Grand Challenges

During a visit to campus, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy discussed some of the space agency's most ambitious and impactful space missions with the UArizona early-career scientists who pursue them.

UArizona researchers were leaders in a worldwide effort to understand tropical trees and their futures under climate change. They found that heat and drought slow the growth of these trees, which are major carbon dioxide absorbers.

The $23 million, donor-funded project will provide new space for the internationally recognized UArizona center, which focuses on whole-person wellness.

Alpine permafrost, which is found closer to the equator at high elevations, is expected to melt at a faster rate than arctic permafrost under current global warming conditions, according to new research.

Members of the France-Arizona Institute for Global Grand Challenges convened on campus this week to reflect on the institute's first year and plan for its future.

Researchers discovered hundreds of large bursts of methane from oil and gas production activities across the globe. The bursts account for 10% of global oil and gas methane emissions and are missing from most greenhouse gas emissions inventories.

Irina Panyushkina grew up in Siberia, hearing stories of explorers trudging through seas of ice to reach the North Pole. She is now a climate scientist trying to understand how a warming world is transforming the place she called home.

The University of Arizona's research and development expenditures rank in the top 4% of all U.S. universities and No. 1 in astronomy and astrophysics, according to fiscal year 2020 data from the National Science Foundation.

Ecologists estimate that 15 to 37% of species will go extinct as a direct result of climate change. But when you consider the indirect effects of climate change, extinction rates may be higher, new research suggests.