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Warming Could Mean Major Thaw For Alaska Permafrost
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on January 14th, 2016
Climate Central: If you’d asked permafrost researcher Vladimir Romanovsky five years ago if he thought the permafrost of the North Slope of Alaska was in danger of substantial thaw this century because of global warming, he would have said no. The permanently frozen soils of the northern reaches of the state are much colder, and so more stable than the warmer, more vulnerable permafrost of interior Alaska, he would have said. “I cannot say it anymore” he told journalists last month at the annual meeting of the American...
Extreme UK rains more likely with warming
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on December 11th, 2015
Climate Central: Over this past weekend, a major storm swept across the U.K. and dumped torrential amounts of rain in some spots -- the more than 13 inches that fell in one location in northwest England even set a national 24-hour rainfall record.
Just days later, a real-time analysis by scientists working with Climate Central's World Weather Attribution program has found that global warming has boosted the odds of such an extreme rainfall event in the region by about 40 percent -- a small, but clear, effect,...
8 Western States Have Warmest Year So Far
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on November 6th, 2015
Climate Central: For eight western U.S. states, this has been the warmest year on record through October, according to new temperature data released Friday, and several of those states are likely to continue that record to year’s end. The Lower 48 as a whole is also trending hot, and could see the year end up among the 10 warmest in more than 120 years of records. “I think that it is more likely than not that we will see a Top 10 warm year for the contiguous United States,” Jake Crouch, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric...
Bitterly Cold Winters Less Likely for East Coast
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on November 5th, 2015
Climate Central: The relentless bitter cold the U.S. East Coast faced during the winter of 2013-2014 is becoming increasingly rare -- possibly 20 to 100 times less likely to occur because of warming, a study released Thursday said.
But no warming connection could be found to the repeated snowstorms that painted the East Coast white during that same winter, another study concluded. Instead, changes in Pacific Ocean winds that have also been linked to the so-called "hiatus' in steeply rising temperatures, upped...
El Niño Could Push CO2 Permanently Above Milestone
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on October 28th, 2015
Climate Central: El Niño has its fingers in a lot of pies this year: Not only is it helping to boost 2015 toward the warmest year on record, but it is also a major factor in blockbuster hurricane activity in the Pacific and is contributing to a major worldwide coral die-off.
By this time next year we'll probably be able to add another effect to that list: This El Niño is likely to tip us over into a world with carbon dioxide concentrations permanently above 400 parts per million.
"Will daily values at Mauna...
Middle East to Feel the Heat from Global Warming, Study Says
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on October 27th, 2015
Climate Central: Much of the Middle East already swelters through what are some of the hottest summers on the planet, but, occasionally, a combination of sky-high temperatures and incredible humidity can take conditions to almost unreal levels.
In late July this year, for example, a major heat wave combined with astronomically high humidity to send the heat index in Bandar Mahshahr, Iran -- near the northern coast of the Persian Gulf -- to a mind-bending 163°F.
A snapshot of the conditions that affected the...
Posted in Water Conservation 
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Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on September 10th, 2015
Climate Central: August is synonymous with sweltering summer heat, and that was certainly the name of the game for much of the country this year, temperature data released Wednesday shows. Those sultry temperatures helped two western states see their warmest summers on record, and could help push those and others to their warmest year on record.
August also helped bolster the average temperature for the contiguous states, which saw their 12th warmest summer and ninth warmest year-to-date in the last 121 years,...
Rain, storm surge combine to put US coasts at risk
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on July 28th, 2015
Climate Central: After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleanians thought they knew what areas were susceptible to flooding during a storm. So when Hurricane Isaac, a much weaker storm than Katrina, bore down on the city in 2012, those who live to the west of Lake Pontchartrain weren't worried, as they had been spared the raging waters that inundated so much of the city during Katrina.
As Hurricane Isaac dumped rain on the greater New Orleans area, the storm created a surge on Lake Pontchartrain that...
Warming waters fueled intense Russian rainstorm
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on July 14th, 2015
Climate Central: The torrential rains that fell on the coastal Black Sea town of Krymsk, Russia, in July 2012 shouldn’t have been possible. In the historical records, there is nothing like the 6.7 inches of rain that fell in the area in less than a day, causing catastrophic flash floods that led to the deaths of more than 170 people. One team of scientists says that it has an explanation for the unprecedented event: the clear rise in Black Sea water temperatures in recent decades fueled the explosive convection...
Europe is so hot right now — and only going to get hotter
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on July 14th, 2015
Climate Central: If you were in Paris or Madrid as June transitioned to July, you could be forgiven for thinking you had been transported to the equator, as temperatures across Western Europe soared over 100 degrees F, toppling records during major sporting events like the Tour de France.
The unusually early surge of summer heat was almost certainly affected by the overall warming of the planet, which has at least doubled the chances of such a heatwave, a group of scientists working with Climate Central, as part...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Europe is so hot right now — and only going to get hotter