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Posts Tagged ‘climate change’

Scientists identify how plants sense temperature

Posted in Blinding People with Science, Climate, Plants, tagged , on 12/04/2018|

transgenic plant of Arabidopsis. Laboratory test for modification

With a temperature sensor in hand, researchers can engineer crops that produce yields in warmer climates.

When it gets hot outside, humans and animals have the luxury of seeking shelter in the shade or cool, air-conditioned buildings. But plants are stuck.

While not immune to changing climate, plants respond to the rising mercury in different ways. Temperature affects the distribution of plants around the planet. It also affects the flowering time, crop yield, and even resistance to disease. 

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War Pandemics and Climate: the 1918 El Niño

Posted in Climate, tagged , , on 06/09/2014|

Screen shot 2014-06-09 at 4.43.29 PMLet me tell you a tale of war, influenza, and strange climate events that are sure to set your hair on end. But this is not a fictional story to scare and entertain; it is a historical reality that, with the work of scientists at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Texas A&M University, and the University of Maryland has been clearly established.

The story begins in late 1917. The Great War was dragging into its fourth year in Europe and Russia. An influenza pandemic began draping a curtain of death across the world. Four countries became embroiled in revolutions, and India experienced the worst drought on record. This last event–and perhaps some of the others–may have been influenced by an inconspicuous warm patch of water in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean, where a strong El Niño began to brew.

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Past Weather Conditions Provide Insight for Future Predictions

Posted in Climate, tagged , on 06/09/2014|

Everyone watches the nightly news to prepare for the upcoming week’s weather. No matter how we prepare, the forecasts sometimes fall short of actual events. But weather prediction is a complex problem. Meteorologists have to take into account pressure systems, wind strength and direction, water vapor, temperature conditions at the ground and in the atmosphere, and much more. Predicting climate conditions in the next century as the Earth’s climate changes is also a challenge. Having more and better observations is essential to improving both weather and climate forecasts.

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