*****Sea level rise is accelerating, & 40% of world's population live within 100 k of coastlines. Dataviz. Paired images at Skaftafell provide a graphic illustration of glacier recession in South Iceland since the 1920s. @The_GA @KeeleGeogs. *****Shrinkage of global sea ice. Sea ice barrel. Fantastic work! Earth surface temperature deviations from the means for each month between 1880 and 2017.
*****India temperature spiral @Bh_Chandra has created a temperature #dataviz for India. Shows increase of >1.2°C since beginning of 20th century. E ANGLIA SPRING 2017: - Warmer than average (+1.7C) - Drier than average (81%) - Sunnier than average (112%) - 2nd lowest num of air frosts. Arctic ice is melting at a rate never seen before, but some see reasons to remain hopeful #WorldEnvironmentDay. *****Hockey stick graph: What's Really Warming the World? Climate deniers blame natural factors; NASA data proves otherwise.
Climate scientists tend not to report climate results in whole temperatures.
Instead, they talk about how the annual temperature departs from an average, or baseline. They call these departures "anomalies. " They do this because temperature anomalies are more consistent in an area than absolute temperatures are. For example, the absolute temperature atop the Empire State Building may be different by several degrees than the absolute temperature at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.
But the differences from their own averages are likely to be about the same. The simulation results are aligned to the observations using the 1880-1910 average. *****A version of Ed Hawkins' spiral in NYT: This is the path we've been on. *****GRACE data show that between 2002 and 2016, Greenland lost approximately 280 gigatons of ice per year. Brilliant graphic from @ed_hawkins - 21st century Earth is warming more rapidly than at any time in the last 150 years #climatechange. Yesterday, the temperature in the south of Norway hit 31.8°C/ 89,24°F - a new national record high for May. Via @EKMeteo #climatechange.
*****Mapping 50 Years of Melting Ice in Glacier National Park. *****Time lapse of Carbon Monoxide @ surface, 2017-01-15 to 2017-03-01, from NASA's GEOS-5 model. *****The life of a tree. Tree rings as evidence for climate change. *****Cool way of visualising #globalwarming. via. *****Environmental impact of China has on the world. Fire crews have been attending a grass fire on a mountain in Port Talbot. Cherry trees are blossoming increasingly early. Behind those beautiful pictures of Japan's springtime cherry blossom lies a much darker truth #climate. *****Global CO2 emissions stabilised at about 36 billion tonnes in last few years. Too early to know if true peak or not. *****Climate change could transform gardens (RHS 2017 report) Artificial lawns, plants from arid countries and flower beds designed to cope with floods are among future features of UK gardens outlined in a major new report.
As the world warms and weather patterns shift, the study by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) concludes that British gardens will need to adapt. Traditional designs with "immaculate, well-watered lawns" and "Edwardian" borders may be too hard to maintain if the weather becomes more volatile. The report warns that climate change looks set to bring more extremes and more erratic weather with stronger storms, heavier downpours and more intense heatwaves potentially damaging plants and eroding soil. But the authors also welcome the prospect of longer growing seasons and say there are new opportunities to use more varied plants in wider areas of the country.
They identify a sharp divide across the UK with climate change bringing contrasting prospects to different regions. The overriding concern is handling excessive water. *****“March set a remarkable new record for global warming, NOAA reports” by @climateprogress. *****If you were born after Dec. 1964, you’ve never experienced a month cooler than average on Earth. @ClimateCentral. *****Arctic Sea Ice Volume/Thickness (animations) Under Construction Trends in sea ice thickness/volume are another important indicator of Arctic climate change.
While sea ice thickness observations are sparse, here we utilize the ocean and sea ice model, PIOMAS (Zhang and Rothrock, 2003), to visualize March sea ice thickness and volume from 1979 to 2017. Current simulated (PIOMAS; Zhang and Rothrock, 2003) sea ice thickness and anomalies (1981-2010) updated through March 2017. *****Nothing to see here....Grossglockner glacier retreat 1938-2016. .@emmie_cowie @6TH_GUARDS_TANK @chrissy_weather @saloplarus Today's max temp was only 12.4 °C at Cardiff, making it the first day in over a month that nowhere in the UK has exceeded 13 degrees!
