Monday, June 24, 2013

Global Warming is about more than cherry picked surface temperatures!

{edited 6/12/2013 noon}

Global warming is about a Global Heat Distribution Engine that is being super-charged with more heat and energy and moisture. { I've linked to some interesting back up information in the next two paragraphs, check it out.}

This reality is reflected in the Arctic where the millennia old ice cap is continuing it's death spiral.  Which in turn is disrupting atmospheric circulation patterns and our jet stream  And in the Antarctic where some areas are gaining snow due to increased atmospheric moisture (from a warmer ocean) causing never before observed snow fall rates, while the millennia old Ice Sheets are melting at an alarming rate.

The warming is also reflected in the drum beat of extreme weather events.  Just in the past month we have witnessed unprecedented floods in Calgary and Europe and Asia.  A 2.6 mile wide tornado at El Reno, Oklahoma.  
This is what global warming looks like.

But, we still find folks like James Taylor at Forbes, Anthony Watts at WUWT (and too many others to count) hollering at the top of their lungs there's no warming.  Yes there is!  
Stop pretending our planet isn't an actual entity that we depend on and that regular people need to start to understand.

We have a real situation that needs pragmatic honesty rather an entrenched political warriors dedicated to policy rather than learning about this planet we depend on.

For those with a sincere curiosity and desire to learn about our planet and what global warming actually means here's a start with some videos.  

First, a recent lecture about the state of climatological understanding by Professor Howard Spero.  It includes a good question and answer session.  Following by a short NASA video about our cryosphere based on satellite images.

Then a link to a tour de force of our planet's "global heat distribution engine" using the latest satellite data and state of the art computer graphics, it's a hour and a half long, but worth every minute... if you want to get a sense of what climatologists are talking about.

Enjoy !
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Our Changing Seas

UCTVSeminars  |  Published on Jan 8, 2013  |  1:40:35

(Visit: http://seminars.uctv.tv/) 
The study of climate change through Earth history has produced a wealth of information on the operation of the ocean-atmosphere system during climate transitions as well as the feedbacks that impact the magnitude and rate of climate change on the planet.  
Although the understanding of the science of climate is built on a firm foundation, much confusion exists regarding the potential and rate of change in the modern world. In this talk, Dr. Howard Spero will explore the basic science of the Earth's climate system and examine the natural cycles of climate change in Earth history that have been discovered through the study of glacial ice sheets and deep ocean cores.  
Utilizing the lessons learned these studies, Dr. Spero will attempt to demystify the realities of phenomena such as ocean (and Lake Tahoe) acidification and the potential for a warmer Earth in the not too distant future. [Show ID: 24674]
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Tour of the Cryosphere
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVJttlGP10o
spaceship990  |  Apr 27, 2013  |  5:12

The cryosphere consists of those parts of the Earth's surface where water is found in solid form, including areas of snow, sea ice, glaciers, permafrost, ice sheets, and icebergs. In these regions, surface temperatures remain below freezing for a portion of each year. Since ice and snow exist relatively close to their melting point, they frequently change from solid to liquid and back again due to fluctuations in surface temperature. 
Although direct measurements of the cryosphere can be difficult to obtain due to the remote locations of many of these areas, using satellite observations scientists monitor changes in the global and regional climate by observing how regions of the Earth's cryosphere shrink and expand. 
Video credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio The Blue Marble Next Generation data is courtesy of Reto Stockli (NASA/GSFC) and NASA's Earth Observatory. Historic calving front locations courtesy of Anker Weidick and Ole Bennike, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland
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For something even more informative here's a great hour and half tour that describes this entity I like calling our Global Heat Distribution Engine:

Earth From Space (HD)

Published on Aug 20, 2012
Earth Playlist- http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=...

Venture on an epic quest to discover the invisible forces and occurrences that sustain life on this planet and - for the first time - see these processes in action in EARTH FROM SPACE. This sweeping two-hour special reveals the Earth's deepest mysteries, captured in breath-taking detail, and raises profound questions and challenges the old assumptions of how it all works. Using the latest CGI technology, and joining NASA and the world's foremost Earth scientists, EARTH FROM SPACE transforms raw satellite data into a visible spectrum, offering viewers authentic, high-definition moving images that vividly illustrate these processes at work.

In consultation with more than 220 scientific experts from 18 international Earth sciences research agencies and academic institutions, highlights from EARTH FROM SPACE reveal:

A hurricane - observed from the inside - is an intricately-organized structure. See how it bonds water to atmosphere, and releases heat into space, cooling parts of the Atlantic by 4C.

The Amazon produces 20% of the Earth's fresh water. Where does all this water go and what is its effect on air circulating around the planet and life across the globe?

See how solar storms puncturing great holes in the magnetic field raise new questions about the disruptive effect they have on life on a microscopic level.

