Scripps researchers find evidence of warming
Scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography say they have found the first clear evidence linking human activity to changes in the Earth’s climate. In a joint study with colleagues at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, researchers have found data showing a rise in temperature in the world’s oceans.
“This is perhaps the most compelling evidence yet that global warming is happening right now, and it shows that we can successfully simulate its past and likely future evolution,” Scripps research marine physicist Tim Barnett said. “The statistical significance of these results is far too strong to be merely dismissed and should wipe out much of the uncertainty about the reality of global warming.”
The new research used a combination of computer models and real-world data to detect signals of the penetration of greenhouse gas-induced warming in the oceans. The study, its authors state, is clear evidence that the warming was caused anthropogenically — through human activity.
Critics have previously discredited other computer models purporting to establish the same information by showing that they failed to make accurate long-term predictions.
The mechanisms revealed in the ocean study will also produce broad changes across the atmosphere and land, Barnett said.
Academic Senate looking for ‘distinguished’ teachers
The Academic Senate has announced a search to honor the campus’ most extraordinary teachers.
It is soliciting nominations for the senate’s annual Distinguished Teaching Award. The honor targets “a select number of faculty and graduate students who have made extraordinary contributions to UCSD as distinguished teachers.”
Students can submit their nominations to chairs of the specific academic departments by March 15. A reception in spring quarter will honor the winners.
GSA named ‘Graduate Association of the Year’
UCSD’s Graduate Student Association — a governmental body representing the campus’ graduate student population — has been named this year’s recipient of the UC Students Association’s Graduate Student Association of the Year award.
The UCSA, which represents all 200,000 students at nine UC campuses, officially presented the award at a Feb. 5 banquet held at UC Davis.
UCSD’s GSA was chosen for its work “across the UC system defending students’ rights, specifically with regard to student-funded facilities and campus-based fees,” according to UCSA Organizing Director Matthew McFeeley.
“The GSA at UCSD took a leadership role when campus administrators first attacked the student co-ops’ rights to student-funded space,” McFeeley stated in a UCSA press release. “They have used this work as a springboard to defend students’ rights to free speech and student spaces across the UC system.”
Study: Newer generations slow to curb drinking
Though people consume fewer alcoholic beverages as they age, people born in more recent years show a slower decline than those born earlier, according to a new UCLA study.
To be published in the March issue of American Journal of Public Health, the study includes concrete data that backs a pattern health experts had suspected but never proven, according to UCLA associate professor of medicine Alison Moore. Moore served as the lead researcher in the project.
People born in 1925 saw their drinking fall an average of 11 percent in each decade of their life while those born 10 years later posted only a 9-percent decline, the study found.
“We confirmed that with increased age, people do drink less,” Moore stated in a university announcement. “The kicker is that, over time, the earlier group had a faster decline.”
Some hypotheses may be able to explain the difference between age groups, she said. For example, earlier generations could have simply started out with higher levels of alcohol consumption.
UC launches new postprint distribution service
The University of California has introduced a new service that will allow scholars to publish postprints — peer-reviewed articles previously printed in academic journals.
The service will also allow the general public free access to a repository of the research, which will be included on a searchable online database. However, the service will only feature work of UC faculty who have retained the necessary copyrights or who obtain permission from their publishers to disseminate the reprinted works.
