background preloader

Climate

Facebook Twitter

The American Denial of Global Warming. Watch The 1958 Frank Capra Film That Warns Of Global Warming. On February 12, 1958, the American public saw the first televised warning about the dangers of carbon dioxide, global warming, and sea level rise. That warning came from The Bell Laboratory Science Series, which aired its fourth TV episode, “Unchained Goddess,” written and produced by three-time Oscar winner Frank Capra. Capra is famous for classic films like “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and not so famous for having a degree in chemical engineering. In this film, Dr. Research (Dr. Frank Baxter) explains to The Writer (Richard Carlson) that unrestricted carbon dioxide emissions could lead to a world where “Tourists in glass bottom boats would be viewing the drowned towers of Miami”: “Even now, man may be unwittingly changing the world’s climate through the waste products of his civilization,” warns Dr.

Note: Now we are emitting six times (!) Is that “bad,” the Writer asks. “Well, it’s been calculated a few degrees rise in the Earth’s temperature would melt the polar ice caps. American Geophysical Union Releases Revised Position Statement on Climate Change - AGU Newsroom. WASHINGTON, DC—The American Geophysical Union today released a revised version of its position statement on climate change. Titled “Human-induced Climate Change Requires Urgent Action,” the statement declares that “humanity is the major influence on the global climate change observed over the past 50 years” and that ”rapid societal responses can significantly lessen negative outcomes.” AGU develops position statements to provide scientific expertise on significant policy issues related to Earth and space science. These statements are limited to positions that are within the range of available geophysical data or norms of legitimate scientific debate. AGU’s position statements are renewed every 4 years.

The climate change position statement was first adopted in December 2003. It was then revised and reaffirmed in December 2007, and again in February 2012. AGU’s Position Statement Task Force reviews each statement to determine if it should be renewed as is, modified, or eliminated. Rift Widening Between Energy And Insurance Industries Over Climate Change. How do meteorologists fit into the 97% global warming consensus? | Dana Nuccitelli | Environment. Several surveys have found relatively low acceptance of human-caused global warming amongst meteorologists. For example, a 2009 survey found that among Earth scientists, only economic geologists (47 percent) had lower acceptance of human-caused global warming than meteorologists (64 percent). A new paper by social scientists from George Mason University, the American Meteorological Society (AMS), and Yale University reports results from a survey of members of the AMS to determine the factors associated with their views on climate change.

Climate Scientists and Meteorologists, Apples and Oranges Predictably, many climate contrarians have already misrepresented this paper. In fact, the Heartland Institute (of Unabomber billboard infamy) misrepresented the study so badly (and arguably impersonated the AMS in a mass emailing), the AMS executive director (who is a co-author of the paper) took the unusual step of issuing a public reprimand against their behavior. "Mr. Satellite measurements of warming in the troposphere. John Christy and Roy Spencer of the University of Alabama published a series of papers starting about 1990 that implied the troposphere was warming at a much slower rate than the surface temperature record and climate models indicated Spencer and Christy (1992). One early version of their data even showed a cooling trend (Christy et al. 1995). Several groups of scientists began looking closely at this discrepancy. With so many other pieces of evidence indicating warming, it seemed unlikely that the troposphere would not be warming.

Errors were discovered in the methods the UAH group used to adjust the data. To understand what was wrong: The satellites must pass over the same spot on Earth at the same time each day to get a temperature average. In reality the time the satellite passes drifts slightly as the orbit slowly decays. To compensate for this and other orbital changes a series of adjustments must be applied to the data. Science advances by trial and error. Global Warming: NASA scientist Roy Spencer recently posted on his Web site some startling graphs produced by John Christy, his colleague at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

The graph immediately below compares the linear-trend temperature projections of 73 climate models with the linear trend of observed temperatures for the bulk tropical atmosphere during 1979-2012. The 73 models are part of the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP-5), a collaborative effort of 20+ modeling groups to inform the IPCC’s forthcoming Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). The Project’s three main objectives are to “evaluate how realistic the models are in simulating the recent past,” “provide projections of future climate change” out to 2035 and 2100, and “understand some of the factors responsible for differences in model outputs” such as different estimates of feedback effects. What about the subset of U.S.

