Déjà Vu? Ocean Warmth Melted Ancient West Antarctic Ice Shelf

EOS News – Jan. 31

Scientists sailing on a research cruise in the Amundsen Sea, off the coast of western Antarctica, have found evidence of massive, ancient loss of an ice shelf in the region, resulting from contact with warmer seawater. Seafloor sediment cores the team collected in front of the current Cosgrove Ice Shelf indicate that relatively warm ocean water under-melted a vast ice shelf about 2000 years ago, they recently reported. This melting occurred despite cooling air temperatures and advance of neighboring ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula. The clues found in sediments deposited during the late Holocene suggest that an ocean mass that circles the southern polar region, known as Circumpolar Deep Water, flowed onto the continental shelf and underneath the Cosgrove Ice Shelf, eventually melting it. Today, the shrunken shelf covers an area nearly as large as the state of Rhode Island, but it was much larger before this melting event. “This circumpolar water isn’t like a hot tub. It’s only about 2°C warmer” than the surrounding ocean, said lead research author Rebecca Totten Minzoni, a paleoclimatologist from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Still, that’s enough to have a major impact on ice dynamics, she explained. This example of past ocean-driven melting causes concern for major glacial systems farther south, which could contribute significantly to sea level rise over the next hundred years.

The quest for cleaner fire: Why it’s time to rethink our favourite way to get warm – the globe and mail

Gas and Electricity – Jan. 27

On a crisp winter day, few scents appeal more than wood smoke, which signals, on a primal level, comfort and even safety. Kushal gas agencies belgaum It is hard to imagine the aroma rankling anyone in the middle of February … Does the sound and sight of fire trigger the relaxation response and alleviate stress? University of Alabama professor Christopher Lynn was eager to find out, because stress-related disorders are among the leading causes of disability in the modern era, with significant economic impact.

‘Freedom’ gallery is open in downtown Tuscaloosa

Crimson White – Jan. 31

A new gallery in downtown Tuscaloosa is asking the question, “What is freedom?” The Paul R. Jones Gallery opened the new “Freedom?” gallery Jan. 23. The exhibit showcases pieces from Jones’s personal collection and is the end result of a two-year project that involved members of The University of Alabama’s Black Faculty and Staff Association and Dalila Scruggs, a curator from New York. “A sizable contingent of faculty has been involved in virtually every stage of the process – from choosing the theme and the works to be included to writing text for the catalog and planning class visits to the show,” said Stacy Morgan, BFSA member and associate professor of American studies.

University of Alabama Theatre and Dance Department is a pipeline to Broadway

CBS 42 (Birmingham) – Feb. 2

If all the world is a stage, The University of Alabama’s Theatre and Dance Department has found its spot front and center. New York, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. And for students who start out at The University of Alabama Theatre and Dance Department, making it might be an understatement. We’re talking leading roles in some of the biggest Broadway hits, Hamilton, Wicked, Kinky Boots, even the Radio City Rockettes on stage.

Also making headlines:

MGCCC campuses to host two art exhibits – Jan. 27 – Adrienne Callander

11 arrested during latest ‘sit-in’ outside Jeff Sessions Mobile office – Jan. 31 – William Stewart

PREVIEW: UA to showcase Dance Alabama! Film Festival – Jan. 31

Immigration and crime: What does the research say? – Feb. 2 – Lesley Reid

Trump’s voter fraud claims rooted in Alabama man’s work – Feb. 3 – Richard Fording

Student musician fulfills passions through saxophone – Feb. 3 – April Newman