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Another month, another troubling Arctic sea ice record
Posted by Climate Central: Brian Kahn on March 3rd, 2016
Climate Central: This year is quickly excising 2015 from the dubious top of the climate record books. The most freakishly warm month on record, record atmospheric heat in February and now for the second month in a row, a new monthly Arctic sea ice low.
February saw record low sea ice extent, with ice running a significant 448,000 square miles below average. In essence, a chunk of ice four times the size of Arizona went missing in action from the Arctic. The number would be even more pronounced if not for a small...
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January Smashed Another Global Temperature Record
Posted by Climate Central: Brian Kahn on February 16th, 2016
Climate Central: The calendar may have turned to 2016, but temperatures are picking up where 2015 left off. January was record warm, according to data released this week by NASA.
You may recall that last year was the hottest on record for the globe. And by NASA's accounting, it ended with a bang. This past December was the warmest December on record and the most abnormally warm month on record, too.
That is until now.
This January was the warmest January on record by a large margin while also claiming the...
Hot, Dry Weather Could Cut Into California’s Snowpack
Posted by Climate Central: Brian Kahn on February 5th, 2016
Climate Central: Hello, it's me.
Words made famous by Adele could just as easily apply to what's about to happen in California. An unwelcome call is coming from across the Pacific for a state still struggling with drought.
A ridge of high pressure is coming to the state, harkening back to the ridiculously resilient ridge of the past few years and butting into California's burgeoning love affair with El Niño. It could set back California's snowpack and break heat records.
A ridge of high pressure will deflect...
Has the Southwest Shifted to a ‘Drier Climate State’?
Posted by Climate Central: Brian Kahn on February 5th, 2016
Climate Central: The Southwest is already the most arid part of the U.S. Now new research indicates it's becoming even more dry as wet weather patterns, quite literally, dry up.
The change could herald a pattern shift and raises the specter of megadrought in the region.
Precipitation across the U.S. that can be attributed to these changes in weather patterns. The gray dots show areas where the results are statistically significant.
"We see a very intense trend in the Southwest,' Andreas Prein, a postdoctoral...
Australia: Wildfires Are Burning Some of the World’s Oldest Trees
Posted by Climate Central: Brian Kahn on January 27th, 2016
Climate Central: Northwest Tasmania is home to part of the Gondwana forest. It's a stretch of primeval-looking temperate rainforest, much like the one found in the Pacific Northwest's Olympic National Park. Trees more than 1,000 years old tower above ancient ferns, forming a connection to the distant past. It's why the region has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
But that connection is being broken by climate change. Fueled by extremely dry conditions that stretch back two years, major bushfires have...
This Winter Storm Could Set Coastal Flood Records
Posted by Climate Central: Brian Kahn on January 20th, 2016
Climate Central: The chatter about this weekend’s snowstorm has reached a fever pitch. And while snow total maps are de rigueur for any weather site worth its road salt, it’s the coastal flood impacts that could also go down in the record books and drive major damage. Areas north and west of Washington, D.C. are under a blizzard watch from Friday afternoon through late Saturday. The National Weather Service is warning of “potential life threatening conditions” due to strong winds and heavy snow. Parts of the Washington,...
Climate Change is Decimating Cod in Gulf of Maine
Posted by Climate Central: Brian Kahn on October 29th, 2015
Climate Central: Climate change is expected to vastly reshape our food resources from the seed we sow to the fish we catch in the sea. In the case of cod in the Gulf of Maine, those impacts could be happening here and now, according to new findings.
The research, published on Thursday in Science, shows that waters in the region have recently warmed at an unprecedented rate. Fisheries management has not been able to keep up with the warming, resulting in cod stocks that are at just 3 to 4 percent of sustainable...
Dire climate warning raises questions, not answers
Posted by Climate Central: Brian Kahn on July 22nd, 2015
Climate Central: NASA's former climate chief has issued a stark new study that finds that the world's current climate goal could be inadequate and may not prevent catastrophic losses from rising seas, ocean temperatures and changes in global weather. But the extreme nature of his projections has some scientists questioning the methods he used and the results he reached.
Global leaders and scientists have agreed that keeping global warming to within 2°C of pre-industrial temperatures represents a safe level of...
Sea Level Could Rise at Least 6 Meters
Posted by Climate Central: Brian Kahn on July 9th, 2015
Climate Central: Even if world manages to limit global warming to 2°C -- the target number for current climate negotiations -- sea levels may still rise at least 6 meters (20 feet) above their current heights, radically reshaping the world's coastline and affecting millions in the process.
That finding comes from a new paper published on Thursday in Science that shows how high sea levels rose the last time carbon dioxide levels were this high.
That was about 3 million years ago, when the globe was about 3-5°F...
U.S., Brazil and China All Set Major Climate Goals
Posted by Climate Central: Brian Kahn on June 30th, 2015
Climate Central: The world got a major dose of climate clarity on Tuesday. The U.S., Brazil and China -- three of the world's top greenhouse gas emitters -- all released major commitments to reduce or at least slow their greenhouse gas emissions, protect forests and ramp up their use of renewable energy.
The flurry of activity comes with five months to go until major climate talks in Paris. Those talks are considered critical for a global climate agreement and Tuesday's news indicates a growing level of commitment...