You are here

Climate

Where Has All the Ice Gone?

Submitted by The Earth Policy Institute

 


Emily E. Adams

www.earth-policy.org/indicators/C50/ice_melt_2013

Earth Policy Release
Eco-Economy Indicator
March 7, 2013

Eco-Economy Indicators are twelve trends that the Earth Policy Institute tracks to measure progress in building a sustainable economy. Ice melting is one of the most visible indicators of climate change.

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

World Bank - Study - Coastal Wetlands Highly Vulnerable to Sea-Level Rise

Sea-level rise of 1 m could destroy 60% of developing world's low-lying coastal wetlands. Photo© istockphoto.com.

worldbank.org

Sea-level rise by a meter from climate change could destroy more than 60 percent of the developing world’s coastal wetlands currently found at one meter or less elevation.

An estimate of the economic value of the goods and services produced by wetlands at risk is approximately $630 million per year in 2000 U.S. dollars.

Most of the damages would be concentrated in a few countries in East Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

WASHINGTON, Mar 1, 2013 – A rise in sea levels by a meter from climate change could destroy more than 60 percent of the developing world’s coastal wetlands currently found at one meter or less elevation, according to a World Bank study. That would lead to economic losses of around $630 million per year.

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Study Uncovers Massive Global Yawn Over Global Warming

      

A National Guard truck drives through high water on Newark Street in Hoboken, N.J. Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012 in the wake of superstorm Sandy.  AP Photo / Craig Ruttle

nationalpost.com - by Kelly McParland - February 26, 2013

This has to be bad news for environmental activists everywhere: a massive international study, conducted in 33 countries over 17 years, shows that people just don’t care a lot about the environment.

. . . the lack of concern is itself reason for concern.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Under a Green Sky - The Millenium Project

                              

submitted by Jerome Glenn

A new discussion on Peter Ward's "Under a Green Sky" in The Millenium Project Challenge 1 Group: Sustainable Development and Climate Change.

Under a Green Sky
http://www.astrobio.net/interview/2553/under-a-green-sky

The Millenium Project - Challenge 1: Sustainable Development and Climate Change
https://themp.org/challengegroup/1/

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Making Communities More Resilient to Climate-Induced Weather Disasters

submitted by Samuel Bendett

homelandsecuritynewswire.com - February 18, 2013

Mounting scientific evidence indicates climate change will lead to more frequent and intense extreme weather that affects larger areas and lasts longer. We can reduce the risk of weather-related disasters, however, with a variety of measures. Experts say that a good strategy should include a variety of actions such as communicating risk and transferring it through vehicles such as insurance, taking a multi-hazard management approach, linking local and global management, and taking an iterative approach as opposed to starting with a master plan.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Climate Change’s Links to Conflict Draws UN Attention

By Flavia Krause-Jackson - Feb 14, 2013 8:30 PM MT - Bloomberg News

Members of the United Nations Security Council in New York met with Joachim Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, who presented a number of scenarios to show the connection between climate change and global security challenges.

Climate change is a “reality that cannot be washed away,” according to notes prepared for diplomats at today’s session. “There is growing concern that with faster than anticipated acceleration, climate change may spawn consequences which are harsher than expected.”

Topics ranged from Hurricane Sandy, to fossil-fuel deposits, to glacial melting and how the seeds of conflict, unrest, and revolution are being sewn.

Read the entire article

Read the National Intelligence Council Global Trends 2030 Report

Climate Change as Source of Future Conflict Draws UN Attention

Country / Region Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Recent Changes in the Ventilation of the Southern Oceans

sciencemag.org - Darryn W. Waugh1,Francois Primeau2,Tim DeVries3,Mark Holzer4 - February 1, 2013

Abstract

Surface westerly winds in the Southern Hemisphere have intensified over the past few decades, primarily in response to the formation of the Antarctic ozone hole, and there is intense debate on the impact of this on the ocean's circulation and uptake and redistribution of atmospheric gases. We used measurements of chlorofluorocarbon-12 (CFC-12) made in the southern oceans in the early 1990s and mid- to late 2000s to examine changes in ocean ventilation. Our analysis of the CFC-12 data reveals a decrease in the age of subtropical subantarctic mode waters and an increase in the age of circumpolar deep waters, suggesting that the formation of the Antarctic ozone hole has caused large-scale coherent changes in the ventilation of the southern oceans.

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Detecting Ozone- and Greenhouse Gas–Driven Wind Trends with Observational Data

sciencemag.org - Sukyoung Lee1,Steven B. Feldstein1 - February 1, 2013

Abstract

Modeling studies suggest that Antarctic ozone depletion and, to a lesser degree, greenhouse gas (GHG) increase have caused the observed poleward shift in the westerly jet during the austral summer. Similar studies have not been performed previously with observational data because of difficulties in separating the two contributions. By applying a cluster analysis to daily ERA-Interim data, we found two 7- to 11-day wind clusters, one resembling the models' responses to GHG forcing and the other resembling ozone depletion. The trends in the clusters' frequency of occurrence indicate that the ozone contributed about 50% more than GHG toward the jet shift, supporting the modeling results. Moreover, tropical convection apparently plays an important role for the GHG-driven trend.

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/339/6119/563.abstract

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Major Storm Accelerated Arctic Sea Ice Loss, Study Finds

climatecentral.org - by Andrew Freedman - February 1, 2013

(LINKS TO STUDY - LOCATED AT THE BOTTOM)

The "Great Arctic Cyclone of 2012," which struck the Arctic at the height of the sea ice melt season in early August, was not responsible for causing sea ice extent to plunge to a record low just a few weeks later. That is one of the conclusions of a new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. It is the first study to quantify the impacts that the storm had on the fragile Arctic sea ice cover, which has been rapidly shrinking and thinning in response to rapid Arctic warming.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Global Drought Monitor

An working example of the Global Drought Monitor, focusing on Eurasia and Africa.

Image: An working example of the Global Drought Monitor, focusing on Eurasia and Africa.

drought.mssl.ucl.ac.uk - Benjamin Lloyd-Hughes and Mark Saunders

The Global Drought Monitor  is a free internet application which monitors the severity of drought worldwide on an ongoing basis. The product will aid humanitarian relief by assisting warnings of potential food, water and health problems. The Global Drought Monitor  will also benefit the general public, government and industry by improving awareness of droughts and their impacts.

(VIEW WEBSITE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Pages

Subscribe to Climate
howdy folks