Climate Change Institute

A letter home from Iceland’s fast-melting glaciersI was very lucky to travel last week to what instantly became one of the most fascinating and beautiful places I’ve ever seen: Iceland. My family spent several days road tripping along the island’s south coast, stopping at volcanic craters, cliffs full of puffins, black pebble beaches, hot springs […]

The Boston Globe reported on the work of Bonnie Newsom, associate professor of anthropology, and her team to save historic Wabanaki Nations sites along Maine’s coast from rising sea levels. Their goal is to recover and protect valuable artifacts before the ocean washes them away.

From the piers in Casco Bay to the marinas of the midcoast and wharves along Downeast shorelines, working waterfronts are crucial to Maine’s economy and communities. Faced with the threat of rising sea levels, stronger and more frequent storms, aging infrastructure and development pressures, Gov. Janet Mills and her administration have developed strategies and nature-based […]

Gov. Janet Mills honored Marcella Sorg, a forensic anthropologist and a University of Maine research professor at the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, with the Governor’s Award during the sixth annual Governor’s Opioid Response Summit on Thursday, July 25. Sorg was recognized for her “extraordinary contributions in the fight against substance use disorder,” according to […]

We’re just sticking a toe into the climatic realm of the last interglacial period, not living in it—yet. By Zoë Schlanger https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2024/07/hottest-day-on-earth/679255/

A research team at CCI recently published an article with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In the article, Victoria Markiewicz (UMaine SPIA and CCI graduate student), Praise P.T. Gandah (lecturer at Midlands State University in Zimbabwe), and Nicholas R. Micinski (UMaine SPIA and CCI faculty) explore the dynamics surrounding Africa’s representation at COP. African […]

Two papers recently accepted for publication in the journal Icarus that are about work on Mars relating to investigations into early Mars climate when the atmosphere was denser and there was more water around. Both deal with the ongoing controversy about whether early Mars was “wet & warm” with rainfall to produce the observed fluvial […]

SOS Arctic 2024: Mission Accomplished! WindSled 2024’s team has reached its goals crossing the Greenlandic ice cap by the wind-powered prototype. Nuuk – More than 1500 kilometers were crossed through the icy interior of Greenland, using exclusively wind and solar energy. An 8-person team developed the zero-impact expedition for extreme polar conditions to explore the […]

Jacquelyn Gill, a University of Maine associate professor of paleoecology and plant ecology, won the American Quaternary Association Award for Leadership in Quaternary Sciences. The award recognizes midcareer scientists in North America who have made outstanding scientific discoveries and exceptional impacts in the field of quaternary sciences and society at large. More information can be […]

Maraina Miles lived on a 66-foot sailboat named the Ocean Tramp for a month with a group of researchers while they worked in Chile’s Alberto de Agostini National Park.Courtesy of Maraina Miles Graduate student documents Chilean research voyage with photography June 25, 2024 The boat where Maraina Miles lived for a month was equipped with […]