Climate Change Working Group

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admin	Albert Gomez	Amanda Cole	Anthony	ChrisAllen	david hastings
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When would global warming destroy life on Earth? Study hazards a guess.

Sun, 2013-08-04 20:35 — Maeryn Obley

This is a picture of the surface of Venus, which is hot enough to melt lead, thanks to a runaway greenhouse effect at some point in the planet's past. Two recent studies look at how such processes might occur. JPL/AP/File

Image: This is a picture of the surface of Venus, which is hot enough to melt lead, thanks to a runaway greenhouse effect at some point in the planet's past. Two recent studies look at how such processes might occur. JPL/AP/File

csmonitor.com - July 30th, 2013 - Pete Spotts

A runaway greenhouse effect – where a planet's atmosphere traps so much heat that temperatures rise to life-snuffing levels – may be easier to achieve than previously believed. And there may be more than one way to drive the increase.

Those are the implications of two recent studies looking at what planetary scientists describe as one of the fundamental processes that can render a planet uninhabitable.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Rising Sea Levels Could Submerge Substantial Parts of 1,700 U.S. Cities

Sat, 2013-08-03 19:56 — Kathy Gilbeaux

This may soon be what a day in the park looks like. Reuters/Jitendra Prakash

theatlanticcities.com - by Roberto A. Ferdman - July 30, 2013

Sea levels, as we know, are incredibly sensitive to rises in global temperatures. A study released earlier this month revealed that the increase of a mere degree celsius could lead global sea levels to rise by as much as two meters. But according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the implications are especially grim for the US. At the current rate of carbon emissions, over 1,700 cities, including New York, Boston and Miami, will be “locked in” by greenhouse gas emissions by this century’s end.

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https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-reporting-guidelines-including-mandatory-greenhouse-gas-emissions-reporting-guidance

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Environmental Reporting Guidelines: Including Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Guidance

Wed, 2013-07-31 22:09 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Albert Gomez

gov.uk - June 12, 2013

This document is designed to help companies in complying with the greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting regulation, a requirement from the Climate Change Act 2008; and all organisations with voluntary reporting on a range of environmental matters, including voluntary GHG reporting and through the use of key performance indicators (KPIs).

Environmental Reporting Guidelines: Including Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Guidance

Ref: PB13944
PDF, 598KB, 135 pages

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/206392/pb13944-env-reporting-guidance.pdf

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Arctic Methane Time Bomb Could Have Huge Economic Costs

Mon, 2013-07-29 11:15 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Increasing temperatures in the Arctic region are reducing sea ice cover and increasing the possibility of methane leaching from the sea bed

bbc.co.uk - by Matt McGrath - July 24, 2013

Scientists say that the release of large amounts of methane from thawing permafrost in the Arctic could have huge economic impacts for the world.

The researchers estimate that the climate effects of the release of this gas could cost $60 trillion (£39 trillion), roughly the size of the global economy in 2012.

The impacts are most likely to be felt in developing countries they say.

The research has been published in the journal Nature.

RESEARCH - NATURE - Climate science: Vast costs of Arctic change

Climate science: Vast costs of Arctic change (3 page .PDF file)

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Global Warming and the Future of Storms

Fri, 2013-07-26 23:11 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Albert Gomez

Hurricane Sandy battered towns along the United States east coast. Photograph: Scott Eisen/REUTERS

New research by Kerry Emanuel suggests that hurricanes will become more frequent and more intense

guardiannews.com - by John Abraham - July 26, 2013

Very recently, a publication appeared by perhaps the world's best-known hurricane scientist, Dr. Kerry Emanuel of MIT. Dr. Emanuel combined global computer simulations with more regional simulations to look into the future at the evolution of storms. What he found was surprising.

STUDY - Downscaling CMIP5 climate models shows increased tropical cyclone activity over the 21st century
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/07/05/1301293110.abstract

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Dangerous Global Warming Could Be Reversed, Say Scientists

Fri, 2013-07-26 17:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

We’re going to need a bigger bucket of water. Shutterstock

grist.org - by Natalie Starkey - July 14, 2013

Global warming could be reversed using a combination of burning trees and crops for energy, and capturing and storing carbon dioxide underground (CCS), according to an analysis by scientists. But experts cautioned that trying such an approach after temperatures had passed dangerous levels could be problematic, as climate change reduced the number of trees available for “bioenergy.”

The bioenergy and CCS method was the most cost-effective way of tackling carbon emissions, said the team at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, publishing their research in the journal Environmental Research Letters on Thursday.

Research - Meeting global temperature targets—the role of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage
http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/8/3/034004/article

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Fossil Fuel Use Pushes Carbon Dioxide Emissions into Dangerous Territory

Tue, 2013-07-23 22:42 — Kathy Gilbeaux

earth-policy.org - by Emily E. Adams
July 23, 2013

Increasing global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), a heat-trapping gas, are pushing the world into dangerous territory, closing the window of time to avert the worst consequences of higher temperatures, such as melting ice and rising seas. Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels have grown exponentially. Despite wide agreement by governments on the need to limit emissions, the rate of increase ratcheted up from less than 1 percent each year in the 1990s to almost 3 percent annually in the first decade of this century.

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Climate Change is Happening Too Quickly for Species to Adapt

Tue, 2013-07-23 19:34 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Species that live on mountains, such as the snow leopard, are particularly at risk. Photograph: Tom Brakefield/Getty Images

guardian.co.uk - by Robin McKie - July 13, 2013

Among the many strange mantras repeated by climate change deniers is the claim that even in an overheated, climate-altered planet, animals and plants will still survive by adapting to global warming. . .

. . . However, their rate of change turns out to be painfully slow, according to a study by Professor John Wiens of the University of Arizona. . . The results, published online in the journal Ecology Letters, show that most land animals will not be able to evolve quickly enough to adapt to the dramatically warmer climate expected by 2100.

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Due to Global Warming, End Is Virtually Certain for NYC, Boston, Miami, Holland

Tue, 2013-07-23 16:30 — Kathy Gilbeaux

huffingtonpost.com - by Eric Zuesse - July 20, 2013

A new article in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), is headlined "The Multimillennial Sea-Level Commitment of Global Warming," and it reports that because of carbon emissions that are virtually certain, on the basis of the lack of policy-response to global warming thus far, sea levels are now set to rise anywhere from around 8 inches to 7 feet within 100 years, and around 5 yards to 10 yards within 2,000 years. The projections are clearer (within a narrower range) for the longer time-frame than for the shorter one. That's because even if the short-term consequences of heat-rise turn out to be relatively slight, the longer-term consequences are clearer, and will be considerably larger, as delayed impacts kick in.

PNAS - The multimillennial sea-level commitment of global warming
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/07/10/1219414110

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Scientists Predicted A Decade Ago Arctic Ice Loss Would Worsen Western Droughts. Is That Happening Already?

Thu, 2013-07-04 22:57 — Kathy Gilbeaux

thinkprogress.org - by Joe Romm - June 30, 2013

(SEE LINKS BELOW FOR 2004 STUDY, 2005 STUDY, AND 2013 CRYOSAT ARTICLE)

Scientists predicted a decade ago that Arctic ice loss would bring on worse western droughts. Arctic ice loss has been much faster than the researchers — and indeed all climate modelers — expected (see “CryoSat-2 Confirms Sea Ice Volume Has Collapsed“).

It just so happens that the western U.S. is in the grip of a brutal, record-breaking drought. Is this just an amazing coincidence — or were the scientists right and what would that mean for the future? I ask the authors.

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