Using a network of sea surface temperature reconstructions, this study provides the first global estimate of temperature evolution during the last interglaciation from 130,000 years ago to 115,000 years ago when the global sea level is estimated to be several meters higher than today. The results show the global warming was only about 0.5 warmer than the preindustrial period and indistinguishable from that of the last decade, suggesting that significant global sea level rise could occur with relatively minor global temperature increases.

Recent developments in state and national politics have put climate change in the spotlight. As stories circulate in the media regarding positions on climate change within Wisconsin state government and the incoming presidential administration, several news outlets have published statements about climate change that do not align with established fact.

Prof. Zhengyu Liu, in collaboration with a research team led by a former UW student Wei Liu, has published a paper on the recent issue of Science Advances on Jan. 4th. Their new finding suggests that in current climate models, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) may be too stable in response to future climate forcing, such as the rising CO2 and melting water of Greenland. Therefore, future climate change may be more abrupt than predicted by present IPCC models. This study highlights the importance of continued understanding and improvement of climate models.

Yan Yu, PhD student of Dr. Michael Notaro, was awarded a highly prestigious NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellowship, beginning in July 2017, to continue collaboration with Dr. Olga Kalashnikova at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in studying the remote sensing of dust.

NASA EARTHDATA covered the research of Dr. Michael Notaro regarding Fertile Crescent drought and dust production and transport implications.

Galen McKinley is interviewed by local CBS affiliate, WISC-TV, News Channel 3, channel3000.com,  about the rise in temperature in 2016 and the effects of climate change and global warming associated with this.

Michael Notaro presented dynamically downscaled climate projectionsfor the Great Lakes region and potential ecological impacts at a WestonRoundtable seminar in October 2016. 

The Ice Age giants of St. Paul Island outlived those on the mainland for millennia. What finally drove them to extinction?

President Obama recently called trends in climate change "terrifying." The Nelson Institute's Galen McKinley agrees, because "human society is built on the assumption of a stable climate." In this Q&A, McKinley explains why the Earth is warming so fast, and whether there is any hope that things will improve.