Climate Updates on Global Warming – stories
concerning the Arctic and Antarctica.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Jokulhlaups&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=
GLOBAL CARBON PROJECT HOME PAGE
http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/
EARTH THERMAL TIME CONSTANT
http://www.ecd.bnl.gov/steve/pubs/HeatCapacity.pdf says the time constant is ~5 years
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081219180532.htm
says its 10 - 30 years
Solar
Activity Between 1250-1850 Linked To Temperature Changes In Siberia
(December 22, 2008) -- Scientists have discovered a
strong link between regional temperatures and the solar activity in the period
1250-1850, concluding that the sun was an important driver of preindustrial
temperature changes in the Siberian Altai. Interestingly, the regional
temperatures followed the solar forcing with a time lag of 10 to 30 years. ...
> full story
Arctic
Greening Linked To Retreating Sea Ice (December
22, 2008) -- An interdisciplinary group of scientists has strongly
linked sea ice changes to changes in Arctic land-surface temperatures and
increased tundra greenness. ... > full story
NASA Study
Links Severe Storm Increases, Global Warming
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2008-242
Did Early
Global Warming Divert A New Glacial Age? (December
18, 2008) -- The common wisdom is that the invention of the steam engine
and the advent of the coal-fueled industrial age marked the beginning of human
influence on global climate. Humans may have influenced the climate for
thousands of years and prevented an ice age... > full story
Global
Warming Impacts On U.S. Coming Sooner Than Expected, Report Predicts
(December 18, 2008) -- A new report provides insights
on the potential for abrupt climate change and the effects it could have on the
United States, identifying key concerns that include faster-than-expected loss
of sea ice, rising sea levels and a possibly permanent state of drought in the
American West. ... > full story
Scientists
Find Increased Methane Levels In Arctic Ocean (December
18, 2008) -- Researchers have found new data to suggest that the carbon
pool beneath the Arctic Ocean is leaking. ... > full story
Cosmic
Rays Do Not Explain Global Warming, Study Finds (December
17, 2008) -- A new study supports earlier findings by stating that
changes in cosmic rays most likely do not contribute to climate change. ...
> full story
Greenland's
Glaciers Losing Ice Faster This Year Than Last Year, Which Was Record-setting
Itself (December 16, 2008) -- Researchers
watching the loss of ice flowing out from the giant island of Greenland say
that the amount of ice lost this summer is nearly three times what was lost one
year ago. The loss of floating ice in 2008 pouring from Greenland's glaciers
would cover an area twice the size of Manhattan Island in the US, they said.
... > full story
As Ice
Melts, Antarctic Bedrock Is On The Move (December
15, 2008) -- As ice melts away from Antarctica, parts of the continental
bedrock are rising in response -- and other parts are sinking, scientists have
discovered. The finding will give much needed perspective to satellite
instruments that measure ice loss on the continent, and help improve estimates
of future sea level rise. ... > full story
Methane,
Potent Greenhouse Gas, Flowing Into The Atmosphere From Tundra Much Faster Than
Expected (December 11, 2008) -- Much more
methane gas is being emitted into the atmosphere from the tundra in northeast
Greenland than previous studies have shown. New figures reveal that large
amounts of greenhouse gases are being emitted into the atmosphere, not just
during the warm summer months, but also during the colder autumn months. ...
> full story
Carbon
Dioxide Helped Ancient Earth Escape Deathly Deep Freeze (December 8, 2008) -- The planet's present day greenhouse
scourge, carbon dioxide, may have played a vital role in helping ancient Earth
to escape from complete glaciation, say scientists. ... > full story
Shrinking
Glaciers Reveal Hidden Forests And A Warmer Climate (December 5, 2008) -- Uniquely old tree remains have
recently been uncovered by the thawing of the rapidly shrinking Kårsa Glacier
west of Abisko in Lapland, in northernmost Sweden. The finds show that in the
last 7,000 years it has probably never been so warm as during the last century.
... > full story
U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Still Increasing (December 5, 2008) -- Total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions were 7,282 million metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO 2e) in 2007, an increase of 1.4 percent from the 2006 level according to Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2007. Since 1990, U.S. GHG emissions have grown at an average annual rate of 0.9 percent. ... > full story
Young
People Choose Cars Above Greener Transport Options (December 5, 2008) -- Young people find the prospect of
driving cars more attractive than other modes of travel that are kinder to the
environment, according to new research. ... > full story
Climate
Clues In Southern Ocean: Ocean Currents Surprisingly Resistant To Intensifying
Winds (December 2, 2008) -- The Antarctic
Circumpolar Current is the current system with the largest volume transport in
the world ocean. Between 40° and 60°S strong westerlies move about 140 million
cubic meters of water per second around the Antarctic continent (this is about
five times the transport of the Gulf Stream). Vertical motions associated with
this current have been responsible for transporting a substantial fraction of
the anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere to the deep
ocean, thereby effectively damping the rate of global warming. ... > full story
Antarctica:
Wilkins Ice Shelf Under Threat (December 1,
2008) -- New rifts have developed on the Wilkins Ice Shelf that could
lead to the opening of the ice bridge that has been preventing the ice shelf
from disintegrating and breaking away from the Antarctic Peninsula. ...
