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Climate hysterics v heretics in an age of unreason
In a May issue of Nature, evidence about falling global temperatures forced German climatologists to conclude that the transformation of our planet into a permanent sauna is taking a decade-long hiatus, at least. Then this month came former greenhouse gas alarmist David Evans's article in The Australian, stating that since 1999 evidence has been accumulating that man-made carbon emissions can't be the cause of global warming. By now that evidence, Evans said, has become pretty conclusive. Yet believers in man-made global warming demand more and more money
to combat climate change and still more drastic changes in our economic
output and lifestyle. More
Giant chunks break off Canadian ice shelf
Temperatures in large parts of the Arctic have risen far faster than the global average in recent decades, a development that experts say is linked to global warming. The ice broke away from the shelf on Ward Hunt Island, an small island
just off giant Ellesmere Island in one of the northernmost parts of
Canada. It was the largest fracture of its kind since the nearby Ayles
ice shelf - which measured 25 square miles - broke away in 2005. More
Hurricane Dolly may have shrunk Gulf 'dead zone'
There is too little oxygen to support sea life for about 8,000 square miles - just under the record of 8,006 square miles recorded in 2001, said Nancy Rabalais, head of the head of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium. "If it were not for Hurricane Dolly, the size of the Dead Zone would
have been substantially larger," she said in a news release sent from
the consortium's research vessel, the Pelican, as she returned from
her annual mapping cruise. Rabalais measures the area during the same
period each year. More
Weather Modification: Sometimes it rains cement
"A pack of cement used in creating ... good weather in the capital region ... failed to pulverize completely at high altitude and fell on the roof of a house, making a hole about 80-100 cm (2.5-3 ft)," police in Naro-Fominsk told agency RIA-Novosti. Ahead of major public holidays the Russian Air Force often dispatches up to 12 cargo planes carrying loads of silver iodide, liquid nitrogen and cement powder to seed clouds above Moscow and empty the skies of moisture. A spokesman for the Russian Air Force refused to comment. More
Painting by numbers: NASA's peculiar thermometer
NASA's published data is largely based on data from the US Historical
Climatology Network, which derives its data from thermometer readings
across the country. According to USHCN literature, the raw temperature
data is adjusted to compensate for geographical movements in the weather
stations, changes in the 24-hour start/end times when the readings are
taken, and other factors. USHCN is directly affiliated with the Oak
Ridge National Laboratories' Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center,
an organisation which exists primarily to promote the idea of a link
between CO2 and climate. More
Soaring energy costs are about to change everything
Mission accomplished. Suddenly a world in which oil costs well over
US$100 a barrel isn't just the dream of a terrorist bent on destroying
the United States and its allies. It is reality. Oil recently hit US$135
a barrel, more than double where it was a year ago. And the once unimaginable
prospect of oil at US$200 a barrel is gaining currency among the world's
most respected oil watchers. More
Solar Storms Are About to Get Ugly
Detours Clumps of ions in the atmosphere could interfere with GPS. Satellite signals are slowed by bumping into particles, meaning your trusty navigator may lose its way. Remember those colorful paper things called maps? Falling Satellites Increased solar energy heats Earth's atmosphere,
causing it to expand. That's a drag on low-flying satellites and can
even knock them out of orbit. A solar storm in 1979 deposited Skylab
on Australia. More
'Black hole' machine could destroy planet
International scientists, including dozens from Canada, are about to launch the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a 27-kilometre long particle accelerator built near Geneva, Switzerland. It will shoot beams of protons at each other in an effort to recreate conditions that resemble what the universe might have been like in the milliseconds after the Big Bang. In the process, scientists may end up creating miniature black holes -- areas of space that have gravitational pulls so strong that not even light can escape. The more matter a black hole pulls in, the stronger it becomes. And that's what worries Walter Wagner, the American who is suing to temporarily stop the project. He says the creation of these black holes here on Earth, no matter how small, may unleash a chain reaction that could destroy the planet. "Eventually, all of Earth would fall into such growing micro-black-holes,
