Tag: global warming
Reed Scherer’s doctoral research set out to test a radical hypothesis put forth in the 1970s that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet “collapsed” during the interglacial period that immediately predated the most recent Ice Age, and could again. Confirming past instability of this ice sheet would contribute to growing concerns regarding future collapse and consequent...
“This Changes Everything,” a documentary film based on Naomi Klein’s book of the same name, will make its northern Illinois premiere Tuesday, Dec. 1, at the historic Egyptian Theatre, 135 N. Second St. in downtown DeKalb. The 7:45 p.m. screening, which is free and open to the public, begins shortly after a STEM Café on...
Antarctica is melting, according to evidence brought back to Illinois by NIU Geology professor Reed Scherer and his students. At the next STEM Café, Scherer will discuss his Antarctic research, why it matters and what it reveals about global climate trends. The free talk and discussion will be held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday,...
Last year’s polar vortex caused some of the most severe winter weather Illinois has seen in the past 50 years, and the recent cold snap has everyone wondering what this winter will bring. Is the polar vortex part of global warming or proof that it doesn’t exist? STEM Café invites you to find out at...
[vsw id=”oVtlIB-EbXg” source=”youtube” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”no”] The coastline, or grounding zone, where the massive West Antarctic Ice Sheet atop land meets the Ross Sea, is considered an important piece of the puzzle for scientists working to predict the effect of climate change on rising seawaters, which threaten coastal cities worldwide. Yet researchers have never laid...
Why should we care about global warming? Ninety-seven percent of all scientists conducting research on climate change have data to convince them that global warming is real and one of the foremost issues societies will need to cope with in the future. Yet debate rages about this issue in the public and political arenas while...
The heat wave in the Chicago region early this month would likely have been even more deadly if not for lessons learned from the lethal hot spell of 1995, according to NIU Board of Trustees Professor David Changnon. Changnon, a professor of meteorology in the Department of Geography who conducted research on the infamous ’95...
They haven’t put NIU’s new 28-foot-long, 2,200-pound robotic submarine in the water yet, but geologists Ross Powell and Reed Scherer have already made a big splash. The submarine, which will be used to explore melting near the base of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, was a big hit as it was unveiled in mid-December at the American...
