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CLIMATE
CHANGE - GLOBAL WARMING
Never before in recorded history has the
earth’s surface been visible below the polar ice cap –
UNTIL NOW !
Throughout its long history, Earth has warmed and cooled
time and again. Climate has changed when the planet received more or less
sunlight due to subtle shifts in its orbit, as the atmosphere or surface
changed, or when the Sun’s energy varied.
But
in the past century, another force has started to influence Earth’s climate:
HUMANITY !
Why
The Controversy ?
The global warming controversy includes a variety of disputes about the
nature, causes, and consequences of global warming. The debates, however, are
more in the popular media than in the scientific literature. The disputed issues
involve the causes of increased global average air temperature, especially since
the mid-20th century, whether such a warming trend is unprecedented or within
normal climatic variations, whether humankind has contributed significantly to
it, and whether the increase is wholly or partially an artifact of poor
measurements. Additional disputes concern estimates of climate sensitivity,
predictions of additional warming, and what the consequences of global warming
will be.
However, in the scientific literature, there is a strong consensus that
global surface temperatures have increased in recent decades and that the trend
is caused mainly by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases. No scientific
body of national or international standing disagrees with this view, though a
few organizations hold non-committal positions. (from Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia)
From
James P. McGovern District Update March 15, 2022.
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Amid a historically unstable period for global
oil and gas prices, many families are experiencing real financial stress
and wondering how we can end America's dependence on foreign energy. It's
a good question.
Sadly, Big Oil companies and their corrupt backers in
Congress are asking something different: how can they exploit this moment
to drive up profits and build even more dirty infrastructure?
They claim price increases are driven by President
Biden’s energy policies, but this is a lie.
The Biden administration is actually outpacing
Trump in the approval of new permits to drill, and the U.S. oil
industry is already sitting on 9,000 unused permits.
And even though the United States is the number one
producer of oil in the world, these companies still aren’t
even producing as much crude oil as they did before the pandemic. They're choosing
instead to meet the resurgence of demand with an artificial shortage to
jack up their profits.
Although our country has been a net-exporter of
fossil fuel energy since 2019, the volatile nature of a global commodity
like oil means that prices can never be fully insulated from geopolitical
events.
Adding to corporate America's deception is the
disingenuous insistence that new fossil fuel supplies could be
available in time to make a difference.
We can’t just flip a switch to turn on the Keystone
XL pipeline, as GOP leadership claims. The reality is Keystone XL was
never even built—and experts estimate it would only lower gas prices by
a single cent per gallon.
Greedy fossil fuel companies know this, but they want
to lock us in to new infrastructure and long-term contracts that keep
America dependent on them.
GOP leadership might be content pledging allegiance
to fossil fuel talking points, but you shouldn’t be.
President Biden is taking immediate steps to lower
gas prices for you and your family and address Big Oil's price
gouging.
But we all need to ask why we should give any thought
to new drilling and pipelines at all, when the path to energy
independence lies with clean energy.
Ditching fossil fuels once and for all would be much
more effective, cheaper, and safer than giving Big Oil their wish list.
Why? Because the past decade has brought us
lightyears ahead in clean energy and electric vehicle technology. Wind and
solar are now among the cheapest forms of energy on the planet, and
advances in batteries and other technologies make clean energy an obvious
choice.
Renewables are also faster to build, in large part
because they can be built in a decentralized fashion, in many places, and
scaled up quickly.
And oil and gas already have major problems of their
own. American taxpayers subsidize fossil fuels by a staggering $650
billion per year in the form of direct tax breaks for oil and gas
companies, cleanup for environmental harms, and health costs associated
with the burning of fossil fuels.
The costs of continued reliance on oil and gas are
not merely financial, either. Air pollution from burning fossil fuels
leads to as many as 9 million premature deaths every year. And of course,
there is the greatest cost of all: climate change.
In fact, if we do not transition away from fossil
fuels, the global costs will be a staggering $551 trillion—more
than the sum of all wealth on Earth. Clean energy is the bargain of the
century.
The claim that our energy independence lies hidden at
the bottom of new oil wells or at the end of new pipelines is a lie.