converting Earth into a medium-sized black hole, around which would
continue to orbit the moon, satellites, and the (International Space
Station)," according to court papers Wagner, along with a citizen of
Spain, filed in Honolulu. More
NOAA: Coolest Winter Since 2001 for U.S., Globe
In the contiguous United States, the average winter temperature was 33.2°F (0.6°C), which was 0.2°F (0.1°C) above the 20th century average – yet still ranks as the coolest since 2001. It was the 54th coolest winter since national records began in 1895. With higher-than-average temperatures in the Northeast and South,
the contiguous U.S. winter temperature-related energy demand was approximately
1.7 percent lower than average, based on NOAA’s Residential Energy Demand
Temperature Index. More
Gore unveils $300m climate ads
The Nobel laureate, who appeared with his wife, Tipper, on the CBS programme 60 Minutes to roll out the effort, is to donate a share of his personal fortune to the campaign. The couple told 60 Minutes that they would donate his Nobel prize money as well as a matching sum in addition to their profits from the book and the movie of An Inconvenient Truth. The movie brought the issue of global warming home to millions of Americans, as well as winning Gore an Oscar. In this latest campaign, Gore said he hopes to persuade Americans that protecting the planet transcends the usual political divisions. "We all share the exact same interest in doing the right thing on
this," he told CBS. "Are we destined to destroy this place that we call
home, planet earth? I can't believe that that's our destiny. It is not
our destiny. But we have to awaken to the moral duty that we have to
do the right thing and get out of this silly political game-playing
about it. This is about survival." More
World Bank accused of climate change "hijack"
"The World Bank's foray into climate change has gone down like a lead balloon," Friends of the Earth campaigner Tom Picken said at the end of a major climate change conference in the Thai capital. "Many countries and civil society have expressed outrage at the World Bank's attempted hijacking of real efforts to fund climate change efforts," he said. Before they agree to any sort of restrictions on emissions of the
greenhouse gases fuelling global warming, poor countries want firm commitments
of billions of dollars in aid from their rich counterparts. More
The Mystery of Global Warming's Missing Heat
That could mean global warming has taken a breather. Or it could mean scientists aren't quite understanding what their robots are telling them. This is puzzling in part because here on the surface of the Earth, the years since 2003 have been some of the hottest on record. But Josh Willis at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory says the oceans are what really matter when it comes to global warming. In fact, 80 percent to 90 percent of global warming involves heating
up ocean waters. They hold much more heat than the atmosphere can. So
Willis has been studying the ocean with a fleet of robotic instruments
called the Argo system. The buoys can dive 3,000 feet down and measure
ocean temperature. Since the system was fully deployed in 2003, it has
recorded no warming of the global oceans. More
Real Death Star Could Strike Earth
Unlike the moon-sized Death Star from Star Wars, which has to get close to a planet to blast it, this blazing spiral has the potential to burn worlds from thousands of light-years away. "I used to appreciate this spiral just for its beautiful form, but now I can't help a twinge of feeling that it is uncannily like looking down a rifle barrel," said researcher Peter Tuthill, an astronomer at the University of Sydney. The fiery pinwheel in space in question has at its heart a pair of
hot, luminous stars locked in orbit with each other. As they circle
one another, plumes of streaming gas driven from the surfaces of the
stars collide in the intervening space, eventually becoming entangled
and twisted into a whirling spiral by the orbits of the stars. More
Is Human Tampering Causing Extreme Weather?
They believe that the debate on climate change has ignored the role of environmental manipulation projects. Artificial manipulation of the climate is nothing new. During the Vietnam war, the US military used cloud seeding techniques to cause torrential rain and disrupt enemy supply lines. Last month, Chinese media reported that the Communist party was preparing 'rain-prevention techniques' to be used on the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics this year. But some experts believe that new technology can enable governments
to manipulate climate patterns globally for military use. More
Temperature Monitors Report Widescale Global Cooling
But now, that evidence has been supplanted by hard scientific fact.
