School of Earth and Climate Sciences

ice mountains climate

Mountain ice records North Pacific storm intensification through windblown sea salt

For nearly 300 years, winter storm activity in Alaska and Northwestern Canada has been intensifying and is currently unmatched in magnitude and duration over the past 1,200 years, according to a new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The research, a collaborative effort between Dartmouth University, the University of Maine and the University […]

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Smith quoted in BDN story on Penobscot River remediation project in Orrington

According to a Bangor Daily News article, a federal judge is expected to decide next year on how to proceed with a court-ordered cleanup of mercury dumped in the Penobscot River for decades by the former HoltraChem chemical plant in Orrington. However the method of mercury removal is still being considered. According to Sean Smith, UMaine assistant […]

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shell midden coast

Preserving Maine’s ancient coastal heritage

Maine’s coastline is dotted with more than 2,000 archaeologically documented shell middens and virtually all of them are eroding into the ocean, some quite rapidly, which is putting valuable records of Maine’s cultural and environmental history at risk, says Alice Kelley, a geoarchaeologist at the University of Maine. It is a trend that is likely […]

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Bromley speaks with WABI about massive iceberg breaking off Antarctica

Gordon Bromley, a research assistant professor in the School of Earth and Climate Sciences and the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute, spoke with WABI (Channel 5) about an ice shelf weighing more than one trillion metric tons and measuring about the size of Delaware that recently broke off from Antarctica. Bromley, who has taken multiple research […]

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Business Insider quotes Grew in article on lasting human-made changes to planet

Edward Grew, a research professor of geological sciences at the University of Maine, was quoted in the Business Insider article, “Humans have caused surprising changes to the planet that will be visible billions of years from now.” Grew helped write a recent paper that cataloged for the first time 208 new minerals that humans have left behind. […]

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Birkel speaks with BDN about above average precipitation over winter, spring

Sean Birkel, Maine’s state climatologist and a research assistant professor at the University of Maine’s School of Earth and Climate Sciences and Climate Change Institute, was interviewed by the Bangor Daily News for the article, “Lots of rain, above average temperatures recorded in June in northern, eastern Maine.” Above average precipitation throughout the state over […]

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2017-6-14 Ethiopian-Highlands-news-feature

Lyon: Rising temps provide for conditions conducive for malaria transmission in Ethiopia

Increasing temperatures are fostering more favorable conditions for the transmission of malaria into the highlands of Ethiopia, according to a study led by University of Maine associate research professor Bradfield Lyon. Traditionally, the cooler climate in the highlands has provided a natural buffer against malaria transmission. But new data indicate rising temperatures over the past […]

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Ellsworth American advances Borns’ Lamoine geology talk

The Ellsworth American reported Hal Borns, professor emeritus of the University of Maine Climate Change Institute and School of Earth and Climate Sciences, will speak about Lamoine’s geology at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 7 at Lamoine Town Hall. The talk, which is free and open to the public, is an opportunity for Lamoine residents to […]

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USA Today, Climate Central report on Putnam’s rainfall study

USA Today, Climate Central and Popular Science reported on a new study led by University of Maine glacial geologist Aaron Putnam. The study, published in the journal Science Advances, found as the world warms due to human-induced climate change, variations in the global distribution of rainfall can be expected, impacting water resources in many places […]

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