http://global-warming.accuweather.com/ The AccuWeather.com Global Warming Blog - an unbiased, scientific look at Global Warming, Climate Change, and our roles and responsibilities. en Copyright 2009 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:01:05 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Update Joe Bastardi just gave me a heads up about this story. Supposedly, the Climate Research Unit (CRU) was hacked and many files/emails were released. I will stop there for now, since there are still a number of unanswered questions in regards to what was released and whether some of the emails are legit. We will not be posting any of the emails on this site, since they were illegally distributed. Anthony Watts (Climate change skeptic) is closely following this story and you can read about it for yourself on his "Watts Up With That?" website. He posted some links as well. Climate Audit was also following the story, but I was unable to get into their site today. Update #2 Real Climate (AGW scientist blog) has a response to this story.]]> http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/speak_your_mind_1.html http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/speak_your_mind_1.html Opinion Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:01:05 -0500 Younger Dryas Mini Ice Age. Climate changes associated with the Younger Dryas, highlighted here by the light blue bar, include (from top to bottom): cooling and decreased snow accumulation in Greenland, cooling in the tropical Cariaco Basin, and warming in Antarctica. Also shown is the flux of meltwater from the Laurentide Ice Sheet down the St. Lawrence River. Image courtesy of NOAA. New Greenland ice core research from the University of Saskatchewan suggests that this mini ice age took just months, instead of a decade to take hold over Europe. Analysis of carbon and oxygen isotopes show that at the start of the Big Freeze, temperatures plummeted and lake productivity stopped within months, or a year at most. "It would be like taking Ireland today and moving it up to Svalbard" in the Arctic, says William Patterson, lead author of the study. The Younger Dryas mini ice age was brought about when a glacial lake covering most of north-west Canada burst its banks and poured into the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. The huge flood diluted the salinity-driven North Atlantic Ocean mega-currents, including the Gulf Stream, and stalled it. Two studies published in 2006 show that the same thing happened again 8200 years ago, when the Northern hemisphere went through another cold spell, according to the NewScientist article. Some climate scientists have suggested that the Greenland ice sheet could have the same effect if it suddenly melts through climate change, but the 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded this was unlikely to happen this century.]]> http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/mini_ice_ages_can_happen_fast_1.html http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/mini_ice_ages_can_happen_fast_1.html Science Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:29:42 -0500 Greenland from above. Image courtesy of NASA. During the period from 2006 to 2008, the ice sheet experienced an accelerated mass loss to 273 Gt per year (1 Gt is the mass of 1 cubic kilometer of water). This is equivalent to 0.75 mm of global sea level rise per year, according to the EurekAlert article. The combination between increased iceberg production, driven by acceleration of Greenland's fast-flowing outlet glaciers, and increased meltwater production at the ice sheet surface led to this mass loss. According to the report, the surface melting started to increase around 1996, but an increase in snowfall at the same rate on the ice sheet for a decade masked the surface mass losses for nearly a decade. Without this moderating effect, the mass loss would have been double than what is observed now. --------- This study was published in the Journal Science.]]> http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/greenland_ice_sheet_losing_mas.html http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/greenland_ice_sheet_losing_mas.html Science Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:32:13 -0500 Here is a visual look at the GISS October 2009 land/ocean anomalies. Note most of the warm anomalies were from Asia up through the Arctic region, while much of North America was chilly. The map below shows the latest annual land/ocean temperature anomaly for the November 2008-October 2009 period. The figure below shows the global land/ocean temperature anomaly plot (red line) going back to 1996. Looking at this alone, you can see that even though the temperatures are still clearly above normal, they pretty much leveled off between 2001 and 2009. But, when you open up the range and go back all the way to 1880, the graph tells a different story. All images are courtesy of GISS and updated as of 11/13/2009.]]> http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/no_surprise_giss_says_october_1.html http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/no_surprise_giss_says_october_1.html Past Climate Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:05:17 -0500 not complex climate models, show that the balance between the airborne and the absorbed fraction of carbon dioxide has stayed approximately constant since 1850, despite emissions of carbon dioxide having risen from about 2 billion tons a year in 1850 to 35 billion tons a year now, according to the University of Bristol press release. This study was published in the Geophysical Research Letters]]> http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/ratio_between_the_airborne_and_1.html http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/ratio_between_the_airborne_and_1.html Science Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:27:50 -0500 response to this story in his blog. It should be noted, however, according to the UCAR News story, the readings, collected at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center, undergo a quality control process at the data center that looks for such potential problems as missing data as well as inconsistent readings caused by changes in thermometers, station locations, or other factors. "If the climate weren't changing, you would expect the number of temperature records to diminish significantly over time," says Claudia Tebaldi, a statistician with Climate Central who is one of the paper's co-authors. "As you measure the high and low daily temperatures each year, it normally becomes more difficult to break a record after a number of years. But as the average temperatures continue to rise this century, we will keep setting more record highs."]]