Comer Scholars from Northwestern Medill School of Journalism who attended the conference had the opportunity to interview scientists, working to make the intricacies of climate science accessible to general audiences
Climate science veterans and next-gen researchers probe deep into Earth’s past to understand the future
Scientists and researchers came together in Wisconsin for the annual Comer Climate Conference to solve one of the world's most pressing crises: climate change.
By Peggy Helman
The Antarctic ice sheet is melting. How’d it happen so fast?
As temperatures rise, thousands of monolith icebergs that chip away from Antarctica's western coast each year carry away more and more ice into the Atlantic.
By Sara Cooper
A Peruvian ice core may hold the secret to understanding warming air temperatures
What records nestled deep in tropical glaciers tell us about mean global temperature change.
By Peggy Helman
Yuxin Zhou: Accidental oceanographer finds clues to climate shifts
More than a decade after his first introduction to oceanography, Yuxin Zhou is working to unravel the mysteries of oceans in the past and how they can shed light on modern climatic shifts.
By Fern Alling
Moraine ages in Norway show global synchrony of climate trends
Observing clues in ice and rocks from the past tells us the global temperature is rising now at a faster rate than ever. It is clear humans, not natural forces, are responsible for this change.
By Frances Mack
Glacial geologists uncover synchronized timescale of last ice age across both hemispheres with clues to climate now
Examining moraines - such as the iconic Esmark Moraine where researchers first discovered evidence of Earth’s ice ages in the 1820s - University of Maine researchers uncovered chronologies consistent across Northern and Southern hemispheres, giving climatologists a better understanding of the global timeline of the last ice age and reinforcing the global nature of climate change we are seeing now.
By Christiana Freitag
Far from a glacial pace: New research indicates a swift end to the last ice age
The maximum reach of the last great ice age may have heralded rapid glacial retreat, according to geologic records researchers have mapped from the Cordillera Darwin mountains at the southern tip of Chile.
Sara Cooper
What can Madagascar’s caves reveal about climate shifts and intensifying monsoons in the Indian Ocean?
The connections between the Atlantic and Indian Ocean climate shifts in the past may map the role they play in the present and for future climate change.
By Christiana Freitag
The Comer Conference is about time as a tool
Time is a pervasive theme at the annual Comer Climate Conference, from the presentations on paleoclimatic studies that offer insights for current climate disruption to the pace of a conference promoting conversation and exchanges of ideas.
By Fern Alling
How an ancient glacier is helping scientists predict climate impacts on ocean currents
With global warming causing glacial melt, researchers are studying how meltwater could impact modern ocean circulation as sea levels rise.
By Lily Carey
Sustainable architecture pioneers Chicago’s past, present and future
Since the first skyscrapers rose over its streets in the 1880s, Chicago has been a hub of architectural innovation in the U.S. In recent decades, concerns for environmentally-conscious design have reshaped the field, and this story of sustainable development is captured in Chicago's skyline.
By Sara Cooper
Center for the Oldest Ice Exploration finds 4-million-year-old ice – Some of the oldest on Earth
Camping out in below freezing weather isn’t for the faint of heart, but scientists with the Center for Oldest Ice Exploration set up shop every season. Their latest visit discovered 4-million-year-old ice, some of the oldest found so far.
By Ananya Chandhok