This animated map captures the most alarming scientific milestone for 2016. NOAA: 2nd Hottest March on Record. When Was the last Below Average Month?? - Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal. *****7 Then-and-Now Photos Reveal How 100 Years Of Climate Change Damaged Arctic Glaciers. *****Infographic: How is rising population impacting carbon emissions, plastic production and chickens? #ASmarterWorld. *****Retreat of the Mer de Glace glacier (Chamonix, France). Markers of ice height now far away from the glacier tip.
****Svalbard mean air temperature above 0℃ for the first time ever! #Arctic (Enhanced fig of tweet by @klatola ) □East Anglia and South East & Central Southern England have had the joint mildest March since records began in 1910. These extreme weather events show that our climate is in 'uncharted territory' We know that 2016 was the hottest year on record - a remarkable 1.1°C above the pre-industrial period and 0.06°C above the previous record set in 2015.
Unfortunately, this was not the only climate record that was shattered last year. Ever wondered what's inside a trig pillar? Polar bears spotted in Scotland as animals flee melting Arctic ice cap. The Extreme Temperature Index: Identifying Which Records are Most Significant. Our guest author today on Category 6 is Guy Walton, an independent meteorologist in Atlanta who spent more than 30 years as a forecaster at The Weather Channel.
For more than a decade, Guy has kept detailed records on U.S. daily, monthly, and all-time record high and low temperatures across the United States. His efforts helped lead to NOAA’s establishment of its U.S. Records site. In 2009, Guy coauthored a high-profile paper in Geophysical Research Letters with lead author Gerald Meehl (National Center for Atmospheric Research), showing that U.S. daily record highs have increasingly outpaced daily record lows since the 1980s. A look at the loss of thicker Arctic sea ice in Octobers from 1979-2016 by @ZLabe.
Still part of Europe. Sort of... #Brexit #Doggerland. An up-to-date perspective on the global sea ice extent from 1979 to today [Data [Viz. Highlights of Global Climate 2016. Asia Asia had its warmest January-September on record.
India and Thailand recorded their warmest year. The highest temperature observed was 54.0 °C at Mitribah (Kuwait) on 21 July, which (subject to ratification) will be the highest temperature on record for Asia. Other extremely high temperatures included 53.9 °C at Basra (Iraq) and 53.0 °C at Delhoran (Islamic Republic of Iran – a national record), both on 22 July. A number of monthly records were set in March and April in Malaysia. Extreme heat affected South and South-East Asia in April and May, prior to the start of the summer monsoon. *****You are here. 800,000 years of atmospheric context (CO2 line graph) *****'Extreme and unusual' climate trends continue after record 2016.
Image copyright NOAA In the atmosphere, the seas and around the poles, climate change is reaching disturbing new levels across the Earth.
*****Teleconnections: China's 'airpocalypse' linked to Arctic sea ice loss. Image copyright Getty Images The air pollution that lingered over eastern China for nearly a month in 2013 has been linked to the loss of Arctic sea ice the previous autumn.
A study says the haze lasted much longer because the melting ice and increased snowfall altered wind circulation patterns. If Arctic ice continues to shrink due to climate change, the scientists say similar events will likely recur. They argue that this could threaten the Beijing Winter Olympics set for 2022. *****The world’s oceans are storing up staggering amounts of heat — and it’s even more than we thought. A diver films a reef affected by bleaching off Lizard Island in the Great Barrier Reef.
(XL Catlin Seaview Survey via AFP/Getty Images) The world is getting warmer every year, thanks to climate change — but where exactly most of that heat is going may be a surprise. As a stunning early spring blooms across the United States, just weeks after scientists declared 2016 the hottest year on record, it’s easy to forget that all the extra warmth in the air accounts for only a fraction of the heat produced by greenhouse gas emissions. *****A Timeline of a Changing Climate (long line graph)
**********A Timeline of a Changing Climate (long line graph) - Climate Change, Explained in One Simple Comic. Do you like nerdy web comics and climate change real talk?
