NE CSC Newsletter
News and upcoming events related to the Northeast Climate Science Center
------ NE CSC NEWS: -----------------------------------------------------------------
Webinar: Relevance of Extreme Events for Breeding Birds: Coping with Extreme Weather and Climate Change April 9, 2014 at 3:30pm (ET), Speakers: Brooke Bateman and Andy Allstadt, University of Wisconsin. Extreme weather, such as heat waves and drought, can have strong effects on the distribution, abundance, and persistence of many species. Drs. Allstadt and Bateman will discuss how we can quantify extreme weather events, and how these metrics may relate to ecological systems, as well as how extreme weather events and recent climate change have affected breeding bird species in the U.S.. The speakers will use case studies to highlight how learning about past relationships can help us plan for future changes in extreme weather and climate. Read more...
Massachusetts Action on Climate Change: A discussion of the Commonwealth’s leadership in climate action and plans for the future April 14, 3pm, UMass Amherst - MA Senator Marc R. Pacheco will focus on Massachusetts’ status as a leader on green policies and clean energy practices, as well as plans for future climate legislation. He will also meet with NE CSC leadership to discuss goals, activities, and accomplishments. Read more…
Hemlock: A Forest Giant on the Edge A recent book from Harvard Forest with contributions from NE CSC PI Anthony D’Amato. For millennia, Eastern Hemlock trees have held irreplaceable cultural value and created unique forest habitat across New England.Today, they are disappearing from our forests, falling by the tens of thousands as prey to an exotic insect foe. Read more…
New Post-doc in forest adaptation Dr. Alessandra Bottero will be starting in early March as a new postdoctoral fellow with the UMN Consortium. Dr. Bottero will be working with scientists from UMN, the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station (Brian Palik), USGS (John Bradford), and University of Maine (S. Fraver) on a project examining potential adaptation strategies for forests across the northeastern US.
Recent NE CSC-supported Publications:
Bradford, Jensen, Domke, D’Amato. Potential increases in natural disturbance rates could offset forest management impacts on ecosystem carbon stocks. Forest Ecology and Management.
McKenzie and Tinker. A tree-community-level analysis of successional status and gap-phase and postfire regeneration of range-margin Thuja plicata (western redcedar). Canadian Journal of Forest Research.
Fraver, Milo, Bradford, D’Amato et al. Woody Debris Volume Depletion Through Decay: Implications for Biomass and Carbon Accounting. Ecosystems.
------ FROM THE NE CSC PROGRAM MANAGER: ------------------------------------------
IPCC Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability report released - perspective from the NE CSC Program Manager The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II has released its report Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability as the second volume of the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). This report focuses on what many of us think about in our work: what effects will climate change have on species and resources, and what can we do about it. As Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group II Chris Field put it: "“Understanding that climate change is a challenge in managing risk opens a wide range of opportunities for integrating adaptation with economic and social development and with initiatives to limit future warming. We definitely face challenges, but understanding those challenges and tackling them creatively can make climate-change adaptation an important way to help build a more vibrant world in the near-term and beyond.” Read more...
