The Wanderer
Tundra study uncovers impact of climate warming in the Arctic
: "Significant changes in one of Earth's most important ecosystems are not only a symptom of climate change, but may fuel further warming, research suggests. One of the biggest studies to date of key vegetation in the Arctic tundra provides strong evidence that dramatic changes in the region are being driven by climate warming."
The Wanderer
Global sea levels have risen six meters or more with just slight global warming: "A new review analyzing three decades of research on the historic effects of melting polar ice sheets found that global sea levels have risen at least six meters, or about 20 feet, above present levels on multiple occasions over the past three million years. What is most concerning is that amount of melting was caused by an increase of only 1-2 degrees (Celsius) in global mean temperatures."
The Wanderer
Sun's activity controls Greenland temperatures: "The sun's activity could be affecting a key ocean circulation mechanism that plays an important role in regulating Greenland's climate, according to a new study. The phenomenon could be partially responsible for cool temperatures the island experienced in the late 20th century and potentially lead to increased melting of the Greenland ice sheet in the coming decades, the new research suggests."
Oceans slowed global temperature rise, until now: "A new study of ocean temperature measurements shows that in recent years, extra heat from greenhouse gases has been trapped in the subsurface waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans, thus accounting for the slowdown in the global surface temperature increase observed during the past decade, researchers say."
edited 17th Jul '15 1:12:21 AM by rmctagg09
Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.
The Wanderer
Alarming new report warns coastal cities may be uninhabitable within 50 years: "A new report by former NASA scientist James Hansen and 16 other experts says the already dire projections on rising sea levels are actually too optimistic, having underestimated the rate at which Earth’s ice sheets will melt in response to warmer sea temperatures.
The researchers suggest glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica may melt as much as 10 times faster than what has previously been indicated by scientific modelling, which will result in drastic sea level rises occurring far earlier than had been anticipated.
How high and how quick? Hansen, a controversial figure who is widely regarded as a ‘climate seer’ of sorts for his previous efforts in trying to raise awareness of climate change, estimates seas could rise by 3 metres within just 50 years. Such an increase would put coastal cities and low-lying lands all around the world in dire jeopardy, with water ingress making them uninhabitable for all practical purposes."
Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.
An article about climate scientists. Kinda depressing.
Lost in Space
Scientist: If we don't fix this, we're all fucked.
Media: Watch the tone! Nobody will pay attention if you act all alarmist.
Scientist: ... I'm moving offplanet at the first opportunity.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Media: Who cares about space travel? There's nothing out there! Let's not waste money on that, spend it on important things like Hollywood and guns.
My Hair Provides Affordable Healthcare
Cross-posted from the Middle East thread:
Could climate change be the Arab world's biggest threat?
___________________________________
In December, delegates from around the world will meet at the United Nations conference on climate change in Paris. The hope is that the global community will achieve an agreement that would limit global warming, ensuring that global temperatures do not rise more than 2 degrees Celsius beyond pre-industrial era temperatures.
Unfortunately, Earth's climate does not seem to be impressed by conferences. It has been 20 years since the first United Nations Climate Change Conference in Berlin and 18 years since the Kyoto Protocol, but atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide – the main greenhouse gas – has increased at an accelerating pace. Never in the history of the human species has there been so much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
No country will be spared the consequences of climate change, but data indicates that nations in the Middle East and North Africa are by far the most vulnerable. Yet, judging from their positions at climate change conferences, it would appear their leaders are largely ignorant of this key risk to their future. One would expect Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria and other arid countries to put all their weight behind proposals to limit climate change. But instead, they negotiate alongside countries with little climate consciousness such as China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh, as part of the Like Minded Group of Developing Countries.
Why is the Arab world the most vulnerable to global warming? For a whole complex of serious reasons: It is already extremely arid and mostly desert, and is heavily dependent on imported food to sustain its fast-growing population. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, all Arab countries – from Morocco in the west to Oman in the east – had to import more than half of the calories needed to feed their people even before 2010. Since then, the situation has worsened: The most extreme seems to be Yemen, whose 26 million people are already 90% dependent on imported food.
