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Education campaigner wants to expel climate denial
New York, 24 January 2012 -
Eugenie Scott has struggled to keep creationism out of the classroom – now her organisation is taking on climate change deniers too.
> www.newscientist.com: Education campaigner wants to expel climate denial
Weaker Sun Will Not Delay Global Warming: Study
London, January 24 2012 -
A weaker sun over the next 90 years is not likely to significantly delay a rise in global temperature caused by greenhouse gases, a report said Monday.
The study, by Britain's Meteorological Office and the university of Reading, found that the Sun's output would decrease up until 2100 but this would only lead to a fall in global temperatures of 0.08 degrees Celsius.
> planetark.org: Weaker Sun Will Not Delay Global Warming: Study
> www.metoffice.gov.uk: Decline in solar output unlikely to offset global warming
NASA finds 2011 ninth warmest year on record
Washington, 19 January 2012 -
The global average surface temperature in 2011 was the ninth warmest since 1880, according to NASA scientists. The finding continues a trend in which nine of the 10 warmest years in the modern meteorological record have occurred since the year 2000.
NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York, which monitors global surface temperatures on an ongoing basis, released Thursday an updated analysis that shows temperatures around the globe in 2011 compared to the average global temperature from the mid-20th century. The comparison shows the average temperature around the globe in 2011 was 0.51 degrees C warmer than the mid-20th century baseline. The difference between 2011 and the warmest year in the GISS record (2010) is 0.12 degrees C.
"We know the planet is absorbing more energy than it is emitting," said GISS director James Hansen in a statement. "So we are continuing to see a trend toward higher temperatures. Even with the cooling effects of a strong La Nina influence and low solar activity for the past several years, 2011 was one of the 10 warmest years on record."
> www.giss.nasa.gov: NASA finds 2011 ninth warmest year on record
> data.giss.nasa.gov: GISS Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP)
> data.giss.nasa.gov: Analysis Graphs and Plots
> www.nasa.gov: Temp graph enlarged
> www.columbia.edu / James Hansen, Reto Ruedy, Makiko Sato and Ken Lo: Global Temperature in 2011, Trends, and Prospects
Summary:
> news.xinhuanet.com: NASA finds 2011 ninth warmest year on record
> www.courier-journal.com: World not quite as hot in 2011; ranks 11th warmest
NOAA: 2011 a year of climate extremes in the United States
Wasgington, 19 January 2012 -
According to NOAA scientists, 2011 was a record-breaking year for climate extremes, as much of the United States faced historic levels of heat, precipitation, flooding and severe weather, while La Niña events at both ends of the year impacted weather patterns at home and around the world.
NOAA’s annual analysis of U.S. and global conditions, conducted by scientists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, reports that the average temperature for the contiguous U.S. was 53.8 degrees F, 1.0 degree F above the 20th century average, making it the 23rd warmest year on record. Precipitation across the nation averaged near normal, masking record-breaking extremes in both drought and precipitation.
On a global scale, La Niña events helped keep the average global temperature below recent trends. As a result, 2011 tied with 1997 for the 11th warmest year on record. It was the second coolest year of the 21st century to date, and tied with the second warmest year of the 20th century.
> www.noaanews.noaa.gov: 2011 a year of climate extremes in the United States
> www.noaa.gov: Extreme weather 2011
2011: world’s 10th warmest year, warmest year with La Niña on record, second-lowest Arctic sea ice extent
Geneva, 19 January 2012 -
Global temperatures in 2011 have not been as warm as the record-setting values seen in 2010 but have likely been warmer than any previous strong La Niña year, based on preliminary data from data sources compiled by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
The global combined sea surface and land surface air temperature for 2011 (January–October) is currently estimated at 0.41°C ± 0.111°C (0.74°F ± 0.20°F) above the 1961–1990 annual average of 14.00°C/57.2°F.
At present, 2011’s nominal value ranks as the equal 10th highest on record, and the 13 warmest years have all occurred in the 15 years between 1997 and 2011.
