Atmospher Sci & Global Chg
Newsmakers
March 2015
Steven J. Smith Quoted in Climate Central, Scientific American, The Guardian, NBC News
Dr. Steven J. Smith of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory was quoted in several outlets regarding a paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change. The publication "Near-term Acceleration in the Rate of Temperature Change" was co-authored by PNNL researchers Jae Edmonds, Corrine Hartin, Anupriya Mundra, and Kate Calvin.
"Essentially the world is entering a new regime where what is normal is going to continue to change and it's changing at a rate that natural processes might not be able to keep up with," said Smith, as quoted in Climate Central and Scientific American.
The research attracted media attention as one that focused on the critical issue of the rate at which the climate is warming. While other studies have focused on climate over a 100-year perspective, the PNNL study looked at 40-year periods, a time interval important for infrastructure and systems planners.
"We focused on changes over 40-year periods, which is similar to the lifetime of houses and human-built infrastructure such as buildings and roads," said Smith. "In the near term, we're going to have to adapt to these changes."
The researchers work at PNNL's Joint Global Change Research Institute, a partnership with the University of Maryland, located in College Park.
For more, see Climate Central, Scientific American, The Guardian, NBC News, International Business Times, Weather.com, The Carbon Brief, PNNL News Release, PNNL Research Highlight.