And in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s horrific and
unprovoked attack on the people of Ukraine, pushing that lie on
Americans—who want to stand up to oil bullies like Putin—amounts to
war profiteering.
Putin wants to invade his way into an empire
and use his oil to blackmail the world—and the best way to stop him is
to make his oil worthless.
So we have a choice. We can believe Big Oil's lies
and resign ourselves to an energy future that is too clumsy to cut the
legs out from oil bullies like Putin, too costly to sustain, and too
sluggish to stave off irreparable harm to the planet.
Or we can choose one that secures true energy
independence, prosperity for our communities, international stability, and
a livable world for our children.
I say we pick the latter.
Yours in Service,
James
P. McGovern
Member
of Congress
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From James P.
McGovern District Update March 15, 2022.
CLIMATE
CHANGE - GLOBAL WARMING FACT SHEET
Short
Answers to Hard Questions About Climate Change
By
Justin Gillis. New York Times. Updated July 6, 2017
See https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/11/28/science/what-is-climate-change.html
WHAT
IS GLOBAL WARMING, ANYWAY?
Ø Global warming is caused by the release of carbon dioxide and other
heat-trapping gases into earth’s atmosphere. The gases act like a thick
blanket, trapping the sun's heat and causing the planet to warm up. Increase the
gases and the warming increases, too. These gases are created when we burn
fossil fuels in our cars and power plants as well as by loss of forests and
agriculture.
Ø Scientists find clues to global warming by studying remnants of the
past in ancient glacial ice, ocean sediments as well as tree and coral rings.
Ø Global warming is problematic to human civilization because it will
cause increasingly severe storms and droughts, glaciers to melt, rising seas,
changes in weather patterns, the spread of disease.
Ø Automobiles and coal-burning power plants are the two biggest sources
of carbon dioxide in the U.S. Clearing of forests is also an important source
worldwide.
Ø Scientists say that unless we curb global warming emissions, average
temperatures could rise by 3 to 9 degrees by the end of this century – in our
grandchildren’s lifetime!.
SURPRISING
SCIENTIFIC STATS ON GLOBAL WARMING
Ø Recent data from Antarctic ice cores indicates that carbon dioxide
concentrations are now higher than at any time during the past 650,000 years,
which is as far back as measurements can now reach.
Ø 2005 was the warmest year on record since atmospheric temperatures have
been measured. The ten warmest years on record have all been since 1990. In
summer 2005, and in every year since, heat records were broken in hundreds of
U.S. cities.
Ø Over the past 50 years, the average global temperature has increased at
the fastest rate in recorded history.
Ø In 2003, heat waves caused over 30,000 deaths in Europe and 1500 deaths
in India.
Ø Since 1978, arctic sea ice has been shrinking by about 9 percent per
decade - a total of 29% to date.
Ø Seagulls were spotted for the first time ever at the North Pole in
2000.
Ø The snows of Mt. Kilimanjaro, at their current rate of melt, may be
gone by 2020.
PREDICTED
EFFECTS AS TEMPERATURES RISE
Ø Global warming is predicted to increase
the intensity of hurricanes. In the past several decades, the number of
Category 4 and 5 hurricanes globally has almost doubled. Because the ocean is
getting warmer, tropical storms can pick up more energy and become far more
powerful.
Ø Even as severe storms cause flooding in some areas, droughts
and wildfires will increase in others.
Ø Low-lying islands, some capes
and coastlines will no longer be habitable due to rising sea level.
Ø Forests, farms and cities will face troublesome new pests and more mosquito-borne diseases.
Ø Disruption
of habitats such as coral reefs and alpine meadows could drive many plant and
animal species to extinction.
WHAT
CAN BE DONE?
Ø Energy efficiency, conservation, renewable sources of energy and new
policies will all be part of the solution. Much of this technology already
exists to reverse the effects of global warming. Immediate steps include
building cleaner cars, CFL light bulbs, manufacturing more efficient appliances
and conserving energy on an international basis.
Ø Individuals can make an immediate difference by trying to reduce their
personal greenhouse gas emissions.
