Wednesday, January 26, 2011

climate january 2011

--text posts are at the blistered orb--

EVENTS

Florida: freak summer storm batters Tampa Bay region 25 Jan
Maine: arctic blast sets cold record 24 Jan
New England: extreme cold 24 Jan
Tunisia: record food prices topple government (M Klare) Jan 24
China: crop warning over multiple droughts 24 Jan
Australia: more flee as floods move across southeast 24 Jan
Australia: Southeast set for another week of floods 23 Jan
Vietnam: harsh weather kills 10,000 cattle 21 Jan
US Midwest: deep freeze grips plains states 21 Jan
Australia: first burials as flood crisis deepens 19 JanNew England: more snow: northeast can't catch a break 18 Jan
Algeria: record food prices cause riots 18 Jan
Brazil: floodwaters, mudslides kill at least 700 18 Jan
South Africa: gov declares flood disaster 18 Jan
Brazil: floodwaters, mudslides kill at least 655 17 JanAustralia: floodwaters hit Victoria 16 Jan
Philippines: flash floods, mudslides kill at least 47 15 Jan
Brazil: floodwaters, mudslides kill at least 257 12 Jan
Australia: floodwaters peak in Brisbane 12 Jan
Illinois: major fish die-off on iced-up Lake Michigan 11 Jan
Australia: floods rage through Brisbane 11 Jan
Georgia: record snow in Atlanta and elsewhere 10 Jan
England: frigid seas kills 40,000 crabs off Dover coast 6 Jan
Australia: floodwaters surge near peak in Queensland 5 Jan
Australia: Great Barrier Reef under threat from dirty floods 5 JanFlorida: freezing temps cause fish die-off 4 Jan
China: gov warns of a 300-year desertification fight 4 Jan
India: farmers say climate change weakens Assam tea 31 Dec
TRENDS

UK report: urgent action needed to avert global hunger 24 Jan
steep oil prices, food shortages, more riots to come 23 JanNYT: for many species no escape as temperature rises 21 Jan
BBC: 2010 warmest year since records began 20 Janglobal food chain stretched to the limit 14 Jan
food bubble is bursting, and biotech won't save us 12 Jan
UN: world food prices at fresh high 5 Jan and 7 Jan and 17 Jan
US bumble bees in sharp decline 3 Jan
Climate Central: list of countries that set record highs 2010
AMERICAN DISENLIGHTENMENT

USA: why the rich are getting richer Foreign Affairs Jan/Feb
USA: Obama's climate advisor to leave, to appease Repubs 25 JanUSA: climate skeptic misled Congress over oil funding 25 Jan
USA: Olberman departs, as US media consolidate further 22 Jan
USA: conservatives try to privatize college as tuition soars 22 Jan
USA: NM governor (R) violates constitution for polluters 20 Jan
USA (& abroad): full speed ahead on deepwater drilling 19 JanUSA: solar firms frustrated by permits 19 Jan
USA: JP Morgan profiteers from food stamps 19 Jan
USA: GOP presidential candidate H Cain is climate denier 19 Jan
USA: the myth of American exceptionalism implodes 18 JanUSA: torture in domestic "supermax" prisons 18 Jan
USA: the "new normal" of unemployment 15 Jan
USA: lack of money grounds NASA space flights 13 Jan
USA: deepening crisis traps American have-nots 9 Jan
USA: NYT editorial: failure in the Gulf 7 Jan
USA: the big Republican lie (with Democrats' help) 4 Jan
USA: Prof L Bell (U Houston) book on global warming "hoax" 1 Jan
USA: Republican politicians trash talking bicycles list of quotes

GLOBAL EVOLUTION

India plans Asia's first tidal power plant 18 Janbuilding bike infrastructure creaets more jobs 14 Jan
US solar panel maker moves to China 14 Jan
how China outguns the US on clean energy 12 Jan
MITIGATION

