Research Spotlight

Stratospheric water vapor is global warming wild card

A 10 percent drop in water vapor ten miles above Earth’s surface has had a big impact on global warming, say researchers in a study published online January 28 in the journal Science. The findings might help explain why global surface temperatures have not risen as fast in the last ten years as they did in the 1980s and 1990s. Read more ...

Study links springtime ozone increases
above western North America to emissions abroad

Springtime ozone levels above western North America are rising primarily due to air flowing eastward from the Pacific Ocean, a trend that is largest when the air originates in Asia. These increases could make it more difficult for the United States to meet Clean Air Act standards for ozone pollution at ground level, according to a new international study. Read more ...

A warmer climate could stifle carbon uptake by trees

Contrary to conventional belief, as the climate warms and growing seasons lengthen, subalpine forests will soak up less carbon dioxide (CO2) than they used to, according to a new University of Colorado at Boulder study. Read more ...

Study: Climate policy based on climate stabilization "destined to fail"

In a paper published in the January 2010 edition of the journal Global Environmental Change, CIRES Fellow Maxwell Boykoff and others argue that the broadly embraced objective of climate stabilization is poorly matched to the problem of long-term management of anthropogenic climate change. Read more ...