All four major global temperature tracking outlets (Hadley, NASA's GISS,
UAH, RSS) have released updated data. All show that over the past year,
global temperatures have dropped precipitously. More
PA community consumed by underground mine fire Many have followed this path in recent years with little knowledge
of the on going story of this little detour and the town that no longer
is really a town. If you had disregarded the detour signs and make the
right that 61 north takes through Ashland your first clue that something
isn't right would be the abrupt end to route 61 as it once was. More
Global Warming Hype Sparks ‘Eco-Anxiety’ Syndrome “People are afraid of the future, they’re afraid of what’s going to happen,” said licensed therapist Melissa Pickett, saying of one patient, “She brought up during the course of our session that she had just read an article about the polar bears and the loss of habitat and she started crying … she said ‘I just don’t understand this.’” Pickett said fears about the environment are sending some people into a panic. The mental health disorder has grown enough to gain the ‘eco-anxiety’ name. “It’s causing them to feel anxiety, it’s causing them to feel depression,
it’s causing them to have insomnia,” said general practitioner Cynthia
Knudsen of patients. More
Disabled Spy Satellite Threatens Earth The satellite, which no longer can be controlled, could contain hazardous materials, and it is unknown where on the planet it might come down, they said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is classified as secret. It was not clear how long ago the satellite lost power, or under what circumstances. "Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation," said
Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, when
asked about the situation after it was disclosed by other officials.
"Numerous satellites over the years have come out of orbit and fallen
harmlessly. We are looking at potential options to mitigate any possible
damage this satellite may cause." More
Ice returns as Greenland temps plummet On Disko Bay in western Greenland, where a number of prominent world leaders have visited in recent years to get a first-hand impression of climate change, temperatures have dropped so drastically that the water has frozen over for the first time in a decade. 'The ice is up to 50cm thick,' said Henrik Matthiesen, an employee
at Denmark's Meteorological Institute who has also sailed the Greenlandic
coastline for the Royal Arctic Line. 'We've had loads of northerly winds
since Christmas which has made the area miserably cold.' Matthiesen
suggested the cold weather marked a return to the frigid temperatures
common a decade ago. More
Al Gore's next act: Planet-saving After loading his plate with Chinese food from a buffet, Gore is firing detailed questions at the management team of Ausra, a Kleiner-backed company in Palo Alto whose technology uses mirrors the width of a flatbed truck that focus the sun's energy to generate electricity. Once Gore is satisfied -- sunlight lags north of South Dakota, an
Ausra plant can serve 120,000 homes, and yes, smaller turbines will
work fine -- he shifts from inquisitor to fixer. He was chatting with
California Senator Barbara Boxer "on the way over," he reports, and
he isn't optimistic that Congress will extend the tax credits Ausra
has been relying on. On the upside, he offers on the spot to organize
a summit highlighting the company's solar thermal technology to educate
lawmakers and other policymakers on its potential. He also thinks a
powwow at General Electric (Charts, Fortune 500) would be beneficial,
even though Ausra is a tiny customer. More
Prius owner an alleged Eco-Dumper
On Sunday around 2:20 p.m., a correspondant witnessed one of those "environmentally sensitive" folk dump her Christmas tree on Fiesta Island. Ironically, if she would have taken the time to look up tree collection sites she would have found a designated collection point about 1/8 mile from where she dumped it on Fiesta Island. The charcoal gray Prius was seen leaving the scene shortly thereafter, but not before being photographed.. End of the world is business as usual for some
Film-maker Ben Anthony was afforded entry to the Strong City commune in New Mexico where Michael Travesser, a 66-year-old former sailor previously known as Wayne Bent, modestly calls himself the Son of God. He has spent the past 20 years preparing his 56 devoted disciples for doomsday. When Travesser announced that the world would end at midnight on October 31, 2007, his followers were exhilarated. Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed the wee problem with this prophecy. The messianic charlatan got it spectacularly wrong. This prediction game has been going on for aeons. About two centuries
after Christ, some zealots in Jerusalem were convinced the apocalyptic
day was dawning. They climbed to the top of Masada - a place where Jewish
martyrs had once committed suicide rather than submit to the enemy -
and awaited the end. Well, it came. They all died of sunstroke. More