Ø Major corporations are already finding ways to cut emissions while
still saving money – but there is tremendous opportunity for more innovation.
Ø Developing and making available new clean energy technologies -- such
as wind power, solar power, hybrid electric engines, and alternative fuels –
will be key to controlling global warming.
Climate
Change Blog
Posted
on October 12, 2017
Trump
Dismantles Environmental Protections...
"....EPA
SecretaryPruitt went on to explain that the administration’s primary interest
is in oil and gas production: “What the president has talked about is
energy dominance, that we as an nations shouldn’t be about energy
independence, we should be about energy dominance.” He went on to explain that
this meant generating “electricity at the cheapest rates here
domestically,” exploring and exploiting our “natural
resources,” but also exporting those resources “and become dominant in an
energy space.”
(Motherjones.com)
From
1980 to 2016, according to NOAA records, the US experienced an average of five
and a half $1bn-plus “weather and climate disasters” a year. From 2012 to
2016, that reached 10.6 such events a year. Many such events are increasing in
intensity, the agency warns.
"....California
Gov. Jerry Brown (D) said in an interview that he, like Inslee, was prepared to
take the new administration to court over its regulatory rewrite. “Gutting the
Clean Power Plan is a colossal mistake and defies science itself,” he said.
“Erasing climate change may take place in Donald Trump’s mind, but nowhere
else.”...
(Washington
Post)
Scientific evidence for warming of
the climate system is unequivocal.
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The
current warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is
extremely likely (greater than 95 percent probability) to be the result of human
activity since the mid-20th century and proceeding at a rate that is
unprecedented over decades to millennia.
Earth-orbiting
satellites and other technological advances have enabled scientists to see the
big picture, collecting many different types of information about our planet and
its climate on a global scale. This body of data, collected over many years,
reveals the signals of a changing climate.
The
heat-trapping nature of carbon dioxide and other gases was demonstrated in the
mid-19th century.2
Their ability to affect the transfer of infrared energy through the atmosphere
is the scientific basis of many instruments flown by NASA. There is no question
that increased levels of greenhouse gases must cause the Earth to warm in
response.
Ice
cores drawn from Greenland, Antarctica, and tropical mountain glaciers show that
the Earth’s climate responds to changes in greenhouse gas levels. Ancient
evidence can also be found in tree rings, ocean sediments, coral reefs, and
layers of sedimentary rocks. This ancient, or paleoclimate, evidence reveals
that current warming is occurring roughly ten times faster than the average rate
of ice-age-recovery warming.
The
evidence for rapid climate change is compelling:
Global
Temperature Rise
The
planet's average surface temperature has risen about 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit
(0.9 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by
increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere.4
Most of the warming occurred in the past 35 years, with the five warmest years
on record taking place since 2010. Not only was 2016 the warmest year on record,
but eight of the 12 months that make up the year — from January through
September, with the exception of June — were the warmest on record for those
respective months.
Warming
Oceans
The
oceans have absorbed much of this increased heat, with the top 700 meters (about
2,300 feet) of ocean showing warming of more than 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit since
1969.6
Ocean
waters melting the undersides of Antarctic ice shelves are responsible for most
of the continent's ice shelf mass loss, a new study by NASA and university
researchers has found.
Shrinking
Ice Sheets
The
Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass. Data from NASA's
Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment show Greenland lost an average of 286
billion tons of ice per year between 1993 and 2016, while Antarctica lost about
127 billion tons of ice per year during the same time period. The rate of
Antarctica ice mass loss has tripled in the last decade.
Glacial
Retreat
Glaciers
are retreating almost everywhere around the world — including in the Alps,
Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, Alaska and Africa.
Decreased
Snow Cover
Satellite
observations reveal that the amount of spring snow cover in the Northern
Hemisphere has decreased over the past five decades and that the snow is melting
earlier.
Sea
Level Rise
Global
sea level rose about 8 inches in the last century. The rate in the last two
decades, however, is nearly double that of the last century and is accelerating
slightly every year.
