Global Warming

Satellites witness lowest Arctic ice coverage in history

The area covered by sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk to its lowest level this week since satellite measurements began nearly 30 years ago, opening up the Northwest Passage – a long-sought short cut between Europe and Asia that has been historically impassable. "We have seen the ice-covered area drop to just around 3 million sq km which is about 1 million sq km less than the previous minima of 2005 and 2006. There has been a reduction of the ice cover over the last 10 years of about 100 000 sq km per year on average, so a drop of 1 million sq km in just one year is extreme. Mosaics of Arctic Ocean for 2005, 2006, 2007 "The strong reduction in just one year certainly raises flags that the ice (in summer) may disappear much sooner than expected and that we urgently need to understand better the processes involved."

The Planet

"The Planet" is a Swedish campaign to enhance public awareness of the planet Earth; to show its limits, wonders, possibilities. It is produced by Swedish public service television. This is a Flash app -- when you use it, make sure you hit the back arrow inside the app, otherwise if you use the browser's back arrow, you will get popped outside of the app completely. To get started, I suggest you click on "The Big Picture", then "The Current State", then "Great Acceleration". You can see many of the trends we talk about at the future salon there.

New Study Links Western U.S. Wildfires To Atlantic Ocean Surface Temperatures

Western U.S. wildfires are likely to increase in the coming decades, according to a new tree-ring study that links episodic fire outbreaks in the past five centuries with periods of warming sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic. States like Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and South Dakota all had an increased prevalence of wildfires in recent centuries when a phenomenon known as the Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation -- similar but longer in duration than the better known El Nino-Southern Oscillation -- periodically shifted from a cool to a warm mode that lasted roughly 60 years each time. Warmer waters in the North Atlantic correspond with episodes of drought and subsequent fires in the West as shown by fire scars in annual tree rings studied by the researchers.

The Great Global Warming Swindle

The Great Global Warming Swindle is a controversial documentary film by British television producer Martin Durkin, which argues against the ... all » scientific opinion that human activity is the main cause of global warming. The film showcases scientists, economists, politicians, writers, and others who are sceptical of the scientific consensus on anthropogenic global warming. Publicity for the programme states that global warming is "a lie" and "the biggest scam of modern times." The programme's accuracy has been disputed on multiple points and several commentators have criticised it for being one-sided, noting that the mainstream position on global warming is supported by the scientific academies of the major industrialized nations and other scientific organizations. The film disputes the positions of these scientific organizations by interviewing scientists and others, including Richard Lindzen and other contributors to reports by the IPCC, who disagree with explanations that attribute global warming to human activities. Channel 4, which screened the documentary on March 8, 2007, described the film as "a polemic that drew together the well-documented views of a number of respected scientists to reach the same conclusions. This is a controversial film but we feel that it is important that all sides of the debate are aired."

Video, 1 hr 13 min

Lunar Eclipse Prompts Climate Change Debate

Anyone who saw the lunar eclipse last month likely noted that it was relatively bright, with the darkened moon illuminated by ghostly red light. Now that same light is leading some scientists to questions about recent climate change data, according to New Scientist. A relatively bright eclipse means that the Earth's atmosphere is comparatively free of volcanic dust, and that relatively large amounts of sunlight are being refracted through the Earth's atmosphere. Last week's was rated a 3 on a scale of 0 to 4, meaning that it was very bright indeed. Nor is this the first time – for the last dozen years, eclipses have been relatively luminous, as a result of few dust-spewing eruptions.

Railroad not as environmentally friendly as train

Taking the train is often the most environmentally friendly alternative, in terms of where the power comes from. But this does not apply to the rails the train runs on. Constructing and maintaining railroad tracks uses huge amounts of energy from fossil fuels.

Top 10 Surprising Results of Global Warming

Aggravated allergies. Heading for the hills. Arctic in bloom. Pulling the plug. The Big Thaw. Survival of the fittest. Speedier satellites. Rebounding mountains. Ruined ruins. Forest fire frenzy.

Fossil DNA illuminates the life and climate of the past

Ancient Greenland was green. New Danish research has shown that it was covered in conifer forest and had a relatively mild climate. Professor Eske Willerslev has analysed the world’s oldest DNA, preserved under the kilometre-thick icecap. The DNA is likely close to half a million years old, and the research results are overturning all previous assumptions about biological life and the climate in Greenland.

Climate Change Affecting Earth's Outermost Atmosphere

Carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels will produce a 3 percent reduction in the density of Earth's outermost atmosphere by 2017. "We're seeing climate change manifest itself in the upper as well as lower atmosphere," says NCAR scientist Stan Solomon, a co-author of the study. "This shows the far-ranging impacts of greenhouse gas emissions."

Dimming The Sun

New evidence that air pollution has masked the full impact of global warming suggests the world may soon face a heightened climate crisis.

India's "people's cars" spur green nightmare fear

It may be an Indian consumer's dream -- cheap cars for $2,500-$3,000 within reach of millions of a swelling middle class. But it could also prove to be a traffic and environmental disaster. Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA announced last week they were studying a $3,000 car to compete in India against Tata Motors Ltd.'s planned low-cost "People's Car" targeted at around $2,500 to hit the market next year.

Food Insecurity on a Warming Planet

Various entities engaged in agricultural policy and research have recently issued warnings about the future of agriculture and the world's food supply. "Wheat Region Shifts North"

Global dimming

Global dimming is the gradual reduction in the amount of global direct irradiance at the Earth's surface that was observed for several decades after the start of systematic measurements in 1950s. It is thought to have been caused by an increase in particulates such as black carbon in the atmosphere due to human action. The effect varied by location, but worldwide it was of the order of a 4% reduction over the three decades from 1960–1990. The trend reversed during the past decade. Global dimming has interfered with the hydrological cycle by reducing evaporation and may have caused droughts in some areas. Global dimming also creates a cooling effect that may have partially masked the effect of greenhouse gases on global warming.