News
Individual climate models may not provide the complete picture
12 November 2019
Equilibrium climate sensitivity — how sensitive the Earth’s climate is to changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide — may be underestimated in individual climate models, according to a team of climate scientists. “Probabilistic estimates of climate system properties often rely on the comparison of model simulation to observed temperature records and an estimate of the internal climate variability,” the researchers report in Geophysical Research Letters. If the internal climate variability is wrong, then the probabilistic estimates will be wrong and climate predictions could miss the mark. ‹‹read more››
Accepting Applications: 7th Annual Summer School on Sustainable Climate Risk Management
15 April 2019
The Summer School application review is underway, though we still welcome new applications from advanced graduate students, postdocs, and early career professionals in the decisionmaking and policy communities who are working on issues related to climate risk. Applicantions submitted after May 4 may not receive full consideration. ‹‹read more››
Menominee Nation confronts the challenge of climate change
9 January 2019
A new article in Orion Magazine explores how the Menominee Nation is facing the threats of climate change to its forest and way of life. A Penn State-led research team has been working with the College of Menominee Nation’s Sustainable Development Institute to incorporate indigenous knowledge and values into modeling systems that seek to analyze potential strategies for managing their forests in a warming climate. ‹‹read more››
2018 Nobel in Economics Awarded to William Nordhaus and Paul Romer
8 October 2018
William Nordhaus, SCRiM Network lead researcher, is awarded 2018 Nobel Prize in Economics for “for integrating climate change into long-run macroeconomic analysis.” Professor Nordhaus shares this prize with Paul Romer, New York University. ‹‹read more››
'Managing Risk in a Changing Climate' nominated for two regional Emmy awards
16 August 2018
The SCRiM and WPSU film, ‘Managing Risk in a Changing Climate’, has been nominated for two 2018 Mid-Atlantic Emmy awards. The awards will be presented on Saturday, Oct. 13, at the Philadelphia Marriott. ‹‹read more››
'Managing Risk in a Changing Climate' film wins Telly Award
31 May 2018
The SCRiM and WPSU film, ‘Managing Risk in a Changing Climate’, received a Bronze Telly Award. The 39th Annual Telly Awards for outstanding television and video productions, honor groundbreaking work across all media platforms. ‹‹read more››
'Managing Risk in a Changing Climate' film airs on WPSU-TV on April 12
12 April 2018
The half-hour PBS documentary ‘Managing Risk in a Changing Climate’, a SCRiM and WPSU film, is a part of WPSU’s Earth Month lineup. The film airs on WPSU-TV at 8:30 PM on April 12. ‹‹read more››
Now Accepting Applications: 6th Annual Summer School on Sustainable Climate Risk Management
26 February 2018
The Summer School welcomes applications (due April 8th) from advanced graduate students, postdocs, and early-career professionals in the decisionmaking and policy communities who are working on issues related to climate risk. ‹‹read more››
Climate change and extreme weather challenge communities to be resilient
5 October 2017
Flooding in Texas and again in Louisiana, a category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic hammering Caribbean islands and Florida and, of course, memories of Sandy and Katrina place extreme weather events like hurricanes and the flooding, storm surge and winds that accompany them in the minds of people in the storms’ paths, but also forefront in the minds of administrators, first responders, government officials and city planners. ‹‹read more››
College of Menominee Nation hosts 3rd annual Indigenous Planning Summer Institute
11 July 2017
During the week of June 5-9, 2017 more than 25 participants from various institutions including College of Menominee Nation, Michigan State University, University of New Mexico, University of Maine – Orono, University of Maine, and York University came together at Whispering Pines Retreat camp in Shawano, Wisconsin for the 3rd annual Indigenous Planning Summer Institute. ‹‹read more››
Now Accepting Applications: 5th Annual Summer School on Sustainable Climate Risk Management
9 May 2017
The Summer School welcomes applications (due May 30th) from advanced graduate students, postdocs, and early career professionals in the decisionmaking and policy communities who are working on issues related to climate risk. ‹‹read more››
SCRiM and WPSU co-produce PBS documentary 'Managing Risk in a Changing Climate'
19 April 2017
The PBS documentary, “Managing Risk in a Changing Climate”, takes viewers to coastal Louisiana, where threats associated with climate change leave communities like New Orleans facing tough choices under deep uncertainty. The film was produced by WPSU under the guidance and support of the Network for Sustainable Climate Risk Management (SCRiM). ‹‹read more››
Premiere of 'Managing Risk in a Changing Climate' to be held Tuesday, April 18
