Earth Changes

UN dossier 'ends all climate-change doubt'

Scotsman
Fri, 26 Jan 2007 13:04 UTC

CLIMATE change is real and set to cause dramatic temperature rises in the coming century, according to a leaked draft of a major United Nations report.

The study, by a panel of 2,500 scientists who advise the UN, is the most complete overview of climate-change science and will be published next month by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) after a final review.

The IPCC's reports are regarded by many environmentalists as cautious, because the findings have to be agreed by member states including oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia.

The draft, which was leaked by scientific sources, says it is "very likely" - more than a 90 per cent chance - that human activities, led by burning fossil fuels, are to blame for warming since 1950. The previous report in 2001 said the link was "likely".

It projects temperatures will rise by 2-4.5C (3.6-8.1F) above pre-industrial levels, with a "best estimate" of a 3C (5.4F) rise, assuming carbon-dioxide levels are stabilising at about 45 per cent above current levels. The European Union says any temperature rise above 2C will cause "dangerous" changes.

Wake The World Up Campaign

Signs of the Times editorial staff
Signs of the Times
Thu, 25 Jan 2007 09:40 UTC

How many of you have seen the movie "The Day After Tomorrow?" If you haven't, the thesis of the movie is that Global warming causes large areas of the Arctic to melt, so that the northern Atlantic ocean is diluted by large amounts of fresh water which changes the density of the water layers causing a disruption of the Thermohaline current.. This then leads to a rapid and unnatural cooling of the northern hemisphere which triggers a series of anomalies, eventually leading to a massive "global superstorm" system consisting of three gigantic hurricane-like superstorms, which suck up heat and drop the super-cold upper atmospheric air down onto the planet resulting in an "instant Ice age."

Airborne Dust Causes Ripple Effect on Climate Far Away

Staff Writers
Terra Daily
Fri, 26 Jan 2007 08:43 UTC

When a small pebble drops into a serene pool of water, it causes a ripple in the water in every direction, even disturbing distant still waters. NASA researchers have found a similar process at work in the atmosphere: tiny particles in the air called aerosols can cause a rippling effect on the climate thousands of miles away from their source region.

The researchers found that dust particles from the desert regions in northern Africa can produce climate changes as far away as the northern Pacific Ocean. Large quantities of dust from North Africa are injected into the atmosphere by dust storms and rising air. Airborne dust absorbs sunlight and heats the atmosphere. The heating effect ripples through the atmosphere, affecting surface and air temperatures as the dust travels.

Putting the war into global warming

Tim Large
Reuters
Wed, 24 Jan 2007 05:37 UTC

It's been a good week for environmentalists. Al Gore is headed for Hollywood's red carpet thanks to an Oscar nomination for "An Inconvenient Truth", a big-screen adaptation of his slide-show lecture on climate change. And even U.S. President George W. Bush, long known as a friend to the oil industry, has been waxing green. In his State of the Union speech yesterday, he urged Americans to cut their gasoline use by 20 percent over the next decade and called for tighter vehicle fuel efficiency standards.

U.N. climate report will shock the world

Reuters
Thu, 25 Jan 2007 17:28 UTC

NEW DELHI - A forthcoming U.N. report on climate change will provide the most credible evidence yet of a human link to global warming and hopefully shock the world into taking more action, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said on Thursday.

The IPCC report, due for release on Feb. 2 in Paris, draws on research by 2,500 scientists from more than 130 countries and has taken six years to compile.

Bears finally asleep as cold wave hits Russia

AFP
Thu, 25 Jan 2007 17:26 UTC

After weeks of rain and unprecedented high temperatures, cold and snow has finally hit back in central Russia, sending bears finally to their winter slumber and endangering other hibernating species like hedgehogs.

"As soon as snow covered the earth, the brown bear that stayed awake all this time returned to his lair and fell asleep," the Moscow zoo's spokesman said Thursday as quoted by the ITAR-TASS news agency.

Russian academic says CO2 not to blame for global warming

RIA Novosti
Mon, 15 Jan 2007 13:34 UTC

ST. PETERSBURG - Rising levels of carbon dioxide and other gases emitted through human activities, believed by scientists to trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere, are an effect rather than the cause of global warming, a prominent Russian scientist said Monday.

Habibullo Abdusamatov, head of the space research laboratory at the St. Petersburg-based Pulkovo Observatory, said global warming stems from an increase in the sun's activity. His view contradicts the international scientific consensus that climate change is attributable to the emission of greenhouse gases generated by industrial activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.

6.2 earthquake hits off Taiwan's east coast, rocking buildings in Taipei

Associated Press
Thu, 25 Jan 2007 09:28 UTC

TAIPEI, Taiwan - A strong earthquake struck off the eastern coast of Taiwan Thursday, rocking buildings in the capital Taipei.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The Central Weather Bureau measured the quake at 6.2-magnitude.

Got Global Warming? Anchorage Hit with Twice Normal Snowfall

Rebecca Palsha
KTUU.com
Thu, 25 Jan 2007 08:52 UTC

Anchorage, Alaska - Anchorage has been hit with more than 74 inches of snow this season, and according to the city, it's reaching a crisis level, with snow removal on the streets becoming a big problem.

The roads are looking smaller these days around town, as two-lane roads are quickly becoming one. The city can plow the roads, but where it can remove the snow to another location is a problem.

Comment: See: Fire and Ice: The Day After Tomorrow...