A Look at Ancient Earth This is from a series in 2004: "The planet during the Cretaceous was very different than it is today," says Adina Paytan, an assistant professor of geological and environmental sciences at Stanford and the first author of the paper. "Not only were dinosaurs present, but the climate was extremely warm and global sea levels were significantly higher than they are today. Understanding how the atmosphere, land and ocean system interacted while in this global greenhouse mode is very relevant if we want to understand the fate of our future climate." "This was a time when there were no glaciers in either the Arctic
or Antarctic," says Miriam Kastner, a professor of earth sciences at
UCSD's Scripps Institution of Oceanography and a co-principal investigator
of the study. More
The Climate Engineers “Mitigation is not happening and is not going to happen,” physicist Lowell Wood declared at the NASA conference. Wood advanced several ideas to “fix” the earth’s climate, including
building up Arctic sea ice to make it function like a planetary air
conditioner to “suck heat in from the midlatitude heat bath.” A “surprisingly
practical” way of achieving this, he said, would be to use large artillery
pieces to shoot as much as a million tons of highly reflective sulfate
aerosols or specially engineered nanoparticles into the Arctic stratosphere
to deflect the sun’s rays. More
Weather Channel Founder Calls Global Warming A 'Scam'
That's because Coleman doesn't believe in global warming, or so-called climate change. In a November 7 blog entry on icecap.us, Coleman makes it clear that he does not oppose environmentalism, but he says that global warming is a "non-event, a manufactured crisis and a total scam." "I have read dozens of scientific papers. I have talked with numerous scientists. I have studied. I have thought about it. I know I am correct," Coleman wrote. "The impact of humans on climate is not catastrophic. Our planet is
not in peril." More
SoCal fires blamed on global warming
That's what many climate experts are saying about catastrophic wildfires, including the dozen that have turned San Diego County into a disaster zone for the past week. They believe such blazes will become a regular part of life in Southern California because global warming is intensifying nature's cycles by lengthening fire seasons and prolonging droughts in parts of the West. The consequences would be more deaths, more houses consumed by flames and more budgets busted by firefighting costs. “The fires we just experienced are some of the first effects we are
feeling from climate change,” said Walter Oechel, a biology professor
at San Diego State University who had to evacuate his home in Jamul
last week. More
Global Warming Causing African Floods
Devastating rains and flash floods have affected 1.5 million people across the continent, killing at least 300 since early summer. West Africa has seen its most severe floods in years, as torrents swamped the Democratic Republic of the Congo's capital of Kinshasa last week, killing 30 people in less than 24 hours. In northern Ghana, over 300,000 people have been uprooted by devastating
downpours. More
Greenland ice yields hope on climate The findings, published today in the journal Science, indicate Greenland's ice may be less susceptible to the massive meltdown predicted by computer models of climate change, the article's main author said in an interview. "If our data is correct, and I believe it is, then this means the southern Greenland ice cap is more stable than previously thought," said Eske Willerslev, research leader and professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Copenhagen. "This may have implications for how the ice sheets respond to global warming. They may withstand rising temperatures." A painstaking analysis of surviving genetic fragments locked in the
ice of southern Greenland shows that somewhere between 450,000 and 800,000
years ago, the world's largest island had a climate much like that of
Northern New England, the researchers said. Butterflies fluttered over
lush meadows interspersed with stands of pine, spruce, and alder. More
Shot may be inadvertently boosting superbugs On Monday, doctors reported discovering the first such germ that is resistant to all drugs approved to treat childhood ear infections. Nine toddlers in Rochester, N.Y., have had the germ and researchers say it may be turning up elsewhere, too. It is a strain of strep bacteria not included in pneumococcal vaccine,
Wyeth's Prevnar, which came on the market in 2000. It is recommended
for children under age 2. More
Two-thirds of the world's polar bears dead by 2050
Only in northern Canada and northwestern Greenland are polar bears expected to survive through the end of the century, said the U.S. Geological Survey. USGS projects that polar bears during the next half-century will lose 42 percent of the Arctic range they need to live in during summer in the Polar Basin when they hunt and breed. A polar bear's life usually lasts about 30 years. Polar bears depend on sea ice as a platform for hunting seals, which
is their primary food. They rarely catch seals on land or in open water.
