BPRC News and Upcoming Events

Indrajit Bhattacharya of the Byrd Polar Research Center recently published a research paper linking Greenland melt area with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

More information is available from the Remote Sensing Lab's Greenland Melt Data website.

Abstract

The surface melt-area time-series (1979-2008) of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) shows large spatio-temporal variability. The overall melt-area time-series is characterized by a step-like increase in 1995. The melt-area trend for the entire ice-sheet between 1979-1994 is 7.64x10³±4.79x10³ km²/year, which is 8-times higher than the period between 1995-2008 (9.64x10²±1.10x10⁴ km²/year). This step-like increase of melt area in 1995 coincides well with mean summer air temperature patterns at 8 coastal sites. We find that the melt area and temperature change in 1995, both coincide to a general sign-reversal in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index in 1995. We also find that the northerly sectors of the ice sheet do not clearly coincide with changes in the NAO suggesting the influence of NAO is being felt predominantly on the central-eastern and central-western sectors of the ice sheet.

Multiple news sources covered a research paper published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: "Glacier loss on Kilimanjaro continues unabated". The research paper explains that the ice sheet that capped Mt. Kilimanjaro was 85% smaller than the one in 1912. These glaciers may be gone within 20 years. The research paper's authors include Lonnie Thompson, Henry Brecher, Ellen Mosley-Thompson, and Bryan Mark.

Visit our Press Coverage page for more links to the news articles.

The 2009 winner of the Rick Toracinta Graduate Scholarship in Atmospheric Science has been announced. Congratulations to Ellyn McFadden for receiving the 3rd scholarship. Please visit the link listed previously for more information.

BPRC's Berry Lyons will be speaking at the International Symposium on Terminus Lakes on Wednesday, October 28. The symposium runs from October 26 - 29 in Reno, Nevada.

Symposium Overview: "The Symposium will explore the latest research available on closed basin lakes in the western United States and across the globe. The Symposium will highlight recent research findings from the Walker Basin Project, a comprehensive research project that explored the best means to get additional water to Nevada’s Walker Lake while maintaining the basin’s economy and ecosystem."

More information is available on the symposium website listed above.

Also see: Article from OSU Research News

"I am delighted to announce that Ellen Mosley-Thompson has been selected to serve as the director of the Byrd Polar Research Center (BPRC) effective October 1, 2009. The Byrd Polar Research Center, currently celebrating 50 years of research excellence, is an internationally-recognized, premier polar and alpine research center emphasizing the role of cold regions in the global climate system. BPRC's mission is to conduct exceptional multidisciplinary research, offer enhanced educational opportunities, and provide outreach activities that build and strengthen Ohio State’s programs in polar processes and earth system science.

Ellen will lead BPRC in continued pursuit of excellence in its outstanding research programs, producing national and international contributions in understanding climate variability, detecting and interpreting changes in modern physical and biological systems, and predicting future environmental changes and their consequences for society. She will provide leadership in strengthening existing research programs, developing research in new areas, and encouraging collaborative activities within the center and the university. She will also foster relationships with current funding agencies as well as explore additional funding opportunities.

Ellen is a world-renowned expert in global climate change and its effects leading to the loss of the world's glaciers. She is a professor and University Distinguished Scholar in geography and is a senior research scientist at the Byrd Polar Research Center. She has spent more than 30 years performing research at Ohio State and has led eight expeditions to Antarctica and six to Greenland to retrieve ice cores. Among her many honors and awards, Ellen was recently named to the National Academy of Sciences and elected as a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Berry Lyons for the leadership that he has provided as director of the Byrd Polar Research Center since 1999. Under Berry's leadership, BPRC broadened its visibility and research focus to provide a more global perspective. His work in the areas of environmental geochemistry of trace metals, the causes and rates of chemical weathering, and the impact of urbanization on water resources has advanced the mission of BPRC. Berry will become the director of the School of Earth Sciences effective October 1, 2009.

Please join me in congratulating Ellen as she begins her exciting and well-deserved role as director of the Byrd Polar Research Center."

—Dr. Caroline Whitacre, Vice President for Research, Office of Research

Berry Lyons and Bryan Mark have visited Chile in the past month to talk about climate change research. Their colleagues have organized an international workshop on climate change:

Climate Change in Magellan and Antarctic Regions: Evidence and Challenge for the Future

The meeting will take place from October 27-31 in Punta Arenas, Chile.

Earth Sciences 580, the online climate change course offered by Carol Landis through the Office of Continuing Education, has issued a report on the Summer Quarter course. Students around the US and even India participated, and some left comments and testimonials. View the report on the course web page.

NOVA scienceNOW, an hour-long series on PBS in its fourth season, recently interviewed Ellen and Lonnie Thompson from the BPRC Ice Core Group. They discuss why it's vital to collect ice cores now and answer questions on climate, glaciers, and ice cores.

