Environment

Global Shift in the 1980’s Left Planet Altered

Earth underwent an unprecedented global ecological and climate shift late in the 1980s, which a new report says was triggered by a combination of manmade global warming and a powerful volcanic eruption.

Researchers from the U.K. and Switzerland write in the journal Global Change Biology that they found the shift throughout nature, from the upper atmosphere to the depth of the oceans.

The shift was manifest in atmospheric and ocean temperatures, the pH levels of rivers, the timing of land events, behaviour of plants and birds, wind speeds and the amount of ice and snow, according to the report.

The study found that the shift appeared to have moved regionally around the world from west to east, starting with South America in 1984, then moving through North America in 1985, the North Atlantic in 1986, Europe in 1987 and Asia in 1988.

The researchers say the shift was sparked by the 1982 eruption of Mexico's El Chichón volcano, interacting with climate change to cause the biggest ecological change in 1 000 years.

Environment

Climate Disasters Now Happening Daily: UN

Weather-related disasters have nearly doubled over the past 30 years — now occurring almost daily somewhere in the world, according to a new report.

Published by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), The Human Cost of Weather Related Disasters (PDF copy) fell short of directly blaming climate change for the increase.

But it did warn, “predictions of more extreme weather in the future almost certainly mean that we will witness a continued upward trend in weather-related disasters in the decades ahead.”

The report found that 600,000 people have died as a result of floods, storms, heatwaves, droughts and other weather-related events since 1995.

About 4.1 billion others being injured, left homeless or in need of emergency assistance.

There were an average of 335 weather-related disasters annually between 2005 and this year, up 14 percent from 1995 to 2004 and almost twice as many as during the years from 1985 to 1994.

The report ranked the United States, China, India, Philippines and Indonesia as being hit by the highest number of disasters.

Climate

Conditions in the Pacific appear to be shifting towards the emergence of the El Niño phenomenon after a period of neutral conditions. El Niño has implications for drought and flood conditions throughout the world.

 

El Niño

A weak El Niño has formed in the Pacific, showing a shift from neutral conditions following last year's La Niña. El Niño conditions are expected to persist.

 

Climate - El Niño

After a bout of La Niña and three years of drought, Chilean agriculture is anxiously awaiting a spell of El Niño to arrive. The industry hopes it could bring beneficial rains with it to help refill reservoirs, groundwater and reduce the country's water deficit.

Drought

The worst drought in 25 years stretches across the United States as more than 1 000 counties are declared disaster areas in 26 States. Corn futures continue to rise as crop estimates are downgraded.

 

Wildfires

The Colorado Springs, USA wildfire has consumed 346 homes and is the most destructive in Colorado history.

It is being suggested that the spate of recent wildfires in the US is a preview of the effects of global warming.

 

Climate Change

Scientists report that penguin numbers are plummeting. They attribute this phenomenon to global warming.

The flightless birds depend on krill as their principal source of food. As the Antarctic ice melts, so the supply of krill dwindles.

Chinstrap penguins have seen a 36% drop in numbers. Adelie penguins and emperor penguins have seen similar decline in numbers.

 

Drought

Drought in Argentina severely affects the country's soybean harvest.

 

Climate Change

Large areas of the European and Asian Arctic tundra encompassing more than 100 000 square kilometers are turning into forest.

Scientists report that this change is happening faster than expected with tundra plants growing more than 2 metres over the past decade to become small trees.

The forestation of the tundra may speed up global warming by reducing the amount of light reflected by the Earth - i.e. by absorbing more heat.

 

Climate Change

Researchers from New Zealand’s University of Auckland suggest that according to satellite data from March 2000 to February 2010, the average height of clouds declined by approximately 100 to 130 feet.

A reduction in cloud height would allow the planet to radiate more heat into space thereby slowing the effects of global warming.

More research needs to be done, as the test period is too short to determine a definite trend.

Drought

Colorado suffers its worst drought in a decade. Governor enacts water-restriction legislation.

Wheatfields are parched from the US to Russia. Analysts fear serious pressure on global wheat supplies in the coming season with an inevitable increase in wheat prices.

Global Warming

Sea turtles face a barrage of troubles. On beaches, poachers steal their eggs and babies for stewing; at sea, adults get caught up in fishermen’s long lines and nets.

A recent study of leatherback turtles has shown that the temperature of beaches is slowly rising. Hot sand results in predominantly female hatchlings, which skews the population mix, while too hot sand drastically reduces the number of successful hatchlings.

Global Warming

Scientists have identified at least 150 000 sites in the Arctic (Alaska and Greenland) where methane gas is actively bubbling to the surface, mainly along the edges of lakes where the ice margins are retreating due to the melting ice. The Arctic is the fastest warming region on the planet, and the release of this gas which has been trapped for millennia beneath the ice, together with the methane being released across Siberia due to the melting of the permafrost layer may significantly affect the rate of global warming.

Environment

Scientists report that abnormally high ocean temperatures off the coast of Queensland, Australia, unrelated to the La Nina phenomenon were the major contributing factor to the extreme rainfall and consequent floods in Queensland over the summer of 2010 - 11.

Drought

Drought is declared in New Mexico, USA.

Tropical Storm

Tropical Storm Aletta, the first of the hurricane season forms in the Pacific off the coast of Mexico. It is unusual for tropical storms to form this early, in May before the official season begins on the 1st of June. TS Aletta ends a 41 day period where there was no tropical storm anywhere around the globe.

Storms

A tropical depression about 1 000 km off the coast of Mexico is expected to strengthen and become the season's first named Pacific Tropical Storm.

Small tornado hits the New Zealand village of Papamoa in the Bay of Plenty. Several  homes damaged.

Warm USA

According to a report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2012 has been the warmest and most extreme weather period on record in the US.

Flood and Drought in Brazil

The Brazilian Amazon region is under a state of emergency for one of the worst floods ever; while the north-eastern region of the country is suffering the worst drought in 30 years.

It has been suggested that the systematic de-forestation of large areas of the catchment basin of the Amazon is partly responsible for the severity of the floods.