> full story
UT scientist drops research that he says pollutes
Robot Gliders Take The Oceans’s Pulse
Sea Level
Rise Alters Chesapeake Bay's Salinity (November
25, 2008) -- While global-warming-induced coastal flooding moves
populations inland, the changes in sea level will affect the salinity of
estuaries, which influences aquatic life, fishing and recreation. ...
> full story
Ocean
Growing More Acidic Faster Than Once Thought; Increasing Acidity Threatens Sea
Life (November 26, 2008) -- Scientists
have documented that the ocean is growing more acidic faster than previously
thought. In addition, they have found that the increasing acidity correlates
with increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The increasingly acidic
water harms certain sea animals and could reduce the ocean's ability to absorb
carbon dioxide. ... > full story
Arctic Sea Ice Decline Shakes Up Ecosystems
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/view.php?id=35950
Second
Warmest October For Global Temperatures, NOAA Says (November 24, 2008) -- The combined global land and ocean
surface average temperature for October 2008 was the second warmest since
records began in 1880, according to a preliminary analysis by NOAA. ...
> full story
One Democrat takes
chance in ousting another fellow Democrat:
Doggett helped dethrone energy panel chief
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/nation/11/22/1122texasenergy.html
How Global
Warming May Affect U.S. Beaches, Coastline (November
24, 2008) -- Scientists are finding that sea level rise will have
different consequences in different places but that they will be profound on
virtually all coastlines. Land in some areas of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of
the United States will simply be underwater. On the West Coast, with its
different topography and different climate regimes, problems will likely play
out differently. The scientists' most recent conclusions, even when
conservative scenarios are involved, suggest that coastal development, popular
beaches, vital estuaries, and even California's supply of fresh water could be
severely impacted by a combination of natural and human-made forces.
Snow In
The Arctic: An Ingredient In A Surprising Chemical Cocktail (November 22, 2008) -- In the Arctic in spring, the snow
cover gives off nitrogen oxides. This phenomenon, the extent of which had not
been previously realized, is the source of one third of the nitrates present in
the Arctic atmosphere, according to researchers. Scientists made a quantitative
study of the origin and evolution of nitrogen compounds in the Arctic
atmosphere, in order to understand their environmental impact on this region.
... > full story
Quicker,
Easier Way To Make Coal Cleaner (November 19,
2008) -- Construction of new coal-fired power plants in the United
States is in danger of coming to a standstill, partly due to the high cost of
the requirement -- whether existing or anticipated -- to capture all emissions
of carbon dioxide, an important greenhouse gas. But an MIT analysis suggests an
intermediate step that could get construction moving again, allowing the nation
to fend off growing electricity shortages using our most-abundant,
least-expensive fuel while reducing emissions. ... > full story
Speeding
Antarctic Glacier: Scientists Discover Another Reason For Glacial Acceleration
(November 19, 2008) -- New satellite data have helped
scientists crack the case of a speeding Antarctic glacier -- a finding that
promises to help improve sea level forecasts. ... > full story
Water
Vapor Confirmed As Major Player In Climate Change (November 18, 2008) -- Water vapor is known to be Earth's
most abundant greenhouse gas, but the extent of its contribution to global
warming has been debated. Using recent NASA satellite data, researchers have
estimated more precisely than ever the heat-trapping effect of water in the
air, validating the role of the gas as a critical component of climate change.
... > full story
*
Correcting Ocean Cooling
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/OceanCooling/
Scientists revise their conclusion that the ocean has cooled since 2003.
A second opinion http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/OceanCooling/page2.php
Two kinds of bad
data http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/OceanCooling/page3.php
Smoothing the bumps
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/OceanCooling/page4.php
Balancing the sea
level budget http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/OceanCooling/page3.php
The entire article:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/OceanCooling/printall.php
Carbon
Dioxide Levels Already In Danger Zone, Revised Theory Shows (November 9, 2008) -- If climate disasters are to be
averted, atmospheric carbon dioxide must be reduced below the levels that
already exist today, according to a new study in Open Atmospheric Science
Journal. ... > full story
World Needs
Climate Emergency Backup Plan, Says Expert (November
10, 2008) -- In submitted testimony to the British Parliament, climate
scientist said that while steep cuts in carbon emissions are essential to
stabilizing global climate, there also needs to be a backup plan.