Data shows that the top three meters of the ocean stores more heat than the entire atmosphere - overturning the long-held assumptions about how the ocean controls weather and climate.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

World Bank considers the impact of our warming world



The World Bank has released a new climate change report titled: "Turn Down the Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts, and the Case for Resilience."  It is the second of a series of in depth studies focusing on the likely impacts of our warming world.  And though it focuses on Africa and Asia it's reporting on the world we will be inhabiting

Considering that the Republican power-politics PR pro's continue to misrepresent this issue with transparent and deeply cynical arguments dedicated to pretending we don't have a profound problem that must be faced.  I thought it would be good to add this study as further evidence that we need to stop wasting time arguing about the "if" and finally get down to dealing with this reality we've created.

It's over forty years now, that I been watching this Reaganomics inspired PR campaign attacking the science regarding our grand geophysical experiment - the one we are conducting within our thin atmosphere.  Every year has brought more understanding along with more refined questions, it's the way of science.  All that time scientists have been building their understanding to a point comparable to that MD's have regarding our human body. 

I'm at a loss watching our biosphere along with our society's infrastructure getting pummeled with ever more ferocity - while cynical manipulators and their crazy-making continue to be humored and accepted.  Look around at the world, the drum beat of extremely damaging weather events - also consider that this is the kind of behavior climatologists were projecting.  It's for real!  When will we the people start getting real?




WorldBank  |  1:21  |  Nov 18, 2012

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On June 19th, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim sat down with Reuters President and Editor-in-Chief Steve Adler for a one-on-one, live-streamed interview about poverty, sustainable growth, and the dangers of climate change. 
Kim spoke on the day the World Bank launched a new climate change report: Turn Down the Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts, and the Case for Resilience. 
The Thomson Reuters Newsmaker interview delved into the far-reaching economic and social consequences of climate change, as well as the Bank's work on sustainable growth in the developing world, financing of investment, and mobilizing of capital in international financial markets.
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Turn down the heat : climate extremes, regional impacts, and the case for resilience - full report (English)
ABSTRACT 
This report focuses on the risks of climate change to development in Sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia and South Asia. Building on the 2012 report, Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4°C Warmer World Must be Avoided, this new scientific analysis examines the likely impacts of present day, 2°C and 4°C warming on agricultural production, water resources, and coastal vulnerability for affected populations. 
It finds many significant climate and development impacts are already being felt in some regions, and in some cases multiple threats of increasing extreme heat waves, sea level rise, more severe storms, droughts and floods are expected to have further severe negative implications for the poorest. Climate related extreme events could push households below the poverty trap threshold. High temperature extremes appear likely to affect yields of rice, wheat, maize and other important crops, adversely affecting food security. 
Promoting economic growth and the eradication of poverty and inequality will thus be an increasingly challenging task under future climate change. Immediate steps are needed to help countries adapt to the risks already locked in at current levels of 0.8°C warming, but with ambitious global action to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, many of the worst projected climate impacts could still be avoided by holding warming below 2°C.
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WORLD BANK  |  June 19, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  1. A new climate report looks at likely impacts of present day, 2°C, and 4°C warming across Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and South East Asia. 
  1. It describes the risks to agriculture and livelihood security in Sub-Saharan Africa; the rise in sea-level, loss of coral reefs and devastation to coastal areas likely in South East Asia; and the fluctuating water resources in South Asia.
  1. Turn Down the Heat warns that poor communities will be the most vulnerable to climate change.
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A new scientific report commissioned by the World Bank and released on June 19 explores the risks to lives and livelihoods in these three highly vulnerable regions. Turn Down the Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts, and the Case for Resilience (Read it in Issuu, Scribd, Open Knowledge Repository) takes the climate discussion to the next level, building on a 2012 World Bank report that concluded from a global perspective that without a clear mitigation strategy and effort, the world is headed for average temperatures 4 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial times by the end of this century.
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The report, based on scientific analysis by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics, uses advanced computer simulations to paint the clearest picture of each region’s vulnerabilities. It describes the risks to agriculture and livelihood security in Sub-Saharan Africa; the rise in sea-level, loss of coral reefs and devastation to coastal areas likely in South East Asia; and the fluctuating water resources in South Asia that can lead to flooding in some areas and water scarcity in others, as well as affecting power supply.
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Saturday, June 15, 2013

Chinese Academy of Science objects to Heartland's lie


I've posted this at WUWTW but considering it's substance I've decided it's worth duplicating it over here.


