Climate change – Kat Long

Help Send Me to England for Book Research: Crowdfunding Alert

by Kat LongVideo November 29, 20160 comments

I’m working on a book about my ancestor: a polar explorer and whaling ship captain named William Scoresby whose 200-year-old discoveries are helping today’s scientists understand global warming. I’m raising money for a trip to England to research his letters, and–because environmental progress is in jeopardy these days–write a book that offers valuable insight …

Caribbean Shipwrecks Show Lull in 17th-Century Hurricanes

by Kat LongCommentary March 10, 2016March 16, 20160 comments

In a new study, researchers at the University of Arizona are the first to use records of shipwrecks in the Caribbean to gain insight into historical hurricane activity. The paper, published in Proceedings of the National Academies of Science this week, reported a 75 percent reduction in the number of Caribbean hurricanes between 1645 and …

Wrecks of 19th Century Whaling Ships Discovered off Alaska’s Arctic Coast

by Kat LongArticles January 8, 2016March 5, 20160 comments

Underwater archaeologists from NOAA’s Maritime Heritage Program identified the wrecks of two whaling ships in the Chukchi Sea this week. The two vessels were lost in the infamous 1871 whaling season, when ice floes crushed 33 ships. The diminished sea ice cover in the area, a symptom of climate change, has allowed divers to explore …

Black Death in Middle Ages Offers Clues to Ebola’s Spread

by Kat LongBook Reviews, Commentary January 23, 20150 comments

The medieval epidemic of bubonic plague, known as the Black Death, wiped out 40 to 60 percent of the population in Europe, Africa and Asia. Now a Rutgers University researcher says that the rapid and lethal spread of plague in the 14th century gives us clues to the current escalation of the Ebola outbreak. And …

Study: Glaciers Get Squeezed from Both Sides

by Kat LongCommentary January 22, 2015January 22, 20150 comments

Scientists at Cornell University have discovered that meltwater from the surface of an ice cap can seep downward and become trapped beneath it, adding heat to the bottom of the cap. It’s the first time that researchers have seen the potential for atmospheric warming to affect glaciers from above and below. The Cornell team, led …