Climate Science & Research

The Calamity Of The Century, & Then Again, In St. Petersburg, Florida — Tropical Storm & Sewage Crisis

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Unchecked development causes many urban crises with water problems. Troubles such as too much impervious infrastructure are overwhelmed when strong storms arrive. A recently reported crisis in St. Petersburg, Florida — “The Calamity of the Century” — examines one of the many water problems of this complex environmental conundrum in South Florida. The plight of the Gulf Coast

Help Others "Get" Climate Change With This Page

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If you’re a regular PlanetSave reader, you know a lot of these facts already–but here’s an excellent one-pager about climate change, a.k.a. global warming. The presenters write in everyday language with photos and feature leads. From the webpage: “The science of global warming starts with the burning of fossil fuels, specifically in vehicles fueled by

"Lousy, Spoilt, and Defiled Planet" Climate Talks Begin In Warsaw

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Officials open the 2013 UNFCCC meetings with determination and louder warnings…. (Photo source: http://ow.ly/qL43P) It’s time for the governments of the world to struggle with climate change policy again. Every year, late in November and early in December, representatives of 195 nations gather for two weeks to try to negotiate global responses to the increasingly

Climate Science Weekly Research Roundup

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  Ari Jokimäki recently published one of his regular roundups of climate science research news. Since you probably haven’t seen many (or any) of these stories in the mainstream media, I’m reposting the roundup here in full. The post is from AGW Observer (via Skeptical Science). Enjoy! by Ari Jokimäki Wouldn’t it be nice to

How Extreme Weather Will Impact World's Major Cities

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  In the 2004 science fiction movie The Day After Tomorrow, climate change causes catastrophic events through extreme weather. Powerful tornadoes rip through Los Angeles, a giant snowstorm hits New Delhi, and a massive tidal wave hits Manhattan, causing extreme flooding. All of this makes for good popcorn munching, brought to us by Hollywood, but it

The Exception to Bergmann’s Rule

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Since 1971, researchers in California have been collecting data on birds’ bodies and wingspans and have discovered that the birds have been growing in size. These research findings seem to be an exception to Bergmann’s Rule, which is unusual when compared with similar studies throughout the United States and even Europe.

New Study Concludes Hurricanes are Becoming Stronger Due to Global Warming

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Nature has published a major analysis concluding that higher sea surface temperatures caused by global warming are creating stronger hurricanes. The net effect of global warming on the frequency of hurricane formation remains uncertain. Global warming causes sea surface temperatures to increase, but it also causes wind shear to increase, which disrupts hurricane formation. However,

Global Warming Hockey Stick Still Viable Despite Attacks

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One of my passions in life is climate science and research, and I am a strong defender of the science proving anthropogenic global warming. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has long attempted to bring to the forefront the scientific facts about humanities effects on the environment. Naturally, there have been those who have

How Far Would You Drive for a Cheeseburger?

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According to one study released last week, your answer doesn’t matter much: even if you walk to the burger joint, your food will have its own set of wheels—and an exhaust pipe. While it’s now common knowledge that activities like driving conventional cars cause global warming, the environmental impact of what we eat continues to

The Arctic Becomes an Island, Hurting Wildlife

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For the first time in recorded human history, the Arctic has become an island to itself, completely separate from the landmasses that the Arctic ice normally stretches out onto. This distressingly historic event has been captured by NASA satellites, depicting both the Northwest and Northeast passages as ice free. For the past few years we

Expand Offshore Drilling? Three Words for You: Katrina, Rita, Gustav

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Why is expanded offshore drilling not the lasting solution to the U.S.’s energy problems? Besides many of the other valid reasons (decades to get to market, potential environmental devastation, oil as a global commodity), Satish Nagarajaiah offers another one: Billions and billions of dollars in potential storm-related losses. A civil and mechanical engineering professor at

Blame it on Yourself for a Rainy Weekend

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Ever found yourself making it to the end of a week, hoping for a sunny weekend in which to lie outside or head to the beach or do some gardening, only to wake up on Saturday morning to overcast skies? I bet it’s happened before, probably more than once. Well it seems that, according to