Of course you do. Randall Munroe, creator of the tri-weekly web comic xkcd, has combined the two into an epic timeline of earth’s climate. It shows just how radical the recent changes are and puts to bed the trope “the climate has changed before.” The two hottest months the world has ever recorded just happened back-to-back. And we’re about to have back-to-back-to-back hottest years.
Enter xkcd’s comic, which lays bare why we shouldn’t shrug off the recent rapid changes. *****The oceans are gathering records they don't want. Read more. *****What's Really Warming the World? Climate deniers blame natural factors; NASA data proves otherwise. Antarctic ice is melting so fast whole continent may be at risk by 2100 #sealevel.
*****100 years ago, a forecast said we'd no longer be using coal by now. Winter 2016-17 was unusual in the UK: mild but dry. Mild winters are usually wet. 2016: one of the warmest two years on record. It's quite the #Arctic and #Antarctic sea ice year. Still record lows in both hemispheres. Wx #records set so far today. The precip records for Palomar Mtn and Escondido had stood for more than 100 years. #sandiegowx. There's an awful lot of 'unprecedented' around at the moment. *****The color and width of tree rings can provide snapshots of Earth's past climate conditions. #climate. Today marks the 70th anniversary of the coldest day in the coldest February on record where temperatures fell to -21C.
Temperatures up to 40 degF (22 degC) above normal today across the East. The warmest February day for 100+ years (since records begin). @KieranBhatia here's the 18Z analysis from the same model. it's even more extreme. Atmospheric CO2 keeps climbing (Dataviz. Weather. Track :Presets : Aa. .@ValaAfshar @NASA #Arctic sea ice volume at a shocking record low, lower than *summer* sea ice in the 80s! Wonderful #Arctic topographic #map. Have a look at the red isotherm line showing 10C temperature in July. #geography. Sea Ice Hits Record Lows at Both Poles. Arctic temperatures have finally started to cool off after yet another winter heat wave stunted sea ice growth over the weekend. The repeated bouts of warm weather this season have stunned even seasoned polar researchers, and could push the Arctic to a record low winter peak for the third year in a row. Meanwhile, Antarctic sea ice set an all-time record low on Monday in a dramatic reversal from the record highs of recent years.
Sea ice at both poles has been expected to decline as the planet heats up from the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. That trend is clear in the Arctic, where summer sea ice now covers half the area it did in the early 1970s. Sea ice levels in Antarctica are much more variable, though, and scientists are still unraveling the processes that affect it from year to year.
19th Century Landscape Paintings Shed Light On Early Days Of Climate Change. Hard data on the annual rise and fall of Earth’s global surface temperatures only goes back about 150 years. Before then, there were few instruments available to monitor changes in the planet’s atmosphere. To get an idea of what the skies were like before the 20th century, scientists are getting help from an unlikely source: 18th- and 19th-century landscape paintings. Researchers from the Academy of Athens say that landscape paintings by old masters like J.M.W. Turner can give them an idea of what the skies were like before the days of recordkeeping. Turner’s work, in particular, which often depicts brightly colored sunsets and emphasized natural light, can be used to roughly estimate aerosol optical depth – that is, the amount of particles like dust, volcanic ash, smoke and sea salts in the atmosphere – at the time the painting was made. In case you thought something interesting was happening to sea surface temperature records - it isn’t @CarbonBrief.
Climate change reality: black is now part of the colors of the rainbow. What Can Beetles Tell Us About Past Climates? I tried this method on a second fossil site at Ziegler Reservoir, which is located near Snowmass Village, a ski resort in Colorado. In 2010, work began to widen the reservoir, but the remains of a mammoth were uncovered, leading to a paleontological expedition. Numerous mastodon, mammoths, ground sloths, bison and camels - as well as insects - were excavated from the site. Carbon dating indicates the age of the site ranges from 126 to 77 thousand years. The analysis produced a mass of conflicting information.
