Possible New Continental Heat Record for Antarctica
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/comment.html?entrynum=323
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/comment.html?entrynum=323
MESO-Rx
Anabolic Steroids
Climate Change
- Thread starter Michael Scally MD
- Start date
California drought: Sierra Nevada snowpack hits historic low
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/...ada-snowpack-hits-a-6164391.php#photo-7706488
The abominable snowpack in the Sierra Nevada reached an unprecedented low this week, dipping below the historic lows in 1977 and 2014 for the driest winter in 65 years of record-keeping.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/...ada-snowpack-hits-a-6164391.php#photo-7706488
The abominable snowpack in the Sierra Nevada reached an unprecedented low this week, dipping below the historic lows in 1977 and 2014 for the driest winter in 65 years of record-keeping.
Global warming and drought are turning the Golden State brown
http://www.theguardian.com/environm...arming-and-drought-turning-golden-state-brown
There’s a rapidly growing body of scientific research finding that California is in the midst of its worst drought in over a millennium, global warming has http://forests4climate.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Stanford-report.pdf, and decades-long mega-droughts could become the norm in the state later this century. A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) by scientists at Stanford University adds to this bleak picture for the Golden State.
http://www.theguardian.com/environm...arming-and-drought-turning-golden-state-brown
There’s a rapidly growing body of scientific research finding that California is in the midst of its worst drought in over a millennium, global warming has http://forests4climate.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Stanford-report.pdf, and decades-long mega-droughts could become the norm in the state later this century. A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) by scientists at Stanford University adds to this bleak picture for the Golden State.
Lack of Snowpack in California Sierras Has Added to State's Water Woes
http://www.newsweek.com/tomorrow-ca...snowpack-sierras-there-will-be-no-snow-318433
On Wednesday, California state employees will trek to the same spot in the Sierra Nevada mountains as they have every April 1 since 1941, to measure the snowpack. Except this time, there will be no snow.
“It’s zero snow. There’s no snow whatsoever on the ground. Even in the shade of trees, there’s no snow anywhere,” says Doug Carlson, the information officer for the California Department of Water Resources. Carlson drove with his wife on Sunday up to Phillips Station, the location about 90 miles east of Sacramento where the snow depth will be measured on Wednesday.
“When you drive up into the mountains, you’re kind of surrounded by peaks that have snow. You can see them. But you turn around and look at the south facing and east facing slopes now, there’s nothing on there at all,” Carlson says. “There ought to be snow everywhere.”
April 1 typically marks the height of the snowpack in the Sierra Nevadas—the brief window after a winter’s worth of snowfall, just before the snow begins to melt. For the past 74 years, the average depth of snow at that spot at Phillips Station on April 1 was 66.5 inches of snow. There’s nothing on the ground now.
http://www.newsweek.com/tomorrow-ca...snowpack-sierras-there-will-be-no-snow-318433
On Wednesday, California state employees will trek to the same spot in the Sierra Nevada mountains as they have every April 1 since 1941, to measure the snowpack. Except this time, there will be no snow.
“It’s zero snow. There’s no snow whatsoever on the ground. Even in the shade of trees, there’s no snow anywhere,” says Doug Carlson, the information officer for the California Department of Water Resources. Carlson drove with his wife on Sunday up to Phillips Station, the location about 90 miles east of Sacramento where the snow depth will be measured on Wednesday.
“When you drive up into the mountains, you’re kind of surrounded by peaks that have snow. You can see them. But you turn around and look at the south facing and east facing slopes now, there’s nothing on there at all,” Carlson says. “There ought to be snow everywhere.”
April 1 typically marks the height of the snowpack in the Sierra Nevadas—the brief window after a winter’s worth of snowfall, just before the snow begins to melt. For the past 74 years, the average depth of snow at that spot at Phillips Station on April 1 was 66.5 inches of snow. There’s nothing on the ground now.
