Latest climate scientist Stories
The Earth Institute at Columbia University A delay in the summer monsoon rains that fall over the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico is expected in the coming decades according to a new study in the Journal of Geophysical Research. The North American monsoon delivers as much as 70 percent of the region's annual rainfall, watering crops and rangelands for an estimated 20 million people. "We hope this information can be used with other studies to build realistic...
Delay Could Affect Agriculture, Livestock, Desert Ecosystems A delay in the summer monsoon rains that fall over the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico is expected in the coming decades according to a new study in the Journal of Geophysical Research. The North American monsoon delivers as much as 70 percent of the region's annual rainfall, watering crops and rangelands for an estimated 20 million people. "We hope this information can be used with other studies to build...
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported today that temperatures in the lower 48 states in the U.S. were 8.6 degrees above average for March. NOAA said that the record-breaking highs did not just stop in March, but added that the temperatures for the 48 states were 6 degrees higher than average for the first three months of the year. Meteorologist say an unusual confluence of several weather patterns, including La Nina, was the cause of the warm start to 2012....
But projections for increase today still loom large The seas are creeping higher as the planet warms. But how high will they go? Projections for the year 2100 range from inches to several feet, or more. The sub-tropical islands of Bermuda and the Bahamas contain important sites where researchers have gone looking for answers; by pinpointing where shorelines stood on cliffs and reefs there during an extremely warm period 400,000 years ago, they hope to narrow the range of global sea-level...
Record-breaking temperatures, extreme drought, stronger hurricanes and record rainfall are among the latest signs of climate change, scientists are warning. Weather patterns could become worse in the future if the world continues on its fossil-fuel consuming course, the scientists told AFP during a conference call Wednesday to discuss the year in global warming. Michael Mann, one of the leading scientists on the conference call, said he had just returned from a trip to Churchill, Manitoba, a...
The memory of last winter's blizzards may be fading in this summer's searing heat, but scientists studying them have detected a perfect storm of converging weather patterns that had little relation to climate change. The extraordinarily cold, snowy weather that hit parts of the U.S. East Coast and Europe was the result of a collision of two periodic weather patterns in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, a new study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters finds.It was the snowiest winter on...
For decades, climate scientists have worked to identify and measure key substances -- notably greenhouse gases and aerosol particles -- that affect Earth's climate. And they've been aided by ever more sophisticated computer models that make estimating the relative impact of each type of pollutant more reliable.Yet the complexity of nature -- and the models used to quantify it -- continues to serve up surprises. The most recent? Certain gases that cause warming are so closely linked with the...
The increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) slightly accelerated in 2008, according to a Reuters report citing scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The new figures may diminish optimism that the reduction in industrial output and carbon emissions that began last year will temporarily dampen climate change.Some analysts had hoped the global recession would give the world time to reverse the impact of atmospheric CO2 on the climate. But the new...
In his final State of the Union address, President George W. Bush devoted several lines to science and technology topics. He called for research and funding to reduce oil dependency and reverse the growth of greenhouse gases. "To keep America competitive into the future, we must trust in the skill of our scientists and engineers and empower them to pursue the breakthroughs of tomorrow," Bush said. [Full Text] But several scientists around the country aren't buying...
WASHINGTON - Climate scientist Michael Mann runs down the list of bad global warming news: The world is spewing greenhouse gases at a faster rate. Summer Arctic sea ice is at record lows. The ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctica are melting quicker than expected.Is he the doomsayer global warming skeptics have called him?Mann laughs. This Penn State University professor - and many other climate scientists - are sunny optimists. Hope blooms in the hottest of greenhouses.Climate...