Geoengineering solutions such as injecting dust into the atmosphere are risky,
but may become necessary if emissions cuts are insufficient to stave off
catastrophic warming. He urged that research into the pros and cons of
geoengineering be made a high priority. ... > full story
Global
Warming Predicted To Hasten Carbon Release From Peat Bogs (November 10, 2008) -- Billions of tons of carbon
sequestered in the world's peat bogs could be released into the atmosphere in
the coming decades as a result of global warming, according to a new analysis
of the interplay between peat bogs, water tables, and climate change. ...
> full story
When It
Comes To Sea Level Changing Glaciers, New NASA Technique Measures Up
(November 10, 2008) -- Scientists have used satellite
data to make the most precise measurements to date of changes in the mass of
mountain glaciers in the Gulf of Alaska, a region expected to be a significant
contributor to global sea level rise over the next 50-100 years. ... > full story
Emerging
Carbon Finance Market Will Play Critical Role In Addressing Climate Change,
Experts Say (November 10, 2008) --
Climate change is an unprecedented global problem and an emerging carbon
finance market will play a critical role in addressing it, asserts a newly
published Yale report. ... > full story
Sunlight
Has More Powerful Influence On Ocean Circulation And Climate Than North
American Ice Sheets (November 7, 2008) --
A study reported in Nature disputes a longstanding picture of how ice sheets
influence ocean circulation during glacial periods. ... > full story
'Unprecedented'
Warming Drives Dramatic Ecosystem Shifts In North Atlantic, Study Finds
(November 7, 2008) -- While Earth has experienced
numerous changes in climate over the past 65 million years, recent decades have
experienced the most significant climate change since the beginning of human
civilized societies about 5,000 years ago, says a new Cornell University study.
... > full story
The nation of 1,200
low islands in the Indian Ocean is planning to establish a fund so that it can
buy a haven for its citizens should global warming raise sea levels at a
dangerous pace.
SCIENTISTS
PROBE ANTARCTIC GLACIERS
Scientists from the Jackson School of Geosciences, the University of Edinburgh
and the Australian Antarctic Division have teamed up to explore two of the last
uncharted regions of Earth, the Aurora and Wilkes Subglacial Basins, immense
ice-buried lowlands in Antarctica with a combined area the size of Mexico. The
research could show how Earth’s climate changed in the past and how future
climate change will affect global sea level.
more
about Antarctic glacier research...
NASA - Melt Ponds, Northeastern Greenland
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=18196
NASA – News, http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/2008/200810.html
- 2008 Ozone Hole Maximum Announced
- NASA Measurements Show Greenhouse Gas Methane on the Rise Again
- Potent Greenhouse Gas More Common in Atmosphere Than Estimated
- Climate Change Seeps Into the Sea
NASA – Headlines,
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/2008/200810.html
Long-term
Stabilization Of Carbon Dioxide In Atmosphere Will Require Major Cuts In
Emissions (November 3, 2008) -- Carbon
dioxide, the greenhouse gas that has had the largest impact on our climate,
will continue to rise even if current national and international targets for
reducing emissions are met, scientists warn. But, they say, strong action taken
now – such as the 80% target recently announced by the UK government – will
continue to have benefits a long time into the future. ... > full story
Arctic Sea
Ice Is Suddenly Getting Thinner As Well As Receding (November 3, 2008) -- Last winter, the thickness of sea ice
in large parts of the Arctic fell by nearly half a meter (19 per cent) compared
with the average thickness of the previous five winters. This followed the
dramatic 2007 summer low when Arctic ice extent dropped to its lowest level
since records began. ... > full story
New Model
Predicts A Glacier's Life (October 31, 2008)
-- Researchers have developed a numerical model that can re-create the state of
Switzerland's Rhône Glacier as it was in 1874 and predict its evolution until
the year 2100. This is the longest period of time ever modeled in the life of a
glacier, involving complex data analysis and mathematical techniques. The work
will serve as a benchmark study for those interested in the state of glaciers
and their relation to climate change. ... > full story
Methane
Gas Levels Begin To Increase Again (October 30,
2008) -- The amount of methane in Earth's atmosphere shot up in 2007,
bringing to an end a period of about a decade in which atmospheric levels of
the potent greenhouse gas were essentially stable, according new research. ...
> full story
Climate
Change Seeps Into The Sea (October 30, 2008)
-- Good news has turned out to be bad. The ocean has helped slow global warming
by absorbing much of the excess heat and heat-trapping carbon dioxide that has
been going into the atmosphere since the start of the Industrial Revolution.
All that extra carbon dioxide, however, has been a bitter pill for the ocean to
swallow. It's changing the chemistry of seawater, making it more acidic and
otherwise inhospitable, threatening many important marine organisms. ...