Declining
Arctic Sea Ice
Both
the extent and thickness of Arctic sea ice has declined rapidly over the last
several decades.
Extreme
Events
The
number of record high temperature events in the United States has been
increasing, while the number of record low temperature events has been
decreasing, since 1950. The U.S. has also witnessed increasing numbers of
intense rainfall events.
https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
Posted
on September 14, 2016
Ocean
Levels are Rising - We Need to Act Now...
"Core
samples, tide gauge readings, and, most recently, satellite measurements tell us
that over the past century, the Global Mean Sea Level has risen by 4 to 8
inches. However, the annual rate of rise over the past 20 years has been roughly
twice the average speed of the preceding 80 years. Over the past century, the
burning of fossil fuels and other human and natural activities has released
enormous amounts of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere. These emissions
have caused the Earth's surface temperature to rise, and the oceans absorb about
80 percent of this additional heat....
The
rise in sea levels is linked to three primary factors, all induced by this
ongoing global climate change:
Thermal
expansion: When water heats up, it expands. About half of the past century's
rise in sea level is attributable to warmer oceans simply occupying more space....
Melting
of glaciers and polar ice caps: Large ice formations, like glaciers and the
polar ice caps, naturally melt back a bit each summer. But in the winter, snows,
made primarily from evaporated seawater, are generally sufficient to balance out
the melting. Recently, though, persistently higher temperatures caused by global
warming have led to greater-than-average summer melting as well as diminished
snowfall due to later winters and earlier springs. This imbalance results in a
significant net gain in runoff versus evaporation for the ocean, causing sea
levels to rise....
Ice
loss from Greenland and West Antarctica: As with glaciers and the ice caps,
increased heat is causing the massive ice sheets that cover Greenland and
Antarctica to melt at an accelerated pace....
When
sea levels rise rapidly, as they have been doing, even a small increase can have
devastating effects on coastal habitats....
With
an increasing number of large storms, as they hit land, higher sea levels mean
larger, more powerful storm surges that can strip away everything in their path.
In addition, hundreds of millions of people live in areas that will become
increasingly vulnerable to flooding. Higher sea levels would force them to
abandon their homes and relocate. Low-lying islands could be submerged
completely....
Most
predictions say the warming of the planet will continue and likely will
accelerate. Oceans will likely continue to rise as well. A recent study says we
can expect the oceans to rise between 2.5 and 6.5 feet by 2100, enough to swamp
many of the cities along the U.S. East Coast. More dire estimates push sea level
rise to 23 feet, enough to submerge London...."
(excerpted
from National Geographic)
Posted
on November 2, 2012
New
York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Hurricane Sandy and Climate Change:
“The
devastation that Hurricane Sandy brought to New York City and much of the
Northeast -- in lost lives, lost homes and lost business -- brought the stakes
of Tuesday’s presidential election into sharp relief. The floods and fires
that swept through our city left a path of destruction that will require years
of recovery and rebuilding work. And in the short term, our subway system
remains partially shut down, and many city residents and businesses still have
no power. In just 14 months, two hurricanes have forced us to evacuate
neighborhoods -- something our city government had never done before. If this is
a trend, it is simply not sustainable. Our climate is changing. And while the
increase in extreme weather we have experienced in New York City and around the
world may or may not be the result of it, the risk that it might be -- given
this week’s devastation -- should compel all elected leaders to take immediate
action. Here in New York, our comprehensive sustainability plan has helped allow
us to cut our carbon footprint by 16 percent in just five years, which is the
equivalent of eliminating the carbon footprint of a city twice the size of
Seattle. Through the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group -- a partnership among
many of the world’s largest cities -- local governments are taking action
where national governments are not….“ Leadership is Needed ! Read
more at The Bloomberg View.
Posted
on August 23, 2012
Arctic
Sea Ice at Lowest Levels Ever
North
Pole webcam picture taken on 22 August 2012 showing ice cap melting. Climate
scientists expect the Arctic sea ice is on course to plummet to its lowest
levels ever this weekend. Photograph: University of Washington/ North Pole
Environmental Observatory/NOAA
Posted
on July 20, 2012
Severe
Storms on the Increase
WASHINGTON
– Global warming is leading to such severe storms, droughts and heat waves
that nations should prepare for an unprecedented onslaught of deadly and costly
weather disasters, an international panel of climate scientists says in a report
issued Wednesday.
