Climate News
Arctic coasts slipping away
Posted Sun, 17 Apr 2011 23:00:00 GMT by Louise MurrayA quarter of the Arctic's permafrost coastline is suffering from erosion due to climate change. The impact on settlements, shipping, oil and gas installations and coastal infrastructure is likely to grow. As ice free periods increase due to global warming, there is a direct effect on the fragile polar coastline which is largely composed of frozen permafrost.
Arctic coasts slipping away
Shifting from pasture to sugarcane cools Brazilian cerrado
Posted Sun, 17 Apr 2011 17:01:00 GMT by Martin LeggettSugarcane in Brazil's cerrado can have a cooling double whammy. It helps to power private transport, with cane ethanol that has fewer greenhouse gas emissions - and now it has been shown to potentially help cool the local climes too. A paper to be published in Nature Climate Change, has measured the effects of switching from other crops and cattle to sugarcane - and the dense thickets of cane are better at reflecting sunlight, and cooling through water loss.
Shifting from pasture to sugarcane cools Brazilian cerrado
Damaged coastal wetlands means bad news for our climate
Posted Mon, 11 Apr 2011 18:39:01 GMT by Ruth HendryA new World Bank report has found that drainage and degradation of coastal wetlands leads to decreased carbon sequestration and increased amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. If coastal wetlands are drained, for example to convert the land for agricultural use, they emit large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere
Damaged coastal wetlands means bad news for our climate
Research casts light on planet's future
Posted Mon, 11 Apr 2011 18:03:00 GMT by John DeanThe study of fossilised mollusks could give scientists an invaluable insight into the way the world will respond to climate change. Researchers at Californian university UCLA say that examining the fossils from 3.5 million years ago has allowed them to build a picture of how the world is reacting to current levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, a key contributor to global climate change.
Research casts light on planet's future
West Antarctica gets warmed from tropics via 'Rossby waves'
Posted Mon, 11 Apr 2011 15:11:02 GMT by Martin LeggettA long train of low-and-high pressure areas, known as Rossby waves, are helping to channel increasing warmth in the equatorial Pacific over to the Antarctic - according to research in Nature Geoscience. That is also producing an increase in warming in Western Antarctica, which contains vast amounts of water locked in its thick ice-caps. Melting here could pump 15 feet of sea-level rise out across the globe.
West Antarctica gets warmed from tropics via 'Rossby waves'
Cities ill-prepared for climate change dangers
Posted Sat, 09 Apr 2011 15:19:01 GMT by Martin LeggettDespite containing half the world's population, and being particularly vulnerable to climate change, most cities are failing to prepare themselves for the anticipated risks. That's the conclusion of a report in this month's Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. The author concludes that a short-term pressures are swamping the long-term planning needed to safeguard cities from events such as tidal-flood surges or heat-waves.
Cities ill-prepared for climate change dangers
The world is getting windier
Posted Fri, 08 Apr 2011 15:27:00 GMT by Laura BrownAustralian researchers discover the world is getting windier and waves higher. Using five techniques to independently measure the figures, they found the speeds of the fastest winds have increased by around half a percent. The height of the biggest waves has risen by between a quarter and half a percent.
The world is getting windier
Leaf rot slows after droughts, hindering plant growth
Posted Wed, 06 Apr 2011 12:25:00 GMT by Martin LeggettWith hotter, driers summers, tree leaves don't only shrivel - they produce more tannins, which changes the way that they rot over the autumn. New research published in New Phytologist suggests this subdues plant growth in the drought's aftermath, so extending the knock-back from dry-period. It also causes subtle inter-plays in the carbon cycle, which have yet to be teased apart.
Leaf rot slows after droughts, hindering plant growth
Arctic ozone hole moving south
Posted Wed, 06 Apr 2011 08:37:00 GMT by Louise MurrayUnusual atmospheric conditions during the last Arctic winter have opened a massive hole in the ozone layer and that hole is extending into the more densely populated latitudes of northern Europe. Ozone depleted air masses are moving south from the Arctic and have reached Finland. They are expected to move as far east as the Russian-Chinese border and perhaps as far south as the Mediterranean.
