Tagged: Climate change

Last month, a non-profit group comprising athletes who make a living through winter sports sent a letter to President Obama asking him to take action on climate change.

Two-time world freestyle ski champion and Jackson resident, Kit DesLauriers is part of the group, called Protect Our Winters. She says she has been skiing for over 30 years, including down the highest peaks of every continent, and that the changes she has seen are alarming.

A new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by UW researchers Bob Kelly, Todd Surovell, Bryan Shuman, and one-time UW graduate student Geoff Smith looks at climate change in the Bighorn Basin in Wyoming and how it affected the population living there over thousands of years. Archaeologist Todd Surovell and geologist Bryan Shuman came in to talk about their work with Wyoming Public Radio's Irina Zhorov.

A new study estimates that ecosystems in the western U.S. absorb and contain nearly 100 million tons of atmospheric carbon each year.
 
     The Interior Department said Thursday that's nearly 5 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. In other words, ecosystems in the West help to offset the air pollution that contributes to climate change.
 
     The study authored by U.S. Geological Survey scientists is part of a congressionally mandated national assessment of how ecosystems capture and contain carbon from the atmosphere.
 

The University of Wyoming will host a panel discussion Thursday on how climate change can impact planning and management at national parks. 

Researchers from around the world will discuss how environmental changes can impact tourism.   UW Professor Patricia Taylor is one of the organizers.  She says it’s important that those in running parks consider how stakeholders are impacted by decisions park managers make on topics concerning climate. 

Yellowstone National Park will host a climate change educational workshop for teachers this month.

During the four-day workshop, a representative from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will explain how climate change works, and rangers will talk with teachers about where Yellowstone is seeing impacts, including increased wildfire activity and threats to pika habitat.

Katherine Chesson worked with the parks Climate Challenge, which runs similar programs in parks around the country.

An international team of scientists are studying earth core samples from the Bighorn Mountains to better understand climate change. Traces of natural substances leave hints about ancient climates in the rock.