> full story
Global
Warming Is Killing Frogs And Salamanders In Yellowstone Park, Researchers Say
(October 29, 2008) -- Frogs and salamanders, those
amphibious bellwethers of environmental danger, are being killed in Yellowstone
National Park. The predator, Stanford researchers say, is global warming. One
biology graduate student spent three summers in a remote area of the park
searching for frogs and salamanders in ponds that had been surveyed 15 years
ago. Almost everywhere she looked, she found a catastrophic decrease in the
population. ... > full story
Austin American Statesman Commentary
Burnett: Is Palin using Cheney's climate change
playbook?
Jason Burnett, Former EPA Administrator
http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/10/28/1028burnett
North Pole
Exploration: Large Sliding Masses Close Beneath The Seafloor Of East-Siberian
Continental Shelf Discovered (October 28, 2008)
-- RV Polarstern has returned to Bremerhaven from the Arctic Sea. It has
cruised both the Northeast and the Northwest Passages and thereby circled the
North Pole. The third part of the research vessel's 23rd Arctic expedition
started its journey on Aug. 12 in Reykjavik and ended it on Oct. 17 in
Bremerhaven. The ship traveled a distance of 20,000 km. ... > full story
Earth In
Midst Of Sixth Mass Extinction: 50% Of All Species Disappearing (October 21, 2008) -- The Earth is in the midst of the sixth
mass extinction of both plants and animals, with nearly 50 percent of all
species disappearing, scientists say. Which plants should be a top priority to
conserve? Researchers say the most genetically unique species are the ones that
have the greatest importance in an ecosystem. ... > full story
Less Ice
In Arctic Ocean 6000-7000 Years Ago (October 20,
2008) -- Recent mapping of a number of raised beach ridges on the north
coast of Greenland suggests that the ice cover in the Arctic Ocean was greatly
reduced some 6000-7000 years ago. The Arctic Ocean may have been periodically
ice free. ... > full story
Rising
Arctic Storm Activity Sways Sea Ice, Climate (October
14, 2008) -- A new NASA study shows that the rising frequency and
intensity of arctic storms over the last half century, attributed to
progressively warmer waters, directly provoked acceleration of the rate of
arctic sea ice drift, long considered by scientists as a bellwether of climate
change. ... > full story
Challenge
To Discover Antarctica’s Hidden World (October
15, 2008) -- Later this month teams of scientists, engineers, pilots and
support staff from British Antarctic Survey (BAS), USA, Germany, Australia,
China and Japan will join forces for one of the most scientifically,
technically ambitious and physically demanding Antarctic projects yet to be
undertaken. ... > full story
Claim That
Simulated Temperature Trends For Tropics Inconsistent With Observations Is
Flawed, Experts Argue (October 13, 2008)
-- Scientists have helped reconcile the differences between simulated and
observed temperature trends in the tropics. They have refuted a recent claim
that simulated temperature trends in the tropics are fundamentally inconsistent
with observations. This claim was based on the application of a flawed
statistical test and the use of older observational datasets. ... > full story
Species
Extinction By Asteroid A Rarity (October 10,
2008) -- New research argues in favor of a "sick earth"
mechanism for most extinctions, rather than external event like an asteroid
strike. ... > full story
Satellite
Data Reveals Extreme Summer Snowmelt In Northern Greenland (October 10, 2008) -- The northern part of the Greenland ice
sheet experienced extreme snowmelt during the summer of 2008, with large
portions of the area subject to record melting days. This conclusion is based
on an analysis of microwave brightness temperature recorded by the Special
Sensor Microwave Imager onboard the F13 satellite. ... > full story
Thinning
Of Greenland Glacier Attributed To Ocean Warming Preceded By Atmospheric
Changes (October 10, 2008) -- The sudden
thinning in 1997 of Jakobshavn Isbræ, one of Greenland's largest glaciers, was
caused by subsurface ocean warming, according to research in the journal Nature
Geoscience. The research team traces these oceanic shifts back to changes in
the atmospheric circulation in the North Atlantic region. ... > full story
Arctic
Soil May Contain Nearly Twice Greenhouse-Gas Producing Material Than Previously
Estimated (October 8, 2008) -- Frozen
arctic soil contains nearly twice the greenhouse-gas-producing organic material
as was previously estimated, according to new research. The research team
discovered a previously undocumented layer of organic matter on top of and in
the upper part of permafrost, ranging from 60 to 120 centimeters deep. ...
> full story
Most
Alaskan Glaciers Retreating, Thinning, Or Stagnating (October 6, 2008) -- Most glaciers in every mountain range
and island group in Alaska are experiencing significant retreat, thinning or
stagnation, especially glaciers at lower elevations, according to U.S.
