Science on climate change
The American Geophysical Union annual conflab was held in San Francisco again this year. Here are just some of the hundreds of papers that pertain:
The U.S. Geological Survey summarized their best available data on what to expect in the United States. Some climate change effects may test the U.S. ability to adapt. "Rapid and sustained September arctic sea ice loss is likely in the 21st century. The southwestern United States may be beginning an abrupt period of increased drought. It is very likely that the northward flow of warm water in the upper layers of the Atlantic Ocean, which has an important impact on the global climate system, will decrease by approximately 25–30 percent. However, it is very unlikely that this circulation will collapse or that the weakening will occur abruptly during the 21st century and beyond."
"An abrupt change in sea level is possible, but predictions are highly uncertain due to shortcomings in existing climate models. There is unlikely to be an abrupt release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, to the atmosphere from deposits in the earth. However, it is very likely that the pace of methane emissions will increase."
THIS HEAT YOU FEEL ISN'T ALL THAT NEW
The Industrial Revolution has often been cited as a major cause of increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Current research shows the gradual warming began long before that. It is concentrated agriculture that started the warming. Producing larger than natural amounts of methane and carbon dioxide. WARM OCEANS=MORE RAIN STORMS
Thos dramatic thunderstorms you can get in the tropics? Expect more of them as the oceans warm. How much warmer and how much wetter? The Earth’s average temperature is now rising about 0.13 degrees Celsius per decade. So the tropics should see strong storms 6 percent more often per decade.
CALIFORNIA, BEWARE!
Remember all those killer firestorms in California earlier this year? Well, say researchers, we're just getting warmed up. Perhaps I should say we're getting up to speed. Wind speed. It's not the rising temperatures alone that pose the danger, it is the increased wind speeds along the California coast. The land is warming faster than the cooler ocean and that will mean stronger onnshofre winds along the California coast, say the scientists.
ANTARCTICA TROPICS?
Not tropical perhaps, but the Antarctic is getting warmer over larger areas thah previously believed says this AGU report.