View or download the video segment

View the Ask the Expert Q&A section

Earth Sciences 580, the online climate change class that began on June 15, is well underway. The 3-credit graduate-level course is offered through the Office of Continuing Education under contract with the School of Earth Sciences at Ohio State.

Seventeen people from around the U.S.A. and one person in India are participating in the pilot version of the course. Participants hail from Massachusetts, Washington, Texas, Illinois, New Mexico, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Washington D.C. They offer a range of backgrounds and experiences including: three elementary teachers, a lab manager, a greenhouse engineer, a staff person for the Organization of American States (OAS), three high school teachers, two former participants with NSF Polar Programs (ANDRILL and PolarTREC), and a former salesperson for carbon offsets.

The course will be offered each quarter in the 2009-2010 academic year, under contract with the Office of Continuing Education. A similar course is being developed for Continuing Education Units (CEUs) or Professional Development Units (PDUs) for those who do not need to earn credits.

For more information about the course, please contact Carol Landis.

Lonnie Thompson, of the BPRC's Ice Core Paleoclimatology Group, received an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree from Northwestern University. Thompson received the degree at Northwestern's spring commencement on Friday, June 19th.

Ellen Mosley-Thompson, of the BPRC's Ice Core Paleoclimatology group, was elected as a fellow of the American Geophysical Union for 2009. View a list of fellows elected in 2009.

Prof. Mosley-Thompson was elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences on April 28th, 2009. This is a wonderful recognition of her outstanding research in polar sciences and paleoclimatology.

Read press release
More information from OSU Research

Congratulations to all Denman Undergraduate Research Forum participants for their great effort and excellent poster presentations!

Byrd Polar students took first and second place in the MPS division.

Pictured (click to enlarge) is Pat Burns with his first place poster (Advisor/co-authors: Dr. Bryan Mark, Henry Brecher and Kyung-In Huh) and Bill Magee (Advisor: Terry Wilson).  Both students are also affiliated with the School of Earth Sciences. SES student Justin Von Bargen (Advisor/co-authors: Dr. Anne Carey, Steve Goldsmith) won third.

Congrats to all the participants and winners from everyone at BPRC!

For 35 years, the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships have provided scientists and engineers with a unique opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills to national and international issues in the federal policy realm, while learning first-hand about establishing and implementing policy.

Fellows select assignments in Congressional offices or federal agencies. This is a year-long opportunity, beginning September 1 and ending August 31. Most federal agencies offer Fellows the opportunity to renew for a second year.

AAAS seeks candidates from a broad array of backgrounds and a diversity of geographic, disciplinary, gender, and ethnic perspectives as well as disability status. Fellows have ranged in age from late 20s to early 70s. They represent a spectrum of career stages, from recent PhD graduates to faculty on sabbatical to retired scientists and engineers. Fellows also come from a range of sectors, including academia, industry, non-profit organizations, and government labs.

AAAS partners with approximately 30 scientific and engineering societies that also sponsor fellowships. They conduct separate application and selection processes and may provide different stipend and benefits support. Individuals interested in the Science & Technology Policy Fellowships are encouraged to apply with all scientific and engineering societies for which they qualify.

The deadline is December 15th, 2008. AAAS accepts online applications only.

Full details at: http://www.fellowships.aaas.org/

Our own Ellen Mosley-Thompson is the marquee speaker for the annual Edward J. Taaffe Physical Geography Colloquium TODAY.

Thursday, Oct 9 at 3:30pm
100 Stillman Hall
A reception will follow in the Derby foyer.

Information with downloadable abstract can be found on the Geography Colloquium webpage.

Penn State is offering a course, Ice & Climate, to CReSIS partner institutions via Polycom. This is the teleconferencing equipment located in the Learning Center. The course starts Tuesday August 26th.

More information: 

• Course information flyer
• Course syllabus

Congratulations to Dr. C. K. Shum on receiving the 2008 University Distinguished Scholar Award. Shum is a professor in the School of Earth Sciences. "His work on climate change is celebrated. Shum has received many awards and distinctions, most recently for his work as a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize."

Spring 2008 Course Offerings from Geology and BPRC:

Climate System Modeling: Basics and Applications: Geography 820.01
5 credit hours
Instructor: David H. Bromwich, Professor (bromwich.1@osu.edu)
Schedule: TR 3:00 - 5:00pm, Byrd Polar Research Center, Scott Hall Room 0140 on West Campus.
Call number: 10250-1.   

Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry: EarthSci 622
5 credit hours
Instructor: Dr. Andréa G. Grottoli, Assistant Professor (Grottoli.1@osu.edu)
Schedule: TR 11:30am - 1:18pm, plus 1 hour lab TBA;  room ML252
Call number: 17442-2

Interdepartmental Seminar in Polar and Alpine Studies:
The Uncertain Future of Ice: Exploring Sources of Uncertainty in Prognostic Models of the Cryosphere: Earth Sci. 896
Instructor: Dr. Ian Howat, Assistant Professor (ihowat@gmail.com)
Schedule: 3 hours/week, time and place TBA.  Please contact Dr. Howat with any questions.

February 12, 2008

The Thompson's were awarded the 2008 Dan David Prize today. The Dan David Prize, given annually by Tel Aviv University in Israel, awards a prize of US$1 million to each of three recipients for achievements having an outstanding scientific, technological, cultural or social impact in the world. Each year fields are chosen within three "time dimensions": Past, Present and Future. The Thompson's were announced as laureates in the Future (Geosciences) category.

From the announcement: 

"The 2008 Dan David Prize honors Ellen Mosley-Thompson and Lonnie G. Thompson, jointly, in the field of Geosciences for their separate and joint efforts in studying the geological and environmental records in ice cores ranging from the polar regions to the highest tropical and subtropical mountains on six continents and remote islands; and for providing high-resolution environmental histories that contribute to the understanding of complex interactions in the Earth's outer envelopes, such as the fast melting of mountain glaciers worldwide and the retreat and disintegration of polar icecaps."

I thought the Byrd Polar Research Center might be interested in my forthcoming book, Unknown Waters, A Firsthand Account of the Historic Under-Ice Survey of the Siberian Continental Shelf by USS Queenfish (SSN-651). It is scheduled to be released by the University of Alabama Press to book dealers/sellers in February of 2008. The late Captain William R. Anderson, skipper of USS Nautilus (SSN-571) during her historic 1958 transpolar voyage wrote the foreword and Clive Cussler (famous writer and discoverer of the Confederate submarine Hunley), Dr. Don Walsh (Mariannas Trench dive in Trieste in 1960 with Piccard) , Gary Weir - former Historian of the U. S. Navy, and Admirals John H. Nicholson (USS Sargo - 1st all-winter Arctic Ocean expedition) and George Steele (USS Seadragon - 1st survey of the Northwest Passage and 1st Atlantic to Pacific Transpolar voyage) have all written superb "book jacket" comments.

                                                                   Alfred S. McLaren

                                                                   Captain, USN (Ret.), Ph.D.

                                                                   alfredsmclaren@aol.com

• Addressing "climate skeptics"
• Defining,describing and understanding "uncertainty"
• Providing a long-term context for climate change
• Future climate scenarios and regional variability
• The process and creation of the report 

Jason Box, glaciologist and climatologist at the Byrd Polar Research Center, appeared on The Today Show on NBC this morning. Matt Lauer reports from Greenland on the abrupt melting of Greenland's ice cap. The Today Show is exploring climate change in a segment called Ends of the Earth, which is running from 7:00 - 9:00 AM on Monday November 5th and Tuesday November 6th.

To view Jason's segment, visit the Ends of the Earth website and click on the Matt Lauer reports from Greenland video under "View from the Arctic".

"Two National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded scientists, a U.S. Antarctic Program glaciologist and a recipient of the national Medal of Science, will receive the Lowell Thomas Award from the New York-based Explorers Club on Oct. 18 in recognition of their work at the frontiers of climate research.

The awards are presented by the president of the Explorers Club to groups of outstanding explorers who have distinguished themselves in a particular field. Five of this year's eight awardees are federal government scientists or receive their primary funding from the federal government. This year's awards theme is 'Exploring Climate Change.'"

"W. Berry Lyons, an NSF grantee, director of the Byrd Polar Research Center at Ohio State University and lead principal investigator for the McMurdo Dry valleys Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) project will be honored for his studies of the geochemistry of global climate change."

For more information: Explorers Club to Honor NSF-Funded Researchers and Glaciologist for Climate-Science Breakthroughs

He will give a lecture on Wed. Oct. 17 at 3:30pm in Room 240 Scott Hall. The title of his talk is Antarctic System Science - Early Results and Emerging Priorities.

Abstract:
In the mid-1990's NSF funded the "Research on Ocean Atmosphere Variability and Ecosystem Response in the Ross Sea" (ROAVERRS) experiment to take a "systems-wide" approach to understanding the Antarctic marine ecosystem. In this talk I will discuss our results from this field program and then I will use it to illustrate the broader landscape of how the government sets research priorities and how these priorities feed into the federal budget process.

Dr. Diane McKnight will be interviewing for the BPRC Directorship 21-24 Oct. 

