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Archive for November, 2011
Hyperwarming climate could turn Earth’s poles green
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 18th, 2011
New Scientist: AN ERA of ice that has gripped Earth's poles for 35 million years could come to an end as extreme global warming really begins to bite. Previously unknown sources of positive feedback - including "hyperwarming" that was last seen on Earth half a billion years ago - may push global temperatures high enough to send Earth into a hothouse state with tropical forests growing close to the poles.
Climate scientists typically limit themselves to the 21st century when predicting how human activity will...
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Weather data gap now appears certain
Posted by ClimateWire: John J. Fialka on November 18th, 2011
ClimateWire: A House-Senate deal to fund the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration includes enough cash to stabilize the nation's struggling environmental satellite program, a top agency official said yesterday.
A conference agreement released Monday night includes $924 million for NOAA's Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), just shy of the Obama administration's fiscal 2012 request, $1.07 billion.
NOAA's deputy undersecretary for operations, Mary Glackin, told a Senate committee yesterday that...
Developers drop plans for two wind farms on Steens Mountain slopes, but still plan a third
Posted by Oregonian: Richard Cockle on November 18th, 2011
Oregonian: Developers on Thursday dropped plans for two wind energy projects on the north slopes of Steens Mountain in southeastern Oregon.
Columbia Energy Partners LLC and its affiliate, CEP Funding of Vancouver, Wash., canceled the East Ridge and West Ridge projects on private property for "business, regulatory and environmental" concerns, said Chris Crowley, Columbia Energy's president.
The Oregon Natural Desert Association and Audubon Society of Portland had opposed the wind farms.
Columbia Energy...
Extreme weather will strike, IPCC warns
Posted by Guardian: Fiona Harvey, on November 18th, 2011
Guardian: Heavier rainfall, fiercer storms and intensifying droughts are likely to strike the world in the coming decades as climate change takes effect, the world's leading climate scientists said on Friday.
Rising sea levels will increase the vulnerability of coastal areas, and the increase in "extreme weather events" will wipe billions off national economies and destroy lives, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the body of the world's leading climate scientists convened...
Scientists warn world: Prepare for extreme weather
Posted by MSNBC: None Given on November 18th, 2011
MSNBC: Top international climate scientists and disaster experts meeting in Africa have a sharp message for the world's political leaders: Get ready for more dangerous and unpredictable weather caused by global warming.
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They're calling for preparations that they say will save lives and money.
The experts fear that without preparedness, crazy weather extremes may overwhelm some locations, making them uninhabitable.
The...
Climate impact risk ‘on the rise’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 18th, 2011
BBC: The risk from extreme weather events is likely to increase if the world continues to warm, say scientists.
A report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said it was "very likely" that emissions had led to an increase in daily maximum temperatures.
It added that emissions had also led some regions experiencing longer and more intense droughts.
The findings of the Special Report were presented at the IPCC's 34th Session, which is being held in Kampala, Uganda.
The details were...
Few nations doing enough to protect people from extreme weather – IPCC author
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on November 18th, 2011
AlertNet: Most countries are not acting fast enough to protect their people from extreme weather, and more major disasters will likely have to happen before governments start investing enough in safety, a leading climate change expert has warned.
Tom Mitchell, one of the lead authors of a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on managing the risks of extreme weather, whose main findings were issued on Friday, told AlertNet growing economic losses from such events are pushing some...
IPCC: climate change worsens extreme weather
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 18th, 2011
Business Green: Climate change is likely to make extreme droughts and flooding more frequent, and governments must design new ways to cope, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said today.
The UN body released a summary of its Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) ahead of the report's full publication in February.
The SREX outlines that the IPCC is more confident of the effects climate change has on downpours and heatwaves...
United States: Climate change means statewide change
Posted by LoHud: None Given on November 18th, 2011
LoHud: Residents from Irene-scarred Mamaroneck to Suffern don't need a 600-page scientific report to convince them that New York is in the crosshairs of climate change. Those who have bailed out basements with increasing frequency are well aware of the region's vulnerability to dramatic weather, and how overdevelopment and other poor land-use planning can add to their water woes.
Others, from land-use policymakers to business leaders, would be wise to review "Responding to Climate Change in New York...
Climate change making all tarsands redundant
Posted by Daily News: Jim Erkiletian on November 18th, 2011
Daily News: The articles lamenting the American's reluctance to accept the Keystone pipeline may be overlooking the Bakken and Texas tar sands that are already each producing over 500,000 barrels per day, and ramping up fast.
Most of the natural gas from these are going to domestic use, rather than simply turning tar into oil. If the Bakken can supply U.S. needs, Texas oil will be exported, making both Enbridge and Keystone redundant and in competition with U.S. companies.
Of course, climate change is...