The good news is that NASA has just released research on how temperature and rainfall patterns worldwide may change because of the concentrations of greenhouse gas growing in Earth’s atmosphere. The space scientists have based their conclusions on historical measurements and robust scenarios of increasing carbon dioxide produced from 21 climate models: specifically, General Circulation
Last week, the British journal Nature Climate Change published study findings linking anthropogenic warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels and atmospheric release of carbon dioxide with weather events. Climate change has caused about 75% of all hot-temperature extremes worldwide in the past 100 years. Climate change has also caused about 18% of heavy rainfall. The
Remember the difference between weather and climate? We know what happens when the weather changes—it’s obvious. Climate is another story. Read on. When it rains, you put on a raincoat or take your umbrella when you go out. It snows: time for high boots, a heavier coat, scarf, and warm gloves. And sunny days, well,
Weather and climate are similar but different. For the most part, they are very distinct phenomena. Below, we talk about the weather first, and then delve into the climate. Weather We measure what’s going on in our atmosphere over a short period of time—usually in a particular place on a particular day—by assessing the weather. Could be
More imminent than deadly viruses or terrorists at national events is the phenomenon of climate change, a force examined in a groundbreaking new report released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists. Titled National Landmarks at Risk: How Rising Seas, Floods and Wildfires are Threatening the United States’ Most Cherished Historic Sites, the study examines
There are the good wildfires, and there are the bad. Unfortunately, the latter often overwhelm the beneficial ones. We’ll go on with stories from San Diego in a minute—it’s a long story of an actually short time—but here’s a word about the bright side first. Whoopi Goldberg had a thought that’s worth repeating: When you
(All figures are from the 2014 National Climate Assessment draft.) Later today (Tuesday, May 6), at 8 a.m. EDT, the National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee of experts meets by conference call to approve the final version of the Third National Climate Assessment. The gist of their message, as Suzanne Goldenberg of The Guardian
Premium hydroponic-grown, pesticide-free vegetables and herbs growing in the U.S. Gotham Greens facility (from eponline.com). Two entrepreneurs have recently made London the home of a very creative architectural reuse for food production—underground. Steven Dring, a former executive with Bunzl, an international provider of food-related products and services, and his friend and business partner Richard Ballard,
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) has released their latest State of the Climate, “a collection of monthly summaries recapping climate-related occurrences on both a global and national scale.” The title for the January 2013 summary reads “Contiugous US warmer and wetter than average for January”, noting that
Adding to the growing evidence that ‘things are not as they once were’, a new dendrochronological study has found that socio-cultural disruptions in Eastern Europe during the past millennium coincided with periods of decreased temperature, and recent temperature in the region is warmer than at any previous time over the past thousand years. Oh, dendrochronological is the
With the close of the year these days we can generally expect to see any number of climate institutions across the planet report on just what the year gone provided us. 2012 is no different and according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 2012 was the warmest and second most extreme year on
British and Australian researchers working on data collected over a ten-year period from robotic probes wandering around the Southern Ocean have discovered an important method of how carbon is drawn from the surface of the Southern Ocean to the deeper waters below. The research shows that carbon is not drawn down uniformly by the ocean
According to a new study the Greenland ice sheet is possibly more vulnerable to the temperature increase of global warming than previously estimated. According to the study, conducted by scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and published in the journal Nature Climate Change, the temperature
Even if we somehow managed to restore our planet’s atmosphere to zero greenhouse gases, temperatures would still continue to rise by a few tenths of a degree over the next 10 years. That is the best case scenario discovered by researchers who have written a paper to be published online in the journal Nature. Written
Every month the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration release a series of highlights depicting the state of the previous months climate. January 2012s statistics have been released, and the lead story for many is that it was the 19th warmest January on record at 12.39°C (54.30°F), which is 0.39°C (0.70°F) above the 20th century average of 12.0°C
Provisional figures released by the United Kingdom’s Met Office reveal that while December may have been closer to average temperatures in 2011, the year as a whole was the second warmest on record. The Met Office, the nation’s meteorological service, released their preliminary figures on the 30th of December, 2011, showing that the mean temperature
Dropped through the massive ice sheets on the Ross Ice Shelf, half-mile long thermometres will begin to give scientists and researchers across the world relevant data on sea and ice temperatures that will help them track climate change and its effect on the glacial ice surrounding Antarctica. The thermometres were deployed by a team based
The year 2010 saw an unusually high melting season in Greenland which subsequently impacted the amount of ice weighing down the bedrock of the island causing it to lose 100 billion tonnes of ice and uplift by as much as 20 millimetres. These findings come courtesy of nearly 50 GPS stations that have been planted
The month of November and the overall September to November autumn season were warmer than average across the contiguous United States according to scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Climatic Data Center. Not only were they warmer, but precipitation totals across the country were also above average during November, though the totals
Winter is coming quick and, unfortunately, it’s time to prepare for cold, wet, and more cold. But don’t overthink it, preparing your home for winter is simply a step to saving money, not to mention keeping coal from being burnt for energy. No matter how old, drafty, or even new and well-insulated a house is,
A new study by researchers from Queen Mary’s School of Biological and Chemical Sciences has explored the possibility that many of the world’s organisms may shrink in size as a result of continued global warming.