Arctic ozone hole moving south
Patagonia glaciers now melting ten times faster
Posted Mon, 04 Apr 2011 11:50:00 GMT by Martin LeggettA new study, published in the current issue of Nature Geoscience, has been able to measure the rate of Patagonia glacier loss over the last several hundred years. The team of scientists, from Britain and Sweden, has found that current melting rates are ten times faster than newly measured historical rates. With temperatures in the region rising fast, in line with global warming climate model projections, it seems the death of Patagonia's glaciers has man's hand behind it.
Patagonia glaciers now melting ten times faster
Erratic boulders indicate past antarctic ice sheet behaviour
Posted Sun, 03 Apr 2011 13:11:00 GMT by Tamara CroesScientists from Leeds and Aberystwyth University recently discovered that rocks displaced by the Antarctic Ice Sheet are found on James Ross Island, indicating that the sheet must have expanded this far earlier.
Erratic boulders indicate past antarctic ice sheet behaviour
Slow-onset climate change could have 'potentially catastrophic' long-term impact on food production in the developed world
Posted Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:31:00 GMT by Benjamin KerryThe FAO has warned of the ''potentially catastrophic'' future impact on food production in the developing world by 'slow-onset' climate change. But doour governments presently take too much of a short-term approach to such changes? Andhow can we prepare for them to make developing world food production more resilient whilst managing the trade-offs?
Slow-onset climate change could have 'potentially catastrophic' long-term impact on food production in the developed world
Label carbon content says new study
Posted Tue, 29 Mar 2011 14:31:00 GMT by Colin RickettsCarbon labelling will help consumers more accurately reflect their green intention says new research and producers will cut energy use and boost their environmental credentials too. Thomas Dietz, a sociology professor from Michigan State University, publishes his research in the new edition of Nature Climate Change and says carbon labelling will help reduce carbon emissions.
Label carbon content says new study
Jet contrails major contributor to aviation's effect on climate
Posted Tue, 29 Mar 2011 10:01:01 GMT by Louise MurrayCirrus clouds generated from the contrails of jets may be the cause of more atmospheric warming today than all the CO2 emitted by the aviation industry since the beginning of flight. Aviation is responsible for about 5% of man-made climate change effects, and that proportion could triple by 2050 according to some projections. Least understood is the role of aircraft exhausts in forming clouds.
Jet contrails major contributor to aviation's effect on climate
Melting icebergs linked to carbon dioxide absorption
Posted Sun, 27 Mar 2011 16:29:00 GMT by Lucy BrakeScientists have discovered that the movement and melting of icebergs plays an important role in distributing phytoplankton and consequently absorbing and removing carbon dioxide from the oceans. The new findings have major implications for global climate research and management.
Melting icebergs linked to carbon dioxide absorption
Cut CO2 and the rains will flow
Posted Sat, 26 Mar 2011 18:39:00 GMT by Martin LeggettDecreasing CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere causes more rain to be wrung from the clouds, according to research published in Geophysical Research Letters. That change in rainfall can go both ways, with decreasing precipitation as CO2 levels rise - and it happens faster than the overall global change in temperature.
Cut CO2 and the rains will flow
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How popular are these apparently so aggressive and pest-like praying mantids? They are great pest-controllers, have a huge variety of different species, from flower mantis to giant African tigers of the cabbage patch; they make marvellous, quite attentive pets and dont bother your mother because they die after their short adult span. Now we learn something new about a familiar animal. Those leaps they made as nymphs are actually carefully plotted, either to escape from their cannibalistic siblings, or to jump on tiny flies. The wonder of super-mantis never stops.
Where in the world can we discover new primates? The answer is only in tropical rainforests, but they will certainly be endangered species, like several of the titis and many, many others. We only have one solution to this tragic loss of life, species, habitat and ecosystems. Stop cutting down the last remnants of these once-great forests. It doesnt even make commercial sense, as this business is never going to be sustainable. Greed is the motive and its result has always been the same.
Where are we going, as climate begins to dominate the years news? With Ukraine and Syria big on bad behaviour, the concentration needs to shift to the millions threatened by other events. As Lennon (and not Lenin) said, war is over, except it seems to hang on like an unwanted spectre. Global problems should now begin to occupy our collective thoughts.
Recent Blog Posts
Need to save money after the spending boom to end them all? Here are 2 sets of opinions on how to pull out the plugs at night at least.
When dolphins are 'rescued' in various countries, the car given seems to be ill-considered. We are simply looking at the success rate which is reported to be low, in most places. They could even end up in commercial aquarium shows, but they certainly rarely make it back to the sea.
What is killing bees? Chelsea has the answer here.
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