August 26, 2019

Climate change has altered winter precipitation across Northern Hemisphere

New research distinguishes between natural variability and influence of greenhouse gases
National Center for Atmospheric Research,
AUG 26, 2019 - BY DAVID HOSANSKY

A team of scientists has successfully teased out the influence of human-caused climate change on wintertime precipitation over the last century, showing that the warming climate altered wintertime rainfall and snowfall across the Northern Hemisphere.

..."I thought this was quite revealing," said NCAR senior scientist Clara Deser, a co-author of the study. "Our research demonstrates that human-caused climate change has clearly affected precipitation over the past 100 years." The results show that warming temperatures associated with societal emissions of greenhouse gases spurred a noticeable increase in wintertime precipitation across widespread regions of northern Eurasia and eastern North America since 1920.

...the study indicated that climate change may have had had a drying influence on parts of central and southwestern North America — although not enough to offset natural variability — and on much of southern Eurasia. However, the authors cautioned that the results for those regions were less pronounced and not statistically significant.
More here

https://news.ucar.edu/132681/climate-change-has-altered-winter-precipitation-across-northern-hemisphere

August 22, 2019

The Global Food Crisis Is Here. Agriculture is also ravaging the climate.

Foreign Policy
BY JASON HICKEL | AUGUST 21, 2019

...A new 1,400-page report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)...explores the impacts of climate breakdown on the most fundamental, even intimate feature of human civilization—our food system.

Consider the mighty Himalayan glaciers. When we think about melting glaciers, we mourn the loss of a natural wonder and worry about sea level rise. We don’t think much about what glaciers have to do with food. But that’s where the real crunch is coming. Half of Asia’s population depends on water that flows from Himalayan glaciers—not only for drinking and other household needs but, more importantly, for agriculture. For thousands of years, the runoff from those glaciers has been replenished each year by ice buildup in the mountains. But right now they’re melting at a much faster rate than they are being replaced. On our present trajectory, if our governments fail to accomplish radical emissions reductions, most of those glaciers will be gone within a single human lifetime. This will rip the heart out of the region’s food system, leaving 800 million people in crisis.

And that’s just Asia. In Iraq, Syria, and much of the rest of the Middle East, droughts and desertification will render whole regions inhospitable to agriculture. Southern Europe will wither into an extension of the Sahara. Major food-growing regions in China and the United States will also take a hit. According to warnings from NASA, intensive droughts could turn the American plains and the Southwest into a giant dust bowl. Today all of these regions are reliable sources of food. Without urgent climate action, that will change. As David Wallace-Wells reports in The Uninhabitable Earth, scientists estimate that for every degree we heat the planet, the yields of staple cereal crops will decline by an average of about 10 percent. If we carry on with business as usual, key staples are likely to collapse by some 40 percent as the century wears on.

Climate change is projected to drive up hunger rates, malnutrition, and child stunting. But we’d be kidding ourselves if we think this is just a matter of not having enough food to eat. It also has serious implications for global political stability. Regions affected by food shortages will see mass displacement as people migrate to more arable parts of the planet or in search of stable food supplies. In fact, it’s happening already. Many of the people fleeing places like Guatemala and Somalia right now are doing so because their farms are no longer viable.

A long very worthwhile read.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/08/21/the-global-food-crisis-is-here/

August 21, 2019

440 Billion Tons of Ice Are Expected to Melt This Summer in Greenland -- What That Means for Earth

People
By Rachel DeSantis
August 21, 2019 04:18 PM
Should all the ice in Greenland melt, it would raise sea levels around the world by 20 feet

Scientists are warning that a major heatwave in Greenland could lead to a whole lot of melted glacier ice this summer – 440 billion tons, to be exact. A new report by the Associated Press took a detailed look at the dire situation in Greenland, and noted that the record-shattering heat from July 31 to Aug. 3 melted 58 billion tons of ice.

...By the end of the summer, 440 billion tons are expected to have vanished, reportedly enough to flood Pennsylvania or the entire country of Greece about one foot deep.

...“[It’s] the end of the planet,” New York University air and ocean scientist David Holland told the AP. “It takes a really long time to grow an ice sheet, thousands and thousands of years, but they can be broken up or destroyed quite rapidly.”

https://people.com/human-interest/440-billion-tons-ice-melt-in-greenland/

When People has articles like this, you know things are dire.

August 21, 2019

440 Billion Tons of Ice Are Expected to Melt This Summer in Greenland -- What That Means for Earth

People
By Rachel DeSantis
August 21, 2019 04:18 PM
Should all the ice in Greenland melt, it would raise sea levels around the world by 20 feet

Scientists are warning that a major heatwave in Greenland could lead to a whole lot of melted glacier ice this summer – 440 billion tons, to be exact. A new report by the Associated Press took a detailed look at the dire situation in Greenland, and noted that the record-shattering heat from July 31 to Aug. 3 melted 58 billion tons of ice.

...By the end of the summer, 440 billion tons are expected to have vanished, reportedly enough to flood Pennsylvania or the entire country of Greece about one foot deep.

