Science Alert March 27, 2019 The global seed ark, popularly known as the “Doomsday Vault”, is embedded deep in the permafrost of a northerly Norwegian island and stores nearly a million samples from around the world for safekeeping in the event of war, famine, disease, and climate change. It backs up gene banks around the globe and it is supposed to be indestructible, the frigid landscape serving as a natural coolant for the genetic material it protects. Climate change has been profoundly affecting the region, causing permafrost to melt, avalanches to strike, and, on one notable occasion, water to collect […]
Category Archives: Global warming
A billion people will be newly exposed to diseases like dengue fever as world temperatures rise
Science Daily March 28, 2019 An international team of researchers (USA – University of Florida, South Africa) applied an empirically parameterized model of viral transmission by the vectors Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus, as a function of temperature, to predict cumulative monthly global transmission risk in current climates and compare them with projected risk in 2050 and 2080 based on general circulation models. According to the researchers climate-driven risk of transmission from both mosquitoes will increase substantially, even in the short term, for most of Europe. In contrast, significant reductions in climate suitability are expected for Ae. albopictus, most noticeably […]
Finding the right ‘dose’ for solar geoengineering
Science Daily March 11, 2019 Applying huge doses of solar geoengineering to offset all warming from rising atmospheric C02 levels could worsen the climate problem — particularly rainfall patterns — in certain regions. However, through modeling, a team of researchers in the US (Harvard University, MIT, Princeton University Georgia Institute of Technology) found that if solar geoengineering (SG) is used to cut global temperature increases in half, no IPCC-defined region is made worse off in any of the major climate impact indicators. Climate models suggest that geoengineering could enable surprisingly uniform benefits. The model indicates that SG moderates changes in […]
International research collaboration computes climate past, present, and future
Eurekalert February 18, 2019 An international team of researchers (Canada, Germany) is working on ClimEx Project to improve researchers’ understanding of severe flooding dynamics under changing climate conditions. To investigate extreme floods associated with long return periods, there is a relatively short time period to reference, often less than 30 years of accurate, detailed data. To predict flooding, the team further downscales the ClimEx simulations statistically to provide input data for hyper-accurate, high-resolution hydrological modeling. The team’s simulations showed good agreement with historical climate data, leaving them confident in its predictive power and its ability to help improve impact models […]
Undersea gases could superheat the planet
Science Daily February 13, 2019 As volcanic activity releases heat, carbon dioxide and methane accumulating underwater and scattered across the seafloor can congeal into liquid and solid hydrates which encapsulate the reservoirs. An international team of researchers (USA – University of Southern California, Australia, Sweden) shows that the natural reservoirs are vulnerable in a warming ocean and provides proof the Earth’s climate has been affected by rapid release of geologic carbon. They focused on the Eastern Equatorial Pacific (EEP) which is a primary conduit through which the ocean releases carbon to the atmosphere. Undersea carbon gas reservoirs have been found […]
Climate of North American cities will shift hundreds of miles in one generation
Science Daily February 12, 2019 Climate-analog mapping involves matching the expected future climate at a location with current climate of another location – thereby providing a more relatable, place-based assessment of climate change. A team of researchers in the US (University of Maryland, North Carolina State University) has developed climate-analog map for 540 North American urban areas identifying the location that has a contemporary climate most similar to each urban area’s expected 2080’s climate. They show that climate of most urban areas will shift considerably and become either more akin to contemporary climates hundreds of kilometers away or will have […]
China Cleaned Up Beijing Air First and Now Targets Big Truck Pollution
Next Big Future January 7, 2019 China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment is targeting having 90+ percent diesel trucks capable of meeting emission standards by 2020. They will improve the quality of diesel, crack down on low-grade fuel, and reduce overall nitrogen oxide and particulate matter emissions from fuel combustion. Northern regions near the capital Beijing will eliminate more than 1 million outdated diesel-fueled trucks by the end of 2020. Tougher controls on diesel freight will also be imposed during smog build-ups…read more.
National Climate Assessment
Globalchange.gov November 1, 2018 The Third National Climate Assessment is the result of a three-year analytical effort by a team of over 300 experts, overseen by a broadly constituted Federal Advisory Committee of 60 members. It was developed from information and analyses gathered in over 70 workshops and listening sessions held across the country. It was subjected to extensive review by the public and by scientific experts in and out of government, including a special panel of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences. This process of unprecedented rigor and transparency was undertaken so that the findings […]
Could an anti-global warming atmospheric spraying program really work?
Science Daily November 23, 2018 A team of researchers in the US (Yale University, Harvard University) reviewed the capabilities and costs of various lofting methods intended to deliver sulfates into the lower stratosphere. They lay out a future solar geoengineering deployment scenario of halving the increase in anthropogenic radiative forcing beginning 15 years hence by deploying material to altitudes as high as ~20 km. After surveying an exhaustive list of potential deployment techniques, they settled upon an aircraft-based delivery system. Unlike the one prior comprehensive study on the topic, they conclude that no existing aircraft design—even with extensive modifications—can reasonably […]
New particle formation found to occur in heavily polluted air
Phys.org July 20, 2018 An international team of researchers (China, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, USA – industry, Carnegie Mellon University) investigated new particle formation (NPF) in Shanghai and were able to observe both precursor vapors (H2SO4) and initial clusters at a molecular level. High NPF rates were observed to coincide with several familiar markers suggestive of H2SO4–dimethylamine –water nucleation, including sulfuric acid dimers and H2SO4-DMA clusters. NPFs can lead to cloud formation of a type that traps heat. According to the researchers it is likely having a bigger impact on global warming than has been thought. They suggest climate change models […]