> http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/record_highs_versus_record_low_1.html http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/record_highs_versus_record_low_1.html Past Climate Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:50:36 -0500 The map below shows the global temperature anomalies for most of the earth, with the exception of the Antarctic and a portion of the Arctic. Reds are above-normal temperatures while blues are cold anomalies. As you can see, there was a large region of cold anomalies over a large portion of central North America, while most of Alaska was unusually mild. Since then, the pattern across North America has pretty much flipped. Specific numbers from RSS in regards to the October lower-tropospheric temperature anomalies............. Globally (70S to 82.5N latitude): +.282 C (+.508 F) Northern Hemisphere: +.328 C (+.688 F) Continental U.S.: -1.597 C (-2.87 F) Based on RSS records alone, October 2009 was the coldest month (Jan to Dec) compared to normal since December of 2000 in the continental U.S. October 2009 was the coldest October on record in the continental U.S., going back to 1979. (satellite record began in 1979) ----------------- Acknowledgement MSU/AMSU data are produced by Remote Sensing Systems and sponsored by the NOAA Climate and Global Change Program. Data are available at www.remss.com. ]]> http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/an_october_to_remember_at_leas_1.html http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/an_october_to_remember_at_leas_1.html Past Climate Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:02:13 -0500 article from Earthweek.com. I have blogged a few times over the past about changing the colors of pavement or roofs to white in order to cool urbanized areas. Now it's rocks. Eduardo Gold, a Peruvian scientist and president of Glaciers of Peru says that painting highly reflective white paint over rock and ground that has been exposed by receding glaciers is a way to combat global warming. According to Gold, a project like this in Peru could create 15,000 new jobs for local residents that are hired to do the landscape painting. Gold stresses that environmentally friendly lime-based paint made without harmful chemicals would have to be used. ---- I can't imagine using brushes, probably better off using several massive spray guns and helicopters. ]]> http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/time_to_paint_as_glaciers_rece.html http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/time_to_paint_as_glaciers_rece.html Potential Solution Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:51:30 -0500 article. The survey also found the following....... --91.6% wanted a tax or "cap and trade" system, where polluters buy and sell emission permits, instead of regulation, to cut greenhouse gases. --84% agreed the effects of global warming "create significant risks" to the economy, particularly to agriculture, fishing, insurance and health. --Of the 94.3% who favor the U.S. joining climate agreements to limit greenhouse-gas emissions, 57% say greenhouse-gas cuts should come "regardless of the actions of other countries." --------------- Here is more on this story. The Institute for Policy Integrity (IPI) is a non-partisan advocacy organization and think-tank dedicated to improving the quality of governmental decisionmaking. ]]> http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/benefits_outweigh_costs_of_red.html http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/benefits_outweigh_costs_of_red.html Opinion Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:30:19 -0500 Photo courtesy of the Accuweather.com photo gallery. According to the NASA story, there are 1.2 billion lightning flashes in the world per year. Each lightning flash produces a puff of nitrogen oxide gas that reacts with sunlight and other gases in the atmosphere to produce ozone. Near Earth's surface, ozone can harm human and plant health; higher in the atmosphere, it is a potent greenhouse gas. The image below from NASA shows the annual lightning flash density across the globe. Note the highest concentration is over central Africa. Florida also experiences a great deal of lightning. It is believed that lightning contributes about 10% of atmospheric nitrogen oxide, which is much smaller compared to fossil fuel emissions, but scientists are still not completely sure if that estimate is correct, and that it may be underdone. "One of the things we're trying to understand is how much ozone changes caused by lightning affect radiative forcing, and how that might translate into climate impacts," said Kenneth Pickering, an atmospheric scientist who studies lightning at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. There's a possibility that lightning could produce a feedback cycle that accelerates global warming. "If a warming globe creates more thunderstorms," Pickering noted, "that could lead to more NOx production, which leads to more ozone, more radiative forcing, and more warming," Pickering emphasizes that this is a theory, and while some global modeling studies suggest this is indeed the case, it has not yet been borne out by field observations.]]