Climate Change
gregladen | July 21, 2013Michael Mann initiated a defamation lawsuit agains t the National Review and the Competitive Enterprise Institute some time ago, and it has been trudging along int he courts. Two very important decisions came down in the Washington DC Superior Court in Professor Mann's favor. I'm not going to try to describe this to you because there are others who know much more about these things than I do, but I encourage you to read Climate Science Watch's summary and update here: DC Court affirms Michael Mann's right to proceed in defamation lawsuit against National Review and CEI
It is interesting to…
gregladen | July 21, 2013From Paul Douglas:
Just like we read left to right, most weather systems move left to right (West to East). Right now however, the weather pattern is out of whack, moving East to West, creating a monster tropical heatwave for a big chunk of the U.S. WeatherNation Chief Meteorologist Paul Douglas has more on the rare retrograde weather pattern and why it's important to take the heat seriously, but not lose your sense of humor.
gregladen | July 21, 2013From The World Bank.
Within a few decades rising world temperatures will create food shortages in Sub-Saharan Africa and leave some parts of Asia flooded while other areas will not have enough drinking water. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim says the world must mitigate climate change as he reveals key findings of Turn Down the Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts, and Case for Resilience, a scientific report on the expected rise of global temperatures by 2 degrees by 2040.
gregladen | July 20, 2013Climate Scientist John Abraham and I just finished a session of FtBConscience on Climate Change and during that session we promised to provide some useful links. We also used some graphics during the session. Below are the links and the graphics!
First, here is the video of the session:
Climate Change Science Twitter List
I created a twitter list of people (or organizations) that tweet about current climate change science. If you check this list at any given moment you’ll know the latest climate science news. If you have a suggestion as to who should be added to this list, send me a tweet!…
gregladen | July 18, 2013John Abraham, of St. Thomas University, and I have a running conversation about climate change ... the science, communication about the science, the politics, etc. ... and we are going to package this conversation in a one hour session at FTBConscience, an on line conference, Saturday Morning at 9:00, July 20th.
Details are here.
Join us as we discuss the latest news and events related to climate change, such as what is happening in the Arctic, deep in the Oceans, with the Jet Stream and weather extremes, some recent research on glacial melting and sea level rise, and so on.
And, we'll…
gregladen | July 16, 2013No. Here's a handy graphic for you to enjoy and share, courtesy of Climate Nexus.
Also, you might want to ask the question: What has global warming done since 1998?
That question is addressed HERE, where this handy graphic is available showing the importance of ocean warming:
So, has global warming stopped? No, I'm afraid not.
_____
Other posts of interest:
How to get rid of spiders in your house
Why is your poop green?
How many cells are there in the human body?
Is there really a plot hole in Harry Potter Goblet of Fire?
How long is a human generation?
Is blog ever really blue?
How to…
gregladen | July 12, 2013July 9, 2013 - In this speech on the Senate floor, Senator Whitehouse talked about what's at stake in the climate change debate using a series of rhetorical questions. He concluded that "many of the answers carry stakes so high, that they plead for prudent and rational choices. The down side is so deep, that the balance has to be towards precaution, if we are indeed a rational species."
gregladen | July 11, 2013Holy moly:
This is in reference to this.
Clearly, someone is gonna get fired. But enjoy it for now.
There is a full report on this amazing event (Fox News getting something mostly right, not the super storms) by Shuana Theel, here.
VL Baker has more here.
gregladen | July 11, 2013The US Department of Energy has released a report about vulnerabilities of the US Power system in relation to climate change.
The report, nicely summarized in this piece at the New York Times, does not merely cover outages caused by storms. Rather, it discusses the vulnerability of the entire power system to alterations in our weather caused by anthropogenic climate change.
Increasing temperatures, decreasing water availability, more intense storm events, and sea level rise will each independently, and in some cases in combination, affect the ability of the United States to produce and…
gregladen | July 10, 2013The Pine Island Glacier, in West Antarctica, drains (as ice and water) a measurable percent of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. It is probably the case that glaciers in this area of the Antarctic contribute more of the ice to water transition than any other glacial region in the world, so how they melt is of great interest. And now, Pine Island Glacier has given birth!
In October 2011 a large crack started to form across the glacier, downstream from its grounding line. Over the last few days, it seems, this crack finally transected the entire glacier, causing the down-stream side of it to…
gregladen | July 9, 2013Thought you might be interested in this:
On July 9, 2013, Rep. Henry A. Waxman released a report comparing the impacts of climate change in members’ districts with members’ voting records. The report found a widespread “climate disconnect” in the voting records of the Republican members representing the districts most affected by the soaring temperatures in 2012. They cast anti-climate votes 96% of the time. No similar “climate disconnect” was found in the voting records of House Democrats. The report is available here.
