Archive for the ‘Climate Change News’ Category
An increasingly large amount of peer-reviewed research, published since the IPCC 4th Assessment Report was released in 2007, shows that global warming is happening right now, and that it is quicker than predicted just 2 years ago.
The evidence for this statement is from many areas. Some of the areas showing change are shown below.
-Multiple ecosystems, in multiple locations, now show the effects of global warming. Examples include the timing of plant flowering, animal breeding, and lake thawing.
Lakes are freezing later and thawing earlier due to climate change.
-Higher ocean surface temperatures in Pacific & Atlantic hurricane-formation zones leading to stronger cyclones are definitely related to anthropogenic warming.
-Ocean acidification is happening rapidly, as a result of CO2 in large amounts being dissolved in sea water. This will have massive changes on marine ecosystems and also food security for many nations.
-Expected sea-level elevation over the next few decades will be greater than that predicted in 2007. It will probably increase a metre or more, according to recently published research.
-The accelerated melting of the ice sheet in Greenland that started in 2004 has been definitely linked to climate change.
-The West Antarctic Ice Shelf has undergone rapid melting over the last 10 years and has suffered 10 major ice shelf collapses over that time.
-Sea-ice in the Arctic is disappearing much quicker than previously estimated, and it is almost a given that this area will be ice-free in summer within a few decades.
-Thawing of the boreal permafrost is much speedier than recently calculated, and is expelling a lot more greenhouse gases than expected.
Plants are flowering earlier in spring as temperatures warm, particularly in alpine areas.
The global warming that is now occurring is going to extend for multiple centuries even after all human-released greenhouse gas escape ceases. This is due to the significant inertia that exists in the climate and the delayed decay of carbon dioxide from within the environment (around 25% remains for greater than 5000 years).
Summary
It remains to be seen whether we will work as one to avoid the worst problems of global warming before we pass an important tipping point that might kick off extreme global warming.
Posted in Heavier Rainstorms Ahead Due To Global Climate Change — Heavier rainstorms lie in our future. That’s the clear conclusion of a new study on the impact that global climate change will have on precipitation patterns.
Antarctic Glacier Thinning At Alarming Rate — The thinning of a gigantic glacier in Antarctica is accelerating, scientists report. The Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica, which is around twice the size of Scotland, is losing ice four times as fast as it was a decade years ago. The research also reveals that ice thinning is now occurring much further inland.
The Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Leeds)
Changes In Net Flow Of Ocean Heat Correlate With Past Climate Anomalies — Physicists have combed through data from satellites and ocean buoys and found evidence that in the last 50 years, the net flow of heat into and out of the oceans has changed direction three times. These shifts in the balance of heat absorbed from the sun and radiated from the oceans correlate well with past anomalies that have been associated with abrupt shifts in the Earth’s climate, say the researchers.
Increased Ocean Acidification In Alaska Waters, New Findings Show — The same things that make Alaska’s marine waters among the most productive in the world may also make them the most vulnerable to ocean acidification. According to new findings, Alaska’s oceans are becoming increasingly acidic, which could damage Alaska’s king crab and salmon fisheries.
The pteropod (also known as a sea butterfly or swimming sea snail) may be one of the first marine organisms affected by ocean acidification. Pteropods make up nearly half of the pink salmon diet. This particular pteropod is the Limacina helicina helicina. (Credit: Photo by Russ Hopcroft, UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences)
Unexpected Relationship Between Climate Warming And Advancing Treelines — A new study reveals that treelines are not responding to climate warming as expected. The research, the first global quantitative assessment of the relationship between climate warming and treeline advance, is published in Ecology Letters and tests the premise that treelines are globally advancing in response to climate warming since 1900.
Our Changing Climate — Climatologists Forecast Completely New Climates — Geographers have projected temperature increases due to greenhouse gas emissions to reach a not-so-chilling conclusion: climate zones will shift and some climates will disappear completely by 2100. Tropical highlands and polar regions may be the first to disappear, and large swaths of the tropics and subtropics will reach even hotter temperatures. The study anticipates large climate changes worldwide (VIDEO).
