Graph of the Day: Melt at the base of the Greenland Ice Sheet

By Maria-José Viñas, adapted by Kathryn Hansen4 August 2016 (NASA) – Though it seems counter-intuitive, Greenland’s thick ice sheet actually insulates the bedrock below from the cold air temperatures at the surface. As a result, the bottom of the ice—slowly warmed by heat coming from Earth’s depths—can be tens of degrees warmer than at the […]

Last woolly mammoths died of thirst – ‘The mammoths were contributing to their own demise’

By Rebecca Morelle2 August 2016 (BBC News) – One of the last known groups of woolly mammoths died out because of a lack of drinking water, scientists believe. The Ice Age beasts were living on a remote island off the coast of Alaska, and scientists have dated their demise to about 5,600 years ago. They […]

Global warming already accelerating sea level rise, study finds – ‘Accelerated sea level rise is real, and it’s ongoing’

By Laura Snider10 August 2016 BOULDER, Colorado (NCAR) – Greenhouse gases are already having an accelerating effect on sea level rise, but the impact has so far been masked by the cataclysmic 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, according to a new study led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Satellite […]

Antarctic coastline images reveal four decades of ice loss to ocean – ‘Now we know this has been occurring pervasively along the coastline for almost half a century’

WASHINGTON, DC, 1 June 2016 (AGU) – Part of Antarctica has been losing ice to the ocean for far longer than had been expected, satellite pictures reveal. A study of images along 2000 kilometers (1,240 miles) of West Antarctica’s coastline has shown the loss of about 1000 square kilometers (about 390 square miles) of ice […]

Greenland witnessed its highest June temperature ever recorded on Thursday – ‘We had to check that our models were still working properly’

By Jason Samenow and Angela Fritz 10 June 2016 (Washington Post) – Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, soared to 75 degrees (24 Celsius) Thursday, marking the warmest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic country during June. Nuuk sits on Greenland’s southwest coast, where the country’s warmest weather typically occurs. It was warmer in Nuuk than it was […]

A song of fire and no ice: We just had our fourth record-breaking hottest month in a row this year

By Joe Romm 15 May 2016 (Climate Progress) – A record fire-storm in Canada fueled by record warmth. Record ice-melt in Greenland and the Arctic sea, driven by off-the-charts warmth in the far north. And, NASA reported Friday, we’ve just been through the hottest April and the hottest January-April on record — by far. Last […]

New NASA web portal shines beacon on rising seas

4 April 2016 (NASA) – Sea level rise is a critical global issue affecting millions across our planet. A new Web portal developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, gives researchers, decision makers and the public alike a resource to stay up to date with the latest developments and scientific findings in this rapidly […]

Graph of the Day: Change in ocean temperature and heat content, 2006-2015

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 […]

Sea levels set to ‘rise far more rapidly than expected’

By Damian Carrington30 March 2016 (The Guardian) – Sea levels could rise far more rapidly than expected in coming decades, according to new research that reveals Antarctica’s vast ice cap is less stable than previously thought. The UN’s climate science body had predicted up to a metre of sea level rise this century – but […]

Scientists warn of perilous climate shift within decades, not centuries – ‘We are in a position of potentially causing irreparable harm to our children, grandchildren, and future generations’

By Brian Mastroianni23 March 2016 (CBS News) – A sobering new report on the impact of climate change finds that extreme weather like killer storms and high-rising seas could be mere decades, not centuries, away. The report, “Ice Melt, Sea Level Rise, and Superstorms” [pdf] published Tuesday in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, says […]

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