Moderate Volcanic activity slowing global warming by 25% suggests study

Atmospheric warming has slowed over the last decade, and scientists from the University of Colorado at Boulder believe the cause of this may be all the small to medium volcanic eruptions spewing sulphur dioxide high into the atmosphere where it changes the reflectivity of the top of the atmosphere.

It is well established that major volcanic eruptions like Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991 emit millions of tons of sulphur dioxide that effectively cool the earth slightly for several years. It has also been theorised that the stagnation in global warming in the mid twentieth century was caused by the atmospheric nuclear testing carried out between 1945 and 1980. It seems that nuclear winter actually occurred, although on just a small scale. A small nuclear war would also likely cause global cooling through the amount of particulate matter thrown up into the stratosphere. But really this is not something to even contemplate happening due to the amount of death and devastation involved.

Scientists have theorised that other reasons for the slowing in the rate of atmospheric global warming over the last decade is that a greater proportion of heat is being taken up by the world's oceans; and secondly that Asia, particularly India and China, have increased their sulphur dioxide emissions from coal fired power by 60% between 2000 and 2010 which has increased the stratospheric aerosol layer of the atmosphere changing the reflectivity.

East Africa drought in 2011 partially attributed to climate change

Scientists from the UK's Met Office have researched the causes of the 2011 East African drought and found human caused climate change was a significant contribution. The drought was a humanitarian disaster that killed an estimated 50,000 people, with 13 million in need of assistance in Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya. Almost 30,000 children under the age of five were believed to have died of malnutrition in Somalia.

The drought had two components - the 'short rains' of October - November rainy season in 2010 which failed to appear, and then the absence of the 'long rains' from March - June of 2011 which really created the humanitarian crisis. The UN declared a famine on 20 July in southern Somalia, the first famine declared globally in 30 years. It was categorised as the worst drought in the region for 60 years.

Climate scientist Simon Mason from Columbia University said that East Africa has experienced a strong drying trend over the last 10 years. It is thought that rising sea surface temperatures in the Indian Ocean create conditions that pull moisture away from East Africa.

Permafrost climate tipping point threshold at 1.5 degrees - Siberian caves reveal

At what point might we trigger a permafrost tipping point? New research from the caves of Siberia points to a threshold temperature of just 1.5 degrees celsius. At that temperature we could see large swathes of permafrost across Siberia melting resulting in the release of more than 1,000 gigatons of carbon and methane. This would be a substantial climate feedback resulting in even greater global warming. There would also be substantial damage to natural and human environments and structures.

And we are already halfway there to warming the world by 1.5C, with an estimated global temperature rise since the Nineteenth century of between 0.7 and 0.8 degrees C. There is already enough inertia in the climate system to carry us over this threshold. Which makes every attempt to reduce carbon emissions, and the use of fossil fuels, as worthwhile to limit the permafrost thaw.

Related: Methane and CO2 in thawing Arctic permafrost a climate tipping point | "We do have an emergency" - Arctic Methane Feedback amplifying warming | Arctic Permafrost thawing raising CO2 levels

Arctic amplification, the Jet stream and Extreme weather in Northern Hemisphere

A series of major extreme weather events in the Northern hemisphere including the heatwave in the United States in 2011, the Russian heatwave of 2010, the Pakistani floods of 2010 have now been attributed to a common physical cause. The scientists suggest in a new scientific study that man-made climate change repeatedly disturbs the patterns of atmospheric flow - the atmospheric Rossby waves of the jet stream - around the globe's Northern hemisphere through a subtle resonance mechanism.

"An important part of the global air motion in the mid-latitudes of the Earth normally takes the form of waves wandering around the planet, oscillating between the tropical and the Arctic regions. So when they swing up, these waves suck warm air from the tropics to Europe, Russia, or the US, and when they swing down, they do the same thing with cold air from the Arctic," explains lead author Vladimir Petoukhov.

"What we found is that during several recent extreme weather events these planetary waves almost freeze in their tracks for weeks. So instead of bringing in cool air after having brought warm air in before, the heat just stays. In fact, we observe a strong amplification of the usually weak, slowly moving component of these waves," says Petoukhov.

Premier Campbell Newman opens up logging destruction in Queensland native forests

The Queensland Premier and Government have reopened logging in native forests with 2 million hectares of state forest being made initially available for environmental destruction. This will impact on habitat for endangered species, biodiversity and the huge carbon stores locked up in mature forests. Mature forests also tend to hold more moisture and are less susceptible to bushfire, and absorb more water during floods - providing a natural flood mitigation service, a natural service that is all the more needed with the increase in rainfall and extreme whether events with climate change. See Leaked Document (PDF).

Climate change to increase heat stress, reduce work capacity

Climate change will result in hotter and more humid environment for the tropics and mid latitudes resulting in increasing economic costs of reduced work capacity due to heat stress. The study by NOAA scientists said work capacity has already reduced by 10 percent during extreme heat in summer months. This is likely to double to 20 per cent by 2050.