The
greatest danger from extreme weather is in highly populated, poor regions of the
world, the report warns, but no corner of the globe — from Mumbai to Miami —
is immune. The document by a Nobel Prize-winning panel of climate scientists
forecasts stronger tropical cyclones and more frequent heat waves, deluges and
droughts.
The
594-page report blames the scale of recent and future disasters on a combination
of man-made climate change, population shifts and poverty. From USA Today. By
Seth Borenstein, Associated Press. 7/20/12.
Posted
on February 28, 2012
Where
does some of our plastic trash end up?
At
least 1,700 miles of plastic trash is floating in what is commonly known as the Great
Pacific Garbage Patch. Up until this point, scientists only had a vague idea
of the scope of the trash they would find in the North Pacific Gyre,
a vortex where four ocean currents meet.
Posted
on February 28, 2012
New
Scientist Magazine for February 25, 2012 notes that “There simply is no
credible scientific alternative to the theory that humans are warming the
atmosphere. In 2010, a survey of 1372 climate scientists found that 97 percent
of those who publish most frequently in the field were in no doubt. They agreed
with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that human activity had
caused most of the Earth’s warming over the second half of the 20th
century…. (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences).”
By
not acting now, we are doing a disservice to those who will have to deal with
the consequences of worsening climate change in the near future.
Posted
on February 2, 2012
Recycling
Plastic Bottles - What are the benefits to recycling plastic bottles?
Conservation of Oil. When a ton of plastic bottles are
recycled approximately 3.8 barrels of petroleum is saved.
Reduction of Greenhouse Gas emissions. The substitution of
recycled materials reduces the emission of greenhouse gases that are produced in
the manufacturing of virgin materials.
Saving of Landfill Space. Not having millions of plastic
bottles in the landfill results in a saving of 6.7 cubic meters of landfill
space that is at a premium right now. Plastic bottles also take an average of
500 years to biodegrade.
Conservation of Energy. Water
and soft drink bottles are made of polyethylene terephthalate or PET. Recycling
of one pound of PET results in a saving of approximately 12,000 BTU’s (British
Thermal Units).
Benefits of Reuse. Recycled bottles can provide an
environmentally friendly source of materials for the manufacture of new products
and substitutes recycle materials for virgin materials. (from
Benefits-of-Recycling.com)
Posted
on January 31, 2012
Nudging
Recycling From Less Waste to None
By LESLIE
KAUFMAN
New York Times
Published: October 19, 2009
At Yellowstone
National Park, the clear soda cups and white utensils are not your typical
cafe-counter garbage. Made of plant-based plastics, they dissolve magically when
heated for more than a few minutes.
At Ecco, a
popular restaurant in Atlanta, waiters no longer scrape food scraps into the
trash bin. Uneaten morsels are dumped into five-gallon pails and taken to a compost
heap out back.
And at eight of its North American plants, Honda is
recycling so diligently that the factories have gotten rid of their trash
Dumpsters altogether.
Across the nation, an antigarbage strategy known as “zero
waste” is moving from the fringes to the mainstream, taking hold in school
cafeterias, national parks, restaurants, stadiums and corporations.
The movement is simple in concept if not always in
execution: Produce less waste. Shun polystyrene foam containers or any other
packaging that is not biodegradable. Recycle or compost whatever you can.
Though born of idealism, the zero-waste philosophy is now
propelled by sobering realities, like the growing difficulty of securing permits
for new landfills and an awareness that organic decay in landfills releases
methane that helps warm the earth’s atmosphere. To
read more click here….
United
Nations (UN) warns world lacks food:
The world
population – the number of all living humans on the planet Earth - is today
estimated to number 6.991 BILLION by the United States Census Bureau. According
to a separate estimate by the United Nations, the number has already exceeded 7
BILLION. The world population has experienced continuous growth since the end of
the Great Famine and Black Death in 1350, when it stood at around 370 million.
