18 April 2016 (Stockholm University) – When organic material released from thawing permafrost is transported to the sea it gets broken down in the seawater contributing to a more rapid acidification of the Arctic Ocean, finds new research by scientists from Stockholm University and colleagues. Ocean acidification is an important consequence of humankind’s release of […]
By Jason Samenow20 April 2016 (Washington Post) – In the past six months, the Earth has witnessed several of the freakiest, most intense storms in recorded history. Spurred by the highest ocean temperatures observed to date, record-breaking tropical cyclones — the class of storms that includes hurricanes and typhoons — have explosively developed in three […]
By Christopher C. Burt19 April 2016 (wunderground.com) – What is most likely the most intense heat wave ever observed in Southeast Asia has been ongoing for the past several weeks. All-time national heat records have been observed in Cambodia, Laos, and (almost) in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam. Meanwhile extreme heat has resulted in all-time […]
By Elaine Kurtenbach20 April 2016 TOKYO (Associated Press) – The latest scientific assessment paints a likely bleak future for the Pacific bluefin tuna, a sushi lovers’ favorite whose population has dropped by more than 97 percent from its historic levels. A draft summary of a report by the International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-like […]
By Chris Mooney 20 April 2016 (Washington Post) – The conclusions are in from a series of scientific surveys of the Great Barrier Reef bleaching event — an environmental assault on the largest coral ecosystem on Earth — and scientists aren’t holding back about how devastating they find them. Australia’s National Coral Bleaching Task Force […]
[cf. MIT researchers predict ‘global economic collapse’ by 2030 – ‘We are not on a sustainable trajectory’ and The Limits to Growth at forty: Is collapse now inevitable?] By Nafeez Ahmed19 April 2016 (Insurge Intelligence) – A report commissioned on behalf of a cross-party group of British MPs authored by a former UK government advisor, […]
[cf. Scientists say climate change could cause a ‘massive’ tree die-off in the U.S. Southwest and Drought-induced tree mortality accelerating in forests] By Diana Madson18 April 2016 (Yale Climate Connections) – New research predicts that nearly all coniferous forests in the American Southwest could be lost to climate change by the end of the century. […]
By Matthew D. Palmer, Susan Wijffels, and John A. Church21 March 2016 (WMO) – In a stable climate, the amount of energy that the Earth system absorbs from the Sun is balanced by the amount of energy emitted back to space by the Earth as thermal infrared radiation. However, increases in greenhouse gas concentrations have […]
[cf. World discovers a $1 trillion ocean as Arctic sea ice vanishes – ‘These changes are like nothing we have seen. We don’t have anything to compare with in history.’] BEIJING, 20 April 2016 (Reuters) – China will encourage ships flying its flag to take the Northwest Passage via the Arctic Ocean, a route opened […]
By Bob Henson18 April 2016 (wunderground.com) – Fierce Tropical Cyclone Fantala stormed to Category 5 strength north of Madagascar over the weekend with an impressive burst of strengthening, making the cyclone the most powerful on record anywhere in the Indian Ocean. Fantala’s estimated peak sustained winds of 150 knots (173 mph), averaged over 1 minute […]
