Graph of the Day: Observed surface radiative forcing by CO2, 2000-2010

25 February 2015 (Nature) – a, Time series of observed spectrally integrated (520–1,800 cm−1) CO2 surface radiative forcing at SGP (in red) with overlaid CT2011 estimate of CO2 concentration from the surface to an altitude of 2 km (grey), and a least-squares trend of the forcing and its uncertainty (blue). b, Power spectral density of […]

Bjørn Lomborg is wrong about Bangladesh and sea level rise

[And he’s wrong about everything else. Desdemona had an encounter with him several years ago. When asked about overfishing on the high seas, his answer was, “The oceans are fine.” –Des] By Greg Laden 12 March 2015 (ScienceBlogs) – Human caused greenhouse gas pollution is heating the Earth and causing the planet’s polar ice caps […]

It’s supposed to be the rainy season in Brazil, so where has all the water gone?

By Tom Di Liberto6 March 2015 (NOAA) – It’s amazing to think, but in Brazil, a country that boasts both the Amazon Rain Forest and River, parts of the country are in danger of seeing their water supplies dry up after back-to-back rainy seasons failed to live up to their name. Southeastern Brazil—the country’s most […]

Amazon drought caused doubling of tree mortality, reduced carbon sink by 1.4 billion tons of CO2

By Gerard Wynn5 March 2015 (RTCC) – Severe drought five years ago caused an observed doubling in the rate of tree mortality in the Amazon rainforest, according to a study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, 4 March 2015. In addition, the drought caused the forest to take up about 1.4 billion tonnes less […]

Graph of the Day: Oyster harvests in the Chesapeake Bay, 1880-2008

July 2010 (Chesapeake Bay Foundation) – Oyster harvests tumbled by two-thirds between the 1890s and 1930, but then remained relatively stable at a lower level until the 1950s. Then a pair of diseases hit. MSX and Dermo are both caused by parasites that attack and frequently kill oysters, although they are harmless to people. Compounded […]

Rates of change in Earth’s surface temperature unprecedented for at least the past 1,000 years – ‘There’s not going to be anything close to equilibrium’

By James Sullivan  10 March 2015 (Science Recorder) – According to a new paper published Monday in Nature Climate Change, it’s about to get a whole lot hotter – that’s the projected trend after looking at the weather over 40-year periods. While the fact that next century may bring us temperatures over the two degree […]

Climatology versus pseudoscience: Exposing the failed predictions of global warming skeptics – ‘I was surprised at how accurate mainstream climate scientists’ predictions have been, even using the earliest global climate models’

By Greg Laden11 March 2015 (Science Blogs) – Dana Nuccitelli is a key communicator in the climate change conversation. He is co-writer with John Abraham at the Climate Consensus – the 97% blog at the Guardian, and has contributed hundreds of entries to John Cook’s famous site SkepticalScience.com. He has measurably helped people to understand […]

Why fresh water shortages will cause the next great global crisis – ‘For us, water is now more important than oil’

By Robin McKie, science editor7 March 2015 (The Guardian) – Water is the driving force of all nature, Leonardo da Vinci claimed. Unfortunately for our planet, supplies are now running dry – at an alarming rate. The world’s population continues to soar but that rise in numbers has not been matched by an accompanying increase […]

Peak Coal in China? Not so fast

By Robert Wilson27 February 2015 (Carbon Counter) – China’s coal consumption officially fell by 2.9% last year for the first time in 14 years. Is this evidence of “peak coal” in China as some are already claiming or a temporary blip? Let’s begin with an obvious problem. China’s coal demand officially declined 14 years ago. […]

Graph of the Day: Three waves of drought in 21st Century California

By Bob Henson27 February 2015 (Wunderground.com) – […] California is entering its fourth consecutive year of widespread drought, as measured by the U.S. Drought Monitor, which takes into account soil conditions and streamflow as well as precipitation. This is the third multiyear drought in California since 2000, and as Figure 3 shows, it’s the worst […]

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