News Archive - Scripps Oceanography

‘Gone With the Waves’ Project Documents Puerto Rico’s Coastline and Cultural Heritage

Just ahead of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, a UC San Diego research team was able to map and document various underwater and coastal features along Puerto Rico’s coast last month, providing baseline measurements of a number of important archaeological sites that are vulnerable to coastal erosion, particularly due to climate change.

New Climate Risk Classification Created to Account for Potential “Existential” Threats

A new study evaluating models of future climate scenarios has led to the creation of the new risk categories “catastrophic” and “unknown” to characterize the range of threats posed by rapid global warming. Researchers propose that unknown risks imply existential threats to the survival of humanity.

California’s Climate Future Suggests More Volatility and a Key Role for Atmospheric Rivers

Two recently published studies investigating past and future precipitation in California demonstrate that the state is experiencing an increasingly volatile precipitation regime, as rain-heavy winter storms known as “atmospheric rivers” become increasingly intense, and dry periods between storms grow longer.

Rising CO2 Leading to Changes in Land Plant Photosynthesis

Researchers led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego have determined that major changes in plant behavior have occurred over the past 40 years, using measurements of subtle changes in the carbon dioxide (CO2) currently found in the atmosphere.

Natural Methane “Time Bomb” Unlikely to Wreak Climate Havoc

An analysis of air bubbles from glacial ice cores shows that the last time the planet experienced rapid warming, there was not a giant release to the atmosphere of the greenhouse gas methane from frozen methane deposits, a scenario some have feared could be repeated in the near future as the planet warms.

Prestigious Rankings Name UC San Diego 15th Best University in the World

The University of California San Diego has been ranked the 15th best university in the world by the 2017 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). UC San Diego was also named the world’s third best public college. The campus was named the world’s fourth best public college and nationally, UC San Diego was recognized as the country’s 13th best university.

Location, Location, Location: Pollutant Levels in Tuna Depend on Where They Are Caught

Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego found levels of persistent organic pollutants as much as 36 times higher in the muscle tissue of yellowfin tuna caught in the more industrialized areas of the northeast Pacific Ocean and northeast Atlantic Ocean than in tuna caught in pristine waters of the West Pacific Ocean.

Scripps Student Receives Switzer Environmental Fellowship

Natalya Gallo, a PhD student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, has been selected as a 2017 recipient of the Switzer Environmental Fellowship, a program of the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation, which provides support to emerging leaders committed to solving real world environmental problems

A Wave’s “Sweet Spot” Revealed

For surfers, finding the “sweet spot,” the most powerful part of the wave, is part of the thrill and the challenge. Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California postdoctoral researcher Nick Pizzo has found the exact location on the wave where a surfer gains the greatest speed to get the best ride.

Scientists Report Large-Scale Surface Melting Event in Antarctica during 2015-16 El Niño

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet, a landbound mass of ice larger than Mexico, experienced substantial surface melt through the austral summer of 2015-2016 during one of the largest El Niño events of the past 50 years. The finding is of interest, because El Niño events are expected to become more common if planetary warming trends continue.