Professor Chris Rapley, director of the British Antarctic Survey, has warned that sea-level rise is increasing much faster than scientists predicted just five years ago. This is severely threatening many of the world’s coastal and low-lying areas from Bangladesh to Nigeria. The present prediction of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, from its third … Read More
climate change impacts
Climate Change Educational Initiative Launched in the US
At last some good news: A major new educational initiative on climate change has been launched on the Net. Called “Focus the Nation” it will involve over 1000 universities, colleges and high schools in the US in a simultaneous one-day symposia that will explore the challenge of “Stabilizing the Climate in the 21st Century”. “Post … Read More
Warning: 90% Carbon Cut Needed to Avoid Disaste
Hot of the heels of the two NASA reports is a further one from British scientists saying that drastic action is needed if we are to avoid catastrophic climate change. The government-funded Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, the leading climate change research body, has revised upwards by a massive 50% the cuts in greenhouse … Read More
Disappearing World
The Independent today reports on the story we blogged on yesterday about disappearing sea-ice reported by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. However it is even worse – another NASA study – this time by the Goddard Space Flight Centre, in Maryland, shows that the perennial ice melting rate, has also accelerated rapidly. As the … Read More
“Drastic” Shrinkage in Arctic Ice
A Nasa satellite has documented “startling” changes in Arctic sea ice cover between 2004 and 2005. The extent of “perennial” ice – which remains all year round – declined by 14%, losing an area the size of Pakistan or Turkey. The Arctic is now warming about twice as fast as the global average. September 2005 … Read More
Wither The Traditional English Garden?
The traditional English cottage garden full of roses, delphiniums and hollyhocks may soon be a thing of the past because of climate change, the government warned yesterday. Ian Pearson, the Environment Minister, said that average temperatures would probably increase by 5.4F (3C) by the 2080s, forcing gardeners to move from traditional plants to Mediterranean varieties … Read More
The Gathering Storm: We are to Blame for More Powerful Hurricanes
As Hurricane Florence pounds the Caribbean, the most authoritative scientific study of its kind has concluded what many people have suspected: that increasing sea temperatures caused by global warming are responsible for more intense and devastating storms, such as hurricanes and tornados.
Bubbling Tundra Spells Disaster
So what do you know about methane? Yes, yes, we have heard all the old jokes about farting cows, but have you heard the one about the bubbling tundra? New scientific research shows that thawing Siberian bogs are releasing more of the greenhouse gas methane than previously believed.
Climate Change Linked to Increased Flood Risk
British climate scientists have found that rainfall almost equivalent to monsoon levels has become increasingly common in Britain over the past 40 years. As the rain has increased, so too has the risk of flooding, especially in areas close to rivers which were previously considered high enough to avoid damage. Some five million people could … Read More
“Compost Effect” Could Lead to Catastrophic Climate Change
Just as we get the good news of Arnie signing an historic deal on climate change in California, there are more dire predictions on the issue from the scientists. This time from Professor Peter Cox, of Exeter University in the UK, who told the Royal Geographical Society annual conference that temperatures could rise 8C by … Read More