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Archive for August 14th, 2014
Antarctica’s Ice Discharge Major Contributor to Sea Level Rise
Posted by Nature World: Jenna Iacurci on August 14th, 2014
Nature World: Antarctica's ice discharge could become a major contributor to the global sea level rise within this century, adding up to an extra 37 centimeters, which is more so than previously thought, according to a new study.
"If greenhouse gases continue to rise as before, ice discharge from Antarctica could raise the global ocean by an additional one to 37 centimeters in this century already," lead author Anders Levermann, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said in a statement. "Now...
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NJ announces climate change mapping website
Posted by Newsworks: Carolyn Beeler on August 14th, 2014
Newsworks: Rutgers scientists and data managers announced a new climate change mapping website for New Jersey this week.
NJADAPT.org contains interactive maps that allow community planners to see how infrastructure, population and the environment are vulnerable to storm surges, coastal flooding, and sea level rise.
"We heard from a number of people who are doing community-based work that they're interested in certain assets or certain infrastructure within their communities," said Jennifer Rovito, a Rutgers...
Humans to Blame for Much of Recent Glacier Melt
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on August 14th, 2014
Climate Central: From Alaska to the Alps, photos of today's diminished glaciers contrasted with grainy black-and-white images of their former, more massive states are some of the most widely used examples of the impact of human-caused climate change, with their melt threatening water supplies, enhancing sea level rise, and posing threats like floods from bursting glacial lakes.
"Everybody is using [these photos],' said Ben Marzeion, a climate scientist with the University of Innsbruck in Austria. "But nobody actually...
How Dust Could Solve California’s Drought
Posted by ClimateWire: Henry Gass on August 14th, 2014
ClimateWire: With 80 percent of California in a state of extreme drought, you wouldn't think dust would be the answer to the state's water woes. New research presented in San Francisco yesterday suggests, however, that dusty air blown across the Pacific Ocean from Asia and Africa could be influencing precipitation in the region.
In a presentation at a national meeting of the American Chemical Society yesterday, Kim Prather from the University of California, San Diego, described research she is leading into...
Study blames humans for most of melting glaciers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 14th, 2014
Associated Press: More than two-thirds of the recent rapid melting of the world's glaciers can be blamed on humans, a new study finds.
Scientists looking at glacier melt since 1851 didn't see a human fingerprint until about the middle of the 20th century. Even then only one-quarter of the warming wasn't from natural causes.
But since 1991, about 69 percent of the rapidly increasing melt was man-made, said Ben Marzeion, a climate scientist at the University of Innsbruck in Austria.
"Glaciers are really shrinking...
Texas messes with Texas, pits landowners against pipeline-builders
Posted by Grist: None Given on August 14th, 2014
Grist: Texas has a complicated relationship with oil. On the one hand, it`s a state that`s really into private property. More than 95 percent of land in the Lone Star State is privately owned. On the other hand, Texas is really into oil - both digging it up and moving it around.
Basic physics suggests that, eventually, someone would want to move their oil through a space that belonged to someone who didn`t want it there. Lo, when the Keystone pipeline came on the scene, that came to pass in Texas. And...
Antarctica’s ice discharge could raise sea level faster than previously thought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 14th, 2014
ScienceDaily: Ice discharge from Antarctica could contribute up to 37 centimeters to the global sea level rise within this century, a new study shows. For the first time, an international team of scientists provide a comprehensive estimate on the full range of Antarctica's potential contribution to global sea level rise based on physical computer simulations. Led by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the study combines a whole set of state-of-the-art climate models and observational data with various...
Melting glaciers are caused by man-made global warming, study shows
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 14th, 2014
Independent: The dramatic melting of the world’s mountain glaciers – from the Alps to the Himalayas – is mostly the result of man-made global warming rather than natural variability in the climate, a study has found.
Scientists have laid to rest the idea that glaciers as far apart as Patagonia and Indonesia are melting primarily because of natural changes to the climate caused by such things as solar variability and volcanic eruptions.
An assessment of about 200,000 glaciers in the world, some of which...
The loss of our glaciers is a threat to millions worldwide
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 14th, 2014
Independent: They are one of the most visible icons of the “cryosphere”, the cold parts of the world where temperatures fall below the freezing point of water, a natural tipping point that profoundly changes the environment.
And yet, only as a result of the long-term monitoring of mountain glaciers did it become apparent that they were disappearing – such is the glacial pace of glacier melting.
Around the world, from South America to Central Asia, mountain glaciers are melting faster than they are forming....
Humans Are to Blame for Earth’s Rapidly Melting Glaciers
Posted by LiveScience: Laura Geggel on August 14th, 2014
LiveScience: The steady melt of glacial ice around the world is largely due to man-made factors, such as greenhouse-gas emissions and aerosols, a new study finds.
Humans have caused roughly a quarter of the globe's glacial loss between 1851 and 2010, and about 69 percent of glacial melting between 1991 and 2010, the study suggests.
"In a sense, we got a confirmation that by now, it is really mostly humans that are responsible for the melting glaciers," said lead researcher Ben Marzeion, an associate professor...