Geological Survey research. ... > full story
Arctic Sea
Ice Hits Second-lowest Recorded Extent, Likely Lowest Volume (October 3, 2008) -- Arctic sea ice extent during the 2008
melt season dropped to the second-lowest level Sept. 14 since satellite
measurements began in 1979 and may represent the lowest volume of sea ice on
record, according to researchers. ... > full story
Global
Warming Will Have Significant Economic Impacts On Florida Coasts, Reports State
(October 1, 2008) -- Scientists have released two new
studies, including a report finding that climate change will cause significant
impacts on Florida's coastlines and economy due to increased sea level rise and
hurricane storm surge. Property damage is expected to increase. A second study
recommends that the state of Florida adopt a series of policy programs aimed at
adapting to these large coastal and other impacts as a result of climate
change. ... > full story
Canada's
Shores Saved Animals From Devastating Climate Change 252 Million Years Ago
(October 2, 2008) -- Scientists have solved part of
the mystery of where marine organisms that recovered from the biggest
extinction on earth were housed. The researchers discovered that the shorelines
of ancient Canada provided a refuge for marine organisms that escaped
annihilation during the Permian-Triassic extinction event. ... > full story
Mass
Extinctions And The Evolution Of Dinosaurs (September
30, 2008) -- Dinosaurs did not proliferate immediately after they
originated, but that their rise was a slow and complicated event, and driven by
two mass extinctions, according to new research. ... > full story
Sounds
Travel Farther Underwater As World's Oceans Become More Acidic (September 30, 2008) -- It is common knowledge that the
world's oceans and atmosphere are warming as humans release more and more
carbon dioxide into the Earth's atmosphere. However, fewer people realize that
the chemistry of the oceans is also changing -- seawater is becoming more
acidic as carbon dioxide from the atmosphere dissolves in the oceans. These changes
in ocean temperature and chemistry will have an unexpected side effect --
sounds will travel farther underwater. ... > full story
Ancient
Arctic Ice Could Tell Us About Future Of Permafrost (September 29, 2008) -- Researchers have discovered the
oldest known ice in North America, and that permafrost may be a significant
touchstone when looking at global warming. ... > full story
Carbon
Dioxide Emissions Booming, Shifting East, Researchers Report (September 29, 2008) -- Despite widespread concern about
climate change, annual carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels and
manufacturing cement have grown 38 percent since 1992, from 6.1 billion tons of
carbon to 8.5 billion tons in 2007. ... > full story
Global Carbon Emissions Speed Up, Beyond IPCC Projections (September 28, 2008) -- The Global Carbon Project posted the most recent figures for the worlds' carbon budget, a key to understanding the balance of carbon added to the atmosphere, the underpinning of human induced climate change. Despite the increasing international sense of urgency, the growth rate of emissions continued to speed up, bringing the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration to 383 parts per million in 2007. Emissions growth for 2000-2007 was above even the most fossil fuel intensive scenario of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. ... > full story
Arctic Saw Fastest August Sea Ice Retreat On Record, NASA Data Show (September 28, 2008) -- Following a record-breaking season of arctic sea ice decline in 2007, NASA scientists have kept a close watch on the 2008 melt season. Although the melt season did not break the record for ice loss, NASA data are showing that for a four-week period in August 2008, sea ice melted faster during that period than ever before. ... > full story
Study
Merges Decade Of Arctic Data As Ice Collapses Into The Sea (September 25, 2008) -- The Markham Ice Shelf, a massive
19-square-mile platform of ice, broke away from Ellesmere Island in early
August and is adrift in the Arctic Ocean. More than half of the nearby Serson
Ice Shelf -- about 47 square miles -- also recently broke away into the sea.
... > full story
Abrupt
Climate Change Focus Of U.S. National Laboratories (September 23, 2008) -- Abrupt climate change is the focus
of IMPACTS, a major new program bringing together six US Department of Energy
national laboratories to investigate the instability of marine ice sheets,
warming of the boreal forests and Arctic, megadroughts in the Southwestern
United States, and methane release from frozen hydrates. ... > full story
10 Eastern US states enact CO2 reduction programs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/opinion/25thu2.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
Arctic Sea Ice At Lowest Recorded Level Ever (September 16, 2008) -- Arctic sea ice may well have reached its lowest volumes ever, as summer ice coverage of the Arctic Sea looks set to be close to last year's record lows, with thinner ice overall. Final figures on minimum ice coverage for 2008 are expected in a matter of days, but they are already flirting with last year's record low of 1.59 million square miles, or 4.13 million square kilometers. ... > full story
Ice Core Studies Confirm Accuracy Of Climate Models (September 15, 2008) -- An analysis has been completed of the global carbon cycle and climate for a 70,000 year period in the most recent Ice Age, showing a remarkable correlation between carbon dioxide levels and surprisingly abrupt changes in climate. ... > full story
Curbing Coal Emissions Alone Might Avert Climate Danger, Say Researchers (September 13, 2008) -- An ongoing rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide from burning of fossil fuels might be kept below harmful levels if emissions from coal are phased out within the next few decades, say researchers. They say that less plentiful oil and gas should be used sparingly as well, but that far greater supplies of coal mean that it must be the main target of reductions. ... > full story
Rapid Retreat: Ice Shelf Loss along Canada's Ellesmere Coast
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Ellesmere/
Beginning in late July 2008, the remaining ice shelves along the northern coast of Canada's Ellesmere Island underwent rapid retreat, losing a total of 214 square kilometers (83 square miles).