Studies conclude climate change will cause less severe winters
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...limate-change-will-cause-less-severe-winters/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...limate-change-will-cause-less-severe-winters/
van Nes EH, Scheffer M, Brovkin V, Lenton TM, Ye H, et al. Causal feedbacks in climate change. Nature Clim Change.advance online publication. http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate2568.html
The statistical association between temperature and greenhouse gases over glacial cycles is well documented, but causality behind this correlation remains difficult to extract directly from the data. A time lag of CO2 behind Antarctic temperature—originally thought to hint at a driving role for temperature — is absent at the last deglaciation, but recently confirmed at the last ice age inception6 and the end of the earlier termination II. We show that such variable time lags are typical for complex nonlinear systems such as the climate, prohibiting straightforward use of correlation lags to infer causation. However, an insight from dynamical systems theory now allows us to circumvent the classical challenges of unravelling causation from multivariate time series. We build on this insight to demonstrate directly from ice-core data that, over glacial–interglacial timescales, climate dynamics are largely driven by internal Earth system mechanisms, including a marked positive feedback effect from temperature variability on greenhouse-gas concentrations.
The researchers selected five potential tipping points − all of which have separately been in the news recently. They relate to:
The statistical association between temperature and greenhouse gases over glacial cycles is well documented, but causality behind this correlation remains difficult to extract directly from the data. A time lag of CO2 behind Antarctic temperature—originally thought to hint at a driving role for temperature — is absent at the last deglaciation, but recently confirmed at the last ice age inception6 and the end of the earlier termination II. We show that such variable time lags are typical for complex nonlinear systems such as the climate, prohibiting straightforward use of correlation lags to infer causation. However, an insight from dynamical systems theory now allows us to circumvent the classical challenges of unravelling causation from multivariate time series. We build on this insight to demonstrate directly from ice-core data that, over glacial–interglacial timescales, climate dynamics are largely driven by internal Earth system mechanisms, including a marked positive feedback effect from temperature variability on greenhouse-gas concentrations.
The researchers selected five potential tipping points − all of which have separately been in the news recently. They relate to:
- The collapse of the Atlantic Ocean’s meridional overturning circulation
- The irreversible melting of the Greenland ice sheet
- The collapse of the west Antarctic ice sheet
- The dieback of the Amazon rainforest
- An increase in that cyclic phenomenon known as El Niño Southern Oscillation, which disrupts climate on both sides of the Pacific Ocean − sometimes with devastating consequences.
What do conservative policy intellectuals think about climate change?
http://grist.org/politics/what-do-conservative-policy-intellectuals-think-about-climate-change/
For this piece, I focused on public intellectuals, meaning writers and think tank scholars, who are relatively high-profile, who would be cited by other conservatives as well-regarded thinkers, and who are associated with mainstream conservative institutions or large media outlets. I couldn’t include everyone, so apologies to those left out, but these 15 people form a good representative sample.
http://grist.org/politics/what-do-conservative-policy-intellectuals-think-about-climate-change/
For this piece, I focused on public intellectuals, meaning writers and think tank scholars, who are relatively high-profile, who would be cited by other conservatives as well-regarded thinkers, and who are associated with mainstream conservative institutions or large media outlets. I couldn’t include everyone, so apologies to those left out, but these 15 people form a good representative sample.
Earth Will Cross the Climate Danger Threshold by 2036
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-will-cross-the-climate-danger-threshold-by-2036/
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-will-cross-the-climate-danger-threshold-by-2036/
Federal report: Vegan diet best for planet
http://thehill.com/regulation/237767-vegan-diet-best-for-planet-federal-report-says
A federal panel that helps set federal dietary guidelines is recommending Americans eat less meat because it’s better for the environment, sparking outrage from industry groups representing the nation’s purveyors of beef, pork and poultry.
The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, a federally appointed panel of nutritionists created in 1983, decided for the first time this year to factor in environmental sustainability in its recommendations. They include a finding that a diet lower in animal-based foods is not only healthier, but has less of an environmental impact.
