Arctic at warmest levels in 2,000 years or more
Arctic temperatures in the 1990s reached their warmest level of any decade in at least 2,000 years, new research indicates. The study, which incorporates geologic records and computer simulations, provides new evidence that the Arctic would be cooling if not for greenhouse gas emissions that are overpowering natural climate patterns.
Climate Change Already Devasting Human Lives in South Asia
Climate Catastrophe: At Some Point, It Gets Personal Opinion: Posted at DeSmogBlog, August 17, 2009 by Miriam Zitner It was meeting a family with a mother working through typhoid fever to serve me breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday for two weeks that finally made me realize that the way we North Americans lead our unsustainable [...]
More Evidence of Dangerous Climate Change: Ocean Surface Warming Breaks Record This July
The planet’s ocean surface temperature was the warmest on record for July, breaking the previous high mark established in 1998 according to an analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The combined average global land and ocean surface temperature for July 2009 ranked fifth-warmest since world-wide records began in 1880.
Important Resource Material on Climate War Scenarios
Useful links, dating from 2003, to five and a half years of various reports and articles on possible future conflicts related to dangerous climate change, an important reference for governmental and non-governmental decision makers.
Alert: The Rest of This Year Could Be Much Hotter
NCDC: “Based on preliminary data, the globally averaged combined land and sea surface temperature was the second warmest on record for June, and the January-June year-to-date tied with 2004 as the fifth warmest on record.” The ocean temperature was the warmest on record. In fact, it was a full 0.11°F warmer than the 2005 record. This is almost certainly the new El Niño on top of the long-term warming trend, and that means record temperatures are coming and this will be the hottest decade on record.
Satellite Shows Big Thinning of Winter Arctic Sea Ice, in Just Four Years
The volume of older crucial sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk by 57 percent from late 2004 to 2008. That is losing more volume of ice than water in Lake Michigan. Thin seasonal ice has replaced thick older ice as the dominant type for the first time on record.
Breakup of the tongue of Greenland’s Petermann glacier due within weeks
Arctic glacier poised to split up July 15, 2009 Sidney Morning Herald Environment An ice island weighing many millions of tonnes is poised to break off the northern hemisphere’s largest glacier, say independent scientists travelling aboard a Greenpeace ship. Altogether, 5 billion tonnes of ice is set to crumble from the Petermann Glacier on Greenland’s [...]
Rapid, Sustained and Effective Mitigation Needed to Avoid “Dangerous Climate Change”
With unabated greenhouse gas emissions, the world faces a growing risk of ”abrupt and irreversible climatic shifts”. This is one of the conclusions in a scientific synthesis report released Thursday, June 18. Weak targets for CO2 reduction 2020 increase the risk of serious impacts, such as tipping points, and make the task of meeting 2050 targets more difficult and costly.
The Link Strong Between Carbon Dioxide and Global Warming
The science is clear: global warming is happening faster than ever and humans are responsible. Global warming is caused by releasing what are called greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The most common greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide
In the Arctic, the “Climate Change Clock is Ticking”
What are not clearly understood are the impacts of feedbacks that will drive global warming faster and farther. Permafrost melting, for instance, will release vast amounts of methane, a powerful GHG, while the warming of the ocean will reduce its capacity to absorb GHGs.