Climate:
New Spin On Ocean's Role (September 10, 2008)
-- New studies of the Southern Ocean are revealing previously unknown features
of giant spinning eddies that are profoundly influencing marine life and the
world's climate. These massive swirling structures -- the largest are known as
gyres -- can be thousands of kilometers across and can extend down as deep as
500 meters or more, new research shows. ... > full story
Bad Sign
For Global Warming: Thawing Permafrost Holds Vast Carbon Pool (September 7, 2008) -- Permafrost blanketing the northern
hemisphere contains more than twice the amount of carbon in the atmosphere,
making it a potentially mammoth contributor to global climate change depending
on how quickly it thaws ... > full story
"Climate Change
and the Greenland Ice Sheet"
The UT ESI
presents "Giant Ice Sheets Threaten Globe !?: Climate Change and the
Greenland Ice Sheet" with Ginny Catania, a research associate at the
Institute for Geophysics. http://www.esi.utexas.edu/outreach/ols/lectures/Catania/
Global
Sea-rise Levels By 2100 May Be Lower Than Some Predict, Says New Study
(September 5, 2008) -- Despite projections by some
scientists of global seas rising by 20 feet or more by the end of this century
as a result of warming, a new study concludes that global sea rise of much more
than 6 feet is a near physical impossibility. ... > full story
Global
Warming Greatest In Past Decade (September 2,
2008) -- Researchers confirm that surface temperatures in the Northern
Hemisphere were warmer over the last 10 years than any time during the last 1300
years, and, if the climate scientists include the somewhat controversial data
derived from tree-ring records, the warming is anomalous for at least 1700
years. ... > full story
Earth Has Had Sharp Climatic Shifts In Past: Is Earth Nearing Another Tipping Point? (September 2, 2008) -- In the Earth’s history, periods of relatively stable climate have often been interrupted by sharp transitions to a contrasting state. For instance, glaciation periods typically ended suddenly. About 34 million years ago the Earth’s long lasting tropical state in which most recent life forms evolved, shifted abruptly and irreversibly to a cooler state with ice caps. This shift is known as the "Greenhouse-Icehouse-Transition". ... > full story
Faster Rise In Sea Level Predicted From Melting Greenland Ice Sheet, Based On Lessons From Ice Age (September 1, 2008) -- If the lessons being learned by scientists about the demise of the last great North American ice sheet are correct, estimates of global sea level rise from a melting Greenland ice sheet may be seriously underestimated. Scientists report that sea level rise from greenhouse-induced warming of the Greenland ice sheet could be double or triple current estimates over the next century. ... > full story
Arctic Ice On Verge Of Another All-time Low (August 28, 2008) -- Following last summer's record minimum ice cover in the Arctic, current observations from ESA's Envisat satellite suggest that the extent of polar sea-ice may again shrink to a level very close to that of last year. ... > full story
Arctic sea ice drops to 2nd lowest level http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/nation/08/28/0828nation.html
Thursday, August 28, 2008
SCIENCE
Report:
Arctic sea ice at second-lowest level
More
ominous signs have some scientists saying that a global warming "tipping
point" in the Arctic could be happening before their eyes: Sea ice in the
Arctic Ocean is at its second-lowest level in about 30 years. The National Snow
and Ice Data Center reported that sea ice in the Arctic now covers about 2.03
million square miles. The lowest point since satellite measurements began in
1979 was 1.65 million square miles set last September. With about three weeks
left in the Arctic summer, this year could wind up breaking that previous
record, scientists said.