As the world’s
population continues to grow, the United Nations warns that the world lacks food
to support the growth. The UN estimates that within the next 20 years the
world's population will need 50 per cent more food and vast new reserves of
energy and water [Reuters].
A major United
Nations report on sustainability has warned that time is running out to ensure
that there is enough food, water and fuel to meet the needs of the world's
rapidly growing population.
In a grim
warning about the earth's increasing demand for resources, the report found that
demand will grow exponentially as the global population rises from 7 billion
people to an expected 9 billion by 2040.
Within the next
20 years the world's population will need 50 per cent more food, 45 percent more
energy and 30 percent more water, according to UN estimates.
The report warns
a failure to secure resources will condemn up to 3 billion people to poverty.
The report's
authors have urged governments to tackle sustainable development with a greater
sense of urgency and political will. "The current global development model
is unsustainable," the report reads.
"To achieve
sustainability, a transformation of the global economy is required. Tinkering on
the margins will not do the job. The current global economic crisis ... offers
an opportunity for significant reforms."
The panel, which
made 56 recommendations for sustainable development to be included in economic
policy as quickly as possible. Among the panel's recommendations, it urged
governments to agree on a set of sustainable development goals which would
complement the eight Millennium Development Goals to 2015 and create a framework
for action after 2015. It also recommends efforts to double productivity while
reducing resource use.
Water
and marine ecosystems should be managed more efficiently and there should be
universal access to affordable sustainable energy by 2030. The authors also
recommend the establishment of carbon and natural resource pricing, and the
phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies by 2020. (source Asia Pacific News / ABC
Radio Australia)
Posted
on January 15, 2012
Compact
Fluorescent Light Bulbs: Change a Light Bulb and Change the World
If you want to change the world, start by changing a few light bulbs. It is one
of the best things you can do for the environment—and your budget.
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, if every
U.S. household replaced just one regular incandescent light bulb with a compact
fluorescent light bulb, it would prevent 90 billion pounds of greenhouse gas
emissions from power plants, the equivalent of taking 7.5 million cars off the
road. And the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that by replacing
regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs at the same minimal
rate, Americans would save enough energy to light more than 2.5 million homes
for a year.
On top of that, replacing one regular light bulb with an
approved compact fluorescent light bulb would save consumers $30 in energy costs
over the life of the bulb.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs use at least two-thirds
less energy than standard incandescent bulbs to provide the same amount of
light, and they last up to 10 times longer. Compact fluorescent light bulbs also
generate 70 percent less heat, so they are safer to operate and can also reduce
energy costs associated with cooling homes and offices.
The only real drawback to using compact fluorescent bulbs
is that each one contains about 5 mg of mercury, so when they do expire, one
should be recycling
compact fluorescent bulbs to make sure they don't end up in landfills. (from
About.com - Environmental Issues)
Posted
on January 5, 2012
Since 1978, arctic sea ice has been shrinking by about 9 percent per
decade - a total of about 29% to
date. The
Arctic is global warming's "canary in the coal mine". It is a highly
sensitive region, and it is being profoundly affected by the changing climate.
Most scientists view what's happening now in the Arctic as a harbinger of things
to come.
This chart compares the actual loss of Arctic Ice Cap volume between the 1950s
and 2000, and the projected loss by 2050. The more ice that is lost, the faster
the ice cap shrinks due to the loss of albedo, the amount of light energy that
is normally reflected back out into space by the ice cap. Image: NOAA
It
is now known that the Arctic Ice Cap, frozen for 50 million years, is melting.
We also know that above normal Arctic temperatures, from the ocean water to the
air currents, account for the melting. Global warming is real, and the melting
of the Arctic Ice Cap is one of its symptoms.
Reprinted
from Washington Post. March 3, 2006:
"Antarctic
Ice Sheet Is Melting Rapidly
By
Juliet Eilperin
Washington
Post Staff Writer. Friday,
March 3, 2006
The
Antarctic ice sheet is losing as much as 36 cubic miles of ice a year in a trend
that scientists link to global warming, according to a new paper that provides
the first evidence that the sheet's total mass is shrinking significantly.