HERE is an interactive map that provides record temperature…
gregladen | July 7, 2013Earlier in the northern summer, it looked like the rapid melt of Arctic Sea ice we've been seeing over the last several years was happening again, but rather than being a record year, it was merely tracking along the lower side of the distribution of the long term average. Last year, in contrast, the amount of sea ice hit an all time low early in the year and then broke previous records into tiny icy pieces.
One of the reasons last year's ice melt was so dramatic is that an early storm churned up the ice and got melting going a bit early.
This year, there was no early churning up event,…
gregladen | July 1, 2013Nineteen fire fighters were killed yesterday as they were overrun by a lightning-sparked fire in Arizona. This consisted of the entire crew as deployed to fight the Yarnell Hill Fire near Phoenix, Arizona. The best way to honor these fallen heroes, from afar and from the perspective of fellow citizens, is to demand that more support be given to their efforts (by ending the Republican Sequester) and to acknowledge that their job has been made much harder because of global warming induced increases in wild fire frequency and severity.
Global warming is on track to double the number of wild…
gregladen | June 27, 2013Here is a small selection of responses and reactions to President Obama's climate change speech.
Michael Mann: 'The most aggressive and promising climate plan' from 'executive branch in years'
Michael Mann is director of Penn State University's Earth System Science Center, and a genuine hero, who has been attacked by the climate denial nexus, which has tried to destroy his career. And he is fighting back. His brief statement on President Obama's climate speech needs to be read in its entirety, but here are some key points...
President Obama acts on climate change by enforcing the law
The…
gregladen | June 26, 2013This is just a weather prediction, so it is subject to revision, but the National Weather Service is expecting an historic heatwave in the American West next week, probably peaking next weekend. Temperatures in Death Valley will approach 130 degrees F, and Las Vegas will top 115 degrees F, if predictions pan out. The heat wave may extend to the Canadian Border.
From Andrew Freedman at Climate Central:
The furnace-like heat is coming courtesy of a “stuck” weather pattern that is setting up across the U.S. and Canada. By early next week, the jet stream — a fast-moving river of air at…
gregladen | June 26, 2013 No time for a meeting of the Flat Earth Society.
"I don’t have much patience for anyone who denies that this challenge is real. We don’t have time for a meeting of the Flat Earth Society. Sticking your head in the sand might make you feel safer, but it is not going to protect you from the coming storm. Ultimately we will be judges as a people and as a society and as a country on where we go from here ... push back on misinformation, speak up for the facts, broaden the circle of those who are willing to stand up for our future, convince those in power to reduce our carbon pollution … invest…
gregladen | June 25, 2013The video below has meteorologist Paul Douglas talking about the big storm we had in the Twin Cities a few days ago (from his excellent series of climate change and weather related videos). The storm actually followed on a number of days with a fair amount of rain, and up here in the northern part of the Twin Cities, we had a pretty bad blow with high wind gusts and lots of rain the day before. But on the 21st, a storm swept mainly through the Western Suburbs and Minneapolis, but actually a much wider area than that. I drove down to pick up Julia near Roseville yesterday, a couple of days…
gregladen | June 25, 2013And this is not a very big if, I think. I've only just learned of this, and don't have details and have not thought about it much but you need to know: It is said that President Obama will nix the Keystone XL Pipeline in the event that the State Department's study can not prove that it will not increase greenhouse gas emissions. Which is impossible, so ....
We shall see.
Listen to today's speech to find out what really happens.
More later, of course. Meanwhile, spread it around that he's gonna say no, then he'll HAVE to say no. I saw them do that on the West Wing once and it worked…
gregladen | June 25, 2013The following is a statement from India Climate Justice
We cannot ignore the climate crisis anymore!
25 June 2013
The India Climate Justice collective notes with deep anguish the devastating loss of life, livelihoods, and homes in Uttarakhand and beyond. The death toll is likely in the thousands, way beyond current official figures. We extend our deep condolences to the families and friends of those killed, and our support to those still fighting for survival, and to local populations whose livelihoods will take years to rebuild.
This tragedy was triggered by extreme unseasonal rains in North…
gregladen | June 24, 2013A few climate change related items I know you will be interested in, especially since you will want to be very current for the big event Tuesday.
There is now a new profession: Extreme Weather Architect. (Hat tip: Paul Douglas)
You may hear again and again that climate change is over, that warming has stopped. This is wrong in many many ways, and I've written about that here. Dana Nuccitelli has this important piece as well: We haven't hit the global warming pause button. Also, see this brand new item for a detailed discussion of how surface warming varies across time.
You've heard of the…