Climate change-induced droughts will make situation much worse. Some 400 million people in the Arab world are fully dependent on food – wheat in particular - imported from the United States, Canada, EU, Ukraine, Russia, Argentina, Australia and a handful of other countries in moderate climate zones. All of them are already exposed to the effects of climate change, a process that will continue. When an unprecedented heatwave hit western Russia and destroyed one-third of the Russian harvest in 2010, global food prices increased 40% within the next 7 months, triggering what is now known as the Arab Spring. When a similar event – or, even worse, a long-term drought – hits the United States, the most significant wheat and corn exporter in the world, the increase in global food prices will be even worse. In the worst case, a bad harvest in the United States, Canada or Europe will trigger a famine in a large part of the Arab world.
There is no guarantee that even a radical, fast reduction in greenhouse gas emissions may stop further warming of our planet. Science does not have a solid answer, and models suggesting that only a 2 degree Celsius increase is still possible may be overly optimistic. We may well be already committed – and some say we actually already are – to a much greater increase in global temperatures than we want to consider: temperatures similar to those in the Pliocene period, 3 million years ago, when atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were similar to current levels but global temperatures were 3 to 4 degrees Celsius warmer, and sea levels were 5 to 40 meters higher than they are now.
This is not an argument for giving up serious and quick cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, but the upcoming UN climate change conference in Paris may well be our last chance. Arab countries can and should contribute much more to such efforts. They can do it on a diplomatic field, joining progressive negotiation groups such as Alliance of Small Island States, which is demanding much more radical global action than is currently under consideration. And they also can significantly reduce their own emissions. After all, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are among the 20 largest emitters of greenhouse gases per capita. At the same time the Arabian Aquifer System, on which the remaining food production of Gulf countries depends, is already the most overstressed in the world, and their capacity to produce food is shrinking fast. Leaders of the Arab world may feel that as long as they have oil, they are safe. It is an illusion. The story of 26 million Yemenis teetering on the brink of famine should warn them all.
Juraj Mesík is a former specialist with the World Bank. He teaches about global challenges at Comenius University in Slovakia and Palacky University in the Czech Republic.
The Wanderer
Washington, DC sinking fast, adding to threat of sea-level rise: "New research confirms that the land under the Chesapeake Bay is sinking rapidly and projects that Washington, DC, could drop by six or more inches in the next century — adding to the problems of sea-level rise."
SO what will life be like? Will we all have to dig around in the world for 12 hours a day to grow our own food? Will we all have to organize to defend ourselves from bandits? Because if either of those happens, I don't want to live in that world. Just the Earth parts from Interstellar gave me nightmares, and those were relatively pleasant. I can't live without technology: I barely exercise, all my books are in digital format and I don't want to have to protect myself or have a non technical position. I also don't want to defend anything: maybe it's a good thing I never had a relationship because I think it would end in murder suicide if things hit the fan.
In that case should we not be pushing for destigmatization of suicide and set up facilities to do it painlessly? Maybe even offer incentives (like monetary ones for next of kin) to do so? Not everyone has a survival instinct. We should allow them to leave this game they already lost in favor of those who remain.
Lost in Space
There is no need to descend into nihilism. If you like your sedentary lifestyle, then you can keep it as long as you make sure to support politicians who will push for technology-driven solutions to climate change. There is no need to tear down our cities and live in jungle huts. That's a strawman that's used to attack environmentalism.
edited 16th Aug '15 11:55:49 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I'm optimistic. Right around the time the unending hunger starts to bite us, someone will begin wiring our brains up to large networks and even robotic bodies when manual labor or decadence is required. Incentivizing this process will be the drastic reduction in organic calories such streamlined people require, as well as the quality of the nutrient slurry continuously circulated through the tank. Beef production will quickly diminish in lieu of much more efficient locust ranching, as taste, texture, and presentation will largely be artifacts reenacted in our new digital playgrounds. And soon after, SPACE! For you see, divested of the majority (or even all, if they manage to run your descendants entirely in a server) of your fleshy meats, you'll have nothing to lose to the radiation and microgravity, and the EM-shielded cruise-sphere which houses your mind will be a wonder of radial symmetry.
edited 29th Aug '15 9:29:52 PM by Artificius
"I have no fear, for fear is the little death that kills me over and over. Without fear, I die but once."
The Wanderer
Burning remaining fossil fuel could cause 60-meter sea level rise: "New work demonstrates that the planet's remaining fossil fuel resources would be sufficient to melt nearly all of Antarctica if burned, leading to a 50- or 60-meter (160 to 200 foot) rise in sea level. Because so many major cities are at or near sea level, this would put many highly populated areas where more than a billion people live under water, including New York City and Washington, D.C."
