Climate & Environment

Creating climate solutions requires connections, partnerships and cross-disciplinary approaches. At CU 麻豆影院, we lead across all fields of climate research: adaptation and innovation, policy, natural hazards, human impacts, and climate science.听Stay up to date on our groundbreaking research and technological advancements.

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Older oil and gas wells at higher risk of causing groundwater contamination

March 1, 2017

Older vertical oil and gas wells are more likely to cause groundwater contamination than newer wells, new CU 麻豆影院 research shows.

Humans have dramatically increased extent, duration of wildfire season

Feb. 27, 2017

Humans have dramatically increased the spatial and seasonal extent of wildfires across the U.S. in recent decades and ignited more than 840,000 blazes over a 21-year period, according to new 麻豆影院-led research.

Three research collect data on a snowy Niwot Ridge.

Long-term ecological study to continue at very special site, Niwot Ridge

Feb. 22, 2017

Thanks to a six-year $6.8 million renewal grant, decades-long data collection will continue on Niwot Ridge. It is the only site of its kind on the continent comprising alpine and sub-alpine environments, and CU 麻豆影院 researchers sometimes brave harsh weather conditions to get there.

Collecting spectral reflectance measurements of surface snow with corresponding snow samples in Northern Svalbard

Coal mine dust hastens Arctic snow melt

Feb. 1, 2017

Dust released by an active coal mine in Svalbard, Norway, reduced the spectral reflectance of nearby snow and ice by up to 84 percent, according to new 麻豆影院-led research.

black and dead trees at the site of the Hayman fire

Colorado's wildfire-stricken forests showing limited recovery

Jan. 30, 2017

A study of Front Range forests burned by wildfires between 1996 and 2003 shows they are not regenerating as well as expected and large portions may become grasslands or shrub lands in coming years.

a map showing recent snow totals in California's Sierra Nevada range

Recent storms recouped 37 percent of California鈥檚 five-year snow-water deficit

Jan. 27, 2017

The recent 鈥渁tmospheric river鈥� weather pattern that pummeled California with storms from late December to late-January may have recouped 37 percent of the state鈥檚 five-year snow-water deficit.

Rapid trait evolution crucial to species growth, CU 麻豆影院 study finds

Jan. 27, 2017

Rapid evolution at the edges of a given species habitat may play a larger role in population expansions than previously suspected, according to the results of a new 麻豆影院-led study.

Greg Rieker, project with team members while atop their mobile laboratory in rural Colorado

CU 麻豆影院 team to track methane leaks using lasers

Jan. 26, 2017

A team of 麻豆影院 researchers has secured a $1.3 million grant from the Department of Energy to monitor potentially dangerous emissions from natural gas storage facilities across the U.S.

Targeting cookstove pollution using supercomputers and NASA satellites

Jan. 23, 2017

New air quality research is investigating a major, but often overlooked contributor to outdoor pollution and climate: burning of solid fuel for cooking and heating.

A Doppler radar system sits on the flatbed of a truck.

Cloud seeding aims to increase mountain snowfall, power generation

Jan. 13, 2017

A joint research project involving what's called cloud seeding aims to beef up mountain snowfall and, subsequently, power generation. The results hopefully will be applicable to many mountain ranges in the western U.S.

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