Global Warming
Category archives for Global Warming
How high can the sea level rise if all the glacial ice melted?
Posted by Greg Laden on June 18, 2013 
There have been times in the past when there was very little ice trapped in glaciers. During this time, sea levels were higher because that water was in the ocean (most of it, anyway). It has been a long time since then. However, with global warming, more and more glacial ice is returning to the…
Is Global Warming Causing More and Bigger Fires in Colorado?
Posted by Greg Laden on June 13, 2013 
High temperatures and dry conditions have caused the outbreak, increased intensity, and rapid spread of numerous wildfires in Colorado. Again. Fires happen, but the number, size, and intensity of wildfires in the western United States has been very high in recent years, and this is caused by global warming. Global warming causes more rain and…
The Ice Cap is Melting and You Can Help
Posted by Greg Laden on June 12, 2013 
Obviously, you don’t want to help melt the ice cap. But you can help scientists figure out how and why it is happening and to learn important details of what might be one of the most important effects of global warming happening right now. First, a word on why this is important. Look out the…
Right Wing Science
Posted by Greg Laden on June 6, 2013 
I have two items for you. First is a video produced by Media Matters on Right Wing Science. I especially love Bill Nye’s facial expressions as he is assailed with unbelievable stupidity: And now, also from Media Matters, this fun infographic. Share it around!
The Science of Melting Ice Sheets: New review in Nature
Posted by Greg Laden on June 6, 2013 
A paper came out in today’s Nature about glacial melting and its contribution to sea level rise. This paper does not present new research, but rather summarizes and evaluates the last several years of research on modeling and measuring contiental glaciers and their dynamics. From the Abstract: Since the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change…
What’s going on with the Arctic Sea ice?
Posted by Greg Laden on June 5, 2013 Since 2001 the amount of Arctic Sea ice that has melted during the summer has generally increased. There may have been a long term trend in melting of ice in the northern hemisphere generally, including mountain glaciers, the Greenland glaciers, and seasonally, Arctic Sea Ice. But the seasonal melting of Arctic Sea ice seems to…
The 1970s Ice Age Myth and Time Magazine Covers – by David Kirtley
Posted by Greg Laden on June 4, 2013 This is a guest post by David Kirtley. David originally posted this as a Google Doc, and I’m reproducing his work here with his permission. Just the other day I was speaking to a climate change skeptic who made mention of an old Time or Newsweek (he was not sure) article that talked about fears…
The Mad, Mad, Mad World of Climatism: Mankind and Climate Change Mania
Posted by Greg Laden on May 20, 2013 
There is a book called “The Mad, Mad, Mad World of Climatism: Mankind and Climate Change Mania” produced by the Heartland Institute. The Heartland Institute is famous for doing all that work to prove that smoking is not bad for you, and more recently, that climate change is not real or is not important or…
Global Warming Consensus: We can haz it!
Posted by Greg Laden on May 16, 2013 
An important study has just been published1 examining the level of consensus among scientists about climate change. The issue at hand is this: What is the level of agreement in the scientific community about the reality of climate change and about the human role in climate change? The new paper, Quantifying the consensus on anthropogenic…
Dear [Elected Official] Please Note the 400 ppm benchmark!
Posted by Greg Laden on May 11, 2013 Here’s a template for a letter I hope you will consider sending/emailing to all of your elected representatives at the municipal, state, and federal levels, if you are in the US. Thanks Dear [elected official] I am writing to ask you to join the very small but hopefully growing number of elected representatives and executives…
Fancy Greenhouse Gas Demonstration
Posted by Greg Laden on May 9, 2013 Experiment showing the absoption of infrared radiation by carbon dioxide. From the BBC 2 program “Earth: The Climate Wars”
Greenhouse Gas Demonstration
Posted by Greg Laden on May 8, 2013 Simulate the ruination of the planet using common household ingredients!
Why is winter not ending?
Posted by Greg Laden on April 15, 2013 
Why is it snowing so much in the Northern US States this Spring? Two words: Global Warming. Let me ‘splain. Weather is all about air and moisture. The distribution of air is uneven, with some places having more air in big piles, other places having less air, into which the extra air from the big…
What is climate sensitivity, why does it matter, and who’s got what wrong and why?
