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Archive for October, 2012
Link between cyclones, climate change unclear: Scientists
Posted by Agence France-Presse: Claire Snegaroff and Richard Ingham on October 31st, 2012
Agence France-Presse: Was Hurricane Sandy caused by climate change? This was the contention Tuesday of Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York state, which bore the brunt of the superstorm.
"Anyone who thinks there isn't a change in weather patterns is denying reality," he said.
Many climate scientists would agree with Cuomo when it comes to identifying the cause of the record-breaking droughts and floods of recent years.
But when it comes to tropical storms, the experts also say they cannot give a black-or-white...
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Arctic snow cover shows sharp decline
Posted by Nature: Hannah Hoag on October 31st, 2012
Nature: Arctic snow is fading fast. June snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere has dropped by almost 18% per decade during the past 30 years, according to a study published in Geophysical Research Letters1.
The drop in snow extent will lower the amount of sunlight reflected away from the planet -- a process that has a cooling effect -- by exposing darker and less reflective soil, shrubs and trees, which absorb solar radiation and re-emit the heat into the atmosphere. The change also stands to warm the...
Al Gore: Hurricane Sandy is a global-warming warning
Posted by Politico: Andrew Restuccia on October 31st, 2012
Politico: Former vice president-turned-climate-change-activist Al Gore warned Tuesday that the storm that ravaged the East Coast Monday is "a disturbing sign of things to come.'
"We must heed this warning and act quickly to solve the climate crisis. Dirty energy makes dirty weather,' Gore said in a statement posted on his blog Tuesday afternoon.
Gore, one of the country's most high-profile advocates of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, compared this week's massive storm to 2010 floods that...
New York City subways crippled by superstorm floodwaters; commuters may have to endure long shutdown
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 31st, 2012
Associated Press: Several of the tunnels that carry cars and subway trains beneath New York City's East River remained flooded Tuesday. The head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it was too early to tell how long it would take to pump them dry and make repairs.
There has always been flooding in the tunnels, which collect storm water constantly, even in the lightest of rains. But authorities said there has never been anything like the damage inflicted by Hurricane Sandy. The South Ferry subway station,...
The Role Climate Change Plays in Mega-Storms
Posted by Union of Concerned Scientists: None Given on October 31st, 2012
Union of Concerned Scientists: As Hurricane Sandy dissipates and recovery efforts begin, people are asking what role climate change plays in influencing such storms.
Oceans have absorbed much more of the excess heat from global warming than land and scientists understand that when hurricanes form, higher water temperatures can energize them and make them more powerful. Warming is also causing the atmosphere to hold more moisture and concentrate precipitation in stronger storms, including hurricanes. In the case of Hurricane...
Sandy shows the US is unprepared for climate disasters
Posted by Washington Post: Brad Plumer on October 31st, 2012
Washington Post: There are two main strategies involved in tackling climate change. First, we could try to slow or stop the pace of global warming by curbing our greenhouse-gas emissions. And second, there`s adaptation -- we can try to revamp our existing infrastructure to protect ourselves against some of the effects of a warmer planet.
Many experts say we`ll need to do both. Even if the world could zero out its emissions tomorrow, scientists have found, we`ve already loaded enough carbon-dioxide into the atmosphere...
U.S. obsessed over the Superstorm, but ignored the climate behind it
Posted by Globe and Mail: Richard B. Rood on October 31st, 2012
Globe and Mail: As early as October 23, weather forecast models predicted that tropical storm Sandy would be a threat to the Mid-Atlantic States and New England. By the 25th, the forecasts from several weather centres provided a consistent story of a large hurricane that would turn sharply to the west, and cross the coast in New Jersey. The story from the forecast turned out to be largely correct. The model predictions provided time to plan - to anticipate so that risk and loss could be reduced.
This storm is...
‘Virtual’ Crops Could Lead to Climate-Sustainable Food
Posted by AlertNet: None Given on October 31st, 2012
AlertNet: We've heard it many times: business as usual in farming and food production cannot sustainably feed the 9 billion people projected to populate the world by 2050. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, food production must increase by as much as 70 percent in the first half of the 21st century to meet these needs, especially in developing countries. Climate change poses particularly daunting challenges to future food production. Crops and livestock are already susceptible to a variety...
Climate change turned Sandy into the Frankenstorm
Posted by News.com.au: None Given on October 31st, 2012
News.com.au: CLIMATE change did not cause Sandy the Frankenstorm. But it gave her a big shot in the arm and turned her into the beast that she became.
Scientists say the devastating storm was super-sized by climate change, fuelled by the same processes that will cause more extreme cyclones in Australia.
Professor Matthew England is chair of the Science Advisory Panel to the Australian Climate Commission, as well as being the joint director of the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of New South...
How global warming made Hurricane Sandy worse
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on October 31st, 2012
Climate Central: As officials begin the arduous task of pumping corrosive seawater out of New York City's subway system and try to restore power to lower Manhattan, and residents of the New Jersey Shore begin to take stock of the destruction, experts and political leaders are asking what Hurricane Sandy had to do with climate change. After all, the storm struck a region that has been hit hard by several rare extreme weather events in recent years, from Hurricane Irene to "Snowtober.'
Scientists cannot yet answer...