College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon is becoming warmer and more prone to drought and will see less snow due to climate change, but people and businesses are also adapting to the challenges of a warming planet, the latest Oregon Climate Assessment indicates.

The assessment, released today by the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute at Oregon State University, shows that Oregon’s annual average temperature increased by 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit over the last century and is likely to become as much as 5 degrees Fahrenheit warmer by 2074.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study investigating ancient methane trapped in Antarctic ice suggests that global increases in wildfire activity likely occurred during periods of abrupt climate change throughout the last Ice Age.

The study, just published in the journal Nature, reveals increased wildfire activity as a potential feature of these periods of abrupt climate change, which also saw significant shifts in tropical rainfall patterns and temperature fluctuations around the world.

CORVALLIS, Ore. –  A nearly 20-year effort to map the electrical properties of Earth’s crust and mantle across the contiguous United States, viewed as critical to protecting the electrical grid during extreme solar storms and against damage from electromagnetic pulses used as weapons, is now complete.

The 3-D geoelectric map produced by researchers provides vital information to scientists, power companies and others that helps them understand how the naturally occurring geomagnetic currents under the surface interface with the power grid.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Lead levels in moss are as much as 600 times higher in older Portland neighborhoods where lead-sheathed telecommunications cables were once used compared to lead levels in nearby rural areas, a new study of urban moss has found.

The findings raise concerns about lead exposure in pre-1960 neighborhoods where the cables were common and in some cases are still in place even though they are no longer in use, said Alyssa Shiel, an environmental geochemist at Oregon State University, and the study’s lead author.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Crews later this month will begin installing the power and data cables that are essential to completing construction of a new wave energy testing facility off the Oregon Coast.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Today’s rate of atmospheric carbon dioxide increase is 10 times faster than at any other point in the past 50,000 years, researchers have found through a detailed chemical analysis of ancient Antarctic ice.

The findings, just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provide important new understanding of abrupt climate change periods in Earth’s past and offer new insight into the potential impacts of climate change today.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Low oxygen conditions that pose a significant threat to marine life are widespread and increasing in coastal Pacific Northwest ocean waters as the climate warms, a new study shows.

Researchers found that in 2021, more than half the continental shelf off the Pacific Northwest coast experienced the low-oxygen condition known as hypoxia, said the study’s lead author, Jack Barth of Oregon State University.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University researchers are leading an effort to refine the design and expand use of oxygen monitoring sensors that can be deployed in fishing pots to relay critical information on changing ocean conditions to the fishing industry.

The new project, a collaboration with industry and Tribal partners, is funded by a three-year, $1.2 million Ocean Technology Transition grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.