Scorching temperatures have put millions of Americans in danger this summer, with heat extremes stretching from coast to coast in the Southern U.S. Phoenix hit 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius)…
Tag: climate change
As heat records fall, how hot is too hot for the human body?
Extreme heat has been breaking records across Europe, Asia and North America, with millions of people sweltering in heat and humidity well above “normal” for days on end. Death Valley…
Weather forecast accuracy is crucial in a heat wave – 1 degree can mean the difference between life and death
Weather forecasts have gotten quite good over the years, but their temperatures aren’t always spot on – and the result when they underplay extremes can be lethal. Even a 1-degree…
Lessons from the deadly 2021 Pacific Northwest heat wave
The heat dome that descended upon the Pacific Northwest in late June 2021 met a population radically unprepared for it. Almost two-thirds of households earning US$50,000 or less and 70%…
Solutions for a world on fire
As the eastern U.S. and Canada reeled from days of thick wildfire smoke in early June 2023, millions of people faced the reality of climate change for the first time.…
Plant functional traits lend predictability to idiosyncratic range shifts – Functional Ecologists
In this new post, Tesa Madsen-Hepp—PhD candidate at the University of California Riverside, USA—presents her latest research ‘Plant functional traits predict heterogeneous distributional shifts in response to climate change’. She…
Aging in the Arctic—Insights from a study on woody shrubs – Functional Ecologists
In this new post, Jackson Drew—a PhD candidate in Alaska—presents his work ‘Age Matters: older Alnus viridis ssp. fruticosa are more sensitive to summer temperatures in the Alaskan Arctic‘. Here…
Ground squirrels hibernate to avoid predation, but not at the expense of reproductive opportunities – Functional Ecologists
Austin Allison—a PhD student at Colorado State University and recent MS graduate from the University of Idaho—discusses his recently accepted paper: “Why hibernate? Tests of four hypotheses to explain intraspecific…
Closely tropical herbs have similar tolerance to high temperatures – Functional Ecologists
In our newest post Georgia Hernández Corrales—PhD candidate at University of Connecticut, USA—presents her work ‘Evolutionary history constrains heat tolerance of native and exotic tropical Zingiberales’. She discusses the importance…