One of the physical properties of warmer air is that it can hold more moisture. So in hot weather atmospheric humdity can be more extreme. But there are physiological limits of human health in coping with temperature extremes. In 2010 Scientists outlined health limits of heat stress with Climate Change. The scientific paper by Steven Sherwood from the University of NSW and Professor Matthew Huber from Purdue University - 'An Adaptability Limit to Climate Change Due to Heat Stress' outlined the health adaptation limits of the human body.

Humans and most mammals maintain a core body temperature around 37 °C that may vary slightly among individuals but does not adapt to the local climate. To allow transfer and regulation of metabolic heat human skin is strongly regulated at 35 °C or below, a couple of degrees colder than core body temperature. This allows the body to dissipate heat through the skin at wet-bulb temperatures below 35 °C.

In this latest study, the researchers looked at military and industrial guidelines already in place for those who work in hot and humid conditions outside, and set those guidelines against climate projections for how hot and humid it's likely to get over the next century, using Wet Bulb temperatures scale which take account of humidity and wind speed. Using a middle of the road modelling projection they estimated that reduced work capacity due to heat stress is likely to double to 20 per cent by 2050.

Sea ice reduction disturbs Arctic greenhouse gas balance

The diminishing Arctic sea-ice extent is resulting in changes in how greenhouse gases interact between the land, ocean and atmosphere according to a new study.

"Changes in the balance of greenhouse gases can have major consequences because, globally, plants and the oceans absorb around half of the carbon dioxide that humans release into the air through the use of fossil fuels. If the Arctic component of this buffer changes, so will the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere", says Dr Frans-Jan Parmentier, a researcher at Lund University, Sweden, and lead author of the study..

Reduced white sea ice and expanded dark ocean surface results in a change to the surface albedo feedback or reflectivity, resulting in increased light absorption and ocean warming which then warms the atmosphere affecting the rate of interchange of CO2.

The decline of summer sea ice has been dramatic with the Arctic Summer Sea Ice Extent Minimum record smashed in 2012.

"Our governments are well oiled and they are coal fired" says James Hansen

An estimated 35,000 to 50,000 people attended the February 17th climate rally in Washington DC organised by 350.org, the Sierra Club and a few other groups. It was the largest climate rally to date that has occurred in the United States.

One activist, ebecker2000, caught up and briefly interviewed NASA climatologist James Hansen at the rally. Hansen bluntly stated "if we burn all of the fossil fuels, more than half the planet will be uninhabitable by humans."

But Hansen was heartened to see the numbers at the rally, "This is great. This is by far the biggest crowd we have ever had and finally I think the public is waking up to the fact that our governments are working for the fossil fuel industry...."

Across the US Tens of thousands march against Keystone XL tar sands pipeline

DC Indymedia reported : On the 17th of February, the "Forward on Climate" march and rally against TransCanada's racist, earth-destroying Keystone XL tar sands pipeline took place. It was the largest protest I have seen in several years, with the Tar Sands Blockade website claiming a turnout of 50,000 people. Bill McKibben also announced at the rally that the Sierra Club estimated that 50,000 people were on the march past the Whitehouse House.

From the arrival of leading elements of the march back at the Washington Monument to the arrival of the last element seemed to be in excess of an hour. One report said the march, which crammed the road from curb to curb, was strung out over a mile long.

Related: James Hansen Improptu interview at Washington March | Voices of Resistance: Four Women Tell Why They're Rallying in D.C. |
Photos - Largest Climate March in History | Fairfax Climate Watch Climate Change Rally Draws a large turnout
Portland - Climate Justice Activists in Portland, OR Occupy Exhibit for Tar Sands Profiteer ESCO Corp. | Why Organized Labor Must Stand Against the Keystone XL Pipeline
San Fransisco - Biggest Climate Change Rally in American History Brings Out Thousands in DC, San Francisco
Los Angeles - Shut It Down, Mr. President | L.A. Participates in Protesting the Keystone XL Pipeline (part 1, part 2)

Sea Level rising 3 to 4 times faster on US Atlantic coast

One of the impacts of the Greenland Ice sheet melt is the increase in cold fresh water impacting on the themohaline circulation, the great ocean conveyor belt. There are signs the Gulf Stream has slowed down by a third due to this influx of melt water. The Gulf Stream acts to drag water away from the coast of North America, so a slowing current will add to greater sea level rise along the east coast of north America: increasing sea level rise by up to 4 times the global average.

Scientists from the US Geological Survey (USGS) identified that since about 1990, sea-level rise in the 1,000-km (600 mile) stretch of coastal zone from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to north of Boston, Massachusetts is a sea level rise hotspot. This is based on tide gauge data and concurs with sea level rise modelling.