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AppId is over the quota
If politicians and scientists want to convey the urgency and importance of a warming world, they are far better off using the term "global warming" than “climate change,” according to a new report. Produced by researchers at the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and George Mason University, the report says that Americans are much more familiar with the term “global warming” and that it engenders more negative associations and concern. Based on recent surveys, the report said that — to varying degrees — moderates, women, Hispanics, political independents, and younger Americans associate the term “global warming” with alarming developments such as melting glaciers and extreme weather. Among many groups, “global warming” also creates a greater sense of threat to one’s family and future generations. “Scientists often prefer the term climate change for technical reasons, but should be aware that the two terms generate different interpretations among the general public and specific subgroups,” the report said. The survey found that among Republicans the two terms are generally synonymous.
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Showing posts with label Warming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Warming. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Natural Variations May Account for Up to Half of Greenland's Warming
AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Meltwater flows through Russell GlacierUp to half of the recent climate change in Greenland and surrounding regions — which have warmed at roughly twice the pace of the rest of the planet since 1979 — may be due to natural climate variations that originate in the tropical Pacific and are not connected with the overall warming of the Earth, a new study says. Still, at least half the warming remains attributable to rising global carbon dioxide emissions, according to research published in the journal Nature. Climate data and advanced computer models show that changes in the western tropical Pacific Ocean, which has been about 0.3 degrees warmer than normal, have caused shifts in atmospheric pressure over the North Atlantic. Those changes set off a stationary wave in the atmosphere that arcs in a great circle from the tropical Pacific toward Greenland, pulling warmer air over that massive island. "Along this wave train there are warm spots where the air has been pushed down, and cold spots where the air has been pulled up," one author explained. "And Greenland is in one of the warm spots." The natural atmospheric variations may have warmed the region's surface by about a half-degree C per decade since 1979, the researchers said. Overall, Greenland and surrounding areas have warmed by roughly 1 degree C per decade during that time, causing widespread melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet.
View the original article here
AppId is over the quota
Meltwater flows through Russell GlacierUp to half of the recent climate change in Greenland and surrounding regions — which have warmed at roughly twice the pace of the rest of the planet since 1979 — may be due to natural climate variations that originate in the tropical Pacific and are not connected with the overall warming of the Earth, a new study says. Still, at least half the warming remains attributable to rising global carbon dioxide emissions, according to research published in the journal Nature. Climate data and advanced computer models show that changes in the western tropical Pacific Ocean, which has been about 0.3 degrees warmer than normal, have caused shifts in atmospheric pressure over the North Atlantic. Those changes set off a stationary wave in the atmosphere that arcs in a great circle from the tropical Pacific toward Greenland, pulling warmer air over that massive island. "Along this wave train there are warm spots where the air has been pushed down, and cold spots where the air has been pulled up," one author explained. "And Greenland is in one of the warm spots." The natural atmospheric variations may have warmed the region's surface by about a half-degree C per decade since 1979, the researchers said. Overall, Greenland and surrounding areas have warmed by roughly 1 degree C per decade during that time, causing widespread melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet. View the original article here
Friday, June 6, 2014
Widespread Greenland Melting Was Due to Forest Fires and Warming, Study Says
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AppId is over the quota
Rising temperatures and ash from Northern Hemisphere forest fires combined to cause large-scale surface melting of the Greenland ice sheet in 2012, an echo of a similar event that occurred in 1889, a new study finds. The massive Greenland ice sheet — the second largest ice body in the world after the Antarctic ice sheet — experiences annual melting at low elevations near the coastline, but surface melt is rare in the dry snow region in its center. In July 2012, however, satellites observed for the first time surface melt across more than 97 percent of the ice sheet, generating reports that the event was almost exclusively the result of climate change. In the new report, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers analyzed an ice core from the dry snow region of the ice sheet. Their findings indicate that in both 2012 and 1889 exceptionally warm temperatures combined with black carbon sediments from Northern Hemisphere forest fires to darken the surface of the ice sheet to a critical albedo threshold, causing the large-scale melting events. Since Arctic temperatures and the frequency of forest fires are both expected to rise with climate change, large-scale melt events on the Greenland ice sheet may begin to occur almost annually by the end of century, the researchers say.
View the original article here
AppId is over the quota
Rising temperatures and ash from Northern Hemisphere forest fires combined to cause large-scale surface melting of the Greenland ice sheet in 2012, an echo of a similar event that occurred in 1889, a new study finds. The massive Greenland ice sheet — the second largest ice body in the world after the Antarctic ice sheet — experiences annual melting at low elevations near the coastline, but surface melt is rare in the dry snow region in its center. In July 2012, however, satellites observed for the first time surface melt across more than 97 percent of the ice sheet, generating reports that the event was almost exclusively the result of climate change. In the new report, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers analyzed an ice core from the dry snow region of the ice sheet. Their findings indicate that in both 2012 and 1889 exceptionally warm temperatures combined with black carbon sediments from Northern Hemisphere forest fires to darken the surface of the ice sheet to a critical albedo threshold, causing the large-scale melting events. Since Arctic temperatures and the frequency of forest fires are both expected to rise with climate change, large-scale melt events on the Greenland ice sheet may begin to occur almost annually by the end of century, the researchers say.
View the original article here
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