Researchers from Boston University have estimated the effects near-term increases in global average temperatures will have on summertime temperatures across the globe, based on current warming trends and a desire to minimise overall warming to 2°C.
With the country still deep in the middle of a heat wave, some tips to stay cool and energy efficient.
Scientists have long known that climate change was happening in West Greenland over the past 5,000 years, but until now they have not been able to quantify the specific conditions of that change. New research has allowed scientists to predict that abrupt temperature changes by as much as 4 or 5 degrees Celsius will have had profound implications for the peoples that occupied western Greenland during that time.
From our favorite climate denial de-crocker on the web, here’s another great video from him (recently updated). As he summarizes on Climate Denial Crock of the Week:
“For a lot of climate deniers, this is their penultimate argument, the master climate crock. They think it’s the stroke to end all arguments. It’s only the most outrageous and dishonest cherry pick of all time.”
New research conducted at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem show that many tree species may be unable to shift with the changing climates, and could face extinction if manmade intervention is not made. The research looked at trees which dispersed their seeds via the wind, which include trees like pines and maples, and looked at
The widely held assumption that plants will have to migrate higher or become extinct in a warming world has been challenged today by a new study published in the journal Science, by Jonathan Greenberg, an assistant project scientist at the University of California, Davis, Center for Spatial Technologies and Remote Sensing. Greenberg looked at data
Scientists have long assumed that the long-lasting and severe cold spells in Europe that have taken place since the Last Glacial Maximum some 10,000 to 20,000 years ago have been the result of changes in the circulation of the Atlantic Ocean currents. New research led by Cardiff University has now shown that ocean circulation changes
One common claim of misinformed citizens or paid global warming disinformer trolls is that the temperature data on which climate science is based are rigged. Something many of the innocents are probably not aware of is that there are a number of data sets used by climate scientists and they all show basically the same thing
A new study has shed light on the possible impact of rising carbon dioxide levels on the planets global temperatures. Looking back 40 million years into Earth’s history, scientists from Utrecht University, working with colleagues at the NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and the University of Southampton, have theorized that a massive increase
We know that water vapour and clouds are major contributors to Earth’s greenhouse effect, providing the feedback mechanisms to power the warming that keeps us from another ice age. A new study, however, has shown that it is carbon dioxide –- which only accounts for 20 percent of the greenhouse effect, compared to water vapour
Targets for limiting the global temperature to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels shouldn’t be considered ‘safe’ according to new research from climate change experts at the University of Exeter. Professor Chris Turney and Dr Richard Jones, both from the University’s Department of Geography, have reported in the latest issue of the Journal of Quaternary
Having just endured its warmest summer on record, the Japanese Meteorological Agency has said it has also recorded the warmest sea temperatures since it started gathering data 25 years ago. According to the JMA, ocean surface temperatures surrounding Japan reached more than 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) in August. The average temperature was the
A new and powerful computer model released by the National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) will help study climate change in far greater detail. The Community Earth System Model (CESM) will be one of the primary climate models used when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) make their next assessment of our planet’s climate,
Courtesy of NOAA The combined global land and ocean surface temperature made this July the second warmest on record, behind 1998, and the warmest averaged January-July on record. The global average land surface temperature for July and January-July was warmest on record. The global ocean surface temperature for July was the fifth warmest, and for
And the global warming news keeps coming…. What else could you expect? Think this July is ridiculously hot? It may be relative to the past, but relative to the future it looks like it will be quite normal or even cooler than normal (unless we turn things around fast).
Hundreds died in India in May due to heat waves with record high temperatures. Meanwhile, a town in Pakistan set the new record for highest temperature ever recorded in Asia! Following the hottest April and hottest January-April on record, monthly heat records have been set for May across the globe again and the 12-month global
Continuing our coverage of the EPA’s new Climate Change Indicators in the US report, below are key summary findings regarding snow and ice. Despite what you may have heard in false science circles, we definitely have less snow cover, snowpack and ice than in the past these days.
Continuing our coverage of the EPA’s new Climate Change Indicators in the US report, below are key summary findings regarding weather and climate. More heat waves, tropical cyclones, floods, precipitation, and also perhaps drought in some areas — watch out! The following text comes directly from the US EPA’s “Summary of Key Findings” [PDF]: [social_buttons]
This week The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) revealed that last month was the second hottest land and ocean temperature on record for the month of September. NOAA’s records date back to 1880. In the 100 plus year history, only September 2005 showed warmer temperatures. This is a concerning
We spend a lot of our time looking at research and studies that focuses on one particular aspect of the planet. Rarely does anyone spend the time to look at a multitude of aspects, to acquire a look at the overall picture. It seems like science is all about proving the big picture by proving