-designed models — do they get the trend right? Nope. Spencer comments: CMIP5 Essential Information 23 November 2011 CMIP5 Experiment Design Overview: The primary reference for experiment design is: Taylor, K.E., R.J. An overview of various aspects of CMIP5 is provided by: WCRP Coupled Model Intercomparison Project – Phase 5: Special Issue of the CLIVAR Exchanges Newsletter, No. 56, Vol. 15, No. 2 A fuller description (“lots of details”) of the experiments can be found in: A Summary of the CMIP5 Experiment Design The objectives and strategy for the CMIP5 decadal predictions simulations is summarized in: Meehl, Gerald A., and Coauthors: Decadal Prediction.

For further background and information, consult the following web page: Experiment Design “Official” Experiment Names. cmip5_data_reference_Appendix1-1.doc (pdf format) (New 2013-03-28) CMIP5 Forcing Information: For simulations of the future, the primary references for the forcing (emissions/concentrations/land-use change can be found in a Special Issue of Climatic Change, which is described at: IPCC's DDC. File:Global Temperature Anomaly.svg. File:All palaeotemps.png. Evidence. The Earth's climate has changed throughout history. Just in the last 650,000 years there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat, with the abrupt end of the last ice age about 7,000 years ago marking the beginning of the modern climate era — and of human civilization. Most of these climate changes are attributed to very small variations in Earth’s orbit that change the amount of solar energy our planet receives. Scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal.

The current warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is very likely human-induced and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented in the past 1,300 years.1 Earth-orbiting satellites and other technological advances have enabled scientists to see the big picture, collecting many different types of information about our planet and its climate on a global scale. This body of data, collected over many years, reveals the signals of a changing climate. Sea level rise Warming oceans. File:Evidence CO2.jpg.

File:All palaeotemps.png. Open Data Resources for Climate Change. Key Resources Coming soon Data featured on the recently launched Climate Change Knowledge Portal will be posted as freely downloadable files by December 2nd, covering: Monthly average temperature and precipitation values for 1961-1990 for countries and major water basins. Projected temperature and precipitation changes for 2020-2040, 2041-2060, 2061-2080 and 2081-2100, by country. Some of these indicators will also be available as map layers, or via an application programming interface (API). Climate For Development Climate For Development is a map-based micro-site that illustrates the links between climate change and development. Learn more ... Open Climate Data The World Bank provides free and open access to a comprehensive set of data about development in countries around the globe, together with other datasets cited in the data catalog.

Learn more ... Open Data Topic page Data cover climate systems, exposure to climate impacts, resilience, greenhouse gas emissions, and energy use. Climate Monitoring. Milutin Milanković. Life[edit] Early life[edit] House in Dalj where Milanković was born Milutin Milanković was born in the village of Dalj, a settlement on the banks of the Danube in what was then part of Austro-Hungarian Empire (and is now part of Croatia). Milutin and his twin sister were the oldest of seven children. In October 1896, at the age of seventeen, he moved to Vienna to study Civil Engineering at the Vienna University of Technology and graduated in 1902 with the best marks. Middle years[edit] Construction engineering[edit] At the beginning of 1905, Milanković took up practical work and joined the firm of Adolf Baron Pittel Betonbau-Unternehmung in Vienna. Milanković continued to practice civil engineering in Vienna until 1 October 1909 when he was offered the chair of applied mathematics (rational, celestial mechanics, and theoretical physics) at the University of Belgrade.

Planet's insolation[edit] His wife went to Vienna to talk to Emanuel Czuber, who was his mentor and a good friend. James Burke "After the Warming" Part 1 of 2 "The Fatal Flower" James Burke "After the Warming" Part 2 of 2 "Secret Of The Deep Ocean"