...“[It’s] the end of the planet,” New York University air and ocean scientist David Holland told the AP. “It takes a really long time to grow an ice sheet, thousands and thousands of years, but they can be broken up or destroyed quite rapidly.”

https://people.com/human-interest/440-billion-tons-ice-melt-in-greenland/

When People has articles like this, you know things are dire.

August 21, 2019

Brazil's Amazon rainforest is burning at a record rate, research center says

By: CNN Newsource
Via kristv Corpus Christi
Posted: 7:36 AM, Aug 21, 2019 Updated: 9:07 AM, Aug 21, 2019

Fires are raging at a record rate in Brazil's Amazon rainforest, and scientists warn it could strike a devastating blow to the fight against climate change. The fires are burning at the highest rate since the country's space research center, the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), began tracking them in 2013, the center said Tuesday...more than an 80% increase compared with the same period last year.

The Amazon is often referred to as the planet's lungs, producing 20% of the oxygen in the earth's atmosphere. It is considered vital in slowing global warming, and it is also home to uncountable species of fauna and flora. Roughly half the size of the US, it is the largest rainforest on the planet.

Dramatic images and videos on social media show giant plumes of smoke rising from the greenery, and lines of fire leaving blackened waste in their wake.

The smoke has reached all the way to Sao Paolo, more than 1,700 miles away. Images from the city show the sky pitch black in the middle of the afternoon, the sky and sun blanketed by smoke and ash.


https://www.kristv.com/news/world/brazils-amazon-rainforest-is-burning-at-a-record-rate-research-center-says

https://twitter.com/shannongsims/status/1163632818221719558?s=20

August 20, 2019

Spiders are getting more aggressive thanks to hurricanes and other extreme weather

Mic
By Brittany Vincent
6:30 pm

...According to researchers at McMaster University in a new study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, recent studies of spider behaviors have identified an evolutionary impact on certain populations of arachnids living in regions more prone to storms and other dangerous weather situations. In these areas, high winds can knock down trees, blow errant debris into spider nests, and create a volatile environment for spiders to attempt to survive in. As a result, some end up becoming more prone to aggressive behaviors in an attempt to better gather resources and keeping themselves and their colonies safe.

It is tremendously important to understand the environmental impacts of these 'black swan' weather events on evolution and natural selection," said journal lead author Jonathan Pruitt, an evolutionary biologist. He worked alongside a team that examined a variety of female spider colonies of the Anelosimus studiosus species, which can be found along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. Coincidentally, those are areas typically affected by hurricanes and other devastating weather events. They worked to figure out the trajectory the storms may move in, and sampled nearly 300 different colonies from the area to compare them to control sites elsewhere.

The findings for this species, which typically features both docile and aggressive spiders, suggested that following a tropical cyclone or storm, the colonies with more aggressive foraging responses would have more young spiders survive into winter. This is due to the fact that aggressive spiders are better at collecting resources and are also prone to potentially cannibalizing male spiders and their eggs in an effort to survive. These findings were magnified in colonies along the areas in the path of the storms.
More here
https://www.mic.com/p/spiders-are-getting-more-aggressive-thanks-to-hurricanes-other-extreme-weather-18684149

August 20, 2019

Death, blackouts, melting asphalt: ways the climate crisis will change how we live

The Guardian
August 20,2019
By Pam Radtke Russell
From power cuts to infrastructure failure, the impact of climate change on US cities will be huge – but many are already innovating to adapt

Between record heat and rain, this summer’s weather patterns have indicated, once again, that the climate is changing. US cities, where more than 80% of the nation’s population lives, are disproportionately hit by these changes, not only because of their huge populations but because of their existing – often inadequate – infrastructure.

“People are coming into urban areas and they cannot be stopped,” says Chandana Mitra, an associate professor of geosciences at Auburn University, who studies the impact of heat on cities...
While the impacts of climate change are fundamentally local, experts say heat is one of the most concerning, especially in cities. “From a disaster perspective, [heat] is invisible,” says Kurt Shickman, executive director of the Global Cool Cities Alliance. Mitra likens the problem to having a finger in a pan of water while someone gradually turns up the heat. “Maybe in 50 or 60 years, living in some cities will be unbearable. There could be a tipping point of no return.”

A study by the University of Maryland published this year predicts that by 2080... if emissions continue at the current pace residents in cities around the nation will:

• Experience an average temperature increase of 8.2F (4.5C)

• Live in climates similar to the current climates of cities 528 miles (850kms) south of their hometowns


More here on how cities are trying to cope with climate change
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/aug/20/death-blackouts-melting-asphalt-ways-the-climate-crisis-will-change-how-we-live?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

August 19, 2019

Scientists Have Been Underestimating the Pace of Climate Change (Scientific American)

Scientists Have Been Underestimating the Pace of Climate Change
A book titled Discerning Experts explains why—and what can be done about it
Scientific American
By Naomi Oreskes, Michael Oppenheimer, Dale Jamieson on August 19, 2019

Recently, the U.K. Met Office announced a revision to the Hadley Center historical analysis of sea surface temperatures (SST), suggesting that the oceans have warmed about 0.1 degree Celsius more than previously thought....Because the oceans cover three fifths of the globe, this correction implies that previous estimates of overall global warming have been too low. Moreover it was reported recently that in the one place where it was carefully measured, the underwater melting that is driving disintegration of ice sheets and glaciers is occurring far faster than predicted by theory—as much as two orders of magnitude faster—throwing current model projections of sea level rise further in doubt.

