University of Arizona
University of Arizona is a university that is part of the pulse of the water sector. Here we bring together everything it publishes on Smart Water Magazine: its news, its blogs and the events it takes part in.
When in drought: Researchers map which parts of the Amazon are most vulnerable to climate change
In the late 2000s, Scott Saleska noticed something strange going on in the Amazon rainforest. In 2005, a massive drought struck the region. Two years later, Saleska – a University of Arizona professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology – published surprising research that used satellite images to find that the drought resulted in more green growth […]
Pass the salt: This space rock holds clues as to how Earth got its water
The discovery of tiny salt grains in an asteroid sample brought to Earth by the Japanese Hayabusa spacecraft provides strong evidence that liquid water may be more common in the solar system's largest asteroid population than previously thought.
Scientists develop algorithm for measuring wind via water vapor
Wind speed and direction provide clues for forecasting weather patterns. In fact, wind influences cloud formation by bringing water vapor together. Atmospheric scientists have now found a novel way of measuring wind—by developing an algorithm that uses data from water vapor movements. This could help predict extreme events like hurricanes and storms. A study published […]
How a forest’s smell could help scientists sniff out drought stress
A new paper from researchers behind an unprecedented drought experiment at the University of Arizona's Biosphere 2 underscores the importance of molecular compounds often associated with fragrance in identifying when an ecosystem is in distress.
Freshwater habitats are fragile pockets of exceptional biodiversity, study finds
While much research has focused on the striking differences in biodiversity between tropical and temperate regions, another, equally dramatic, pattern has gone largely unstudied: the differences in species richness among Earth's three major habitat types—land, oceans and freshwater. A new study led by ecologists at the University of Arizona reveals the origins of diverse animal […]
California’s ‘climate whiplash’ has been worsening for 50 years and will continue
It may seem as if California is always either flooding or on fire. This climatic whiplash is not imagined: New University of Arizona research, published in the International Journal of Climatology, shows that while dry events are not getting drier, extreme wet events have been steadily increasing in magnitude since the middle of the last century. […]
Rivers speeding up Arctic ice melt at alarming rate, experts say
Understanding the degree of change caused by major rivers delivering freshwater and heat to the Arctic Ocean is important for regulating and managing Arctic commerce and ecosystems as the region opens up to new shipping routes.
Can forests become more resilient to extreme drought?
An unprecedented drought experiment at Biosphere 2 highlights nature's surprising resilience.
Jet stream changes could amplify weather extremes by 2060s
Drilling deep into the Greenland ice sheet, researchers reconstructed the jet stream's tumultuous past and found that climate-caused disruptions are likely to have drastic weather-related consequences for societies on both sides of the Atlantic.