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Drastic shrinkage in Arctic ice
(BBC NEWS, 14 September 2006)
A Nasa satellite has documented startling changes in Arctic sea ice cover between 2004 and 2005. . . . The extent of "perennial" ice - thick ice which remains all year round - declined by 14%, losing an area the size of Pakistan or Turkey. . . . The last few decades have seen summer ice shrink by about 0.7% per year. . . . The Arctic is warming about twice as fast as the global average; and recent studies have shown that the area of the Arctic covered by ice each summer, and the ice thickness, have been shrinking. . . . September 2005 saw the lowest recorded area of ice cover since 1978, when satellite records became available. . . . This latest study, from scientists led by Son Nghiem of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, measures something slightly different from the extent of summer ice cover - the extent of "perennial" ice cover. . . . Perennial or "multi-year" ice is up to 3m thick and survives through at least one summer. It is different from "seasonal" ice, which is thinner and melts more easily, surviving for just one winter before succumbing to the summer sun. . . . When they compared figures for the 2004 and 2005 northern hemisphere winter solstices - 21 December - a huge change showed up. . . . "In previous years there is some variability, but it is much smaller and regional," Dr Nghiem told the BBC News website. . . . "However the change we see between 2004 and 2005 is enormous." . . . The area of perennial sea ice lost was about 730,000 sq km, with a huge loss in the East Arctic (defined as north of Russia and Europe) and a small gain in the West Arctic, north of the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean. . . . The key questions are what caused it, and whether it is an anomaly or the first sign of a major change of pace for Arctic melting. . . . Ice reflects the Sun's energy back into space; open water absorbs it. So a planet with less ice warms faster, potentially turning the projected impacts of global warming into reality sooner than anticipated.

posted by LoZo 5:25 AM

 

Humans blamed for powerful hurricanes
(Lee Bowman, Scripps Howard News Service, September 12, 2006)
Rising ocean temperatures in key hurricane nurseries are due primarily to increased greenhouse-gas concentrations from human activity, scientists report in a new study. . . . Using 22 different computer models of the climate system, atmospheric researchers from 10 centers studied sea-surface-temperature (SST) changes recorded between 1906 and 2005. They found that the models showed an 84 percent probability that human-induced factors account for most of the rise in the hurricane-formation regions of the tropical Atlantic and Pacific. . . . The study, published online Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, adds to the science linking global warming and the increased power of tropical storms. . . . "The important conclusion is that the observed SST increases in these hurricane breeding grounds cannot be explained by natural processes alone," said Tom Wigley, a researcher at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., one of the study's co-authors. "The best explanation for these changes has to include a large human influence." . . . "It is important to note that we expect global temperatures and sea-surface temperatures to increase even more rapidly over the next century," said Wigley. . . . The modeling team, which includes researchers from NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., agrees that temperature is not the sole determinant of hurricane intensity. . . . But the team adds that temperature is likely one of the most significant influences. . . . Several studies published in the past year found that the total power released by Atlantic and Pacific hurricanes has nearly doubled over the past 30 years, with longer storm durations and greater storm intensities.

posted by LoZo 12:32 PM

 

More Evidence of Climate Change
(Richard Black, BBC News website, September 11, 2006)
The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew has issued a "position paper" saying that man-made global warming is changing the outlook for plants and trees worldwide. . . . It says four species on its own lands are flowering earlier each year. . . . Kew's conservation scientists say other human activities such as the expansion of cities are also hurting plants, some which poorer societies depend on. . . . "We're seeing many tree collections and many gardens being affected by a third year of drought, and it's likely to get worse," he told the BBC News website. . . . "In February 2001, we were working in the Northern Cape, South Africa, and we came across one species which is down to just six individuals - and that's the only place in the world that species (Cylindrophyllum hallii) lives," he said. . . . "We are seeing extinctions at about 1,000 times the natural rate. What's behind them isn't always clear - it can be climate, overgrazing, overpopulation - but the fact is they are happening, and the reasons are likely to be anthropogenic." . . . Another anthropogenic factor noted by Kew is deforestation. While every effort should be made to slow deforestation, it says, greenhouse gas emissions should be reduced too, with governments, businesses and individuals taking responsibility. . . . "We support the majority view that there is cause for concern and action is needed," reads its statement. . . . "All of us, governments and individuals need to cut carbon emissions in order to limit warming to a 2C increase or less." . . . There is evidence from observation and computer modelling that a rise of 2C is almost inevitable.

posted by LoZo 5:20 PM