Earth, Wind, Water, and Wine

A 2016 study by Lamont geochemists Beizhan Yan and Steven Chillrud found chemical changes in drinking water near fracking sites. This topic is among a growing list of concerns as policymakers consider the future of hydraulic fracturing.

The Oceanography Society will award its inaugural Wallace S. Broecker Medal posthumously to Lamont oceanographer Taro Takahashi, who passed away in December 2019. The medal, named for Lamont climate science pioneer Wally Broecker, recognizes “sustained, innovative, and impactful contributions to original research in the areas of marine geoscience, chemical oceanography, or paleoceanography, along with outstanding contributions to education and mentorship in the field.”

A study co-authored by Lamont climate scientist Benjamin Cook found that if temperatures rise by 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the regions of the world that are suitable for growing wine grapes could shrink by as much as 56 percent.

Lamont atmospheric chemist Daniel Westervelt is leading a research project to monitor air pollution in three sub-Saharan African megacities.

A scientist who has played a key role in documenting modern sea-level rise and its causes is to receive the 2020 Vetlesen Prize for achievement in the Earth sciences. The award, designed to be equivalent in the Earth sciences to a Nobel Prize, was established by the G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation and is administered by Lamont.

A study by Lamont climate scientists Lorenzo Polvani, Michael Previdi, Karen Smith and others examined the greenhouse warming effects of ozone-depleting substances and found that they caused half of Arctic warming and sea ice loss between 1955 and 2005, and about a third of all global warming during that period.

While dressing for an awards banquet hosted by the American Geophysical Union, four Lamont scientists decided to boldly go where few science-minded fashionistas have gone before: into the world of custom design.

A Lamont study has documented a new feedback loop that may have helped to make China’s Hami basin in the Gobi Desert one of the windiest places in the country.