Our Planet Hottest Since Human Civilisation

Earth is on track to becoming the hottest it has been at any time in the past 11.3 millennia, a period spanning the history of human civilisation, a new study says.

Based on fossil samples and other data collected from 73 sites around the world, scientists have been able to reconstruct the history of the planet’s temperature from the end of the last Ice Age around 11,000 years ago to the present.

They have determined the past 10 years have been hotter than 80 per cent of the past 11,300 years.

However virtually all the climate models evaluated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predict Earth’s atmosphere will be hotter in the coming decades than at any time since the end of the Ice Age.

This finding is resolute no matter what greenhouse gas emission scenario is used, the study found :: Read the full article »»»»

Antarctic Ice Sheets Melting Faster Than Previously Thought

A study of temperature records over more than half a century shows the west Antarctic ice sheet is warming nearly twice as quickly as previously thought.

A re-analysis of temperature records from 1958 to 2010 revealed an increase of 2.4 degrees Celsius over the period, three times the average global rise.

The increase means west Antarctica is one of the fastest-warming regions on Earth, according to paper co-author David Bromwich of the Byrd Polar Research Centre.

“Records suggests that continued summer warming in west Antarctica could upset the surface balance of the ice sheet, so that the region could make an even bigger contribution to sea-level rise than it already does.” David Bromwich said :: Read the full article »»»»

Southern Ocean Carbon NOT Sinking

Australian and British researchers have found that one of the world’s largest carbon sinks stores carbon differently than first thought. Utilising data collected over ten years from robotic – Argo – probes, the team has shown subduction happens at specific locations as a result of interplay between winds, currents and massive whirlpools.

Dr Matear says the study also shows the Southern Ocean is not as efficient as first thought in capturing anthropogenic carbon dioxide. The Southern Ocean contains about 40 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions absorbed by the world’s oceans.

Researchers from the CSIRO and British Antarctic Survey examined the way the Southern Ocean sucks carbon absorbed from the surface layer into the deeper ocean.

Research co-author Dr Richard Matear from the CSIRO says the study shows the method through which carbon is drawn down from the surface of the Southern Ocean to the ocean’s interior – or deep waters :: Read the full article »»»»

Sauropod Flatulence Caused Mesozoic Climate Change

We’ve all heard the – possibly dubious – theory that bovine flatulence is adding to global warming? If not, the theory goes something like…

The abundance of methane evacuated from bovine rectum is apparently taken so seriously that in 2008 - at the height of greenhouse panic – the head of the international panel advising the world’s governments on how to reduce global emissions says people should stop eating red meat.

With cattle population sitting around 1.9 billion, cattle flatus accounts for about 30 per cent of the methane in the atmosphere, according to the US EPA, thats about 80 million metric tonnes a year, eeeew…

According to researchers, this isn’t the first time the planet has faced this particular problem. Researchers say dinosaur flatulence could have put enough methane into the atmosphere to warm the planet during the hot, wet Mesozoic era :: Read the full article »»»»

Wind Farms Linked to Localised Climate Change

Turbulence created by wind farms causes air temperatures to rise directly around the supposed green energy producers, researchers say. Scientists including Associate Professor Liming Zhou from the State University of New York examined conditions around 2,358 turbines at four Texas wind farms.

Writing in the journal Nature Climate Change, Professor Zhou and colleagues reported a temperature increase of up to 0.72 degrees Celsius per decade at wind farm locations, compared to nearby areas. The wind industry in the United States has experienced a remarkably rapid expansion of capacity in recent years and this fast growth is expected to continue in the future.

While converting wind’s kinetic energy into electricity, wind turbines modify surface–atmosphere exchanges and the transfer of energy, momentum, mass and moisture within the atmosphere. These changes, if spatially large enough, may have noticeable impacts on local to regional weather and climate.

Oddly, researchers also found the effect to be greater at night than during the day. After discounting the impact of surface features such as vegetation, roads, light reflection and surface structures, the researchers concluded that the temperature change was caused by air turbulence generated by the turbines’ giant rotor blades. Professor Zhou said the study could help researchers better understand the impact of wind farms on local environments :: Read the full article »»»»

New Study Says Climate Obsessives Swayed By Media

A new published study has highlighted how the media influences opinion on emotive issues. The study undertaken by the University of Sydney was carried out to investigate whether climate change had any impact on the nature of the obsessions or compulsions experienced by sufferers of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder – OCD

The study takes reference from a 1994 study which found that some children developed obsessive thoughts about Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome – HIV/Aids – once media reports on the virus became common place.

“We suggest that mental health professionals need to be aware of, and assess for the presence of such concerns” the study recommended.

This latest study has found that many patients suffering with OCD are worrying about the effects of climate change and global warming. Dr Mairwen Jones and her co-authors looked at 50 patients attending an anxiety disorders clinic.

They found one-third of the patients had anxiety about the effects of climate change. The most common concerns were wasting water, gas and electricity, often leading to an obsessive checking to make sure utilities and appliances were switched off :: Read the full article »»»»

Climate Change: Humans Pumped Out 10 Billion Tonnes of Carbon Emissions in 2010

New research has found global carbon emissions surged by a record amount in 2010 after falling during the international financial crisis.

The Global Carbon Project published its yearly analysis of carbon dioxide emissions in the journal Nature Climate Change today.

The report found that global carbon dioxide emissions increased by a record 5.9 per cent in 2010. The report says the overall atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide is now at its highest level in 800,000 years.

“At current rates, including the increase in emissions that has been occurring over the last few years and continuing and even accelerating this year, we have about 35 to 40 years to go, before we hit that limit of a total of 1 trillion tonnes” Read the full article »»»»