Hello Friends, Welcome to the end of another busy week of science – shwew! Though it had no Lamont connection, the biggest science story of the week by far, was the discovery of possible life on Venus! Not little green women, but atmospheric phosphine molecules (like those in our gut) that suggest the possibility of anaerobic microbes living in the cloud decks above the surface of Venus. The project and paper, led by Dr. Jane Greaves of Cardiff University, could not be more exciting and will no doubt be credited with launching a multitude of new space missions to Venus. Hopefully this Venusian attention will also get people thinking about the not-so-nice things that can happen to a planet when carbon dioxide is allowed to build up indefinitely in the atmosphere. In fact, maybe it is time for a complete pivot of our interplanetary attention from Mars to Venus – maybe it would be far easier to terraform Venus for our next human outpost? Venus is much closer and we would just need to figure out how to remove the excess carbon dioxide from its atmosphere, maybe by dramatically cooling the planet with a sunshade or solar mirror. Atmospheric water vapor could condense and scrub out the CO2 with it? I’d much prefer proposed geoengineering experiments be carried out on Venus than Earth, though of course having to get to Venus first makes them much more expensive. Still, I suspect there will be quite a few new missions planned and I look forward to learning much more about our hot, mysterious neighbor!
Some big science stories came out of Lamont this week as well. In Nature Communications Earth & Environment Jason Smerdon’s group published a paper titled “A quantitative hydroclimatic context for the European Great Famine of 1315–1317”, an infamous and devastating event in the late medieval period. A blog post by lead author Seung Hun Baek (recent Lamont PhD now at Yale) starts out with this effectual sentence: “A global pandemic is a good time to reflect on the reality that history is full of greater misery and strife.” Yes indeed, the 14th century was awful – Black Death, The Hundred Years’ war, Mongol hoards, and relentlessly miserable weather apparently, especially during the years of the Great Famine. Jason and his dendronauts (including undergraduate interns George-Costin Dobrin and Jacob Naimark and Lamont summer intern Serena Scholz) were able to determine that 1314 to 1316 was one of the wettest intervals of the last 700 years. Beyond a fascinating story linking human history with weather and climate, the implications for understanding hydroclimatic risk in the coming century are explored in depth.
A second very cool paper published this week was led by graduate student Josh Maurer on Himalayan glacier lake outburst floods. This project began when Josh, working with his advisor Joerg Schaefer, started investigating one of the biggest and most devastating Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) recorded in the eastern Himalayas, the 1994 GLOF in Bhutan, by looking at remote sensing maps. Josh recognized the tremendous energy this flood carried downhill and was inspired to think that maybe seismometers might tell us more. He got in touch with Josh Russell, a seismology PhD student, also at Lamont, and they got to work analyzing available records from seismometers on the Tibetan Plateau, 100 km away. And sure enough, they found the GLOF in stunning beauty and clarity! As Joerg says, “The record is a game-changer in our understanding of the outbreak and evolution of these floods, but Josh's paper also trailblazes a new way to develop better 'early warning systems' for these hazard floods that are becoming forefront problems in the Himalayas and elsewhere due to shrinking glaciers and lake formation up in the mountains.” What an amazing piece of work, one which may lead to the establishment of a new kind of life-saving early warning network.
In other exciting news, one of our pioneering woman alumna, Professor Susan Trumbore, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry and Professor of Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine, has won the International Balzan Foundation Prize for Earth System Dynamics. The prize is worth $830,000 and half of the amount must be spent on research leaving >$400,000 for, I don’t know, donations to alma maters? Just kidding – I’d buy a Tesla. Susan and I were graduate students together in the 1980s, receiving our PhDs the same year. She was also possibly Wally Broecker’s first woman graduate student? (I love this newsletter because I know that someone will send me the answer to that question). Susan was recognized “for her outstanding contributions to the study of the carbon cycle and its effects on climate, and for pioneering the use of radiocarbon measurements in Earth-system research”.
One of the most fascinating studies Susan was involved with (as a graduate student!) was an international effort to radiocarbon date the Shroud of Turin, the linen cloth that Christ was supposedly wrapped in after his torture and crucifixion. Their results returned an age of AD 1260-1390, conclusively proving a medieval age for the cloth. And of course, as any well-rounded scientist (or reader of this newsletter) knows, this was an interval of extreme misery and strife in human history. So maybe not a surprise that a “strategic distraction” might be embraced by the church – something to get your mind off Black Death, war, and moss growing between your toes. I raise a toast to Susan! Lamont is proud of you!
Another shout-out to the many Lamonters around the country who sent me links to Joan Feynman’s obituary. What a surprise that story was to all of us! Of course, we all know of Richard Feynman, genius physicist of the 20th century, but I had never heard of his also brilliant little sister Joan. The story is happy and sad, happy and sad…. Sadly, her mother told her science was not for girls when she was quite young. “I know she thought she was telling me the inescapable truth,” Joan later told her son. “But it was devastating for a little girl to be told that all of her dreams were impossible. And I’ve doubted my abilities ever since.” Happily, her big brother continued to nurture and encourage her interest in science. Later, as a young adult homemaker (you must homemake Joan!), she became quite depressed. But then, happily, her obviously enlightened psychiatrist recommend she apply for a job at Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory at Columbia University. She was hired, and her career took off. Indeed, the rest is now history. Joan “went on to become a world-famous astrophysicist and a pioneer in solar physics” who (with work started at Lamont) solved one of the greatest and enduring mysteries of the natural world, namely why fabulous aurora borealis occur! In closing this story, I wish I could tell you with whom and in what lab Joan worked at Lamont. Our HR records only go back to 1971 and she was here a decade earlier. I went to Lamont Hall on Wednesday evening and rummaged through six years of collected Lamont reprints from the early 60’s but found no trace of her authorship. If anyone in the newsletter network knows, please drop me a line!
