by Julia Loman | Dec 30, 2015 | Blog, Julia's Journal, Plants, Trees, Weather Patterns
As winter settles in on the Midwest, dramatic changes are everywhere. Leaves have fallen off the trees; a brisk, frigid wind sweeps through the streets. In the morning, plants, trees, and buildings are pale and sparkly with the frost that descends at night. The pace...
by Samantha Heitsch | Feb 19, 2015 | Blog, Climate Change, Deforestation, Weather Patterns
In their recent study, “Effects of tropical deforestation on climate and agriculture,” Deborah Lawrence and Karen Vandecar review data from multiple sources, including general circulation models (GCMs), direct measurements and satellite data and imagery, to study the...
by Carolyn Albright | Jul 8, 2014 | Blog, Trees, Weather Patterns
Two thousand years ago, the Amazon Rainforest was a different landscape than it is today. John Carson, from the University of Reading in England, described the past landscape of the Amazon as “more like a savannah than the rainforest we see today”. This shift was...
by Carolyn Albright | Jul 2, 2014 | Blog, Water, Weather Patterns
Water is a compound essential for life. It makes up about 60% of the human body and covers about 71% of the Earth’s surface. Yet researchers from the University of Exeter and Colorado State University, using computer modeling, showed evidence that the Amazon...
by Carolyn Albright | Jun 26, 2014 | Blog, Weather Patterns
The hydrologic cycle: evaporation, precipitation, soil absorption, surface runoff, and transpiration. This process plays a significant role in determining an area’s wet and dry seasons. A wet season is defined as a period when there is 10-40 inches of rainfall per...
by Carolyn Albright | Jun 24, 2014 | Blog, Climate Change, Weather Patterns
The Amazon rainforest is home to hundreds of billions of trees essential for absorbing carbon dioxide. However, this process is reversed during years of drought, where the Amazon has produced carbon dioxide rather than consumed. A drought in 2005 turned the Amazon...
