Climate Change (Video)

When heavy rain falls over the Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia and the eastern Pacific Ocean temperatures in California's Central Valley will reach 100 F (38 C) in 4 to 16 days, according to a collaborative research team from UC Davis, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Climate Center in Busan, South Korea. Researchers, including UC Davis Department of Land, Air and Water Resources professor Richard Grotjahn, were able to link the heat waves to the phases of a large, traveling atmospheric circulation pattern called the Madden-Julian Oscillation, or MJO. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Science] [Show ID: 35169]

Climate change and atmospheric rivers are bringing flood water to people’s homes, devastating communities. Entire towns are moving to escape rising waters, which is called managed retreat. Flood experts at UC Davis, including Nicholas Pinter, are visiting dozens of communities who have moved off the floodplain and to higher ground to avoid flooding. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Public Affairs] [Science] [Show ID: 35171]

Extremely sensitive to shifts in temperature, the ochre sea star is considered a “keystone species” for monitoring the effect of changing air and ocean temperatures on California’s marine life. Eric Sanford of the UC Davis Bodega Bay Marine Lab puts these beautiful creatures to the test, using their appetite for mussels as the yardstick. Series: "UCTV Prime cuts" [Science] [Show ID: 24211]

At the 24th meeting of the Parties to the UN Climate Change Convention, governments completed the so-called Paris Rulebook, the set of guidelines for implementing the Paris Climate Change Agreement, and attention is shifting to implementation of measures that cut greenhouse gas emissions. Mark Radka, Chief of the Energy and Climate Branch at UN Environment, describes how the UN works with countries, companies, and people to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. Series: "Bren School of Environmental Science & Management" [Public Affairs] [Science] [Show ID: 34900]

A group of scientists and doctoral students from UC Davis recently traveled to Antarctica where they became the first group to collect turbulence measurements from beneath an ice shelf. With this data, scientists will be able to better understand how quickly ice shelves are melting and to make predictions of how these rates will change under future climate scenarios. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Science] [Show ID: 35167]

The Arctic is changing rapidly in response to changes in global climate and economic activity and yet much of it remains unexplored with modern scientific techniques. Jeff Bowman describes his group's work in the Arctic as they seek to understand the ecological implications of changing sea ice conditions, and prepare to participate in the MOSAiC expedition; an unprecedented multi-national effort to study the high Arctic across a complete seasonal cycle. Series: "Jeffrey B. Graham Perspectives on Ocean Science Lecture Series" [Science] [Show ID: 34635]

Collapsing ice shelves and calving of large icebergs in Greenland and Antarctica have recently become major drivers of sea level rise. The rapidity of these changes has come as a surprise, revealing major gaps in our understanding of how ice sheets respond to a changing climate. To a large extent, these gaps are due to the lack of measurements from the marine edge of glaciers - the Achilles' heel of glaciers. For over a decade, since the glaciers in Greenland began their retreat, Fiammetta Straneo and her group at Scripps Institution of Oceanography have been probing the edge of massive calving glaciers in iceberg-choked fjords in Greenland using helicopters, icebreakers, fishing vessels, and autonomous vehicles. The understanding gained through these measurements is being used in models aimed at improving sea-level rise predictions. Series: "Jeffrey B. Graham Perspectives on Ocean Science Lecture Series" [Science] [Show ID: 34572]

The atmosphere is composed of gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Other gases are present at much lower concentrations and include ozone, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides and formaldehyde just to name a few. But there is something else in the air we breathe: microscopic particles called aerosols. Vicki Grassian discusses aerosols, their many sources, and how they impact the Earth’s climate and human health in ways we are just starting to understand. Series: "Exploring Ethics" [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 33719]

Earths climate is a complex system with global scale interactions spanning the tropics to the poles. Join emeritus Professor and past Scripps Director Charles Kennel as he reveals the potential of arctic sea ice loss to influence the intensity of climate events such as El Nino, and raises the possibility that more changes in weather patterns and extreme events are to come. Series: "Jeffrey B. Graham Perspectives on Ocean Science Lecture Series" [Science] [Show ID: 34571]

A panel of experts discusses climate change and its effects on our agriculture and our health, while also offering insights into how we as individuals can work to limit its negative impacts and create positive change. Series: "Future Thought Leaders" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Agriculture] [Show ID: 34568]