> http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/positive_climate_feedback_from_1.html http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/positive_climate_feedback_from_1.html Science Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:45:49 -0500 (NSIDC). The winds prevented sea ice from forming along the Siberian Coast during that time, which allowed the sea ice extent to almost match the record low year of 2007. Low-level Arctic Temperature anomalies from October At this time, it does look like the progression of sea ice has resumed a more normal, seasonal increase. A comparison of Arctic sea ice extent (4 lowest years) from July through early November. Comparing the October sea ice extents going back to 1979 with trend line. ----------- All images courtesy of the NSIDC.]]> http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/warm_winds_in_early_october_im.html http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/warm_winds_in_early_october_im.html Science Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:56:11 -0500 Dr. Stephen Schneider, a Stanford University scientist inexplicably withdraws from a new climate change documentary. Why is that? Host Katie Fehlinger of AccuWeather.com's Headline Earth tells the story...............Here is the link to the video. Climate Depot also has more on this story right here. ---------- My opinion......it has been almost 40 years since his comments about cooling, and opinions change with new data and more computing power. However, it is unfortunate that the University stepped in and prohibited the filmmakers from using the audio and video of Schneider.]]> http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/second_thoughts_1.html http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/second_thoughts_1.html video Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:20:42 -0500 No surprise here........... Research from the Universities of Maryland and Colorado, in addition to Purdue University, has found that a majority of land-use changes in the continental U.S. reduce vegetative cover and raise regional surface temperatures. Satellite views of different types of agricultural land-use But, any conversion of land, whether urban or forested, to agricultural use results in cooling, which is most likely due to increased evaporation. "What we highlight here is that a significant trend, particularly the warming trend in terms of temperatures, can also be partially explained by land use change," said Niyogi, a Purdue earth and atmospheric sciences professor and the Indiana state climatologist, who is the corresponding author of the article, according to the University of Maryland press release. "I think that greenhouse warming is incredibly important, but land use should not be neglected," said University of Maryland Professor Eugenia Kalnay, one of the study's co-authors. "It clearly contributes to warming, especially in urban and arid areas." Kalnay also stated that these findings do not negate the effects of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. The University of Maryland was kind enough to break down the specific findings of the research........... --In general, the more vegetation covering an area of land, the cooler its contribution to surface temperature. --Local and regional changes in land use more often result in warming than in cooling. --Urbanization and conversion to bare soils have the largest warming impacts. --Conversion to agriculture results in cooling, while conversion from agriculture generally results in warming. --Deforestation generally results in warming, with the exception of a shift from forest to agriculture. --The temperature effect of planting a new forest is still unclear. ]]> http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/impact_of_landuse_changes_on_c_1.html http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/impact_of_landuse_changes_on_c_1.html Science Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:50:49 -0500 October 30th, 2009 Arctic October 30th, 2008 Arctic It looks like there is less ice north of eastern Europe and northwest of Alaska compared to last year. October 30th, 2009 Antarctic October 30th, 2008 Antarctic From what I can tell, it looks like there is more ice this year compared to last year around the Antarctic Peninsula. But, the concentration of ice between 135 W and 180 degrees is not as high compared to 2008. --------- The University of Bremen now also charts the sea ice extent of the Arctic and Antarctic and compares the plot of 2009 with each previous year going back to 2003. You can see the annual rise and fall of sea ice extent due to changing seasons. Arctic Antarctic ----------- All maps courtesy of the University of Bremen website.l]]> http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/status_of_global_sea_ice_conce_1.html http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/status_of_global_sea_ice_conce_1.html Science Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:50:48 -0500 NOAA. The chart shows the globally averaged atmospheric CO2 concentration averaged over marine surface sites. The dashed red line with diamond symbols represents the monthly mean values, centered on the middle of each month. The black line with the square symbols represents the same, after correction for the average seasonal cycle. While you can clearly see that global atmospheric CO2 is still on the rise, it has leveled off a bit in 2009. Perhaps this is due in part to the global recession. The actual growth rate of atmospheric CO2 is not yet known for 2009, but it was 1.79 ppm/year in 2008, which was down from 2.12 in 2007. ]]> http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/speaking_of_co2.html http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2009/11/speaking_of_co2.html Science Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:43:17 -0500