Tianjin Eco-City future of urban development? 13 Jan
UNEP chief: silent momentum on climate change 10 Jan
J Hansen: the case for carbon tax 4 Jan
CLIMATE ESSAYS

M Klare "rising commodity prices & extreme weather" 24 Jan
J C Centeno "cambio climático azota a Venezuela" 22 JanM Hertsgaard "confronting the climate cranks" 20 Jan
T Lohan "how global capitalism makes our lives worse" 16 Jan
C Mims "amidst giant snows, last year was hottest ever" 13 Janolder:
Achim Steiner (UNEP) climate science editorial 2010

MORE ON THE COLD

NYT: cold jumps arctic 'fence,' stoking winter's fury 25 Jan
NEW INFO PORTAL

ecoportal.net

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

climate findings

--text posts are at the blistered orb--

THE YEAR 2010

Climate Progress: 2010 equals record for world's hottest year
WMO: no statistical difference among 1998, 2005, and 2010
NASA: 2010 tied for warmest year on record
NOAA: global climate now .62 C (1.12 F) above 20th century
NSINA: lowest December arctic sea ice on record ever

and:
(climate denialists' "it's-the-sunspots-fault" falsified)
NASA: deepest solar minimum in nearly a century
... G Kopp a new lower value of solar irradiance
Geophys Res Let 38 L01706

and:
flawed data analysis yes--but it's the other way around!)
New Scientist: MET office & Hadley underestimated rate of change

THE YEAR'S RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

(why winters are colder on a hotter world. For now.)
V Petoukhov a link b/w reduced sea ice and cold winter extremes
J of Geophys Res 115 D21111
... "could cool down winters" PIK 16.11.2010

(global warming causes 40% decline in phytoplankton)
D Boyce global phytoplankton decline over the past century
Nature 466 (2010): 591-596
... "dead sea," Independent 29.7.2010
... "Nature stunner," Energy Bulletin 29.7.2010
... "plants in decline," Wall Street Journal (via ILP) 29.7.2010

(permafrost methane stores are destabilizing now)
N Shakhova extensive methane venting from Siberian sediments
Science 327 (2010): 1246-1250
... "Science stunner," Climate Progress 4.3.2010
..."venting highest in half million years," youtube 4.3.2010

(devastating droughts predicted even for moderate emissions)
A Dai drought under global warming: a review
(@ NCAR) Wiley Interdisc Rev Climate Change 2 (2011): 45-65
... see also S Solomon irreversible climate change now
PNAS 106 (2009) 1704-1709
... "2000s vs. 1950s drought," Climate Progress 11.3.2009
... "future droughts will be shockers," MSNBC 19.10.2010
... "extreme droughts," AFP 19.10.2010
... "world's populous areas," Reuters 19.10.2010

(oceans acidifying 1o times faster than at the last extinction)
A Rigwell past constraints on the vulnerability of marine calcifiers
Nature Geoscience 3 (2010): 196-200
... see also G Shaffer oxygen depletion in response to emissions
Nature Geoscience 2 (2009): 105-109
... "an ominous warning," Yale 360 15.2.2010
... "mass extinction" Climate Progress 18.2.2010

(sea levels may rise 3 times faster than IPCC estimated)
M Vermeer/S Rahmstorf global sea level linked to global temps
PNAS 106 51 (2009) 21527-21532
... see also R Nicholls sea-level rise and its possible impacts
Phil Trans R Soc A 369 (2011): 161-181
... see also R Nicholls sea level rise impact on coastal zones
Science 328 (2010): 1517-1520
... see also J Overpeck projections becoming more dire
PNAS 106 51 (2009) 21461-21462
... "large tracts will be underwater," Independent 8.12.2009

(current extinction rate far exceeds anything in fossil record)
discussion meeting issue biological diversity in a changing world
Trans R Soc B 365 (1558)
... "mass extinction inevitable," Climate Progress 9.10. 2010
... issue author: how we wrecked the oceans TED talk 2010