10 April 2017
The documentary “Managing Risk in a Changing Climate” will premiere at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, April 18 at The State Theatre in downtown State College. Admission is free. The screening will be followed by a Q&A discussion featuring panelists Richard Alley, Klaus Keller, Erica Smithwick, and filmmaker Kristian Berg. ‹‹read more››
Understanding How Geoengineering Can Offset Climate Change
3 April 2017
The Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) was formed to better understand climate intervention through simulations conducted by multiple climate models. GeoMIP held its sixth annual meeting at the University of Oslo in June 2016. The meeting was held in conjunction with the Norwegian project Exploring the Potential and Side Effects of Climate Engineering (EXPECT), which seeks to understand the implications of climate intervention and to stimulate interdisciplinary collaboration among scientists in the natural and social sciences. ‹‹read more››
Summer School alum examines links between housing, income and hazard risk
13 February 2017
Travis Young’s research could create better opportunities for low-income populations susceptible to flooding and natural disasters. Young decided to pursue his doctorate in geography to home in on the origin of these issues. As a recipient of a highly competitive National Science Foundation (NSF) graduate fellowship, Young hopes to make a positive influence on low-income communities in the Houston-Galveston region through his research. ‹‹read more››
Chris Forest co-authors report assessing cost of climate change
2 February 2017
Chris Forest, SCRiM Co-PI, was co-author of a National Academies report asessing new methods for estimating the social cost of carbon. Forest, an expert on the uncertainty and integration aspects of climate modeling, contributed his knowledge on modeling the long-term response in the Earth system to future emissions while also considering computational efficiency of the overall modeling system. ‹‹read more››
SCRiM to take part in new, five-year DOE award
16 January 2017
SCRiM participants – K. Keller, R. Nicholas, M. Webster, M. Haran, C. Forest, P. Reed, and I. Sue Wing – to take part in a $20 million, five-year project with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) seeking to create a state-of-the-art framework of computational tools that will help to assess the impacts of weather-related variability and change. Dr. Fisher-Vanden, a SCRiM collaborator, will serve as a co-director for this project. ‹‹read more››
SCRiM Researchers help launch new Mid-Atlantic RISA
9 November 2016
Klaus Keller, Robert Nicholas, and Robert Lempert will take part in MARISA (Mid-Atlantic Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments), a new, five-year, $3.6 million award from NOAA. Dr. Nicholas will lead efforts to develop localized, context-specific climate climate data products that capture key uncertainties and better address stakeholder needs, while Dr. Keller will co-lead project focused on training a new leaders in climate-change adaptation and risk management. MARISA will benefit from many open-source tools, methods, and datasets developed under SCRiM. ‹‹read more››
Climate change impacts on Menominee Nation's forest home focus of NSF funding
11 October 2016
A Native American tribal nation in Wisconsin faces cultural and economic challenges as climate change impacts its forest home. A $1.7 million grant from the National Science Foundation will study this relationship and how it could inform decision-making about forest management. ‹‹read more››
SCRiM Summer Scholars participants tackle interdisciplinary projects on sustainable climate risk management
6 September 2016
Some think of summer as a quiet time on a college campus, but a diverse group of students spent their break hard at work on a common problem – climate change. ‹‹read more››
SCRiM collaborator, Richard Alley, receives Climate Communication Prize
4 August 2016
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) awarded Richard Alley, Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences at Penn State, with the 2016 Climate Communication Prize. ‹‹read more››
College of Menominee Nation hosts 2nd annual Indigenous Planning Summer Institute
5 July 2016
The 26 undergraduate and graduate student participants formed teams to explore different concepts of indigenous planning from May 31 - June 1, 2016. ‹‹read more››
Now Accepting Applications: 4th Annual Summer School in Sustainable Climate Risk Management
27 May 2016
The 2016 program runs 15-19 August. Please apply by Monday 13 June 2016 to receive full consideration. This program is targeted at advanced graduate students and postdocs. ‹‹read more››
SCRiM student, Nick Vasko, presents research at Penn State Undergraduate Exhibition
20 April 2016
Undergraduate students from University Park and Penn State campuses presented their research on Wednesday 6 April 2016 at Penn State’s annual Undergraduate Exhibition. ‹‹read more››
Ask an Ethicist: Does climate change affect genders differently?
