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Archive for November 10th, 2012
Maya Collapse, Climate Change Linked In New Study That Points To Rainfall, Droughts
Posted by LiveScience: Stephanie Pappas on November 10th, 2012
LiveScience: Much has been made of the so-called 2012 Mayan apocalypse. But for the real Maya people, the end of the world came slowly and timed with historic droughts.
A new, ultra-detailed climate record from a cave in Belize reveals Classic Maya civilization collapsed over centuries as rain dried up, disrupting agriculture and causing instability that led to wars and the crumbling of large cities. A final major drought after the political collapse of the Maya may be what kept the civilization from bouncing...
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Hurricane exposed flaws in protection of tunnels
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 10th, 2012
New York Times: Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Sandy struck, the vital arteries that bring cars, trucks and subways into New York City’s transportation network have recovered, with one major exception: the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel remains closed. The devastation there has underscored how major tunnels across the region are poorly protected from extreme weather and how they will need significant modifications to prevent such catastrophic failures in the future. The tunnel’s general manager, Marc Mende, recounting...
United Kingdom: Wet, wet, wet – this is what summers will be like from now on
Posted by Belfast Telegraph: Linda Stewart on November 10th, 2012
Belfast Telegraph: Get used to the summer wellies -- Northern Ireland's weather is getting wetter.
That's the warning from the Met Office which says we are facing more torrential weather in the years ahead as climate change tightens its grip.
Professor Stephen Belcher, who heads up the Met Office Hadley Centre, yesterday briefed the Stormont environment committee on how our weather is set to change in the future.
He said Northern Ireland will experience an increasing average temperature, more rainfall and...
Despite cool October, 2012 tracks to be hottest US year
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on November 10th, 2012
Climate Central: After 16 straight months with above-average temperatures, October temperatures in the lower 48 states averaged slightly below average, according to data released Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Even with a cooler October, 2012 is still on track to be the warmest year on record in the U.S., propelled by a widespread March heat wave, the warmest spring on record, and the third-hottest summer on record. The month of July, for example, set the record for the...
Climate change may come faster than predictions made by most computer models
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 10th, 2012
ClimateWire: Climate change is likely to be worse than many computer models have projected, according to a new analysis.
The work, published yesterday in Science, finds evidence that Earth's climate is more sensitive to the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than some earlier studies had suggested.
If the new results are correct, that means warming will come on faster, and be more intense, than many current predictions. Moreover, the impacts of that warming, including sea level rise, drought, floods...
UN: Sandy shows need for action on climate change
Posted by Associated Press: Edith M. Lederer on November 10th, 2012
Associated Press: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday that one of the main lessons from Superstorm Sandy is the need for global action to deal with future climate shocks.
Ban told the U.N. General Assembly that it is difficult to attribute any single storm, like Sandy, to climate change.
"But we all know this: extreme weather due to climate change is the new normal," he said. "This may be an uncomfortable truth but it is one we ignore at our peril."
With a new round of global climate talks set to begin...
Forecast: Hotter climate models likely right
Posted by Mother Jones: Julia Whitty on November 10th, 2012
Mother Jones: More than two dozen major climate models are being used to forecast global warming from rising greenhouse gas emissions--notably how much warming will occur when atmospheric carbon dioxide doubles from preindustrial times. At current rates that unhappy milestone will be reached well before 2100. So which models are more accurate?
"Because we have more reliable observations for humidity than for clouds, we can use the humidity patterns that change seasonally to evaluate climate models," says co-author...
Propelled by climate, drawn to ice
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 10th, 2012
National Public Radio: Superstorm Sandy has put the topic of climate change front and center once again.
Just after Sandy staggered his city, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wrote "Our climate is changing. And while the increase in extreme weather we have experienced in New York City and around the world may or may not be the result of it, the risk that it might be - given this week's devastation - should compel all elected leaders to take immediate action."
Photographer James Balog has spent the last several years...
An inconvenient portfolio
Posted by Canadian Press: Joel Schlesinger on November 10th, 2012
Canadian Press: Humanity's impact on the planet is hard to ignore these days. Some may brush aside Sandy's horrific trail of destruction or record-breaking heat this past summer as natural blips in the weather cycle But now even the flagship magazine for the most respected business news source in the world for the investment crowd -- Bloomberg Businessweek -- reflects a major shift in perception. The magazine's post-Sandy issue recently featured the headline 'It's Global Warming, Stupid' on its cover. If it sounds...
The reality of climate change can no longer be ignored
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 10th, 2012
GlobalPost: Last week, Hurricane Sandy put climate change back in the political discussion. Sandy gave the American people a painful taste of what is likely to be in store for us as the planet's weather continues to change rapidly. The storm inflicted significant damage on regional infrastructure, crippled transit, and left millions without power. Only the extraordinary accuracy of our weather prediction and foresight in preparations by state and local governments prevented a catastrophic loss of life as well....