Santa will likely be feeling toasty as he does his final checks on the naughty-or-nice list because temperatures at the North Pole on Thursday are forecast to be as much as 50°F above normal. Temperatures are expected to climb to near the freezing point of 32°F, computer models show. Read more
Arctic ice melt ‘already affecting weather patterns where you live right now’
The dramatic melting of Arctic ice is already driving extreme weather that affects hundreds of millions of people across North America, Europe and Asia, leading climate scientists have told the Guardian. Severe “snowmageddon” winters are now strongly linked to soaring polar temperatures, say researchers, with deadly summer heatwaves and torrential floods also probably linked. The scientists now fear the Arctic …
Reynard Loki – Trump Declares All-Out War on Environment With Fossil Fuel-Loving, Climate Change-Denying Cabinet Nominees
Scientists warn in a major new reportthat the increasingly rapid melting of Arctic ice could potentially be irreversible and have severe implications not just for Arctic ecosystems, but for the entire planet. “The warning signals are getting louder,” said Marcus Carson of the Stockholm Environment Institute and one of the lead authors of the report, adding that these developments “also …
Americans believe climate change connected to location and local weather
A new study finds local weather may play an important role in Americans’ belief in climate change. The study, published on Monday, found that Americans’ belief that the earth is warming is related to the frequency of weather-related events they experience, suggesting that local changes in their climate influence their acceptance of this worldwide phenomenon. “One of the greatest challenges …
Katherine Paul – 6 Reasons We Need to Be More Even More Mindful Consumers as Trump Comes to the White House
If ever conditions were ripe for revolution, that time is now—especially for anyone who cares about their health, and the health of planet earth. President-Elect Donald Trump’s short lists for his environment and agriculture cabinet appointments are dominated by entrenched D.C. insiders, career politicians and industry lobbyists. Not one of these proposed “leaders” supports policies that would lead to healthier …
Mountain glaciers are showing some of the strongest responses to climate change
Mountain glaciers have long been a favorite poster child of climate change. The near-global retreat of glaciers of the last century provides some of the most iconic imagery for communicating the reality of human-driven climate change. But the scientific basis for their retreat has been less clear. Glaciers respond slowly to any climate changes, they are susceptible to year-to-year variations …
Tim Radford – Human ‘technosphere’ weighs 30 trillion tonnes
LONDON, 13 December, 2016 – Scientists have calculated the mass of that unnatural achievement called the “technosphere”, demonstrating the scale of human activity that drives climate change. The bleak conclusion is that cities, factories, cars, railways, cameras, computers, ballpoint pens, swords, machine guns and all other manmade things now weigh about 30 trillion tonnes. The scientists also estimate that the …
Reindeer shrink as climate change in Arctic puts their food on ice
Reindeer are shrinking on an Arctic island near the north pole as a result of climate change that has curbed the amount of winter food available to the animals, scientists said on Monday. The average weight of adult reindeer on Svalbard, a chain of islands north of Norway, fell from 55kg (121lb) to 48kg (106lb) in the 1990s as part …
Ecologists publish research on soil’s potential to increase the Earth’s CO2
MANHATTAN, KANSAS — Soil, an important part of the carbon cycle, might compound the world’s carbon dioxide problem, according to a global study involving Kansas State University researchers and Konza Prairie Biological Station. The study, “Quantifying global soil carbon losses in response to warming,” recently published in Nature, predicts that soils may release large quantities of carbon dioxide in response …
Andrea Germanos – Sounding ‘Death Knell’ for Reef, Massive Australian Coal Project Heads Towards Completion
Indian energy giant Adani on Monday achieved a “key milestone” in completing its massive and controversial Carmichael coal mine project in Australia—a project, according to a marine conservation group, “that will super charge climate change and sound the death knell for our Reef.” The achievement comes thanks to Queensland’s Coordinator-General giving “the latest, and final, secondary approval” for a permanent …