"Weathering Change"

At a recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, researchers showed off their knowledge by presenting four major studies on climate change.

Among them:

• A study of Antarctic ecosystem changes, focused on penguins and krill. The warming of the Antarctica Peninsula during the past few decades has forced penguin populations south and possibly killed some of the krill that are the base of the Antarctic food chain, according to Berry Lyons, an Ohio State professor and director of Ohio State's Byrd Polar Research Center. "The data implies that there may be less food there as the temperatures rise," Lyons says. (Read more.)
• A prediction for a shrinking Peruvian glacier. The Qori Kalis glacier in the Andes is in an area Ohio State professor and global warming expert Lonnie Thompson has visited 27 times since 1974. Based on his observations, Thompson believes the glacier may have melted in five years. (Read more.)
• A plan for a worldwide research network to study the changing Arctic. Lyons chaired an 18-member National Academy of Sciences committee called for an "Integrated Arctic Observing Network" that would serve as a clearinghouse of studies on land, ocean, atmosphere, and human dimensions. "We're trying to understand how the Arctic system is responding, not just to climate change--although that is a major reason--but also to environmental changes in general," Lyons says. (Read more.)
• A report on discrepancies between climate change models and actual Antarctic temperatures. David Bromwich, a professor and Byrd Center researcher, says that Antarctic temperatures didn't climb as expected in the late 1900s. "It's hard to see a global warming signal from the mainland of Antarctica right now," Bromwich says. "This is in marked contrast to the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula that is one of the most rapidly warming parts of the Earth." (Read more.)

(Text: University Marketing Communications. Images: Ohio State Research News.)