The Potato's Choice
Must-Read: David Roberts: Jon Chait Wrote an Optimistic Take on Climate Change. Is it justified?
Basically, yes we're still on a track to disaster, but anti-global warming groups are beginning to cause change, and that should be acknowledged as a victory..
Many were increasingly of the opinion that they'd all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place. - Douglas Adams
The Wanderer
One-two punch of rising seas, bigger storms may greatly magnify US East coast floods: "Many studies predict that future sea-level rise along the US Atlantic and Gulf coasts will increase flooding. Others suggest that the human-caused warming driving this rise will also boost the intensity and frequency of big coastal storms. Now, a new study quantifies how they could interact to produce alarming spikes in the combined height and duration of flooding. It projects that coastal flooding could possibly shoot up several hundredfold by 2100, from the Northeast to Texas."
The Wanderer
Researchers reveal when global warming first appeared: "Human caused climate change is increasingly apparent today through multiple lines of evidence. But now researchers have revealed for the first time when and where the first clear signs of global warming appeared in the temperature record and where those signals are likely to manifest in extreme rainfall events in the very near future."
The Wanderer
Extreme Pacific sea level events to double in future: "Many tropical Pacific island nations are struggling to adapt to gradual sea level rise stemming from warming oceans and melting ice caps. Now they may also see much more frequent extreme sea level swings. The culprit is a projected behavioral change of the El Niño phenomenon and its characteristic Pacific wind response, according to recent computer modeling experiments and tide-gauge analysis."
The Wanderer
How ocean circulation changed atmospheric CO2: "Changes to overturning circulation in the Southern Ocean as a result of temperatures over Antarctica play key role in carbon uptake by the oceans."
The Wanderer
Global warming can alter shape of the planet, as melting glaciers erode the land: "Climate change is causing more than just warmer oceans and erratic weather. According to scientists, it also has the capacity to alter the shape of the planet."
The Wanderer
Could ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ happen?: "A researcher has produced a scientific study of the climate scenario featured in the disaster movie 'The Day After Tomorrow'. In the 2004 film, climate warming caused an abrupt collapse of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), leading to catastrophic events such as tornadoes destroying Los Angeles, New York being flooded and the northern hemisphere freezing. Although the scientific credibility of the film drew criticism from climate scientists, the scenario of an abrupt collapse of the AMOC, as a consequence of anthropogenic greenhouse warming, was never assessed with a state-of-the-art climate model. Now scientists have found that, for a period of 20 years, the earth will cool instead of warm if global warming and a collapse of the AMOC occur simultaneously."
Lost in Space
Well, that's just peachy. It's long been known that the difference between a global warming cycle leading to flooding and a cooling cycle leading to an ice age is a matter of competing variables.
edited 12th Oct '15 6:28:51 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
The Wanderer
New crystal captures carbon from the air, even in the presence of water: "A new material with micropores might be a way to fight climate change. Scientists have created crystals that capture carbon dioxide much more efficiently than previously known materials, even in the presence of water."
New study questions long-held theories of climate variability in the North Atlantic: "A new study challenges the prevailing wisdom by identifying the atmosphere as the driver of a decades-long climate variation known as the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation. The findings offer new insight on the causes and predictability of natural climate variations, which are known to cause wide-ranging global weather impacts, including increased rainfall, drought, and greater hurricane frequency in many parts of the Atlantic basin."
The Potato's Choice
(EquiBlog) Must-Read: Kathleen Maclay: Climate Change Will Reshape Global Economy
The long and short of it: Economically, Europe, Russia, the U.S. and Canada are likely to massively benefit from climate change, as they'll get richer and anywhere that's warmer than them will get poorer.
Basically, business as usual, but doubly so.
Or to quote:
Rich, predominantly white countries caused the problem and can do the most to limit the damage, but climate change will disproportionately affect poor countries, poor people (even in rich countries), women, and people of color.
Mind you, this doesn't account for sea level change and the like.
edited 27th Oct '15 5:08:51 AM by PotatoesRock
Many were increasingly of the opinion that they'd all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place. - Douglas Adams
You know, I always wonder why there are so many conspiracy theories about global warming being a hoax but none about there being a deliberate effort to warm up the planet for nefarious or financial purposes.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Retreating sea ice linked to changes in ocean circulation, could affect European climate
: "Retreating sea ice in the Iceland and Greenland Seas may be changing the circulation of warm and cold water in the Atlantic Ocean, and could ultimately impact the climate in Europe, says a new study."
Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.