In a final grab-bag of news: we had the pleasure of two particularly inspiring talks this week – the first by Dr. Robert Bullard, a pioneer in the field of environmental justice, and the second from Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, a leading light in the field of climate communications. How privileged we are to be able to hear and share their perspectives on life and science. Next Monday Lamont Research Professor Radley Horton will share his own expertise with Al Roker on the morning Today show. They will be talking about our year of extreme events—in other words, the new normal. Lastly, congratulations to Dr. Chloe Gustafson, who successfully defended her PhD on “Electromagnetic investigations of submarine and subglacial hydrogeologic systems” today. After a well-deserved rest Chloe plans to start a postdoc at Swansea University as part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. After her post-doc, she will start a faculty position at Penn State in the Department of Geosciences in July 2022. Chloe, may you have many exciting adventures on one of the most interesting and sea level-relevant glaciers in the world!
Please don’t forget to support your local food providers in the Lamont cafeteria.
Have a peaceful and restful weekend,
Mo
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LAMONT IN THE MEDIA:
FEATURED NEWS
Donald Trump, the Climate Arsonist
NJ.com
September 16, 2020
Article quotes Lamont bioclimatologist Park Williams.
Earth's Glaciers and Ice Sheets Are Melting
EarthSky
September 16, 2020
Article cites research by Lamont scientists Ching-Yao Lai, Jonathan Kingslake, Julian J. Spergel, and colleagues.
SciTech Daily
September 15, 2020
Article on research by Lamont Ph.D. Laura Haynes and paleoclimatologist Bärbel Hönisch.
Human Carbon Emissions Outpace Past Emissions That Acidified Oceans, Study Finds
International Business Times
September 15, 2020
Article on research by Lamont Ph.D. Laura Haynes and paleoclimatologist Bärbel Hönisch.
Human Carbon Emissions 'Now Worse than Deadly Ancient Volcanic Period'
Yahoo News
September 15, 2020
Article on research by Lamont Ph.D. Laura Haynes and paleoclimatologist Bärbel Hönisch.
Ancient Volcanoes Once Boosted Ocean Carbon, but Humans Are Now Far Outpacing Them
Space Daily
September 15, 2020
Article on research by Lamont Ph.D. Laura Haynes and paleoclimatologist Bärbel Hönisch.
Satellite Images Show Deterioration of Antarctica Glaciers that Could Lead to Rising Sea Levels
ABC News
September 14, 2020
Article quotes Lamont glaciologist Indrani Das.
Antarctic Glaciers Are Growing Unstable Above and Below Water
Wired
September 14, 2020
Article cites research by Lamont glaciologist Dave Porter, polar geophysicist Kirsty Tinto, and marine geologist and geophysicist Frank Nitsche.
Satellite Imaging Reveals Severe Damage in Two Antarctic Glaciers
Science Times
September 14, 2020
Article quotes Lamont glaciologist Indrani Das.
How Climate Change ‘Exacerbates’ Wildfires in the American West
PBS NewsHour
September 14, 2020
Interview with Lamont bioclimatologist Park Williams.
Biden Says California's Devastating Wildfires Show the 'Fury of Climate Change'
KQED
September 14, 2020
Article cites research led by Lamont bioclimatologist Park Williams.
Biden: Trump Has No Interest in "Meeting This Moment" of Crisis
CNN
September 14, 2020
Interview with Lamont climate scientist Adam Sobel.
Climate Change Is Fueling Record-Breaking California Fires, Heat and Smog
Los Angeles Times
September 13, 2020
Article quotes Lamont bioclimatologist Park Williams.
Stronger Rains Could Lessen Heat Damage to Crops
American Farm Publications
September 11, 2020
Article on research by Lamont Ph.D. student Corey Lesk, climate scientist Radley Horton, and colleague.
Joan Feynman, Who Shined Light on the Aurora Borealis, Dies at 93
The New York Times
September 10, 2020
Obituary for astrophysicist Joan Feynman whose career launched at Lamont.
These Changes Are Needed Amid Worsening Wildfires, Experts Say
The New York Times
September 10, 2020
Article quotes Lamont bioclimatologist Park Williams.
California Wildfires Growing Bigger, Moving Faster than Ever
AP
September 10, 2020
Article quotes Lamont bioclimatologist Park Williams.
Should People Be Prevented from Living in Fire & Flood Prone Areas?
CleanTechnica
September 10, 2020
Article quotes Lamont bioclimatologist Park Williams.
Media Matters for America
September 10, 2020
Article quotes Lamont bioclimatologist Park Williams.
BLOGS
Seismic Monitoring May Improve Early Warnings for Glacial Lake Outburst Floods
September 16, 2020
A new study finds that real-time monitoring of ground motion could have detected a sudden and catastrophic flood in Bhutan five hours before it destroyed a village.
Climate Week at the Earth Institute
September 16, 2020
Next week, September 21-27, is Climate Week in New York City. Join us for a series of online events covering the climate crisis and pointing us towards action.
Ancient Volcanoes Once Boosted Ocean Carbon, But Humans Are Now Far Outpacing Them
September 14, 2020
A new study of the closest ancient analog to modern carbon emissions finds that massive volcanism was the main cause of high carbon at the time. But nature did not come close to matching what humans are doing today.
New Project Will Create The Internet of Samples
September 10, 2020
iSamples will digitalize scientific samples to enable more discoveries and information-sharing.