She will give a lecture on Monday, Oct. 22 at 3:30pm in 240 Scott Hall. The title of her talk is Glacial Meltwater Streams of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica:  Ecosystems Waiting for Water 

The McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica contain many glacial meltwater streams that flow for 6 to 12 weeks during the austral summer and link the glaciers to the lakes on the valley floors.  Dry valley streams gain solutes longitudinally through weathering reactions and microbial processes occurring in the hyporheic zone, evident as a damp area underneath and adjacent to the stream. The lower boundary of the hyporheic zone is determined by the depth to permafrost. On sunny days, stream temperatures can reach 15 °C, and advection of this warm water can erode the frozen lower boundary of the hyporheic zone. In cold summers, streamflow is fed mostly by melt from the faces of the source glaciers and a large portion of this meltwater may be stored in the hyporheic zone and then lost through sublimation, rather than discharged to the lakes. Some streams have thriving microbial mats composed of cyanobacteria and diatoms. These mats are freeze-dried through the winter and begin photosynthesizing with the onset of flow.  To evaluate the longer term persistence of cynaobacterial mats, we diverted flow to an abandoned channel, which had not received substantial flow for approximately two decades. We observed that cyanobacterial mats became abundant in the reactivated channel within a week, indicating that the mats had been preserved in a cryptobiotic state in the channel. Over the next several years, these mats had high rates of productivity and nitrogen fixation compared to mats from other streams. These stream-scale experimental results indicate that the cryptobiotic preservation of cyanobacterial mats in abandoned channels in the dry valleys allows for rapid response of stream ecosystems to climatic and geomorphological change.    

Bryan Mark at BPRC is running Geography 820.01 (Current Issues in Climate, Water, and Carbon) during Autumn quarter. The seminar, open to graduate students from all disciplines, will involve critically reviewing current research related to climate, hydrology and the carbon cycle.

Call#: 21506-1
Credits: 3 or 5
Location: Scott Hall 136
Time: Wednesday 3:45-6pm^*

The climate system mediates the exchange of energy and matter at the Earth’s surface and vitally couples people to their physical and biological environment. Water, as solid, liquid and vapor, plays a key role in the atmospheric transfer of heat, and is an essential resource for human society. A growing level of scientific understanding about how humans influence climate through the moderation of the carbon cycle raises concern for the future, and implicates policy responses. The very real prospect of human induced climate change has placed a new premium on interdisciplinary scientific research to better understand the complex nature of climate changes over time, anticipate future impacts, and explore the policy dimensions.

In this seminar, open to graduate^** students from all disciplines, we will engage such concerns by critically reviewing current research related to climate, hydrology and the carbon cycle. A goal will be to develop scientific literacy on issues that have broader impacts to society. Emphasis will be placed on communicating concepts clearly and sharing ideas across disciplines. We will also highlight research conducted on The Ohio State University campus, where many different academic units are engaged with related projects, and a recently proposed interdisciplinary program has been top-ranked for timely investment in excellence by the Provost (http://oaa.osu.edu/TIE2.php). Specific course content will be directed by student interests, but some possible questions to be addressed include:

What are the observable changes in the climate system, and how might they impact human society? Is abrupt climate change caused by humans? How do climate changes impact the water cycle, and availability of water resources? Are storms increasing in frequency or intensity as a result of human-induced warming? How do aerosol concentrations impact cloud development? What large scale teleconnections link the atmosphere and hydrosphere, and how are they impacted under changing climate? How might alternative energy development improve or degrade water quality? What adaptation strategies and policy responses are being considered to deal with these complex problems?

Class requirements: There are no prerequisites. Each student will develop his/her own case studies to engage an issue of their choice, select readings from the current and historical literature, and lead class discussion. Those completing 5 credits will summarize their research in a term paper. Attendance and active participation will be required during the weekly class that will convene in the state-of-the-art Learning Center at the Byrd Polar Research Center (140 Scott Hall).

^*class time subject to change, depending on student demand

^**upper level undergraduates may also be admitted with the instructor’s permission

Tuesday September 4, 2007

BPRC researcher Bryan Mark (Assistant Professor of Geography) and former OSU postdoctoral researcher Jeff McKenzie (McGill University) have employed measurements of changes in stable isotope ratios in streams on the western side of the Cordillera Blanca in northern Peru to show that discharge has increased by 1.6% in recent years compared to historical data.  The results demonstrate the utility of using stable isotopes to distinguish glacial- from non-glacial- melt contributions in watersheds, and also confirm predictions of short-term increases in discharge as glaciers melt.  Long-term decreases in stream discharge due to the acceleration of glacial melt may have potentially devastating effects on populations that rely on the streams for water resources.  The research, undertaken as part of OSU's Climate Water and Carbon (CWC) Initiative, will be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal Environmental Science and Technology.