The 571-page report says the average U.S. diet has a larger environmental impact in terms of increased greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water use, and energy use than the healthy dietary pattern it suggests — one that’s rich in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, seafood, legumes and nuts; moderate in low- and non-fat dairy products and alcohol; and lower in red and processed meat, sugar-sweetened foods and beverages, and refined grains.
In its review of scientific studies, the committee highlighted research concluding that a vegan diet had the most potential health benefits.
http://thehill.com/regulation/237767-vegan-diet-best-for-planet-federal-report-says
A federal panel that helps set federal dietary guidelines is recommending Americans eat less meat because it’s better for the environment, sparking outrage from industry groups representing the nation’s purveyors of beef, pork and poultry.
The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, a federally appointed panel of nutritionists created in 1983, decided for the first time this year to factor in environmental sustainability in its recommendations. They include a finding that a diet lower in animal-based foods is not only healthier, but has less of an environmental impact.
The 571-page report says the average U.S. diet has a larger environmental impact in terms of increased greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water use, and energy use than the healthy dietary pattern it suggests — one that’s rich in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, seafood, legumes and nuts; moderate in low- and non-fat dairy products and alcohol; and lower in red and processed meat, sugar-sweetened foods and beverages, and refined grains.
In its review of scientific studies, the committee highlighted research concluding that a vegan diet had the most potential health benefits.
A revealing interview with top contrarian climate scientists
http://www.theguardian.com/environm...erview-with-top-contrarian-climate-scientists
In 1990, University of Alabama at Huntsville scientists Roy Spencer and John Christy created a data set that estimates the temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere by using instruments on satellites (microwave sounding units) that measure microwave radiation in the atmosphere. According to their latestestimates, the Earth’s lower atmosphere has warmed significantly since satellite measurements began in 1979, but not quite as fast as thermometer measurements of temperatures at the Earth’s surface.
Spencer and Christy have also long disputed the degree to which humans are contributing to that warming, and have thus often been called to testify before Congress by policymakers seeking justification to oppose climate legislation. On the 25th anniversary of their satellite data set, Alabama.com interviewed the pairto discuss their science and climate contrarianism. The resulting discussion was quite revealing.
http://www.theguardian.com/environm...erview-with-top-contrarian-climate-scientists
In 1990, University of Alabama at Huntsville scientists Roy Spencer and John Christy created a data set that estimates the temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere by using instruments on satellites (microwave sounding units) that measure microwave radiation in the atmosphere. According to their latestestimates, the Earth’s lower atmosphere has warmed significantly since satellite measurements began in 1979, but not quite as fast as thermometer measurements of temperatures at the Earth’s surface.
Spencer and Christy have also long disputed the degree to which humans are contributing to that warming, and have thus often been called to testify before Congress by policymakers seeking justification to oppose climate legislation. On the 25th anniversary of their satellite data set, Alabama.com interviewed the pairto discuss their science and climate contrarianism. The resulting discussion was quite revealing.
Why Coal Should Not Be Saved
http://energyincontext.com/2015/03/why-coal-should-not-be-saved/
Coal had a good ride. It has been a workhorse in electric power generation, accounting for an average of 52 percent of the nation’s electricity from 1920 to 1985 (see Figure). But since then coal has steadily lost significant market share, first to nuclear and more recently to natural gas and wind. This shift is likely to continue because most of the recent and planed capacity additions are natural gas and renewables. The shift away form coal is due in part to increasing concern about its viability in light of the push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Since 1751 coal gas has accounted for about one-half of the GHG emissions from the nation’s fossil fuel energy system (Boden et al., 2013). Any climate policy aimed at reducing GHG emissions, and any other environmental policy aimed at reducing the harm to people and the environment caused by our energy system, will accelerate the transition away from coal.