In our new book, Discerning Experts, we explored the workings of scientific assessments for policy, with particular attention to their internal dynamics, as we attempted to illuminate how the scientists working in assessments make the judgments they do. Among other things, we wanted to know how scientists respond to the pressures—sometimes subtle, sometimes overt—that arise when they know that their conclusions will be disseminated beyond the research community—in short, when they know that the world is watching...We found little reason to doubt the results of scientific assessments, overall. We found no evidence of fraud, malfeasance or deliberate deception or manipulation. Nor did we find any reason to doubt that scientific assessments accurately reflect the views of their expert communities. But we did find that scientists tend to underestimate the severity of threats and the rapidity with which they might unfold.

...Many scientists consider underestimates to be “conservative,” because they are conservative with respect to the question of when to sound an alarm or how loudly to sound it. The logic of this can be questioned, because underestimation is not conservative when viewed in terms of giving people adequate time to prepare. (Consider for example, an underestimate of an imminent hurricane, tornado, or earthquake.) In the AR4 WAIS debate, scientists underestimated the threat of rapid ice sheet disintegration because many of the scientists who participated were more comfortable with an estimate that they viewed as "conservative" than with one that was not...

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/scientists-have-been-underestimating-the-pace-of-climate-change/

Sounds like a great book. The article details 3 reasons that the authors help create a conservative view of climate change. Much more in the article above.

August 19, 2019

The Humanities in the Age of Loneliness (Combating ecological and constitutional crises)

The Humanities in the Age of Loneliness
By Robert D. Newman
August 19, 2019
Los Angeles Review of Books

HOW CAN THE HUMANITIES help restore the centrality of the public good, an essential step toward the collective action necessary for combating our current constitutional and ecological crises? Like many Americans, I have been thinking a lot lately about these crises, and about how I might direct my outrage and despair productively. Reading for context and background has taken me through biographies, histories, and humanistic reflections by scientists...

...The term Anthropocene has now become the consensus appellation for our current geological age... An alternative was suggested a few years ago by biologist E. O. Wilson, who prefers the term Eremocene, or the Age of Loneliness (eremo coming from the Greek for lonely or bereft). His notion of loneliness refers to both the rapid decline of biodiversity on our planet and the fact that humans, while increasing their proportion of and dominance over the Earth’s population, suffer a consequent isolation...

So how can the humanities aid us in developing a productive counter-response?...The principles grounded in the humanities — notions of character, responsibility, civility, empathy, inquiry, collaboration, the public good, the heroic, beauty, and truth — are also at the center of the revolutionary idealism which forged our Constitution. While the antidote to the Age of Loneliness is not easily conjured, it needs a political as well as scientific response — that is, it will need the lessons we can learn through the humanities. The Paris Climate Accord, near-universally accepted as a necessary, if insufficient first step, was a political agreement; leaving it was a political decision justified by weak reasoning and deceitful rhetoric....

...How can the humanities continue to help? By doing what we have always done best, but in more focused, publicly engaged venues..we are charged with...stories and telling them to our fellow citizens.The stories for the Eremocene must speak of the consequences of Love Canal, the Exxon Valdez spill, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, Fukushima, Bhopal, the Dust Bowl, whale and elephant slaughter, and the eradication of biodiversity on the planet. Through literature, history, art, and philosophy, we must teach the impact of withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord on the sustainable liberty and happiness of our citizens. And we should return to the ideals of extraordinary moral character for both leaders and citizens...

Note: this is a very long and thoughtful article written by the President of the National Humanities Center. It is worth the read. I struggled as to the location of this post, for it details environmental concerns and political issues. I think it belongs here because education is the home of the humanities.

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/humanities-age-loneliness

August 18, 2019

A Growing Number of Americans Are Alarmed about Global Warming.But many more should be.

Scientific American
By Joseph Holt on August 18, 2019

When it comes to concern about global warming, the good news is that a growing number of Americans are alarmed. The bad news is that most still are not alarmed, though they should be given what we already know, how much worse things seem the more we discover and how much we don’t even know we don’t know...The percentage of Americans who are “doubtful” or “dismissive” decreased by a combined 11 percentage points in that time, and those who are alarmed now outnumber those who are dismissive three to one (29 percent to 9 percent).

The tiny marine organism Prochlorococcus provides a cautionary tale about what we might not even know we don’t know. A Smithsonian article explains that most of the oxygen we breathe comes from organisms in the ocean that release oxygen into the atmosphere while making food for themselves through the process of photosynthesis.

Prochlorococcus, the most abundant of these photosynthesizers, is so small that millions can fit in a drop of water. It produces approximately 20 percent of the oxygen we breathe.] But scientists didn’t even know it existed until 1988, just over 30 years ago. That should make us wonder what other “unknown unknowns” might be vital to our long-term survival.

More here
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/a-growing-number-of-americans-are-alarmed-about-global-warming/