But the sea ice is decreasing due to climate change — and the latest
forecasts of how much they are shrinking are, if anything, an underestimate,
scientists said. More
Cosmic blast may have killed off megafauna
The blast, which the researchers believe occurred 12,900 years ago, may have also doomed a mysterious early human culture, known as Clovis people, while triggering a planetwide cool-down that wiped out the plant species that sustained many outsize Ice Age beasts, according to research published online yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Scientists have long speculated that an impact from a comet or asteroid
may have wiped out dinosaurs 65 million years ago. But the notion of
an extraterrestrial object wreaking such havoc during human times is
a bit unnerving even to researchers. More
Global warming leaves Russians cold
The Russian media focus on what seem to be more pressing problems. There are burning social issues, there's uncertainty about the security, there's a falling-out with the West, and, crucially, it is a very cold country. A meteorologist in Arkhangelsk, in the north of Russia, once told
me: "I know global warming is a problem, but I would welcome a bit of
warmth up here. Then I could grow my own tomatoes." More
Climate change may help rainforests
But scientists cautioned that while the finding raises hopes for the survival of the forests, there are still serious threats. Climate models have suggested that the forests will suffer as the
region becomes drier and will release huge quantities of carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere. More
Scientific Studies Refute Fears of Greenland Melt
A recent study concluded Greenland was as warm or warmer in the 1930's
and 40's and the rate of warming from 1920-1930 was about 50% higher
than the warming from 1995-2005. One 2005 study found Greenland gaining
ice in the interior higher elevations and thinning ice at the lower
elevations. In addition, the often media promoted fears of Greenland's
ice completely melting and a subsequent catastrophic sea level rise
are directly at odds with the latest scientific studies. These studies
suggest that the biggest perceived threat to Greenland's glaciers may
be contained in unproven computer models predicting a future catastrophic
melt. More
Biologist searches for clues to missing bees
They’re science. Big science. Bob Minckley, adjunct professor of biology, is trying to get a handle on a problem that threatens the multibillion-dollar a year American agricultural system: Why are the honeybees disappearing? “It’s crazy,” says Minckley. “Here’s this incredibly important linchpin
to agriculture, and we have no good data on how its population changes
from year to year or place to place. Honeybees are dying and we don’t
even know what the scope of the problem is. We don’t know if the problem
has occurred in the past. We can’t go back to look at records because
we didn’t take any. And the honeybee is the best-studied bee. There
are 20,000 other species we barely know exist.” More
Vatican trades Carbon Credit Indulgences
In 1517 Pope Leo X offered indulgences in exchange for donations to rebuild St. Peter's Basilica. This July, the Holy See announced it would become the first fully green sovereign state by accepting a donation of "carbon credits" from a subsidiary of Planktos, a Foster City firm hoping to profit from the global market in CO2 offsets — the scheme whereby companies, individuals, and now nations can buy forgiveness for their global warming sins. So just like Leo X's absolution peddling scheme a half-millennium
ago, the pontiff has set his church up to look morally ridiculous. More
Summer Cancelled in Norway
"If we're to get any better summer weather, something dramatic will have to happen," Pål Evensen of the state Meteorologic Institute told newspaper Aften on Monday, adding that he can see "no sign" of any warmer or drier weather in the weeks ahead. Evensen noted that he can only predict a week in advance, but he's
also working with long-term forecasts and he has no reason to think
that August weather will be any better than June or July, both of which
been virtual washouts. The wettest summer on record thus looks likely
to continue. More
Global warming blamed for vanishing lake
Equipped with state-of-the-art laser scanners, personnel from both
organizations measured the depth of neighboring lakes in order to digitally
reconstruct the region’s topography. The study group wanted to take
detailed photographs of lake site itself, speculating that this data
would be crucial in determining the cause of the disappearance and whether
or not the lake could refill. More
Driver fined for using biofuel
So last fall the Charlotte musician and guitar instructor spent $1,200 to convert his 1981 diesel Mercedes to run on vegetable oil. He bought soybean oil in 5-gallon jugs at Costco, spending about 30 percent more than diesel would cost. His reward, from a state that heavily promotes alternative fuels: a $1,000 fine last month for not paying motor fuel taxes. He has been told to expect another $1,000 fine from the federal government. To legally use veggie oil, state officials told him, he would have to first post a $2,500 bond. Teixeira is one of a growing number of fuel-it-yourselfers -- backyard
brewers who recycle restaurant grease or make moonshine for their car
tanks. They do it to save money, reduce pollution or thumb their noses
at oil sheiks. More
"Eco Friendly" Bulbs are Toxic
One consumer has learned that accidentally breaking a CFL could cost her more than $2,000. According to the newspaper Ellsworth American, Brandy Bridges of Prospect, Maine, has been given a conservative quote of $2,000 for toxic cleanup of one CFL broken in her home. Bridges broke the CFL as she was installing it in her daughter's bedroom.
