23 February 2012 (AFP) – The collapse of the Mayan civilization was likely due to a relatively mild drought, much like the drier conditions expected in the coming years due to climate change, scientists said Thursday. Scholars have long believed that a major drought caused severe dry conditions that killed off the ancient culture known […]
Contact: Rachel Feldman, rfeldman@univ.haifa.ac.il, 972-482-88722, University of Haifa23 February 2012 A 28-year comparative study of wild emmer wheat and wild barley populations has revealed that these progenitors of cultivated wheat and barley, which are the best hope for crop improvement, have undergone changes over this period of global warming. The changes present a real concern […]
By Katherine Bagley, InsideClimate News22 February 2012 A number of prominent U.S. climate scientists who identify themselves as Republican say their attempts in recent years to educate the GOP leadership on the scientific evidence of man-made climate change have been futile. Now, many have given up trying and the few who continue notice very little […]
Contact: Michael RobinUniversity of Saskatchewan (306) 966-1425michael.robin@usask.ca Human activity is likely a greater threat to coastal groundwater used for drinking water supplies than rising sea levels from climate change, according to a study conducted by geoscientists from the University of Saskatchewan and McGill University in Montreal. Grant Ferguson from the U of S Department of […]
[cf. U.S. CO2 emissions to stay below 2005 levels as coal use shrinks] 22 February 2012 (Bloomberg News) – China’s energy use rose at the fastest pace in four years in 2011 and efficiency improved, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Consumption climbed 7 percent to 3.48 billion metric tons of standard coal equivalent, […]
Cumulative rainfall anomalies for southeastern Australia starting from January 1997 to December 2011 in mm. Individual monthly anomalies are shown in the columns. An alternative way to consider the impact of the rainfall declines and recent rainfall is to look at the cumulative rainfall anomalies for southeastern Australia. The cumulative rainfall anomalies provide a measure […]
By Sahil Kapur21 February 2012 Climate change denial has become a litmus test for modern Republicans, but Rick Santorum, in his fondness for melding faith and government, has become one of the precious few to cite the Bible as evidence that the science-accepting crowd has it all wrong — and apparently the first to bring […]
Contact: Alan Buis, Alan.buis@jpl.nasa.gov, 818-354-0474 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.17 February 2012 PASADENA, California – A NASA-led science team has created an accurate, high-resolution map of the height of Earth’s forests. The map will help scientists better understand the role forests play in climate change and how their heights influence wildlife habitats within them, while […]
By Tom Horton January 2012 Sea-level around the Chesapeake Bay is rising. Larger-than-ever storm surges are a certainty. Land is sinking further. The time has come to plan an orderly human retreat from more development along the watershed’s low-lying edges. The science that backs this advice gets drowned out when developers wave big money at […]
In light of the exceptionally wet two-year period (2010–2011) we have updated maps from the Special Climate Statement 22 which previously reported on the extended dry in southern areas. Arguably, and by many measures such as increases in soil moisture, refilling of dams, and frequent flooding etc., the long dry can now be said to […]
