Climate Change

Image of lobster boats at a working waterfront in Maine

Experts contribute to Maine’s plan for climate action

The Maine Climate Council released its four-year plan for climate action Tuesday, the same day 60-mph wind gusts were battering the state. As Council member Ivan Fernandez remarked during the public release of the report that the five hottest years in Earth’s recorded history were the last five, the temperature in a number of communities […]

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Brian McGill standing in the forest

McGill named one of the most cited researchers in the world for second consecutive year

For the second consecutive year, University of Maine professor of biological sciences Brian McGill, whose research focuses on modeling large-scale ecology and global change, has been named one of the most cited researchers worldwide, according to Clarivate. The company’s 2020 Highly Cited Researchers list identifies researchers who produced multiple scientific papers ranking in the top […]

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Mayewski speaks with Popular Science about Everest research

Paul Mayewski, director of the University of Maine Climate Change Institute, spoke with Popular Science about research from the most comprehensive scientific expedition to Mount Everest. CCI scientists joined others in the 2019 National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition, which resulted in several papers published in the interdisciplinary scientific journal One Earth. “This […]

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CBS News cites Climate Reanalyzer in Arctic warming story

CBS News cited the Climate Change Institute Climate Reanalyzer in a story about “astonishingly warmer” temperatures in the Arctic. The average temperature for the Arctic Circle, which spans 7.7 million square miles, reached 12 degrees Fahrenheit above normal Nov. 21–22, according to the reanalyzer. Since 2012, University of Maine CCI research assistant professor Sean Birkel […]

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Miner speaks with Smithsonian Magazine about Everest oxygen study

Kimberley Miner spoke to Smithsonian Magazine about a study exploring how climate change has altered oxygen levels at Mount Everest. The study, which the assistant professor at the Climate Change Institute was not involved in, revealed that the rise in air pressure resulting from climate change near the summit has made oxygen more available. It […]

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KSAT reports on discoveries from Everest expedition

KSAT in San Antonio reported on research from the most comprehensive scientific expedition to Mount Everest. Several researchers, including scientists from the University of Maine Climate Change Institute, participated in the 2019 National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition, and shared their findings in papers published in the interdisciplinary scientific journal One Earth. Paul […]

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Putnam talks with Reuters about retreating glaciers

Reuters spoke with Aaron Putnam, a University of Maine assistant professor in the School of Earth and Climate Sciences and the Climate Change Institute, about the causes and implications of China’s retreating glaciers. According to the story, rapid melting has caused devastating flooding and unreliable water availability for downstream farmers — a preview of the […]

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Miner writes about microbes escaping from permafrost in Scientific American

Kimberley Miner co-wrote the opinion piece “Deep Frozen Arctic Microbes Are Waking Up” in Scientific American. The assistant professor at the Climate Change Institute writes that in Siberia and northern Canada, the abrupt thaw has created sunken landforms, or thermokarst — where the oldest and deepest permafrost is exposed to the warm air for the […]

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Mount Everest illuminated during sunset

Climate change, human impacts altering Everest faster, more significantly than previously known

New findings from the most comprehensive scientific expedition to Mount Everest in history are in today’s interdisciplinary scientific journal One Earth. The collection of research papers and commentaries about Mount Everest, known locally as Sagarmatha and Chomolangma, identifies critical information about the Earth’s highest-mountain glaciers and the impacts they’re experiencing due to climate change.  As […]

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Press Herald editorial touts benefits of UMaine offshore wind research

The Portland Press Herald highlighted the benefits of the University of Maine floating wind turbine research, citing $125 million in new economic activity and the creation of hundreds of jobs during construction. In addition, the demonstration project will model the integration of floating wind power and traditional marine industries while supporting Maine’s climate change and […]

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