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POPSRapid permafrost thaw expected
"Climate warming is degrading permafrost, and roads, runways and building foundations in many parts of the North have been buckling and cracking as the top layer of the ground thaws. The increasingly mushy ground also has created "drunken forests," where trees now lean at strange angles. At least 30 per cent of all the carbon stored in soils worldwide is found in the North -- and scientists worry rising temperatures will release carbon dioxide and methane, both potent greenhouse gases, now locked in the permafrost. "To me, probably the biggest uncertainty is whether methane emissions are going to go up, and if they are, by how much," says Lawrence. Last summer, the Arctic sea ice shrank to more than 30 per cent below average, setting a modern-day record. Temperatures over land in the western Arctic also were unusually warm, reaching more than 2 C above the 1978-2006 average and raising questions about whether the ice retreat was tied to the warming temperatures over land."
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POPSArctic Impact Crater Lake Reveals Interglacial Cycles in Sediments "The coring equipment and other instrumentation was set up using a tripod over the hole in the ice. The scientists were able to extract a core of the topmost 8.5 meters of sediment. The international team of researchers in the field included Guillaume St-Onge; Reinhard Pienitz, principal investigator; Veli-Pekka Salonen of the University of Helsinki, Finland; and Richard Niederreiter, coring expert. Please visit http://www.cen.ulaval.ca/pingualuit/index.html for more information."
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POPSFires undo forests' climate benefits, scientists find "Fire activity more than doubled since the '70s across Canada," Flannigan says. And the mountain pine beetle, which has proliferated because of warmer winters, has killed vast track of boreal forest in British Columbia that is also becoming a source of CO2. "I used to say this is what we'll expect with climate change," Flannigan says, pointing to the increasing rate of fires and insect infestation. "Now I say climate change is here." Flannigan says the new study builds on previous Canadian research, and provides a more detailed picture of how the forest's carbon budget is changing. "It's a real concern," Flannigan says. "We were hoping our forests would be a carbon sink. But the more work we do the more we see they are a becoming a source because of things like disturbances."
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POPS Jet traffic affecting climate "I remember walking to and from my office and thinking how incredibly clear the skies were," recalls Carleton. He mentioned this to a colleague and former Ph.D. student of his, David Travis of the University of Wisconsin, who had noticed the same thing. "Then we started thinking that we should look at the temperature conditions" during those days in September and compare them to years past, Carleton says. Looking at daytime highs and nighttime lows, Carleton and Travis found the average daily temperature range across the no-fly period to be almost 2 degrees Fahrenheit larger than when jets do fly. This implies, Carleton explains, that contrails lower daytime maximum temperatures and increase nighttime low temperatures—probably in the same way that cirrus clouds do, by blocking some solar radiation from reaching earth's surface during the day, and insulating against heat loss at night. Since finding this association, Carleton has used contrails as a sort of metr
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POPSEurope, Mediterranean at greatest risk from climate change "The change is also being felt at sea level, with a surface temperature increase of 1.08°F every decade, said Vincenzo Ferrara, an Italian government adviser on climate. “The Mediterranean is becoming warmer and saltier” due to increased evaporation, Ferrara told the conference, which was held at the Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. Ferrara said this could disrupt the flow at the Strait of Gibraltar, a key gateway to the Mediterranean. The higher salt concentration in the Mediterranean would cause water to flow out into the Atlantic Ocean, as opposed to Atlantic water coming into the Mediterranean, which serves as the sea’s lifeline."
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POPS Scientific Integrity Scientist Statement on Scientific Integrity Scientists Sign-on Statement Prominent Statement Signatories List of 12,000+ Signers Evidence of Political Interference Examples of Political Interference in Science Surveys of Scientists at Federal Agencies Focus on Climate Science Focus on Endangered Species Science more...