Beetles were found a wide range of climate zones, often with no overlap. In order to complete my analysis, I divided the beetles into five marine oxygen isotope intevals, as Elias did in his paper. Using insects to model past ecosystems isn’t a new idea. SVS: Jakobshavn Glacier Calving Front Recession from 1851 to 2009. Update for Global Sea Ice Area spiral for Jan 31 2017. #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming. Update for Global Sea Ice Area spiral for Jan 31 2017. #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming. ***Polar Ice "death spiral" form. January's volume is lower than what Septembers' used to be! ******NASA compare 1984-2016 Polar ice interactive. Life of a tree w historical events. No one under the age of 30 has lived during a month w/below average global temperatures. #ClimateFacts. In 1910 Glacier National Park was home to more an estimated 150 glaciers. That number has now shrunk to 25 as of Dec 2016. #climatefacts.
The Arctic's stunning lack of freezing power has already beat the record set last *June*. This is happening now. Not in 50 or 100 years—now. *****True 'pre-industrial' period (incl interview w Ed Hawkins) Image copyright Getty Images Scientists are seeking to define a new baseline from which to measure global temperatures - a time when fossil-fuel burning had yet to change the climate. At the moment, researchers tend to use the period 1850-1900, and this will often be described as "pre-industrial". But the reality is that this date range came after industry really got going.
And the influence of humans on the climate was already in play, judging from the ice cores that retain a record of carbon dioxide emissions. These show a perceptible uptick by 1850-1900; likewise for other greenhouse gases such as methane. It is these inconsistencies that prompted Ed Hawkins from Reading University and colleagues to look for a more appropriate historical reference period. *****Planet vital signs: Carbon Dioxide. Vallée de Chamonix traversée de la Mer de Glace c. 1902 #glaciers. How unusual is 2016's record-temp three-peat & will the hot streak continue in 2017? Let's go "Beyond the Data."
Faster than Expected. The STORY of accelerating sea-level rise in 4 new videos. #climate #climatechange #oceans. History of Earth's surface temperature 1880-2016. 2016 is officially the new warmest year on record, edging out previous record holder 2015 by 0.07°F, according to NOAA. New record set in 2016 for Earth's global average surface temperatures - warmest since recordkeeping began in 1880. 2016: one of the warmest two years on record. The Frozen Thames, Looking Eastwards towards Old London Bridge by Abraham Hondius 1677 (@MuseumofLondon).
The Thames during the Great Frost of 1739 by Jan Griffier II 1739 (@GuildhallArt). Stressed? Repeat this out loud: "In a garden at Bishop Monkton seven miles north of Harrogate, primroses are already in bloom." NASA: Climate Change and Global Warming. ***Animation: Five-year global temperature anomalies from 1880 to 2015. Share of global emissions in 2015 coal 41% of total, oil 34%, gas 19%, cement 6%, flaring 1% Global sea ice extent 2016 (red) versus all previous years since 1979 (black) by Grant Foster. ***Google Earth animations: 30 Years of Climate Change. Satellites have revolutionized the way we see the world. Since the first satellite image of earth was taken in 1959, they’ve captured a world reshaped by humans. Cities have risen, lakes have dried out, ice shelves have disappeared and the future of energy has begun popping up in deserts and fields around the world. Human ingenuity put the satellites into orbit hundreds of miles above the earth to chronicle these changes.
Climate and clams: 500 years of history in one shell. You probably don’t think clams are the most exciting animals on the planet. But anyone who dismisses these marine bivalve molluscs surely cannot be aware of just how important they actually are. Without knowing it, they have taught us so much about the world we live in – and how it used to be. ***Weak and loopy jet stream: Arctic ice melt 'already affecting weather patterns where you live right now' Melt/compaction of #Arctic sea ice over the last few days esp near Franz Joseph Islands (JAXA AMSR2. *Extreme climate events from 2015 - GeoEd Trek. ***State of the Climate: Extreme Events. Click dots to explore events. Click thumbnails to see larger images.