The
new findings, which are being published today in the journal Science, suggest
that global sea level could rise substantially over the next several centuries.
It
is one of a slew of scientific papers in recent weeks that have sought to gauge
the impact of climate change on the world's oceans and lakes. Just last month
two researchers reported that Greenland's glaciers are melting into the sea
twice as fast as previously believed, and a separate paper in Science today
predicts that by the end of this century lakes and streams on one-fourth of the
African continent could be drying up because of higher temperatures.
The
new Antarctic measurements, using data from two NASA satellites called the
Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), found that the amount of water
pouring annually from the ice sheet into the ocean -- equivalent to the amount
of water the United States uses in three months -- is causing global sea level
to rise by 0.4 millimeters a year. The continent holds 90 percent of the world's
ice, and the disappearance of even its smaller West Antarctic ice sheet could
raise worldwide sea levels by an estimated 20 feet.
"The
ice sheet is losing mass at a significant rate," said Isabella Velicogna,
the study's lead author and a research scientist at Colorado University at
Boulder's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences.
"It's a good indicator of how the climate is changing. It tells us we have
to pay attention."
Richard
Alley, a Pennsylvania State University glaciologist who has studied the
Antarctic ice sheet but was not involved in the new research, said more research
is needed to determine if the shrinkage is a long-term trend, because the new
report is based on just three years of data. "One person's trend is another
person's fluctuation," he said.
But
Alley called the study significant and "a bit surprising" because a
major international scientific panel predicted five years ago that the Antarctic
ice sheet would gain mass this century as higher temperatures led to increased
snowfall.
"It
looks like the ice sheets are ahead of schedule" in terms of melting, Alley
said. "That's a wake-up call. We better figure out what's going on."
Velicogna
acknowledged that it is hard to predict how fast the ice sheet will melt in the
future but said, "I don't expect it's going to stop in the next couple of
years."
Scientists
have been debating whether the Antarctic ice sheet is expanding or shrinking
overall, because the center of the sheet tends to gain mass through snowfall
whereas the coastal regions are more vulnerable to melting.
Velicogna
and her co-author, University of Colorado at Boulder physics professor John Wahr,
based their measurements on data from the two GRACE satellites that circle the
world more than a dozen times a day at an altitude of 310 miles. The satellites
measure variations in Earth's mass and gravitational pull: Increases or
decreases in the Antarctic ice sheet's mass change the distance between the
satellites as they fly over the region.
"The
strength of GRACE is that we were able to assess the entire Antarctic region in
one fell swoop to determine if it was gaining or losing mass," Wahr said.
But
some scientists remain unconvinced. Oregon state climatologist George Taylor
noted that sea ice in some areas of Antarctica is expanding and part of the
region is getting colder, despite computer models that would predict otherwise.
"The
Antarctic is really a puzzle," said Taylor, who writes for the Web site
TSCDaily, which is partly financed by fossil fuel companies that oppose curbs on
greenhouse gases linked to climate change. "A lot more research is needed
to understand the degree of climate and ice trends in and around the
Antarctic."
At
the other end of the temperature spectrum, two South African researchers are
reporting today in Science that their computer models indicate that by 2100
climate change may rob the south and west of Africa and areas in the upper Nile
region of a significant portion of their current water supply. Warming may
reduce the rainfall needed to replenish up to 25 percent of Africa's surface
water, said Maarten de Wit and Jacek Stankiewicz at the University of Cape Town
in Rondebosch, South Africa.
"Water
is essential to human survival," they wrote, "and changes in its
supply can potentially have devastating implications, particularly in Africa,
where much of the population relies on local rivers for water."
Congressional
Democrats, including Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) and Rep. Henry A. Waxman
(Calif.) said yesterday that the two new papers show that the United States must
act quickly to impose mandatory limits on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gases. The Bush administration opposes such curbs on the grounds that they could
hurt the country's economy and has instead invested money on new technology to
limit greenhouse emissions and further climate science research.
