A new study published in the Feb. 2 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicates that forests in the Eastern United States are growing at a faster rate than at any time in the last 225 years. The chief culprit, researchers say, appears to be climate change, specifically: rising levels of atmospheric [...] [...more]
It is one of the largest and most productive estuaries in the world, yet dramatic changes are in store for the Chesapeake Bay in coming decades if climate change predictions hold true, say a team of scientists from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, the University of Maryland, Pennsylvania State University, and other research organizations in [...] [...more]
How many people would stare 15 feet down a deep ice hole and plunge into the freezing waters below? Michael Lang would and does on a regular basis. As the Smithsonian’s Scientific Diving Officer Lang is responsible for training and certifying all Smithsonian scientists whose research requires them to dive underwater, whether in extreme environments like Antarctica, or in the [...] [...more]
The Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies is hosting “Climate Change,” a three-day, free, education online conference Tuesday, Sept. 29 through Thursday, Oct. 1. This is the second in a series of Center for Educatin and Museum Studies conferences where researchers and curators from around the Smithsonian Institution come together to address a single subject.
“Climate Change” will [...] [...more]
Already under siege from overfishing, disease and poor water quality, the oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay today stands at 2 percent of what it was in colonial times. Now, new data show that rising acidity in the Bay will have a negative impact on oyster shells. [...more]
For those who think that global warming is a 21st-century phenomenon, Scott Wing, a scientist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, has news about the past. [...more]