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University of Colorado-Boulder

Study shows arctic sea ice still melting

Thu, 10/08/2009 - 03:21 by surajdogra

Boulder -- University of Colorado-Boulder scientists say arctic sea ice coverage recovered slightly this year, but still remains on a downward trend.

Researchers at the university's National Snow and Ice Data Center said the arctic's 2009 minimum sea ice extent was the third lowest since satellite record-keeping began in 1979. The past five years have seen the five lowest arctic sea ice extents ever recorded.

"It's nice to see a little recovery over the past couple of years, but there's no reason to think that we're headed back to conditions seen in the 1970s," said Professor Mark Serreze, director of the center. "We still expect to see ice-free summers sometime in the next few decades."

Study criticizes U.S. wildfire mitigation

Thu, 06/11/2009 - 02:24 by surajdogra

Boudler -- U.S. researchers are criticizing federal wildfire mitigation efforts, saying only 11 percent have occurred near homes or offices during the last five years.

The analysis of the U.S. National Fire plan, led by the University of Colorado-Boulder, shows although more people now live in or near fire-prone forests, most federally funded activities to reduce wildfire hazards have occurred far from the "wildland-urban interface," researchers said.

"Our comprehensive analysis suggests that fire mitigation treatments do not effectively target the wildland-urban interface," said Tania Schoennagel, who led a team that examined 44,000 federally funded wildfire mitigation projects in 11 western states between 2004 and 2008.