Nicholas Bello – Department of Animal Sciences
Climate change: Greenland melting tied to shrinking Arctic sea ice
Vanishing Arctic sea ice. Dogged weather systems over Greenland. Far-flung surface ice melting on the massive island. These dramatic trends and global sea-level rise are linked, according to a study coauthored by Jennifer Francis, a research professor in Rutgers University’s Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences… The study, published online in the Journal of Climate last month, tapped computer models and measurements in the field… “I think this study does a good job of pinning down the fact that the [Arctic sea] ice is disappearing for a whole bunch of reasons – and that is causing the surface of Greenland’s melt area to increase,” Francis said.
Why Hurricane Irene fizzled as it neared New Jersey in 2011
A dynamic process that cools the coastal ocean and can weaken hurricanes was discovered as Hurricane Irene made landfall in New Jersey, according to a Rutgers University-led study published today… “This is a missing piece required to close the intensity gap for land-falling mid-Atlantic hurricanes in summer,” said Greg Seroka, a study coauthor and doctoral candidate in Rutgers’ Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences… “We used IOOS to assemble an unprecedented view of a land-falling hurricane during the highly stratified summer season. We discovered new processes responsible for rapid ocean cooling that reduce storm intensities,” said Scott Glenn, the study’s lead author and a professor at Rutgers.