Why Is Greenland Covered In Ice? Changes In Carbon Dioxide Levels Explain Transition (August 28, 2008) -- A fall in levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, close to that of pre-industrial times, explains the transition from a mostly ice-free Greenland of three million years ago to the ice-covered region we see today. ... > full story
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/08/22/greenland-ice-crack.html
Continued Breakup Of Two Of Greenland's Largest Glaciers Shown In Satellite Images (August 22, 2008) -- Researchers monitoring daily satellite images of Greenland's glaciers have discovered break-ups at two of the largest glaciers in the last month. They expect that part of the Northern hemisphere's longest floating glacier will continue to disintegrate within the next year. ... > full story
Melting Arctic Ocean opens new shipping frontier
Greenland Ice Core Reveals History Of Pollution In The Arctic (August 20, 2008) -- New research, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that coal burning, primarily in North America and Europe, contaminated the Arctic and potentially affected human health and ecosystems in and around Earth's polar regions. ... > full story
Antarctic Climate: Short-term Spikes, Long-term Warming Linked To Tropical Pacific (August 15, 2008) -- Dramatic year-to-year temperature swings and a century-long warming trend across West Antarctica are linked to conditions in the tropical Pacific, according to an analysis of ice cores. The findings show the connection of the world's coldest continent to global warming, as well as to events such as El Niño. ... > full story
Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason 2 Begins Mapping Oceans
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080807074916.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/opinion/03Friedman.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/opinion/06friedman.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
Cold And
Ice, Not Heat, Episodically Gripped Tropical Regions 300 Million Years Ago
(August 1, 2008) -- Geoscientists have long presumed
that, like today, the tropics remained warm throughout Earth's last major
glaciation 300 million years ago. New evidence, however, indicates that cold
temperatures in fact episodically gripped these equatorial latitudes at that
time. ... > full story
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20080716_globe.html
Future Snowmelt In West Twice As Early As Expected; Threatens Ecosystems And Water Reserves (July 16, 2008) -- Global warming could lead to larger changes in snowmelt in the western United States than was previously thought, possibly increasing wildfire risk and creating new water management challenges for agriculture, ecosystems and urban populations. Researchers discovered that a critical surface temperature feedback is twice as strong as what had been projected by earlier studies. ... > full story
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.SenateReport
and http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=175B568A-802A-23AD-4C69-9BDD978FB3CD
and
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=f1f2f75f-802a-23ad-4701-a92b4ebbccbf
or http://tinyurl.com/2hftxf and http://tinyurl.com/55ooz4 and
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59329
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=26771
Summer Arctic Sea Ice Expected To Be Among Lowest On Record (July 9, 2008) -- The ice cover in the Arctic Ocean at the end of summer 2008 will lie, with almost 100 per cent probability, below that of the year 2005 -- the year with the second lowest sea ice extent ever measured. Chances of an equally low value as in 2007 lie around eight per cent. Climate scientists come to this conclusion in a recent model calculation. ... > full story
Unravelling
The 'Inconvenient Truth' Of Glacier Movement (June
30, 2008) -- Predicting climate change depends on many factors not
properly included in current forecasting models, such as how the major polar
ice caps will move in the event of melting around their edges. This in turn
requires greater understanding of the processes at work when ice is under
stress, influencing how it flows and moves. ... > full story
Polar scientists reveal dramatic
new evidence of climate change
Climate
Change May Challenge National Security, Classified Report Warns (June 26, 2008) -- The National Intelligence Council has
completed a new classified assessment that explores how climate change could
threaten US security in the next 20 years by causing political instability,
mass movements of refugees, terrorism, or conflicts over water and other
resources in specific countries. ... > full story
Ocean
Temperatures And Sea Level Increases 50 Percent Higher Than Previously
Estimated (June 19, 2008) -- New research
suggests that ocean temperature and associated sea level increases between 1961
and 2003 were 50 percent larger than estimated in the 2007 Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change report. ... > full story
Greenland Ice Core Analysis Shows Drastic Climate Change Near End Of Last Ice Age (June 19, 2008) -- Information gleaned from a Greenland ice core by an international science team shows that two huge Northern Hemisphere temperature spikes prior to the close of the last ice age some 11,500 years ago were tied to fundamental shifts in atmospheric circulation. ... > full story
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ostm/main/index.html
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ostm/news/ostm-20080520.html
Even The Antarctic Winter Cannot Protect Wilkins Ice Shelf (June 14, 2008) -- Wilkins Ice Shelf has experienced further break-up with an area of about 160 square kilometers breaking off from May 30-31, 2008. ESA's Envisat satellite captured the event -- the first ever-documented episode to occur in winter. ... > full story
Freshwater Runoff From Greenland Ice Sheet Will More Than Double By End Of Century (June 12, 2008) -- The Greenland Ice Sheet is melting faster than previously calculated according to a recently released scientific paper. The study is based on the results of state-of-the-art modeling using data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as well as satellite images and observations from on the ground in Greenland. ... > full story
Global Warming Could Release Trillions Of Pounds Of Carbon Annually From East Siberia's Vast Frozen Soils (June 12, 2008) -- East Siberia's permafrost contains about 500 Gigatons (1100 trillion pounds) of frozen carbon deposits that are highly susceptible to disturbances as the climate warms. Once started, irreversible thawing could release 4.4-6.2 trillion pounds of carbon per year into the atmosphere between the years 2300 and 2400, transforming 74 percent of the initial carbon stock into carbon dioxide and methane. ... > full story