http://energyincontext.com/2015/03/why-coal-should-not-be-saved/
Coal had a good ride. It has been a workhorse in electric power generation, accounting for an average of 52 percent of the nation’s electricity from 1920 to 1985 (see Figure). But since then coal has steadily lost significant market share, first to nuclear and more recently to natural gas and wind. This shift is likely to continue because most of the recent and planed capacity additions are natural gas and renewables. The shift away form coal is due in part to increasing concern about its viability in light of the push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Since 1751 coal gas has accounted for about one-half of the GHG emissions from the nation’s fossil fuel energy system (Boden et al., 2013). Any climate policy aimed at reducing GHG emissions, and any other environmental policy aimed at reducing the harm to people and the environment caused by our energy system, will accelerate the transition away from coal.
If We Dig Out All Our Fossil Fuels, Here’s How Hot We Can Expect It to Get
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/09/u...ls-heres-how-hot-we-can-expect-it-to-get.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/09/u...ls-heres-how-hot-we-can-expect-it-to-get.html
John Cook: Climate scientists offer clear evidence
http://www.winonadailynews.com/news...cle_7a6cb0dc-bcfb-5d8d-a6ff-24327de7ad4b.html
To quote John Reisman, “Science is not a democracy. It is a dictatorship. It is evidence that does the dictating.” It’s essential that scientific understanding comes from consideration of the full body of evidence.
On that point, I am in agreement with an April 1 opinion piece by Stan Gudmundson in the Daily News. Unfortunately, our agreement ends there. Gudmundson’s article is riddled with misrepresentations and inaccuracies. He fails to follow his own advice, ignoring the full body of evidence on climate change.
http://www.winonadailynews.com/news...cle_7a6cb0dc-bcfb-5d8d-a6ff-24327de7ad4b.html
To quote John Reisman, “Science is not a democracy. It is a dictatorship. It is evidence that does the dictating.” It’s essential that scientific understanding comes from consideration of the full body of evidence.
On that point, I am in agreement with an April 1 opinion piece by Stan Gudmundson in the Daily News. Unfortunately, our agreement ends there. Gudmundson’s article is riddled with misrepresentations and inaccuracies. He fails to follow his own advice, ignoring the full body of evidence on climate change.
It makes me laugh when both sides of this debate continue to bludgeon each other with the word science. Science can't be applied to climate change. At best the data can be used to determine different hypothesis, but those can never be verified through experimentation. More importantly, they can't be disproved through experimentation. All they have are math models, simulations that can easily be tweaked to produce presupposed results. In the flight simulation world, we call that twirling a knob which is a lot less work than finding the correct answer - and the method most commonly used by engineers. I don't believe either side. They are all a bunch of knob twirlers IMO.
Smith SJ, Edmonds J, Hartin CA, Mundra A, Calvin K. Near-term acceleration in the rate of temperature change. Nature Clim Change. 2015;5(4):333-6. http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v5/n4/full/nclimate2552.html
Anthropogenically driven climate changes, which are expected to impact human and natural systems, are often expressed in terms of global-mean temperature. The rate of climate change over multi-decadal scales is also important, with faster rates of change resulting in less time for human and natural systems to adapt. We find that present trends in greenhouse-gas and aerosol emissions are now moving the Earth system into a regime in terms of multi-decadal rates of change that are unprecedented for at least the past 1,000 years. The rate of global-mean temperature increase in the CMIP5 (ref. 3) archive over 40-year periods increases to 0.25 ± 0.05 °C (1σ) per decade by 2020, an average greater than peak rates of change during the previous one to two millennia. Regional rates of change in Europe, North America and the Arctic are higher than the global average. Research on the impacts of such near-term rates of change is urgently needed.
Anthropogenically driven climate changes, which are expected to impact human and natural systems, are often expressed in terms of global-mean temperature. The rate of climate change over multi-decadal scales is also important, with faster rates of change resulting in less time for human and natural systems to adapt. We find that present trends in greenhouse-gas and aerosol emissions are now moving the Earth system into a regime in terms of multi-decadal rates of change that are unprecedented for at least the past 1,000 years. The rate of global-mean temperature increase in the CMIP5 (ref. 3) archive over 40-year periods increases to 0.25 ± 0.05 °C (1σ) per decade by 2020, an average greater than peak rates of change during the previous one to two millennia. Regional rates of change in Europe, North America and the Arctic are higher than the global average. Research on the impacts of such near-term rates of change is urgently needed.
