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Understanding the climate record through objects
Melissa Charenko stands in front of art in her office.

In her office, Melissa Charenko has paintings by artist Jill Pelto that depict the kind of climate proxies Charenko writes about in her new book, such as sediment cores containing pollen grains.

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Understanding the climate record through objects

Melissa Charenko’s new book shares the history of how 20th-century scientists used climate “proxies”—such as tree rings and fossil pollen—to understand past climates, which has implications for future climate action.

3 min. read

A massive chunk of ice, a new laser, and new information on sea-level rise
A researcher walking through a glacier in Greenland.

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A massive chunk of ice, a new laser, and new information on sea-level rise

For nearly a decade, Leigh Stearns and collaborators aimed a laser scanner system at Greenland’s Helheim Glacier. Their long-running survey reveals that Helheim’s massive calving events don’t behave the way scientists once thought, reframing how ice loss contributes to sea-level rise.

5 min. read

Can tiny ocean organisms offer the key to better climate modeling?
Researcher Xin Sun injects substance into glass vials.

Xin Sun prepares samples collected from the Eastern Tropical North Pacific aboard a research vessel. By adding stable isotope tracers to these vials, Sun and her team can track how different microbial groups convert nitrogen compounds into nitrous oxide, revealing how subtle shifts in oxygen and organic matter change the ocean’s chemistry.

 
 

(Image: Courtesy of Xin Sun)

Can tiny ocean organisms offer the key to better climate modeling?

In the shadowy layers of the Pacific, microbes decide how much nitrous oxide—a potent greenhouse gas—rises skyward. New research from Penn’s Xin Sun offers an improved understanding of microbial ecology and geochemistry—key to forecasting global emissions in response to natural and man-made climate change.

3 min. read

Sanya Carley appointed vice provost for climate science, policy, and action
Carley Sanya.

Sanya Carley is the Presidential Distinguished Professor of Energy Policy and City Planning in the Weitzman School of Design and the Mark Alan Hughes Faculty Director of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy.

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Sanya Carley appointed vice provost for climate science, policy, and action

Carley is an expert on energy policy, affordability, and transition.

2 min. read

Perry World House conference on climate progress since Paris Agreement

Perry World House conference on climate progress since Paris Agreement

Earlier in October, Perry World House hosted the “Climate Cooperation in Transition” workshop with the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research’s Global Governance Innovation project, which featured a stocktake of the progress made on climate since the Paris Agreement.