Because Bridges knew that CFLs contain hazardous materials, she called
Home Depot for advice on how to clean up the broken bulb. The store
directed her to a Poison Control hotline, which advised her to call
the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). More
Global Warming beer available in Greenland
But brewers in Greenland seem to be going with the flow, having found a new use for one of their homeland's fastest growing—but least celebrated—natural resources: melted Arctic ice. A team of canny entrepreneurs has unveiled Greenland Beer, an ale brewed with water melted from Greenland's ice cap, at a public tasting in Copenhagen, Denmark. And if reaction from tipplers at the tasting was any indication, the brewers may be on to something. Electrician Flemming Larsen described the ale to the Associated Press as "smooth, soft, but not bitter … different from most other beer." "Maybe that is because it's ice-cap water," he said. More
Paying to absolve the sin of emissions
So he paid $100 to a company that then subsidized a wind energy project that generates electricity without producing greenhouses gases. Broomhead was told his contribution made up for a year of driving about 12,000 miles as well as his household's annual use of electricity and natural gas. In the new vernacular, Broomhead and his family were "carbon neutral." "It makes me feel good. It means I'm walking my talk," he said. More
John Travolta's Carbon Footprint
The 53-year-old actor, a passionate pilot, encouraged his fans to "do their bit" to tackle global warming. But although he readily admitted: "I fly jets", he failed to mention he actually owns five, along with his own private runway. Clocking up at least 30,000 flying miles in the past 12 months means he has produced an estimated 800 tons of carbon emissions – nearly 100 times the average Briton's tally. Travolta made his comments this week at the British premiere of his movie, Wild Hogs. He spoke of the importance of helping the environment by using "alternative
methods of fuel" – after driving down the red carpet on a Harley Davidson.
More
GLOBAL WARMING - Not the End of the World
Svante Arrhenius, the father of the greenhouse effect, would be called a heretic today. Far from issuing the sort of dire predictions about climate change which are common nowadays, the Swedish physicist dared to predict a paradise on earth for humans when he announced, in April 1896, that temperatures were rising -- and that it would be a blessing for all. Arrhenius, who later won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, calculated that
the release of carbon dioxide -- or carbonic acid as it was then known
-- through burning coal, oil and natural gas would lead to a significant
rise in temperatures worldwide. But, he argued, "by the influence of
the increasing percentage of carbonic acid in the atmosphere, we may
hope to enjoy ages with more equable and better climates," potentially
making poor harvests and famine a thing of the past. More
Climate change fruitful for fungi
Analysis by his son Alan, published in the journal Science, shows some fungi have started to fruit twice a year. It is among the first studies to show a biological impact of warming in autumn. One of the changes Professor Gange turned up was that the autumnal fruiting period has expanded. Some mushrooms and toadstools are emerging earlier each year, others later, which he thinks are responses to warmer temperatures and higher rainfall. More spectacularly, he found that more than one third of the species
recorded have started to fruit twice per year. There was no record of
this before 1976; but since then, 120 species have shown an additional
fruiting in spring. More
Polar Explorers Turned Back by Cold
"Ann said losing toes and going forward at all costs was never part of the journey," said Ann Atwood, who helped organize the expedition.The ritual in 2005 was led by Daniel Petru Corogeanu, 31, the priest at the Holy Trinity convent in Tanacu village. Bancroft, 51, became the first woman to cross the North Pole on a 1986 expedition. She and Arnesen, 53, of Oslo, Norway, were the first women to ski across Antarctica in 2001. It was quite a bit colder, Atwood said, then Bancroft and Arnesen had
expected. One night they measured the temperature inside their tent
at 58 degrees below zero, and outside temperatures were exceeding 100
below zero at times, Atwood said. More
"Tens of billions" needed to combat global warming
Failure would produce a turbulent 21st century of weather extremes, spreading drought and disease, expanding oceans and displaced coastal populations, it said. "The increasing numbers of environmental refugees as sea levels rise
and storm surges increase will be in the tens of millions," panel co-chair
Rosina Bierbaum, a University of Michigan ecologist, told reporters
here.. More
Mars Data Suggests Global Warming on That Planet
Earth is currently experiencing rapid warming, which the vast majority of climate scientists says is due to humans pumping huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Mars, too, appears to be enjoying more mild and balmy temperatures. In 2005 data from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey missions
revealed that the carbon dioxide "ice caps" near Mars's south pole had
been diminishing for three summers in a row.. More
Allegre's second thoughts on Global Warming
"By burning fossil fuels, man increased the concentration of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere which, for example, has raised the global
mean temperature by half a degree in the last century," Dr. Allegre,
a renowned geochemist, wrote 20 years ago in Cles pour la geologie.."
