• Groundwater Flow to Colorado River May Decline by a Third over Next 30 Years

    A new study projects that a hot and dry future climate may lead to a 29 percent decline in Upper Colorado River Basin “baseflow” at the basin outlet by the 2050s, affecting both people and ecosystems. Baseflow is the movement of groundwater into streams and, on average, accounts for more than 50 percent of annual streamflow in the Upper Colorado River Basin.

  • Protecting Infrastructure from Hackers

    Two Midwestern universities lead an effort to form a coalition of regional research centers to work together to develop the region’s cyber defense talent with an eye to bolstering the defense of the region’s infrastructure against hackers.

  • Flood Sensors to Support NYC Real-Time Flood Monitoring, Response

    In the face of climate change, which is likely to increase the frequency and severity of floods, NYC needs access to real-time data providing critical information on when and where flooding occurs.

  • Extreme Ice Melting in Greenland Raises Global Flood Risk

    Global warming has caused extreme ice melting events in Greenland to become more frequent and more intense over the past 40 years, raising sea levels and flood risk worldwide. Over the past decade alone, 3.5 trillion tons of ice has melted from the surface of the island and flowed downhill into the ocean.

  • U.S. Offers Reward for Information on Russian DarkSide Cybercrime Group

    The United States has announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of any individual holding a “key leadership” position in DarkSide, a cybercrime group believed to be tied to Russia.The DarkSide syndicate was behind the attack on Colonial Pipeline – the largest publicly disclosed cyberattack against critical infrastructure in the United States.

  • Protecting U.S. Critical Infrastructure from Cyberattacks

    Over the past year, there has been a sharp increase in cyberattacks using malware to target the systems of critical infrastructure such as utility companies, government agencies and organizations that provide services and products that we rely on daily.

  • Is Russia Using Energy as a Weapon Again?

    Europe is experiencing energy turmoil, with spot prices for natural gas surging in the past month to levels five times those of a year ago. Putin and Gazprom didn’t create Europe’s new gas crisis, but they are happy to exploit it.

  • Hackers-for-Hire Drive Evolution of Threat Landscape

    Cybersecurity threats are on the rise. The new edition of the ENISA Threat Landscape (ETL) highlights the surge in cybercriminality motivated by monetization using ransomware or cryptojacking. Supply-chains attacks also rank highly among prime threats because of the significant potential they have in inducing catastrophic cascading effects.

  • DHS Strategic Framework for Addressing Climate Change

    Two weeks ago, the Biden administration released four reports, by DHS, the intelligence community, the Department of Defense, and the National Security Council, on how climate change-driven developments — among them:  worsening conflict within and between nations; increased dislocation and migration as people flee climate-fueled instability; heightened military tension and uncertainty; infrastructure destruction; worsening public health; food and water shortages; financial hazards, and more – are posing an increasingly more serious challenge to global stability and to U.S. national security.

  • Waste of Space: A Proactive Approach to Removing Space Junk

    There are more than 27,000 pieces of space debris bigger than the size of a softball currently orbiting Earth, and they are traveling at speeds of up to 17,500 mph, fast enough for a small chunk to damage a satellite or spacecraft like an intergalactic cannonball. Cleaning up this space junk will be an important task if agencies are to shoot more rockets and satellites into orbit.

  • Targeted: Masterminds of Global Ransomware Attacks Against Critical Infrastructure

    Twelve individuals who were wreaking havoc across the world with ransomware attacks against critical infrastructure have been targeted as the result of a law enforcement and judicial operation involving eight countries.

  • Managing Water Resources in a Low-to-No-Snow Future

    With mountain snowpacks shrinking in the western U.S., a new Lab study analyzes when a low-to-no-snow future might arrive and implications for water management.

  • Warning Issued Over the Unintended Consequences of Wind for Achieving Net Zero Targets

    In the run-up to the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow, an expert on geoengineering and energy transition highlights the need for joined up thinking if the U.K. is going to find the optimal use of the North Sea to achieve Net Zero targets.

  • Historical Analysis Finds No Precedent for the Rate of Coal, Gas Power Decline Needed to Limit Climate Change to 1.5C

    Limiting climate change to the 1.5°C target set by the Paris Climate Agreement will likely require coal and gas power use to decline at rates that are unprecedented for any large country, an analysis of decadal episodes of fossil fuel decline in 105 countries between 1960 and 2018 shows.

  • France Sets to Invest in Small Modular Nuclear Reactors

    France plans to invest in small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). Some experts question whether this is ecologically and economically sensible, but it may be that France’s interests in SMRs is as much about geopolitical strategy as it is about energy.