On May 23, 2007 a multi-disciplinary team of scientists
announced (YouTube, 70mins, 7-parts, part1-1 is a summary) the finding of physical evidence strongly suggesting that, around 12,900 years ago (10,900 BC), a massive Shoemaker-Levy type comet hit the atmosphere, air burst over the Great Lakes region of North America and probably engulfed much of the continent in a fireball and subsequent firestorm with catastrophic effects for life and climate.
[more inside]
posted by stbalbach
on Oct 31, 2007 -
23 comments
A record number of floods, droughts and storms around the world has been characterized as a climate change
"mega disaster" by a senior UN official, a measure based on
13 emergency "flash" appeals (PDF, map) issued so far
this year (pic gallery) - three more than in 2005 which held the previous record. Sir John has expressed frustration at how little media attention in the west is being devoted to what he terms a global "creeping climatic catastrophe".
posted by stbalbach
on Oct 6, 2007 -
39 comments
There has been a measurable
"surge" of carbon in the atmosphere for the past 4 or 5 years, nearly doubling the annual rate of the 1970-2000 period, which has mystified scientists because it does not match human trends or known natural causes. A new paper (
abstract) suggests we may have
reached a tipping point with more greenhouse gases escaping from trees, plants and soils than in the past - hotter and dryer weather caused by high levels of CO2 is creating a feedback loop of unusually strong out-gassings of CO2 from vegetation
more inside
posted by stbalbach
on May 13, 2007 -
41 comments
Unhappy Feet. Penguin populations around the world are crashing. Biologists are mystified but suspect warmer oceans caused by global warming is reducing available food.
posted by stbalbach
on Dec 23, 2006 -
36 comments
The Weather Channel launches
One Degree, a broadband channel dedicated to global warming - for the "weather obsessed", sexy-voiced climatologists Heidi Cullen brings global warming mainstream. Are you a "climatechanger"?
posted by stbalbach
on Oct 8, 2006 -
9 comments
Who'll be living where. Researchers at the Earth Institute at Columbia University have developed
map that projects where people will be living in the year 2025.
posted by stbalbach
on Jul 21, 2006 -
36 comments
San Francisco on Tuesday became the first major U.S. city to pass a resolution acknowledging the
threats posed by peak oil. The resolution cites an influential study commissioned by the U.S. Dept. of Energy, known as the
Hirsch Report, and proponents delivered copies of the
The Oil Age Poster to elected officials in the run up to the vote.
posted by stbalbach
on Apr 14, 2006 -
27 comments
National Hurricane Center and the Likelihood of Hurricanes. In December 2003 the NHC predicted a 68% chance of a major (Category 3-4-5) hurricane hitting the US, in fact there were three major hits on the US (Charlie, Ivan, and Jeanne). In December 2004 the NHC predicted a 69% chance of a major hurricane, in fact there were four major hists (Dennis, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma). The odds of that happening are about 0.9% (see link for math), or "statistically very significant evidence" the NHC predictions are understated.
Forecast for 2006: 81% chance of a major hurricane.
posted by stbalbach
on Mar 15, 2006 -
34 comments
In the summer of 1995 there was a week-long
heat wave in Chicago. Over 700 people died. Most of them were the elderly, poor, and African-Americans. Link above is a Slate article by Eric Klinberg who wrote the definitive
Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago (2003) in which he concludes that "a city, in its decision to operate like a corporation, experienced the breakdown of massive social services" and the resulting "widening cracks in the social foundations of America's cities".
posted by stbalbach
on Sep 9, 2005 -
20 comments
Scientists find errors in global warming data. Heating from tropical sunlight was skewing temperatures reported by satelite sensors, making nights look as warm as days. The
George C. Marshall Institute declined to comment. The group, financed by the petroleum industry, has used the data disparities to dispute the views of global-warming activists. Researchers say it removes a last bastion of scientific doubt about global warming
posted by stbalbach
on Aug 12, 2005 -
39 comments
RealClimate is a blog written by nine working climatologists from around the world (all experts in their field), focusing on explaining climate science, providing context to current reports in the mainstream media, and rebutting the fallacious arguments of carbon lobby hacks. (
via World Changing)
posted by stbalbach
on Dec 10, 2004 -
6 comments
