New research by the Bureau of Meteorology – published - shows El Niño will intensify between 2050 and 2100 thanks to climate change.
El Niño is a complex interaction between air and sea in the tropical Pacific which controls many of our weather patterns. The findings show that eastern Australia will see worse droughts, while the central and eastern Pacific will see increased rainfall.
During an El Niño – properly known as El Niño-Southern Oscillation or ENSO – parts of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean warm more than usual, while the seas off eastern Australia cool. As warm water produces more moisture, the eastern and central Pacific see increased rainfall, while Australia experiences lower-than-average rainfall or drought.
Australia to see worse drought thanks to intensifying El Niño by James Whitemore, Teh Conversation, Oct 14, 2013
In the last five years, Brazil has joined the ranks of the world’s big polluters, whose main source of greenhouse gases is the burning of fossil fuels.
Climate pollution in South America’s giant is taking on a First World pattern, according to José Marengo, one of the authors of the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), whose first volume was released Sept. 30.
And this is due, in part, to the country’s policies to foment industry and consumption. Tax exemptions to stimulate car and motorcycle sales had a positive effect on economic growth. But they also fuelled a surge in the number of cars in circulation.
Brazil in Reverse by Fabiola Ortiz, Inter Press Service (IPS), Oct 11, 2013
As the inaugural Arctic Circle conference got officially underway here Saturday, a specter loomed over the proceedings. The conference, which brings together policymakers, business leaders, researchers from across the world to discuss issues important to the Arctic, convened with messages from dignitaries of Iceland, Greenland, the United States, United Nations, Canada and Russia, and all of them shared a concern -- the outsized impact of climate change in the Arctic and what it means for far northern populations going forward.
Climate change concerns loom at Arctic conference by Ben Anderson, Alaska Dispatch, Oct 12, 2013
It's obvious. Global efforts to combat climate change have failed. International summits are full of hot air and greenhouse gas pollution continues to rise. If a country bails on a climate commitment, they pay a price of, well, zero.
Turns out that's okay, at least according to game theory analyses by researchers at the University of Lisbon. Their models suggest that punishment by global institutions has no effect. They also say that global summits actually impede cooperation.
Climate Change Fight Needs Game Attitude Podcast by David Bielo, 60 Second Earth, Scientific American, Oct 13, 2013
Researchers are barred from Antarctica at present, with a potentially big impact on Antarctic monioring.
Government Shutdown Freezes Climate Science by Stephanie Paige Ogburn & Christa Marshall and ClimateWire, Scientific American, Oct 11, 2013
Five prominent Canadian environmentalists told Washington lawmakers this week that the Keystone XL pipeline will lead to such a huge growth in oilsands' carbon emissions, it will help tip the world into catastrophic climate change.
Although Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently told Americans that Canada would not take "no for an answer" on the pipeline, until the project is approved, the environmentalists said further expansion of the oilsands should be immediately stopped - followed by a gradual shutdown of all operations.
Group blasts oilsands in U.S. by William Marsden, The Canadian Press/The Vancouver Sun, Oct 12, 2013
Under the watchful eyes of scientists, a little forage fish that lives off the southern coast of Maine developed a strangely large appetite.
Killifish are not usually big eaters. But in warmer waters, at temperatures projected for the future by climate scientists, their metabolism — and their appetites — go up, which is not a good thing if there are toxins in their food.
Study links warmer water temps to greater levels of mercury in fish by Darryl Fears, Washington Post, Oct 13, 2013
The bay was once a maritime highway between India and China, and then was shaped by monsoons and migration as European powers exploited the region for its coffee, tea and rubber. Today the bay is being reshaped again by the forces of population growth and climate change.
The Bay of Bengal, in Peril From Climate Change, Op-ed by Sunil S. Amrith, New York Times, Oct 13, 2013
A climate plague affecting every living thing will likely start in 2020 in southern Indonesia, scientists warned Wednesday in the journal Nature. A few years later the plague will have spread throughout the world’s tropical regions.
By mid-century no place on the planet will be unaffected, said the authors of the landmark study.
The Coming Plague by Stephen Leahy, Inter Press Sercie (IPS), Oct 10, 2013
Campaigners have condemned new UN recommendations on biofuels, claiming that they defend the interests of the industry rather than those of small farmers in poor countries.
Civil society groups refused to endorse the recommendations, agreed on Friday after a week of negotiations at the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in Rome, saying the result was skewed by countries supporting the biofuels industry and that governments with misgivings were ignored.
UN stance on biofuels 'legitimises food violations', claim campaigners by Claire Provost, The Guardian, Oct 14, 2013
Up to 1 billion people could be displaced by climate change over the next 50 years. But many states, including Canada, prefer not to deal with it.
Group blasts oilsands in U.S.
What should be done about climate change refugees? by Debra Black, Toronto Star, Oct 11, 2013
Coal will surpass oil as the key fuel for the global economy by 2020 despite government efforts to reduce carbon emissions, energy consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie said on Monday.
Rising demand in China and India will push coal past oil as the two Asian powerhouses will need to rely on the comparatively cheaper fuel to power their economies. Coal demand in the United States, Europe and the rest of Asia will hold steady.
Global coal consumption is expected to rise by 25 percent by the end of the decade to 4,500 million tonnes of oil equivalent, overtaking oil at 4,400 million tonnes, according to Woodmac in a presentation on Monday at the World Energy Congress.
World Coal Consumption To Surpass Oil By 2020 Due To Rising Demand In China And India by Florence Tan, Reuters/The Huffington Post, Oct 13, 2013
Posted by John Hartz on Tuesday, 15 October, 2013
 |
The Skeptical Science website by Skeptical Science is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. |