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POPSGaia scientist says pipe dream may fix climate Pipes to mix deep and surface water. While they focus on the generation of algal bloom, there would also be dramatic changes in temperature, currents and ecosystems of which the algae are a part. The effects may be less of a problem than the one being solved, but by humanity's history of bugged patches, a few more of the ramifications should be considered. Richard Branson, has offered to make a prototype which may give more detail into possible benefits and dangers.
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POPS ‘stunned’ Scientists Similar entries * Canada's typical summer heats up, especially in the Arctic * Arctic sea ice retreats to record low by end of summer with ominious consequences for global warming * Arctic Passage - Step Right Up, Sail on Through * Arctic to Skeptics: 'Read My Tips' * Hot Time -- Bad Timing The good news is that solutions to global warming exist, check out Ross Gelbspan’s Green Sheet and his vision for a pathway to climate peace. Or, check out the latest below: Federal report scorns Canada's climate-change plan for exaggerating carbon cuts * Scientists ‘stunned’ as Arctic sea ice shrinks to 30-year low * Green groups sue Canadian government over Kyoto targets * John Marburger, Climate Alarmist? * Recent books on global warming; Neros at their fiddling...
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POPS contrail.gi.alaska.edu Condensation trails (contrails) formed by aircrafts are sometimes visible from the ground for several hours. Numerous contrails are formed in the vicinity of main air- traffic routes; due to additional spreading effects contrails may contribute significantly to the total cloud cover. Continuous observational methods are used to study the formation of contrails in the subarctic setting of Fairbanks, Alaska. Since March of 2000 a contrail database has been established, which includes contrail characteristics, Federal Aviation Administration flight data, and atmospheric measurements derived from radiosonde ascents at Fairbanks International Airport. The contrail analysis is based on all-sky digital camera imagery and direct observations of aircrafts. Daily Overflights for Fairbanks, AK airspace. Note: Page was updated for the last time by Martin Stuefer, 13.Apr.2006. The flight data is no longer being updated. However, the flight archive is available. http://contrail.gi.al
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POPS Climate change tops future humanitarian challenges: Annan The Global Humanitarian Forum being set up by the former UN Secretary General, with Swiss government funding, aims to plug a gap in international disaster relief and prevention by bringing together governments, aid agencies, the military, the business world and academics.
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POPSManitoba tornado was strongest ever "The tornado prompted the Manitoba government to renew its call for a national severe weather warning system _ one that would send warnings to cellphones, pagers and other personal electronic devices. The federal and provincial governments have been discussing the issue, although it remains to be seen how much money each level of government would have to provide."
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POPSSeptember's Science: Shutdown of airlines aided contrail studies Week of May 11, 2002; Vol. 161, No. 19 , p. 291 "Immediately after four hijacked airliners slammed into New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in southwestern Pennsylvania, the Federal Aviation Administration shut down all U.S. commercial air traffic for 3 days. The unprecedented grounding of airliners enabled airports to step up security measures. At the same time, scientists stepped up to a unique opportunity to study the influence of high-flying aircraft on Earth's climate."
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POPS Arctic sea ice cover at record low " Most researchers had anticipated that the complete disappearance of the Arctic ice pack during summer months would happen after the year 2070, he said, but now, "losing summer sea ice cover by 2030 is not unreasonable." Scores of peer-reviewed scientific studies have documented a steady, worldwide decline in ice cover, from the sea-bound ice covering the North Pole to the vast, land-based ice sheets that cover the Antarctic continent. Glaciers, from Greenland to the Alps to Mount Kilimanjaro near the equator, also have been vanishing."
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POPSIN REMEMBRANCE… I too, remember. And that one lone contrail - that one lone cloud over America. Up here in Canada, spaghetti jetclouds. NoCloud: http://www.pediascribe.com/sun.jpg Cloud: http://www.pediascribe.com/umbrella.jpg
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POPSChanges in rainfall man-made, Canadian scientists say "But by looking at each latitudinal region individually, larger trends were discovered that could not be accounted for by naturally occurring changes such as increased volcanic activity. Instead, the burning of fossil fuels appears to a leading cause, the authors said."
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