------ WEBINARS: ------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, April 3, 1:00 pm ET
NOAA and the National Wildlife Federation presents,
"Climate-Smart Restoration in the Great Lakes: Design, Implementation and Case Studies"
To join, visit: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/388390383
Thursday, April 3,2:00 PM ET
National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center presents,
“Integrated Scenarios of the Future Northwest Environment”
Philip Mote, Oregon Climate Change Research Institute, Oregon State University
To register, visit: https://nccwsc.usgs.gov/webinar/310
Tuesday, April 8, 12:00 pm ET
OneNOAA Science Seminars
"The Ecosystem Impacts of Habitat Loss in the Chesapeake Bay, predicted by an Atlantis Model"
Dr. Tom Ilhde, and Dr. Howard Townsend
To join or register, visit: http://www.mymeetings.com/nc/join.php?sigKey=mymeetings&i=744925156&p=&t=c
password: 744925156
Tuesday, April 8, 1:00 pm ET
OneNOAA Science Seminars
"Climate Extremes: Understanding and Predicting High-Impact Conditions"
Gabe Vecchi, Chris Thorncroft, Scott Weaver, Kingtse Mo
To join or register, visit: https://cpomapp.webex.com/cpomapp/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=620993723
password: 20910
Wednesday, April 9, 3:30 pm ET
Northeast Climate Science Center presents,
"Relevance of Extreme Events for Breeding Birds: Coping with Extreme Weather and Climate Change"
Brooke Bateman, University of Wisconsin
To join, visit: https://necsc.umass.edu/webinars/relevance-extreme-events-breeding-birds-coping-extreme-weather-and-climate-change
Thursday, April 10, 2:00 pm ET
OneNOAA Science Seminars
"Free-flowing rivers and their diversity, stability, and conservation"
Dr. Jonathan W. Moore, Liber Ero
To join or register, visit: https://nwfsc200.webex.com/nwfsc200/j.php?ED=25224058&UID=61391358&RT=MiM0
password: 282 627 017
Thursday, April 17, 10:00 am ET
Third Thursday Web Forum presents,
“Can forests take the heat? Managing pests and ecosystem services in a warming climate”
Steve Frank, Ph.D., NC State University, Department of Entomology
To join, visit: http://globalchange.ncsu.edu/april-17-webinar-can-forests-take-the-heat-managing-pests-and-ecosystem-services-in-a-warming-climate/
Wednesday, April 23, 3:30 pm ET
Northeast Climate Science Center presents,
"Extreme Climate Events and Species Population Dynamics: Overriding Influence or Not Such a Big Deal?"
Keith Nislow, UMass Amherst
To join, visit: https://necsc.umass.edu/webinars/extreme-climate-events-and-species-population-dynamics-overriding-influence-or-not-such-big
Thursday, April 24, 1:00 pm ET
Tribal Renewable Energy webinar series presents,
"Natural Resources and Agriculture Webinar"
To join or register, visit: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/630451488
Thursday, April 24, 2:00 pm ET
OneNOAA Science Seminars
"Human-Induced Climate Change and Projections for the Future"
Dennis L. Hartmann
To join or register, visit: https://nwfsc200.webex.com/nwfsc200/j.php?ED=25224058&UID=61391358&RT=MiM0
password: 282 627 017
------ LCC NEWS: --------------------------------------------------------------
Upper Midwest and Great Lakes LCC
- Migratory Bird Stopover Sites are Important for Economic and Ecological Diversity in the Great Lakes
Eastern Tallgrass Prairies and Big Rivers LCC
- Fitting the Climate Lens to Grassland Bird Conservation (in partnership with the NE CSC)
Appalachian LCC
- Now Playing: Appalachian LCC-Funded Research on video!
