Climate change

More than two-thirds of the mountain ranges in the world are not pyramid-shaped, a new study finds. In addition to pyramid-shaped mountains like the Alps (top left), mountains may be diamond-shaped like the Rockies (top right), hourglass-shaped like the Himalayas (bottom right), or even shaped like upside-down pyramids, like the Kunlun mountains of Asia (bottom left). (Images courtesy of Morgan Tingley, Paul Elsen, and Nature Climate Change)

Mountain Shape Affects Species’ Response to Climate Change

A new study by researchers at UConn and Princeton turns our idea of what mountains look like literally upside-down, with consequences for species extinctions.

Mark Urban with a sheet of aufeis in Alaska. aufeis in northern Alaska. Aufeis is ice that forms as layers on streams in winter, and is declining as the region becomes warmer. (Photo courtesy of Mark Urban)

Regions at Greatest Risk for Species Extinction the Least Studied

Most previous studies have centered on North America and Europe, whereas South America, Australia, and New Zealand are at greatest risk for species loss.

Plants Aren’t in Lockstep When Responding to Environmental Changes

A UConn study shows that trait diversity in plants may result from individual responses to the environment, rather than – as is often assumed – being uniform across species.

The Atlantic Silverside, Menidia menidia. (Photo courtesy of: Chris Pickerell, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, Seagrassli.org)

Evolving to Cope with Climate Change

A UConn marine sciences professor is measuring the potential of an important fish species to adapt to an increasingly acidic ocean.

Sailing the Mid-Century Arctic

Geographer Scott Stephenson is charting the possibilities for the future of Arctic shipping lanes under various climate change scenarios.

Jill Wegrzyn, ecology and evolutionary biology assistant research professor, at a Christmas tree farm. (Sean Flynn/UConn Photo)

Big Data and the Science of the Christmas Tree

A UConn bioinformatics researcher is helping develop tools that will enable more scientists to start finding meaning in massive amounts of data.

Geoscientist Lisa Park Boush Joins UConn Faculty

The new director of the Center for Integrative Geosciences specializes in climate history over time, and how it affects ecosystems.

Silhouette of smoke stacks smoking up to the sky at sunset (iStock Photo)

Regulating Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Law professor Joe MacDougald discusses a recent Supreme Court decision that challenges the EPA’s authority to regulate emissions from power plants.

Members of UConn's Underwater Sensor Network and the U.S. Naval Research Lab a sensor node from the back of the research vessel during a test in the Atlantic Sea in 2010. (Zheng Peng/UConn Photo)

Beneath the Arctic Polar Cap

As the Arctic polar cap melts at an astonishing rate, UConn’s UnderWater Sensor Network Lab is developing a wireless system to collect data in the region.

Weathering the Storm

Bought a generator recently? Stocked up on groceries ahead of a storm? Then you're practicing a form of adaptation.