It's official, Heartland Institute and Anthony Wattsupwiththat have once again been caught out in a lie.
You can find the following statement at the official Chinese Academy of Sciences webpage:


I have added the highlights
The Statements on the Chinese Translation of  
the “Climate Change Reconsidered—NIPCC Report”
时间: | 2013-06-14 | | 【  【打印】【关闭】
The Chinese translation of the “Climate Change Reconsidered—NIPCC report” was organized by the Information Center for Global Change Studies, published in May 2013 through Science Press, with an accompanying workshop on climate change issues in Beijing on June 15, 2013. However, the Heartland Institute published the news titled “Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes Heartland Institute research skeptical of Global Warming” in a strongly misleading way on its website, implying that the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) supports their views, in contrary to what is clearly stated in the Translators’ Note in the Chinese translation.  
The claim of the Heartland Institute about CAS’ endorsement of its report is completely false. To clarify the fact, we formally issue the following statements:  
(1) The translation and publication of the Chinese version of the NIPCC report, and the related workshop, are purely non-official academic activities the group of translators. They do not represent, nor they have ever claimed to represent, CAS or any of CAS institutes. They translated the report and organized the workshop just for the purpose of academic discussion of different views.  
(2) The above fact was made very clear in the Translators’ Note in the book, and was known to the NIPCC report authors and the Heartland Institute before the translation started. The false claim by the Heartland Institute was made public without any knowledge of the translator group.  
(3) Since there is absolutely no ground for the so called CAS endorsement of the report, and the actions by the Heartland Institute went way beyond acceptable academic integrity, we have requested by email to the president of the Heartland Institute that the false news on its website to be removed. We also requested that the Institute issue a public apology to CAS for the misleading statement on the CAS endorsement.  
(4) If the Heartland Institute does not withdraw its false news or refuse to apologize, all the consequences and liabilities should be borne by the Heartland Institute. We reserve the right for further actions to protect the rights of CAS and the translators group.
Information Center for Global Change Studies,
Scientific Information Center for Resources and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
June 14, 2013.

==============================================================================
News update 
Dateline Heartland Institute:

The following statement was released today by Heartland Institute President Joseph Bast:  
"Earlier this week, the Information Center for Global Change Studies, an Information group of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, published a Chinese edition of 'Climate Change Reconsidered,' translating and combining the contents of two volumes in a series with the same title previously published by The Heartland Institute.  
"Some people interpreted our news release and a blog post describing this event as implying that the Chinese Academy of Sciences endorses the views contained in the original books. This is not the case, and we apologize to those who may have been confused by these news reports.  
"To be clear, the release of this new publication does not imply CAS and any of its affiliates involved with its production 'endorse' the skeptical views contained in the report. Rather, as stated in the translator's preface of the book, 'The work of these translators, organizations and funders has been in the translation and the promotion of scientific dialogue, does not reflect that they agree with the views of NIPCC.' "



Friday, June 14, 2013

Heartland Institute/NIPCC Translation {an update}




For more information there is this, hot off the press, from The Guardian:


Below are a few paragraphs and a most interesting graph illustrating the nature of Heartland Institute's cash driven cynical attack on science.  Please read the full story at:


http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2013/jun/14/climate-change-heartland-chinese-academy-sciences


The Heartland Institute's skeptical Chinese fantasy

The Chinese Academy of Sciences translated a Heartland report, but endorses the climate change consensus


In fact, the Chinese Academy of Sciences has signed onto this joint statement along with 12 other Academies of Science, in which they endorse the IPCC consensus position on human-caused global warming and note,
"Responding to climate change requires both mitigation and adaptation to achieve a transition to a low carbon society and our global sustainability objectives."
In short, the Chinese Academy of Sciences endorses the IPCC consensus position that humans are causing global warming. They recognize that there are dissenting views (from the 2–3% minority in the scientific literature), and they offered to translate the NIPCC report as an opportunity for climate contrarians to make their case. However, the translators and Chinese Academy of Sciences explicitly note that this translation does not mean they agree with the contrarian position or the contents of the NIPCC report.

In fact, China has recently been taking a leading role in addressing climate change. They're testing out a carbon cap and trade system, are trying to ensure that their coal consumption has peaked, and have reached an agreement with the USA to reduce hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) emissions, which are potent greenhouse gases. . . 

As if Heartland's misrepresentation of China and its Academy of Sciences weren't bad enough, they also distorted the positions of the Russian and Polish Academy of Sciences, claiming the translation "follows strong statements by the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Polish Academy of Sciences dissenting from claims that global warming is either man-made or a crisis."

{there's much more to this article, link}



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Thursday, June 13, 2013

NIPCC - Who Are They?

Given the coming fire-storm of media attention and the predictable misrepresentation regarding a branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences translating and printing the Heartland Institute's NIPCC (Non-governmental Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ) report.  I thought this insightful article regarding just who and what the NIPCC is would be timely.  

Once again with a tip of my hat to the dedicated folks over at SkepticalScience.com - and their commitment to the collection and sharing of climate science news from around the globe - I proudly repost this article from February 2012:

But, first here are links to more information about the latest happenings, from my other blog:

Heartland’s NIPCC report to be accepted by CAS in special ceremony... WUWT?


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DenialGate Highlights Heartland's Selective NIPCC Science (via Skeptical Science)
Posted on 18 February 2012 by dana1981 DenialGate - the leaked internal documents from the climate science denying think tank Heartland Institute - has given us a small glimpse into the operations of the climate denial movement.  Funds from a few wealthy individuals and corporations are funneled…