NASA Office Is Criticized on Climate Reports
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/science/earth/03nasa.html?th&emc=th
Apparent Problem
With Global Warming Climate Models Resolved
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080530144943.htm
Large
Methane Release Could Cause Abrupt Climate Change As Happened 635 Million Years
Ago (May 29, 2008) -- An abrupt release
of methane about 635 million years ago from ice sheets caused a dramatic shift
in climate, triggering a series of events that effectively ended the last
"snowball" ice age. Methane clathrate destabilization acted as a
runaway feedback to increased warming, and was the tipping point that ended the
last snowball Earth. ... > full story
Study
says inaction on climate change could cost trillions
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/nation/05/23/0523warming.html
Ice Cores Reveal Fluctuations In Earth's Greenhouse Gases (May 17, 2008) -- The newest analysis of trace gases trapped in Antarctic ice cores now provide a reasonable view of greenhouse gas concentrations as much as 800,000 years into the past, and are further confirming the link between greenhouse gas levels and global warming, scientists have reported in Nature. ... > full story
Put The Trees In The Ground: A Fix For The Global Carbon Dioxide Problem? (May 15, 2008) -- One possible approach to carbon dioxide reduction would be to deliberately plant forests, bind the carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and then removed the trees from the global cycle by burial. ... > full story
Warming Climate Is Changing Life On Global Scale, Says New Study (May 15, 2008) -- A vast array of physical and biological systems across the earth are being affected by warming temperatures caused by humans, says a new analysis of information not previously assembled all in one spot. The effects on living things include earlier leafing of trees and plants over many regions; movements of species to higher latitudes and altitudes in the northern hemisphere; changes in bird migrations in Europe, North America and Australia; and shifting of the oceans' plankton and fish from cold- to warm-adapted communities. ... > full story
McCain Differs With Bush on Climate Change
By ELISABETH BUMILLER and JOHN M. BRODER
Senator John McCain called for a limit on greenhouse gas
emissions in the U.S.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/us/politics/13mccain.html?th&emc=th
Carbon Dioxide Capture And Storage: Grasping At Straws
In The Climate Debate?
ScienceDaily (May 9, 2008) — Great hopes are being placed on undeveloped technology. Capturing and storing carbon dioxide is predicted to be one of the most important measures to counter the threats to our climate. But the technology still hasn’t been tested in full scale, and the complications and risks it entails may have been grossly underestimated.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508142552.htm
Ocean Carbon
Cycle Research Gets Boost From Satellite Data
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505094125.htm
Global Warming
Affects World's Largest Freshwater Lake
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501091349.htm
Greenland’s Ice is melting faster and faster
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/print/33967
Greenhouse Gases, Carbon Dioxide And Methane, Rise Sharply In 2007 (April 24, 2008) -- Last year alone global levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, the primary driver of global climate change, increased by 0.6 percent, or 19 billion tons. Additionally methane rose by 27 million tons after nearly a decade with little or no increase. NOAA scientists released these and other preliminary findings April 23 as part of an annual update to the agency's greenhouse gas index, which tracks data from 60 sites around the world. ... > full story - Gene’s comment – it appears we are close to a thermal runway condition in which the release of tundra methane causes a rapid rise in greenhouse gases well beyond the effects of CO2.
Europe Turns to Coal Again, Raising Alarms on Climate
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
European countries plan to use coal, generally the dirtiest
fuel on earth, in new power plants.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/world/europe/23coal.html?th&emc=th
In
a front-page story, the New York Times (4/23, A1, Rosenthal) reports
that "European countries are expected to put into operation about 50
coal-fired plants over the next five years," despite the fact that
"the world's top climate experts agree that carbon emissions must be
rapidly reduced to hold down global warming." Europe has revisited coal
powered plants because of "rising demand, record high oil and natural gas
prices, concerns over energy security, and an aversion to nuclear energy."
But while the move alarms environmentalists, "electric companies say they
have little choice but to build coal plants to replace aging infrastructure,
particularly in countries like Italy and Germany that have banned the building
of nuclear power plants." They also tout coal's advantages, such as large
reserves and low prices. While many European power companies "emphasize
that they are making the new coal plants as clean as possible,"
environmentalists are skeptical, and call clean coal "a pipe dream"
and "building spurt shortsighted."
Wisconsin's
Sheboygan Press (4/22) editorialized that the
U.S. must "commit to doing two things: immediately begin to conserve
gasoline by driving less and continue the research and development of
alternative fuels, including ethanol." The Press pointed out that ethanol
does not solely come from corn. "We're keenly aware of the rise in the
price of food, blamed in part on the rush by farmers to plant corn that goes
into gas and not to market or into feed." Cellulosic ethanol, "which
can be produced from agricultural wastes," as well as "wood chips,
sawdust,...paper pulp" and switch grass, also has potential. "The
good thing about this method of producing ethanol is that none of the sources
are food products," explained the Press. However, "turn[ing]
cellulose into ethanol" and "doing it in a cost-efficient way is
another matter." The Press concluded that the "government must do its
part in providing research dollars," and should "also encourage
private investment through tax breaks from capital invested in renewable
energy."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080417170213.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080418112341.htm
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