Daily weather patterns have changed in recent decades, making eastern North America, Europe and western Asia more prone to nastier summer heatwaves that go beyond global warming, a new study finds… A team of climate scientists at Stanford University looked at weather patterns since 1979 and found changes in frequency and strength in parts of the world, according to a study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday. These are the types of weather patterns with stationary high and low pressure systems that you see on weather forecasts, which is different than gradual warming from man-made climate change… Rutgers University climate scientist Jennifer Francis, for example, hailed the work as thorough and “consistent with expected changes associated with a rapidly warming Arctic.”
Archives for June 2015
On Top of Warming, Some Places Getting More Weather Patterns That Bring Heatwaves, Study Says
Daily weather patterns have changed in recent decades, making eastern North America, Europe and western Asia more prone to nastier summer heatwaves that go beyond global warming, a new study finds… In winter, weather pattern shifts have occurred that made extremely cold snaps in central Asia even worse, Horton said. But the study also found an increase in the weather patterns associated with weaker extreme cold snaps in western Asian winters… Diffenbaugh said the changes could be a result of random chance, or a side effect of climate change and melting sea ice as others have theorized… Rutgers University climate scientist Jennifer Francis, for example, hailed the work as thorough and “consistent with expected changes associated with a rapidly warming Arctic.”
Research Shows Number of Bees, Not Number of Species, Improves Pollination
A simple question about what matters most for pollinating plants and crops so pick-your-own customers and the world can have fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers: to be abundant with many kinds of wild bees or to be abundant with lots of wild bees… For two years, Rutgers ecologist Winfree and a research team studied three New Jersey farms- one with blueberries, one with cranberries and Honey Brook Organic Farm’s watermelon patch… “And it turns out the answer is mostly the latter, not completely, but mostly. To a first approximation, just having a lot of the wild, native bees on your farm will be giving you a lot of crop pollination,” said Rachael Winfree… “There are some bee species that are super abundant. There’s one bumblebee in particular, called ‘Bombus impatiens,’ a very common bumblebee, it’s an excellent pollinator, and it might be easily half of the individual bees we would find on a given farm. So, if that’s the case, it’s pretty likely the case that a few species are enough to do a lot of your pollination,” she said.
You May Get the Feeling it’s 100 Degrees Outside Today
Ice cold beverages: Check. Sunscreen: Check. Air conditioning: Check. That is a basic checklist of things area residents will need to weather the forecast upper 90 degree temperatures for today. If those highs are not bad enough, add high humidity and the heat index could approach 100 degrees, said Dan Skeldon, Press of Atlantic City meteorologist… The impact of the heat will not be limited to South Jersey, said David Robinson, professor of geography at Rutgers University and state climatologist. But tomorrow’s oppressive forecast doesn’t mean the state is state is expected to see an overly hot summer… “We are on the boundary of the southern heat. If the heat comes up here we could see a couple of warmer days, but overall I don’t expect an extremely hot summer,” Robinson said.
2015 Sustainable Raritan Conference Opens NY/NJ Dialogue on Future of Bay
“Two States: One Bay, a bi-state conversation about the future of Raritan Bay” was the 2015 annual conference sponsored by the Sustainable Raritan River Initiative, a program of the Rutgers Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. The conference, held June 12 at the Douglass Student Center at Rutgers, initiated a dialogue among […]
Veterans Environmental Technology & Solutions Program Teams with Rutgers to Bring the Passaic River Back to Newark
There is an aquaponics program located in the heart of Newark New Jersey’s Central Ward that belies its urban setting – literally taking its visitors to another time and place… This project is a partnership between the Metropolitan Reassertion Community Development Corporation (MRCDC), which is the development arm of Metropolitan Baptist Church and the Lower Passaic River Study Area Cooperating Parties Group (CPG), a group of companies dedicated to helping clean up the Lower Passaic. In close cooperation with Rutgers University Cooperative Extension, the new center aims to hire and train unemployed veterans to run an aquaponics program that will raise hybrid tilapia and vegetables in an area of the City where healthy food sources are badly needed. The program will also provide veterans with training in sustainable landscaping and stormwater management, river restoration and small business management… “The fish exchange is being introduced in order to reduce the human health risk associated with the ingestion of contaminated fish,” explained Dr. Amy Rowe, Environmental and Resource Management Agent for Essex/Passaic Counties. “Community members will be educated by the veterans in this program about the risks of eating contaminated fish, as well as all the ways that Newark residents can do their part to help improve the overall health of the Passaic River.”
Wine Pairing 101: Matching Wine And Cheese
Peanut butter and jelly. Salt and pepper. Mac and cheese. There are too many classic food pairings to count. But there’s one combination that’s a step above the rest – wine and cheese. Nothing says luxury quite like a great bottle of vino and some perfectly aged cheese. Here’s what you need to know about pairing these two ingredients at your next party… There’s actually a scientific reason why wine and cheese taste so good when eaten together. Researchers from Rutgers University found that astringent foods such as wine and fatty ingredients like cheese strike a balance on our palates because they’re opposites on the sensory spectrum… “The mouth is a magnificently sensitive somatosensory organ, arguably the most sensitive in the body,” said Paul Breslin of Rutgers University. “The way foods make our mouths feel has a great deal to do with what foods we choose to eat.”
Hurricane Sandy and Typhoon Haiyan Tied to Global Warming, Scientists Argue
Humans are not just loading the dice in favor of extreme weather events, as many scientific studies have shown. They are also changing the characteristics and impacts of those events, be it in the form of an unprecedentedly strong and extremely deadly Typhoon Haiyan or the damaging Boulder, Colorado, floods of 2013… Trenberth and his two coauthors received some measured support from Jennifer Francis, a research professor at Rutgers University who has written a series of studies showing that rapid Arctic warming may be altering weather patterns across the Northern Hemisphere… “Their overall conclusion, and I agree with it, is that in efforts to determine the role of climate change in any single event, one should focus on climate changes that are irrefutable- such as rising sea levels, warmer tropospheric temperatures, increased water vapor, warmer sea surface temperatures, and changing soil moisture- all on a case-specific basis,” she said in an email.
Rutgers Food Innovation Center and NJ Business Groups to Visit Israel to Build NJ-Israel Innovation Cluster
During the week of June 21, Lou Cooperhouse, director of the Rutgers Food Innovation Center (FIC) and President of the New Jersey Business Incubation Network (NJ BIN) and Jessica Paolini, Economic Development Manager of Choose New Jersey, Inc., are visiting Israel to meet with academic, government, business incubation, and investment organizations. The purpose of the […]
Third Graders and the Rutgers Master Gardeners “Seeds to Salad” Team Harvest Bountiful Crops at Whiton Elementary
In mid June the Rutgers Master Gardeners of Somerset County completed their Seeds to Salad program with third graders at Whiton Elementary school located in Branchburg… It took many weeks of preparation to reach the much anticipated “Harvest Day.” In early spring the children planted various types of lettuce, radishes, beets, arugula, Swiss chard, carrots, spinach, onions and were also instructed in how and why it is important to weed, thin and transplant their crops as the plants grew. Master Gardeners also presented weekly lectures about several topics such as soil and soil temperature, “good bugs/bad bugs,” worms, tropism and much more… For many children “Harvest Day” was a highlight as they pulled up all the vegetables they had grown and shortly afterwards enjoyed consuming them at the “Salad Extravaganza”party. The program was a hit with third graders, their teachers and volunteers alike.