UCI Earth scientist helps write new federal climate change report

Jim Randerson, associate professor of Earth system science at UC Irvine, helped write a new federal report that links a rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to changes in climate change patterns and vegetation across the U.S. The report says the changes could disrupt water supplies, agriculture, forestry and ecosystems for decades. Randerson contributed to the section on land resources that discusses forests and arid lands. He researches the global carbon cycle, including links between deforestation and fire and drought in the tropics, and the impact of changes in high northern-latitude climate on terrestrial ecosystems.