"Climate
change is not just someone else's concern but a very real threat to the lives
and livelihood of people across the globe," Kerry said."
Notes:
Current warming makes it
unlikely that the Arctic will return to its previous conditions. (National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA Arctic Report Card 2010 Update,
USA)
In winter 2009-2010,
Arctic warming brought severely cold winds and heavy snow to eastern North
America and eastern Eurasia. (Dr. James Overland of the NOAA/Pacific Marine
Environmental Laboratory, USA, 2010)
Overall warming has extended the annual melting period for Arctic sea ice to
20 days longer now than three decades ago, meaning more heat can be absorbed by
the Arctic sea, and big impacts on marine ecosystems and North American climate.
(NASA 2010)
Due to disappearing ice, polar explorers were able for the first time to
journey around the North Pole in a small fiberglass sailing boat, a feat that
would have been impossible even 10 years ago without an ice-breaker ship because
the passages were sealed with ice. (Norwegian polar explorer Borge Ousland,
voyage started in June 2010)
Effects
on Arctic Polar Bears
photo © Daniel J. Cox/NaturalExposures.com
"The
Arctic is experiencing the warmest air temperatures in four centuries. The
Arctic has experienced warm periods before, but the present, rapid shrinking of
sea ice is unprecedented. Scientists predict a mostly ice-free Arctic summer by
2040 if present trends continue. Most scientists now believe that the Arctic
will continue to grow warmer as a result of human activity—namely, the
introduction of increasing quantities of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gases into the atmosphere.
In
2008, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the U.S. EPA, and the
Arctic Climate Impact Assessment all reported sea ice loss in the Arctic equal
to an area the size of Alaska, Texas, and the state of Washington combined.
Today's
polar bears are facing rapid loss of the sea ice where they hunt, breed, and, in
some cases, den. Changes in their distribution or numbers affect the entire
arctic ecosystem.
Scientists
believe that we still have time to save polar bears if we significantly reduce
greenhouse emissions within the next few years. Yet it will take 30 to 40 years
for changes reversing the warming trend to show...." (From
Polar Bears International.)
Effects
on Humans
Watch the news every
evening - As storms continue to increase in quantity and intensity, deaths,
injury and property loss into the billions of dollars just in the United States
alone, continue to increase as well. Can we sustain this amount of
devastation ? Do we want to ?
Developing
Countries:
"Climate change is
expected to hit developing countries the hardest. Its effects—higher
temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, rising sea levels, and more
frequent weather-related disasters—pose risks for agriculture, food, and water
supplies. At stake are recent gains in the fight against poverty, hunger and
disease, and the lives and livelihoods of billions of people in developing
countries...." To read more: The
World Bank.
Sources: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) 2009, United Nations World
Meteorological Organization (WMO), United
States Environmental Protection Agency, Ecology Communications Group, Inc. (ECG),
NOAA, Washington Post (March 3, 2006), Polar Bears International, Wikipedia, New
York Times, About.com, Benifits-of-recycling.com, Asia
Pacific News / ABC Radio Australia,
Recycling
of Paper:
If every American recycled 10% of their paper and newspapers each year in the
United States, this would save 15 MILLION trees yearly.
World's
Largest Dump:
Do you know where the world's largest dump is ?
The world's largest dump is located in the Pacific Ocean - the "Great
Pacific Garbage Patch". The garbage area is twice the size of Texas, and
stretches from the US West Coast to Japan. To read more, visit
"Great
Pacific Garbage Patch" .
To Read More - Links:
"Great
Pacific Garbage Patch"
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC)
United Nations World
Meteorological Organization (WMO)
NOAA
U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency - Climate Change
Polar
Bears International
NASA - Global Climate Change - Vital Signs
of the Planet
Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia
New
York Times
About.com
- Environmental Issues
Benefits-of-Recycling.com
Asia
Pacific News / ABC Radio Australia
The
Bloomberg View.
Posted and updated by James W. Claflin. BS Environmental Science / Resources
Management, SUNY College of Forestry & Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.
Page updated March 16, 2022
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James W. Claflin . 03/16/2022
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