Posted by Greg Laden on April 11, 2013 
Climate sensitivity is the number of degrees C that the earth’s average temperature (of the atmosphere air and water on top of the “earth” per se) will increase with a doubling of “pre-industrial CO2″ in the environment. This is an important number … and it is a number, and to save you the suspense, the…
Climate Change: Radio update on science and denialism
Posted by Greg Laden on April 9, 2013 
I’ll be interviewed by Stephanie Zvan regarding the current status of climate change research, what’s happening in the climate these days, with a special focus on climate change denialism, this coming Sunday morning on Minnesota Atheists Talk Radio. There are a lot of interesting things going on with the science as well as the politics.…
Global Warming Skepticism In Decline
Posted by Greg Laden on April 9, 2013 
There is a new Gallup poll that together with earlier data from Gallup provides some interesting information about attitudes in the US about global warming. Earlier polls have shown increase and decrease in concern about global warming, and changes in what people think of news about climate change and the severity of the problem. Recently,…
Arctic Sea Ice Cracking Thing (Updated)
Posted by Greg Laden on March 23, 2013 It is important to get this right. There is something interesting happening in the Arctic right now, and some people are pointing to it and jumping up and down and yelling about how it is a major climate change event. But it may very well not be. Or it could be. The thing that is…
Obama’s decision on the Keystone Pipeline IS a legacy making or breaking thing.
Posted by Greg Laden on February 24, 2013 
Is there a problem with John Abraham’s argument about Obama’s Legacy? John Abraham wrote a piece in the Guardian titled Keystone XL decision will define Barack Obama’s legacy on climate change: Does the president have courage to say ‘no’ to a project that will lock us into decades of dependency on this dirty energy? in…
Climate Change vs. Global Warming
Posted by Greg Laden on February 20, 2013 This is being discussed here, thought I’d show you this:
Climate and Weather: Does your TV weather reporter get it?
Posted by Greg Laden on February 20, 2013 
You hear, again again, that climate and weather are not the same thing. This has led to assertions such as “you can’t attribute a single weather event to climate change.” But climate and weather are not distinctly different. Climatologists and meteorologists have made statements like this because people do confuse and conflate current conditions and…
Finding Nemo
Posted by Greg Laden on February 10, 2013 
Climate experts have pointed out that Nemo, the very bad nor’easter that just hit the Northeastern US and Maritimes, is partly an effect of global warming. Some meteorologists have responded with an incorrect response, a recitation of a now tired and useless mumbling retort that I’m afraid may even have it origin among scientists who…
Extreme Weather in the US Northeast and Climate Change
Posted by Greg Laden on February 8, 2013 This graph shows the extremes in one-day precipitation in a given month relative to the amount of precip in that month for the Northeastern US. So, if the green bar is at 30%, that means that that 30% of month’s precip fell in one event. The way this is computed is a little complicated because…
Global Warming = Drought = Higher Food Prices
Posted by Greg Laden on February 8, 2013 Here’s a graph from the USDA: This comes from a post by Peter Sinclair: USDA: Warming Will Devastate Agriculture. Also from that post, this interview with Phil Robertson of Michigan State University related to the question of C02 as “plant food.”
Republicans: US Government will wait 2 more years to address climate change
Posted by Greg Laden on February 6, 2013 … at any serious level, and then, only if enough Republicans get thrown out of the House to allow committee work and legislation to happen. From The Hill: House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans have rebuffed Democrats’ bid to require the high-profile panel to hold hearings on links between climate change, extreme weather and threats…
Minnesota Moose
Posted by Greg Laden on February 6, 2013 Minnesota has two populations of moose, one in the northwestern part of the state, one in the northeastern part of the state. Both are in decline. The decline seems to be mainly due to disease, which in turn, seems to be exacerbated by the occurrence of shorter, warmer winters and longer summers. Today, the Minnesota…
How much can the sea level go up with global warming and how fast will it happen?
Posted by Greg Laden on February 6, 2013 
According to some estimates, if sea levels rose one meter, Boston would lose 3% of it’s land surface, Washington DC a mere 1%. Tampa and Miami would lose 18% and 15% respectively. New Orleans would lose 91%. A six meter rise would result in much larger losses. Norfolk, Virginia and Miami Florida would be essentially…
Climate Change is Real Despite Fox News
Posted by Greg Laden on February 4, 2013 Media Matters takes Fox News to Task. Watch the reasonable person talk, then watch the Republican climate science denialist lie: Here is a graph from Media Matters that you should post on your Facebook page and elsewhere: Spread the word!
How can anyone think that global warming isn’t real? Here’s how:
Posted by Greg Laden on February 2, 2013 Skeptical Science is a great source for information about climate change. One of the coolest things they’ve got over there is a moving GIF demonstrating how the folks in the climate science denialism industry try to convince people that global warming isn’t real. This involves cherry picking data to show small segments of time with…
Are we having more forest fires in the US?
Posted by Greg Laden on January 30, 2013 
I’m not sure about the NUMBER of fires. That might be hard to count. If five small fires emerge and are put out, there are five fires. If five fires emerge, join into one configuration, and wipe out a handful of mountain villages in the Rockies, that’s one fire. It might be better to look…
Jennifer Francis at the Weather and Climate Summit
Posted by Greg Laden on January 27, 2013 Published on Jan 25, 2013 Session 6: Dr. Jennifer Francis – Rutgers University Topic: Wacky Weather and Disappearing Arctic Sea Ice: Are They Connected?
, which is now available for the 
