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Cutting-edge research by a team that includes scientists from Argonne shows the weather we experience can vary by zip code. It has long been understood that when it comes to the game of baseball, weather can be both a welcome and unwelcome member of the roster. Baseball teams are reliant upon accurate weather predictions to not only play a game but also properly train players.

When talk turns to climate change,

climate change

A change in the average conditions — such as temperature and rainfall — in a region over a long period of time.

Source: NASA Climate Kids Source

certain images pop to mind—maybe polar bears on ever-shrinking ice floes, coral reefs drained of color, or more powerful hurricanes hitting the coast. But also at stake is the security of the United States and other nations. What if people become desperate for food? What if long-dormant microbes

microbe

Microbes are tiny living things that are found all around us and are too small to be seen by the naked eye. They live in water, soil, and in the air.

Source: NIH Source

come to life due to thawing permafrost? What if water and electricity become scarce?

About 200 miles of utilities — water, sewer, electrical, steam, gas, telecom and more — line the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory campus, or roughly the distance between Washington, D.C., and New York. Despite the challenges that come with this immense network, Argonne remains committed to sustainability as it honors Earth Day on April 22 and builds toward full decarbonization.

The Funding for Accelerated, Inclusive Research (FAIR) initiative and the Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (RENEW) initiative are currently seeking applications for FY 2024 funding. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $35 million to build research capacity, infrastructure, and expertise at institutions historically underrepresented in the DOE Office of Science (SC) portfolio, including Minority Serving Institutions

minority Serving Institution (MSI)

A term used to describe colleges and universities that primarily enroll and serve minority populations. These groups can include African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Asian Americans.

Source: U.S. Department of the Interior Source

(MSIs) and Emerging Research Institutions (ERIs).

In California’s 2022-2023 winter season, the state faced nine atmospheric rivers

atmospheric river

Long, narrow regions in the atmosphere – like rivers in the sky – that transport most of the water vapor outside of the tropics.

Source: NOAA Source

(ARs) that led to extreme flooding, landslides, and power outages – the longest duration of continuous AR conditions in the past 70 years. Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) recently conducted a study using machine learning

machine learning (ML)

Machine Learning (ML) refers to the field and practice of using algorithms that are able to “learn” by extracting patterns from a large body of data.

Source: Center of Excellence Source

to better understand these complex weather systems, finding that more intense atmospheric rivers are more likely to occur in succession within a short period of time.

Remote, coastal, and island communities across the country face similar energy resilience challenges—from high energy costs and aging infrastructure to outages from extreme weather events and climate change impacts—but each community's values and priorities create a unique path toward energy resilience. The U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project (ETIPP) supports communities in adopting sustainable energy systems.

Offshore wind makes sense for decarbonizing energy production and building energy security and independence when it comes to ocean renewable energy

renewable energy

Renewable energy comes from unlimited, naturally replenished resources, such as the sun, tides, and wind. Renewable energy can be used for electricity generation, space and water heating and cooling, and transportation.

Source: U.S Department of Energy Source

production in Alaska’s Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), according to an analysis by researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

On Monday, Los Alamos National Laboratory will cut the ribbon on our newest supercomputer, Venado, named after a peak in the mountains above Taos. This won’t be the world’s fastest supercomputer — that title belongs to Oak Ridge National Lab — but it will be one of the first two supercomputers worldwide to integrate powerful superchips that use AI technology to accelerate computing speeds.

The George Crabtree Institute for Discovery and Sustainability, a new hub for scientific innovation and education, launched on April 17 in Chicago. The collaboration between the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory is dedicated to leveraging the combined research and career-development strengths of these leading institutions.

Researchers are exploring the potential of sustainable aviation fuels derived from renewable carbon sources to mitigate carbon dioxide

carbon dioxide (CO2)

An important heat-trapping gas, also known as a greenhouse gas, that comes from the extraction and burning of fossil fuels (such as coal, oil, and natural gas), from wildfires, and natural processes like volcanic eruptions.

Source: NASA Source

emissions and combat climate change. Pseudomonas putida uses cheap plant biomass

biomass

Material that comes from living things, including trees, crops, grasses, and animals and animal waste. Some kinds of biomass, such as wood and biofuels, can be burned to produce energy.

Source: EPA Global Climate Change Source

as a carbon source to make the precursor isoprenol. Isoprenol, a key chemical in the production of a jet biofuel

biofuel

Liquid fuels that are produced from renewable biological sources, including plants and algae. Biofuels offer an alternative to some of the challenges of solar, wind, and other alternative energy sources.

Source: Energy.Gov Source

blendstock known as 1,4-dimethylcyclooctane (DMCO), is being investigated for its viability.

More accurate numerical process coupling helps improve simulation of dust aerosol

aerosols

Small particles or droplets, such as wildfire smoke, volcanic gases, or salty sea spray, that float in the air. They are emitted by both natural events and human activities.

Source: NASA Global Climate Change Source

life cycle in a global climate model.

global climate model (GCM)

A complex mathematical representation of the major climate system components (atmosphere, land surface, ocean, and sea ice), and their interactions.

Source: NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Source

Computational models

computational modeling

The use of computers to simulate and study complex systems using mathematics, physics, and computer science.

Source: National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Source

used in weather and climate prediction inevitably contain errors traceable to their limited resolutions. Typically, simulations at higher resolutions may capture more detailed features and thus provide better results. However, the sequence in which different physics processes are calculated in the model can cause unexpected errors at high resolutions.

While the world would love to have a quick fix, there is no one specific pathway to stop or slow the rate of climate change. Scientists are developing multiple strategies to reduce carbon emissions in, and remove them from, the atmosphere — processes known collectively as decarbonization. In fact, the holy grail of climate change research is finding viable decarbonization pathways to achieve the U.S. government’s target of net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.