that dominate the landscape are Tupungato (about […]

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UMaine Climate Change Research Team Explores Chiléan Glacier: Blog Two

Click here to see all Climate Change blog entries. Yesterday afternoon we reached our second camp site, Agua Azul or Blue Water. To get there we hiked about six miles along the beautiful Colorado Valley. We camped on an ancient Tupungatito lava flow and had our first glimpse of our route up to the drill site for […]

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UMaine Climate Change Research Team Explores Chiléan Glacier: Blog One

Click here to see all Climate Change blog entries. Editor’s note:  A team of scientists from the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute is currently on an expedition in Chilé, traveling to the Tupungatito Glacier, located in a volcanic crater at an elevation of 19,000 feet in the Andes Mountains.  This blog post is the […]

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Coverage of Saros’ Role in Nitrogen Research

Several media outlets ran the announcement that a group of 19 scientists, including UMaine’s Jasmine Saros, contributed to a study that found a rise in nitrogen levels in remote lakes was likely due to human activity. The Vancouver Sun had a story about the announcement, which came from the University of Washington and was published […]

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Warmer Winters Bad for Beeches

Maine’s beech trees have been under attack for decades by a disease that typically shows up as disfiguring cankers on a tree species that is supposed to have a smooth and silvery bark. Affected trees grow slowly and can survive for years. Unfortunately, the diseased trees produce few beechnuts, a loss of an important food source […]

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Jain Research Noted on Website

The website Environmental Research Web posted information about research done by UMaine engineer Shaleen Jain and a former UMaine graduate student. Jain, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, researched the the impact of past typhoons on the Korean peninsula, providing climate risk analysis to help officials make informed decisions about how and there […]

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Climate Scientist Interviewed About Warm Weather

Wednesday’s unseasonably warm temperature prompted a report in the Lewiston Sun Journal that included an interview with Sean Birkel, a post-doctoral research associate at UMaine’s Climate Change Institute. Birkel said one spell of above- or below-normal weather is not necessarily a symptom of climate change, but historical temperatures show Maine is warming, especially the winters. […]

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