Fifteen years ago, Dr. Allegre was among the 1500 prominent scientists
who signed "World Scientists' Warning to Humanity," a highly publicized
letter stressing that global warming's "potential risks are very great"
and demanding a new caring ethic that recognizes the globe's fragility
in order to stave off "spirals of environmental decline, poverty, and
unrest, leading to social, economic and environmental collapse." More
The Great Global Warming Swindle
According to a group of scientists brought together by documentary-maker Martin Durkin, if the planet is heating up, it isn't your fault and there's nothing you can do about it. We've almost begun to take it for granted that climate change is a
man-made phenomenon. But just as the environmental lobby think they've
got our attention, a group of naysayers have emerged to slay the whole
premise of global warming. More
Russian Academic: CO2 not to blame for global warming
Habibullo Abdusamatov, head of the space research laboratory at the St. Petersburg-based Pulkovo Observatory, said global warming stems from an increase in the sun's activity. His view contradicts the international scientific consensus that climate change is attributable to the emission of greenhouse gases generated by industrial activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. "Global warming results not from the emission of greenhouse gases into
the atmosphere, but from an unusually high level of solar radiation
and a lengthy - almost throughout the last century - growth in its intensity,"
Abdusamatov told RIA Novosti in an interview. More
Global Warming boost to Glaciers
They found warmer winters and cooler summers, combined with more snow and rainfall, could be causing some mountain glaciers to increase in size. The findings are significant, because temperature and rain and snow
trends in the area impact on water availability for more than 50 million
Pakistanis. More
Scientists say Arctic once was tropical
First-of-its-kind core samples dug up from deep beneath the Arctic Ocean floor show that 55 million years ago an area near the North Pole was practically a subtropical paradise, three new studies show. "It probably was (a tropical paradise) but the mosquitoes were probably
the size of your head," said Yale geology professor Mark Pagani, a study
co-author.
More New Model Predicts More Intense Solar Storms Ahead
The model offers a possible solution to the 150-year-old mystery of
what’s behind the Sun’s approximately 11-year cycle of activity. It
could also lead to better planning for space weather, such as solar
flares and coronal mass ejections, which can disrupt navigation and
power systems and threaten astronauts in space. More
Gloom! Doom! Europe to experience Ice Age
The dramatic finding comes from a study of ocean circulation in the North Atlantic, which found a 30% reduction in the warm currents that carry water north from the Gulf Stream. The changes are too big to be explained by chance, co-author Stuart
Cunningham told New Scientist from a research ship off the Canary Islands,
where he is collecting more data. "We think the findings are robust."
More
Or global warming will melt all the glaciers
"Without effective action over several decades, global warming will
see ice sheets melting in the north and the spread of deserts from the
south. The continent's population could effectively become concentrated
in the center." says Jacqueline McGlade, executive director of the EEA.
More
See
also Here
Enviromentalists decry Martian global warming
"This ongoing assault of the planet with human manufactured rovers,
orbiters and probes is beginning to take its toll", said Edgar Barsoom,
spokesman for the environmental activist group Redpeace. "Mars, being
so much smaller than Earth, each rover is like a huge fleet of SUVs
turned loose on Martian soil." |