The extent of microplastic pollution is only just beginning to be understood, with researchers discovering the tiny plastic pieces everywhere from the air we breathe to the deep ocean.
Traces of Roman-era pollution stored in the ice of Mont Blanc
Researchers drill ice cores from a field camp on Mont Blanc in the French Alps. Credit: B. Jourdain, L’Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement. RENO, Nev. (May 8, 2019) – Last spring, an international team of researchers led by Joe McConnell, PhD, Director...
Forest fires accelerating snowmelt across western U.S., new study finds
Kelly Gleason, assistant professor of environmental science and management at Portland State University, and crew head out in a recently burned forest to collect snow samples. Credit: Kelly Gleason/Portland State University RENO, Nev. (May 2, 2019) - Forest...
Monica Arienzo receives Board of Regents 2019 Rising Researcher Award
Reno, Nev. (March 1, 2019): This week, the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) Board of Regents awarded Monica Arienzo, Ph.D. of the Desert Research Institute (DRI) in Reno with its annual Rising Researcher Award. The honor is given annually to one NSHE faculty...
DRI ice core research makes Discover magazine’s list of top breakthroughs in 2018
Reno, Nev. (Thurs. January 17th) - For the second time, research out of the Ultra-trace Ice Core Chemistry Laboratory at the Desert Research Institute (DRI) in Reno, Nevada, has been named one of the year’s biggest scientific discoveries by Discover magazine. The...
First non-polar historical iodine record shows impact of fossil fuel emissions
Reno, Nev. (Nov. 13, 2018): A new ice core record from the French Alps shows impacts of fossil fuel emissions in the form of a steep increase in iodine levels during the second half of the 20th century, according to a study released this week by an international team...
Lead pollution in Greenland ice shows rise and fall of ancient European civilizations
In a new study published in PNAS, a team of scientists, archaeologists and economists from the Desert Research Institute (DRI), the University of Oxford, NILU – Norwegian Institute for Air Research and the University of Copenhagen used ice samples from the North Greenland Ice Core Project (NGRIP) to measure, date and analyze European lead emissions.
Massive Antarctic Volcanic Eruptions Linked to Abrupt Southern Hemisphere Climate Changes Near the End of the Last Ice Age
Above: A 15-meter pan-sharpened Landsat 8 image of the Mount Takahe volcano rising more than 2,000 meters (1.2 miles) above the surrounding West Antarctic ice sheet in Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica. Credit: Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA). USGS and NASA,...
Black Carbon Emissions from Ancient Wildfires Linked to Historical Climate Conditions
Monica Arienzo, PhD, assistant research professor of hydrology at DRI, demonstrates part of the black carbon analysis process in the clean room of DRI’s Ice Core Laboratory. Credit DRI. DRI-led research team publishes longest ice core black carbon record to date Reno,...