Rapid global warming may be coming sooner than you think
http://mashable.com/2015/04/09/rapid-global-warming/
A new study bolsters the case that a period of much faster global warming may be imminent, if not already beginning. The study, published Wednesday in Geophysical Research Letters, uses climate records gleaned from coral reefs in the South Pacific to recreate sea surface temperatures and ocean heat content dating back to 1791. The corals examined were from Fiji, Tonga and Rarotonga.
Information from the coral reef core samples reveals how ocean surface temperatures have varied over time in the South Pacific, along with how the uptake and release of upper ocean heat content has varied over time, as well. The insights they provide, together with other recent research, carry important implications for how global warming may play out during the next two decades or so.
The news that the coral reef core samples (combined with other climate signals) bring is not good, either.
http://mashable.com/2015/04/09/rapid-global-warming/
A new study bolsters the case that a period of much faster global warming may be imminent, if not already beginning. The study, published Wednesday in Geophysical Research Letters, uses climate records gleaned from coral reefs in the South Pacific to recreate sea surface temperatures and ocean heat content dating back to 1791. The corals examined were from Fiji, Tonga and Rarotonga.
Information from the coral reef core samples reveals how ocean surface temperatures have varied over time in the South Pacific, along with how the uptake and release of upper ocean heat content has varied over time, as well. The insights they provide, together with other recent research, carry important implications for how global warming may play out during the next two decades or so.
The news that the coral reef core samples (combined with other climate signals) bring is not good, either.
Keep it in the ground: why this is a matter of basic ethics
http://www.theguardian.com/environm...e-ground-why-this-is-a-matter-of-basic-ethics
http://www.theguardian.com/environm...e-ground-why-this-is-a-matter-of-basic-ethics
Scientists must speak up on fossil-fuel divestment
http://www.nature.com/news/scientists-must-speak-up-on-fossil-fuel-divestment-1.17325
Editors call it 'eat-your-peas' journalism — stories that are really good for you, if not nearly as enjoyable as the latest news about Jeremy Clarkson or the wardrobe malfunction of a breakfast television presenter.
Climate change is the ultimate eat-your-peas journalism. On some level, most people are aware that they should be deeply concerned about it. On another level, they just aren't. Perhaps it is just too frightening to think about. The story changes little from day to day. And, anyway, there seems to be little that anyone can do about it. A depressing fatalism settles over the subject. News editors shrug and change the subject.
But what if the climate story is the most important news on Earth — in the sense that, if we can't find a solution, then our children and grandchildren may well inherit a planet that is deeply hostile to the sort of civilization we enjoy?
http://www.nature.com/news/scientists-must-speak-up-on-fossil-fuel-divestment-1.17325
Editors call it 'eat-your-peas' journalism — stories that are really good for you, if not nearly as enjoyable as the latest news about Jeremy Clarkson or the wardrobe malfunction of a breakfast television presenter.
Climate change is the ultimate eat-your-peas journalism. On some level, most people are aware that they should be deeply concerned about it. On another level, they just aren't. Perhaps it is just too frightening to think about. The story changes little from day to day. And, anyway, there seems to be little that anyone can do about it. A depressing fatalism settles over the subject. News editors shrug and change the subject.
But what if the climate story is the most important news on Earth — in the sense that, if we can't find a solution, then our children and grandchildren may well inherit a planet that is deeply hostile to the sort of civilization we enjoy?
Keeling Curve 404.67
https://scripps.ucsd.edu/programs/keelingcurve/?hc_location=ufi
https://scripps.ucsd.edu/programs/keelingcurve/?hc_location=ufi
Similar threads