Arctic Cold Holding Carbon Explosion Intact… For Now

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A new study has shed light on the possible dangers being kept intact by the Arctic cold. According to the study, published in the British journal Nature Geoscience, climate change’s warming of the Arctic ice could end up releasing massive stores of carbon dioxide from the Arctic soil. In fact, the carbon stores have been

Arctic Breakup Growing Each Week

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Fears about the Arctic melting away during northern summers are proving to be far from unfounded, with the latest reports rolling in from Alaska and Greenland showing disturbing trends. New shipping lanes are opening up through what were once icy seas near Alaska, and glaciers that have so far withstood much of what the environment

Alaska’s Kenai National Forest Suffering from Climate Change

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I am time and time again amazed at the far reaching implications that climate change is having on the environment. More than just melting ice, rising sea levels and warmer winters, looking two or three links down the chain – sometimes even more – the environment is suffering heavily. The latest consequence of climate change

Human Caused Wind Changes Drying Southwest

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Since the late 1970’s, the winter storm track located above the western US has slowly been sliding north. The combination of global warming and the ozone hole have forced this change, making for fewer winter storms in the American Southwest. And according to new research from the University of Arizona in Tucson, the hotter and

Antarctic Climate Affected by Humans and Nature Alike

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While much of the world is focused on the Arctic during this Northern Hemisphere’s summer, my own polar region is once again in the scientific news. Apparently, dramatic year-to-year temperature swings, as well as a century-long warming trend across West Antarctica, are not solely the fault of humans. Granted, we haven’t helped matters. And while

Oceans on the Precipice, ie, Totally Screwed

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The latest news concerning our oceans is not what you would label “good news.” Immediate and sweeping changes are necessary to slow or reverse the impact that human activity is having on our oceans. If we do not, then catastrophic problems will be unavoidable. Issues such as overfishing, pollution and climate change are just a

Westerners Cause Climate Change; Africans Suffer from It

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One of the biggest crises facing the human population is not a complete shocker. It affects countless nations across our planet, and is continually getting worse and worse. There are things that we can do, but so many of us fail to do anything. Governments are worse, prolonging worsening conditions and human lives in the

16th Century British Navy Helping Modern-Day Climate Scientists

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One of the biggest problems facing meteorologists and climate scientists is the fact that we simply don’t have long term climate data. Sure, we’ve seen our planet get hotter and nastier in the last few decades, but, did it happen the same time a hundred years ago? What we’ve needed are data from the past,

Hurricane Dolly versus Gulf's Dead Zone

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The dead zone that grows and shrinks in the Gulf of Mexico, at the outlet of the Mississippi River, has long been on my radar. Hurricanes too, have long been on my agenda, for fear that global warming is increasing their intensity and frequency. However I never thought that I would report on both in

Minimum Ice Record Unlikely for 2008

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Over the past 12 months there has been one big fear lingering over the environmental community. It was a year ago that we were watching the Arctic ice disappearing at a tremendous rate, and saw it slip to its lowest levels in recorded history. Subsequently, we also saw the complete opening of the Northwest Passage

The Hidden Giant #2: Transportation

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Well, this may not be a hidden issue, but I think it is a highly under represented issue. Transportation is the leading contiributor to greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the country, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and is also the fastest growing contributor, at a time when we are supposed

Greenland (Probably) Won’t Destroy Earth Anytime Soon

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Much has been made recently of the possibility that the Greenland ice-sheet could doom us all. Al Gore unwisely used it in his movie An Inconvenient Truth, without providing any references, saying that if the ice-sheet melted, it would raise sea-levels 6.5 meters. Of course, this is entirely true – Greenland’s ice-sheet could do this

The Hidden Giant #1: "Food" — Vegetarianism

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It is one of the least discussed issues when we discuss solutions to the environmental crisis. It is not whether or not the food is organic or sprayed with synthetic chemicals, or whether or not it is grown locally. The underdiscussed issue is the importance of a vegetarian diet for addressing critical environmental issues. As