(drought drives decade-long decline in plant growth)
M Zhao reduction in global terrestrial net primary production
Science 329 (2010): 940-943
... "an ecological about-face," NASA press release 19.8.2010

(positive feedback loop! warming soils emit more CO2)
B Bond-Lamberty temps-associated increases in soil respiration
Nature 464 (2010): 579-582
...see also J Fang soils emitting more carbon dioxide
Nature online 10.1039/news.2010.147 24 3 2010
... see also K Karhu soil carbon fractions in boreal forest soil
Ecology 91 (2010)

(deadly temps for humans are now possible)
E Gardner future temperatures could exceed livable limits
Science Daily 5 5 2010
... see also S Sherwood adaptibility limit due to heat stress
PNAS 107 (2010): 9552-9555

(catastrophic climate change, +10 C in US, due in 50 years)
Met Office warns of catastrophic temp rise The Times 19.12.2008
Met Office warns of catastrophic warming Guardian 28.9.2009
... see also M.I.T. doubles its warming projection Climate Progress
... see also US Impacts Summary Global Change (US gov)

NEOLOGISM OF THE YEAR

Generation Hot

as in: "all of this makes my daughter an involuntary member of what I call Generation Hot"

M Heertsgaard "Confronting Climate Cranks" Nation 7 Feb 2011

Monday, January 3, 2011

climate december II 2010

--text posts are at the blistered orb--

EVENTS

New Jersey: state snow record 12.27.
New York: snow strands subway riders 12.27.
Northeast: powerful blizzard paralyzes several states 12.26.
Northeast: heaviest December snowfall in six decades 12.27.Missouri, Arkansas see out-of-season tornados 1.1.
South Carolina: frigid ocean temps kill off sea creatures 12.26.
South Carolina sees record snow 12.26.
Georgia: Atlanta first white Christmas in 128 years 12.25.
Arizona astonished by snow fall 12.30.
Sweden: coldest December in 110 years 12.26.
Israel: heat wave and deepening drought 12.28.
Israel: forest fires, unseasonable heat, incipient drought 12.3.
India: Ladakh sees record cold 12.29.
Russia: freezing rain, power cuts, airport riots 12.28.
Australia: Queensland evacuates towns 12.28.
Australia: floods strand 200,000 12.31.
Australia sees flood record 1.2.

TRENDS

global food crisis has arrived Die Zeit dossier 12.27.
oil price rises 30 percent in 2010 12.31.
2010 top three hottest yrs; 2001-10 warmest decade ever 12.2.AMERICAN DISENLIGHTENMENT

USA forecast: C Hedges 2011: a brave new dystopia 12.27.
USA Bushism: Cheney buys off criminal charges in Nigeria 12.28.
USA: Pennsylvania allows natural gas waste in waterways 1.3.
USA: F Upton (R; House Energy) to fight GHG emission limits 1.2.
USA: religious right attacks environmentalism 12.29.
USA: IBD climate denial editorial 12.22.

GLOBAL ENLIGHTENMENT

Brazil: A Huffington: rebrand it the South American dream 12.22.

MITIGATION

US stricter air regulations & cleaner farm equipment 1.3.
US EPA moves to limit greenhouse gases 12.24.

CLIMATE ESSAYS

J Cohen: bundle up, it's global warming 12.25.P Krugman: the finite world 12.27.

CLIMATE NEOLOGISMS

"the consensus trance of recovery makes itself manifest through every conduit of public utterance ... even though the Consumer Price Index omits items such as food, gasoline, and heating oil in its calibrations, while heaping on fictional hedonic adjustments."
J H Kunstler "forecast 2011" at clusterfucknation.com 1.3.11

(granted, 'consensus trance' is old, but it's timely. Kunstler uses it in The Long Emergency 2005, citing E. Davis, TechGnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information 1998)

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Leibowitz Society forms (see blog here)