18 April 2016
Question: Climate change is a global concern and media outlets tend to focus on certain issues such as ice sheet melt, sea level rise, government policies concerning climate change, and greenhouse gas emissions. These are all important issues and, until recently, I didn’t realize there were other concerns that we should be talking about, specifically regarding gender and climate change. So, what ethical concerns exist around gender and climate change? ‹‹read more››
Sea level rise projections doubled for 2100, because of Antarctica
30 March 2016
It’s obvious that a warming climate will mean less glacial ice and higher sea level, but putting a precise number on these things is another matter. What is the possible range of sea level rise? And what are the probabilities for different parts of this range? ‹‹read more››
In search of compromise among climate risk management strategies
29 March 2016
Balancing the impacts of climate change risks for all involved may not be within the realm of economics or physics, but a novel approach may help to achieve a better compromise, according to SCRiM researchers at Penn State and Cornell. ‹‹read more››
SCRiM publication receives 2016 Quentin Martin Best Paper Award
23 February 2016
SCRiM-supported publication, “How should robustness be defined for water systems planning under change?”, has been selected to receive the 2016 Quentin Martin Best Paper Award. ‹‹read more››
James Kasting honored with Stanley Miller Medal
21 January 2016
James Kasting, a SCRiM reseracher, has received the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Award in Early Earth and Life Sciences – the Stanley Miller Medal. ‹‹read more››
Scientists: Ocean warming has doubled in recent decades
20 January 2016
Ocean temperatures increased as much in the last two decades as they had in more than a century before, according to a new study co-authored by SCRiM scientist, Chris Forest. ‹‹read more››
New e-textbook offers an introduction to climate risk analysis tools
3 December 2015
A new e-textbook edited by Penn State researchers aims to provide scientists and students with the tools needed for assessing climate-related risks. ‹‹read more››
Antarctica’s next top numerical model
13 November 2015
Pollard researches how the Earth’s ice sheets have changed and evolved, using data on ice extents — the amount of land and ocean that’s covered by ice — and sea levels to predict how they’ll continue to change in the future. ‹‹read more››
Decision-making tool to help prepare for risks of climate change
31 August 2015
Ten years after Hurricane Katrina, SCRiM researcher Doug Bessette is helping New Orleans plan for the future. ‹‹read more››
Study finds geoengineering technique would not stop sea level rise
17 August 2015
Albedo modification, an emerging technology with the potential to offset some aspects of climate change, shouldn’t be counted on as a short-term solution to stop rising global sea levels, according to a new study from Penn State geoscientists. ‹‹read more››
Cloud control: Climatologist Alan Robock on the effects of geoengineering and nuclear war
14 April 2015
In this interview, Rutgers University climatologist Alan Robock talks with Elisabeth Eaves from the Bulletin about geoengineering and nuclear winter. He says that geoengineering is not the solution to global warming because of its many risks and unknowns. He notes that some of the technology that would be required to implement geoengineering has not been developed and that many socio-political questions would have to be resolved before it could be put into practice. The world would have to reach agreement on a target temperature and on what entity should do the implementing. Robock’s biggest fear with regard to geoengineering is that disputes over these questions could escalate into nuclear war which in turn could cause nuclear winter, producing global famine among other effects. He goes on to describe his meeting with former Cuban President Fidel Castro and discuss the role of the arts in addressing existential threats. ‹‹read more››
Greenland plays important role in polar ice research
20 January 2015
Melting of glacial ice will probably raise the sea level around the globe, but how fast this melting will happen is uncertain. Greenland is especially pivotal in the study of melting ice sheets and rising sea levels because it experiences 50 percent more warming than the global average. In the case of the Greenland Ice Sheet, the more temperatures increase, the faster the ice will melt, according to computer model experiments by Penn State geoscientists. ‹‹read more››