News
Environmental variability and global change are discussed more and more frequently in news articles and programs as the general public becomes increasingly aware of the rapid environmental transformations taking place around the world. The Institute of the Environment produces general interest articles about current UA research relevant to the environment, spotlights that chronicle the work of IoE faculty, and other articles, including a series on drought in the Southwest. The most recent articles are listed below. Older articles and links to UA News press releases also are available in the News Archive.
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A new book from the University of Arizona Press looks at one dry river, Tucson's Rillito. "Ground|Water: The Art, Design and Science of A Dry River" is described as "an ode to a dry river, the kind of river most familiar with those who dwell in Southern Arizona."
While a vigorous monsoon could dampen temperatures by increasing cloud cover and evaporative cooling, forecasts call for above-average temperatures in the Southwest, in part because of warming trends experienced in recent decades.
High school students have co-authored a scientific paper with their UA graduate student instructor that could have a serious impact on the reliability of climate models. Their work details the impact of shrinkage on dried, fossilized leaves, which often is unaccounted for in climate models. By better accounting for this change in leaf size, researchers can significantly improve the accuracy of their climate models.
Four University of Arizona faculty members have been named 1885 Distinguished Scholars for valued contributions to the teaching, research and outreach missions of the University.
Rafe Sagarin and Eric Magrane discuss observation, art, science, aesthetics, and biomimicry in a wide-ranging conversation on art and environment.
Sharon B. Megdal, director of the UA Water Resources Research Center, WRRC, has been elected president of the National Institutes for Water Resources, NIWR.
UA researchers using a technique called remote sensing have found that a wetter winter usually means a milder summer fire season. In remote sensing, satellites capture reflected sunlight, which can be processed and analyzed to study the Earth. Modeling rainfall and vegetation makes it possible to produce maps that show places at risk for wildfire.
Tree-ring research is helping scientists build climate and wildfire history in Arizona, including how severe long-ago fires were. When lower-severity fire damages the outer bark of a tree, it leaves behind a scar that can be seen in the tree's rings. When a higher-intensity fire wipes out an area of forest, that area is replaced by new trees of about the same age.
Arizona Daily Star reporter Tony Davis reported live about findings from the Assessment of Climate Change in the Southwest United States, a landmark study about the climate and its effects on the people in the region.
In an era of increasing climate instability, the U.S. Southwest faces strained water resources, greater prevalence of tree-killing pests, and potentially significant alterations of agricultural infrastructure. Such threats and challenges, as well as others, are detailed in a new book that includes major contributions from 13 UA scientists.