First Ice-Free Summer Ever Predicted for Arctic

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I’ve covered the fate of the Arctic sea-ice for almost a year now, watching as report after report came out spelling doom for our northern pole. At the beginning of September last year I wrote a post called “Summer Ice to Disappear by 2030,” in which I quoted Dr. Mark Serreze, an Arctic specialist at

Climate Change is Already Killing a Whole Country

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It’s hard for me to be shocked anymore by a news report, feature article or scientific study on climate change. I get it already: it’s upon us and accelerating faster than even the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) says. But Belfast Telegraph reporter Johann Hari’s recent account of global warming in Bangladesh hit me

Floodwaters to Increase Mexican Gulf Dead Zone

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If you have visited Planet Save for any length of time you will no doubt have seen me talk about the increasing amount of ‘dead zones’ cropping up across our planets watery surface. In particular, the Gulf of Mexico is home to what is believed to be the largest dead zone in the world: an

Anti-Fart Shots for a Cleaner Environment?

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Aw, c’mon, pull my finger! You’ve probably had that one pulled (pardon the pun) on you at least once in your life, and the old guy got a good laugh out of your response. It’s ok, old guys do strange things, I know. Well, this isn’t about old guys, but sheep, cattle, deer and goats,

Americans Debating Climate Change

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From the man who has sent an occupation force to another country with no feasible exit-strategy and thus its own budgetary concerns, comes this gem of a quote; “I urge the Congress to be very careful about running up enormous costs for future generations of Americans.” George W. Bush – as if you hadn’t guessed

Methane Could Kick-Start Increased Warming

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The study of our environment continues to throw up road-block after road-block, preventing us from ever acquiring a grasp of what may be to come. We know that ice ages and warm periods have come before us – they are evident through geological and ecological study – but we don’t know how they started. Take

America Struggling to Respond to Climate Changes

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Over the past year we’ve reported about the continuing changes taking place in our planets climate. A very US-centric view will point to a number of shifts in various patterns that have caused alarm. A new report released yesterday by the US Climate Change Science Program has shown that these changes are affecting the US

Giant Cracks Appearing in Arctic Ice

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At a time when renewed focus is being shone on the Arctic and its ice-levels, the Canadian Military has made a disturbing discovery; a discovery that, too many, is continued evidence of the shocking break-up of the Arctic ice-cap. The Canadian military recently made what it called a “sovereignty patrol” of its Arctic territory. Joined

Are Disaster Capitalists Seeking Profit from Climate Change?

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Remember the scene in Apocalypse Now where Marlon Brando’s character, the crazed Colonel Kurtz, tells Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) of the shock he felt upon realizing the strength of his enemies? “And then I realized… like I was shot… like I was shot with a diamond… a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I

Calling Out Phony-Baloney George Will

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There is a person who’s columns I regularly read, because I often find it fun to disagree with him. This person is George Will, conservative commentator and phony-baloney. I call him a phony-baloney, because it seems to fit with the old-fashioned bow tie he sometimes chooses to wear on television programs like Sunday’s political talk

Eco-Libris: Tree Planting Can Help Mitigate Global Warming

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Editor’s note: Is planting trees a valuable tool for fighting climate change? Or is it a feel-good activity without much effect? Our friends at Eco-Libris point to another study which argues tree-planting can work in sequestering carbon dioxide. This post was originally published on Friday, May 16, 2008. There is an ongoing debate on the

Warmer Oceans Don’t Necessarily Mean More Storms

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Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth did a lot of good for the awareness of environment, but in so doing it also created a few misconceptions. Probably the largest was the link between hurricanes and a warming planet, a link that Gore made clear when he tied Hurricane Katrina to global warming. In reality, climatologists and

South Florida Learning from the Polar Bears

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With their recent addition to the US Endangered Species Act list, polar bears have sent a wake-up call to water managers in South Florida. Added to the ESA list on Wednesday, the polar bears will finally receive a measure of official attention and protection, albeit a little late. However, joining the environmental awareness last Wednesday,

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