- Informing Resource Decisions in a Changing Climate
North Atlantic LCC News
- Conserving Important Habitat for Amphibians and Other Wildlife
- Assessing Aquatic Habitats and Threats
Plains and Prairie Potholes LCC
Saving our Native Prairies: A Landscape Conservation Approach
----- UPCOMING EVENTS: --------------------------------------------------
World Food Prize Laureate to Speak on Water in a Changing Climate at UMass Amherst World renown soil physicist, Daniel Hillel, will speak at UMass on April 14 at 4pm: “Water Supplies, Water Requirements, and Agricultural Water-use Efficiency in a Changing Climate”. Read more…
------ OTHER NEWS: --------------------------------------------------------------
New Climate Change Report Warns of Dire Consequences The world is not ready for the impacts of climate change, including more extreme weather and the likelihood that populated parts of the planet could be rendered uninhabitable, says the planet's leading body of climate scientists in a major new UN report. Read more…
NOAA Global Analysis for 2013 NOAA’s analysis for 2013 Global Significant Weather and Climate Events. Read more…
WMO: “No standstill in global warming” The past year was the sixth warmest year on record since temperature records began in 1850. Global average surface temperature in 2013 was 14.5–0.50 °C above the 1961–1990 average and 0.03 °C above the 2001–2010 average, the Geneva-based World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reports in its latest statement of the status of the global climate. Read more…
EPA to fund environment and public health projects in New England The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is making grant money available for projects that will help reduce environmental risks for New England communities at risk, such as environmental justice areas, urban areas, sensitive populations and/or those impacted by climate change or stormwater run-off. Read more…
Antioch University New England in Keene to launch new climate center The Center for Climate Preparedness and Community Resiliency was announced last week as part of the White House Climate Data Initiative. Read more…
Conservation Organizations Join Forces to Support Conservation in the Prairies A coalition of conservation organizations announced today the launch of a coordinated, partner-driven “Prairies Conservation Campaign” to bring public attention to the dramatic conversion of grasslands and wetlands to cropland in one of America’s last intact grassland ecosystems – the prairie pothole region. Read more…
The Apostle Islands Ice Caves go Viral in 2014! Most of the year, the National Park Service (NPS) refers to these formations as the “sea caves,” but in winter, they transform into the “ice caves.” While other ice caves exist, there may be no other place on the planet where ice caves are so variable, so protected, and at least in some winters, so accessible. Read more…
------ RESOURCES: --------------------------------------------------------------
NOAA March 2014 Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook overview This release examines the past three-month period (December, January, and February) and documents temperature and precipitation departures from normal, departures from normal snowfall, impacts recorded in the same three-month time period, and a look forward to the March, April, and May time period. Read more…
A New Interactive Education Module on Climate Change Science and Modeling The Climate Change Resource Center has released a new interactive online education module on basic climate change science and climate modeling. The module was designed to make climate change science approachable to the general public and to provide flexibility for busy professionals, but also to facilitate a greater level of understanding and depth through interactive features. Read more…
New Climate Tools Help Farmers and Advisors Make Informed Decisions The Useful to Usable (U2U) climate initiative recently launched two new decision support tools to help farmers and agricultural advisors manage increasingly variable weather and climate conditions. Read more…
Video: Listening for the Rain Listening for the Rain starts a pluricultural conversation in which some Indigenous people who live in the central US discuss their observations and understandings of, as well as responses to, climate change and variability. Read more…
------ OPPORTUNITIES: --------------------------------------------------------------
Job opportunity for Research Social Scientists at USDA Forest Service (IL or MN) A research position for someone with strong quantitative research skills is open in our unit of the USDA Forest Service’s Northern Research Station. The disciplinary background can be any of the suite of social sciences, including psychology, economics, sociology, and more. The position will be posted in the coming weeks at USAJOBS.GOV.
PhD Opportunity: Human health and climate change Dr. Jordan Smith and the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management are seeking a qualified candidate who is committed to pursuing a Ph.D. degree and engaging in high-quality research using geospatial analytics to address the human health impacts of climate change in urban areas. Read more…
Funding opportunity: Connecticut Sea Grant (CTSG) and New York Sea Grant (NYSG)announce the Long Island Sound Study (LISS) extra-mural research program. The intent of this program is to fund research that will support the management of Long Island Sound (LIS) and its resources. Interested parties must submit a preliminary proposal via NYSG’s electronic submission web site www.NYSGproposal.org for receipt by 5:00 p.m. EDT on Monday June 9, 2014. Read more…
Call for Papers: Special Issue of International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management The focus of this Special Issue is on ecosystem services as a tool to support and inform decisions in landscape-related policies and planning. It will consider methodologies for the identification of ecosystem service beneficiaries and providers, investigating interrelationships between landscape structure, ecosystem functions, ecosystem services and human benefits. Read more…