Model reanalysis data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) are also consistent with this ranking. The 10-year average for the period 2002-11, at 0.46°C above the long-term average, equals 2001-10 as the warmest 10-year period on record. Final annual figures for 2011 will be available once November and December data are available in early 2012.
> www.wmo.int: 2011: world’s 10th warmest year, warmest year with La Niña on record, second-lowest Arctic sea ice extent
See also:
> Arctic melt: Second-lowest Arctic sea ice extent
UK: Average December finishes a warm 2011
London, December 30 2011 / January 19 2012 -
Provisional figures from the Met Office reveal temperatures this December have been close to average, but 2011 overall is the second warmest year on record for the UK.
> www.metoffice.gov.uk: Average December finishes a warm 2011
> Page in Dutch / Belgium: Warmest year ever / Holland: 2011 in top 3 (Jan 01)
Renewables To Play Small Role In 2030 Energy: BP
London, 19 January 2012 -
Energy produced by wind, solar and other renewable sources will grow by fourfold by 2030, but the clean-energy sector will account for only a small fraction of total output, a BP report said on Wednesday.
Renewable energy, excluding hydropower, will total 860 million metric tons of oil equivalent (Mtoe) by 2030, accounting for around 5 percent of the world's total energy production of 16,605 Mtoe.
In 2010, renewable energy production totaled nearly 159 Mtoe or just over 1 percent of the global total, data from BP's Energy Outlook 2030 showed.
The European Union will initially lead the growth in renewable energy production, although from 2020 the United States and China will be the largest sources of growth, it said.
> planetark.org: Renewables To Play Small Role In 2030 Energy: BP
Cost Of 30 Percent EU Carbon Cut Less Than Thought
Brussels, 19 January 2012 -
Raising the European Union's 2020 emission reduction target to 30 percent would be considerably less costly than originally thought and the effort could be shared fairly among EU governments, according to a draft EU document.
The analysis by the European Commission could reignite the debate over whether the EU should boost its climate ambitions, after the economic downturn made emission cuts easier to achieve, but also reduced the ability of governments and companies to make the necessary investments.
> planetark.org: Cost Of 30 Percent EU Carbon Cut Less Than Thought
> EU targets 2011: EU Demand for Road Map to Climate Treaty Complicates Talks (Nov 28 2011)
Obama Administration Rejects Keystone Oil Pipeline
Washington, January 19 2012 -
The Obama administration on Wednesday rejected the Keystone crude oil pipeline project, a decision welcomed by environmental groups but blasted by the domestic energy industry.
> planetark.org: Obama Administration Rejects Keystone Oil Pipeline
> planetark.org: TransCanada Could Reapply With New Pipeline Route: Source
> thinkprogress.org: Keystone XL News Round-Up: Environmentalists Hail Decision to Deny Pipeline Permit; GOP Vows to Force Approval
Open Climate 101 Online
(Realclimate) January 16, 2012 -
Almost 3000 non-science major undergraduates at the University of Chicago have taken PHSC13400, Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast, since Ray Pierrehumbert and I (David Archer) first developed it back in 1995.
Since the publication of the textbook for the class in 2005 (and a much-cleaned-up 2nd edition now shipping), enrollment has gone through the roof, it’s all I’ve been able to teach the last few years, trying to keep up with demand. Now the content of this class is being served to the internet world at large: Open Climate 101.
> www.realclimate.org: Open Climate 101 Online
US Republicans stir transatlantic tensions over climate change
Brussels, January 13 2012 -
Concerns are growing in Brussels that persistent denial of human-caused global warming among Republican presidential hopefuls could damage EU-US relations and even spark a trade conflict.
All the leading challengers for the White House have staked out positions on global warming that defy the international scientific consensus, causing what Thomas Legge, a climate officer for the German Marshall Fund, called “exasperation” in Brussels.
Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said in September she was “shocked that the political debate in the US is so far away from the scientific facts.”
“When you hear American presidential candidates denying climate change, it's difficult to take,” she said.
If a Republican president disrupted the EU's inclusion of aviation in the EU’s Emissions Trading System, or its default values ascribed to oil from tar sands, Jo Leinen, the chair of the European Parliament’s environment committee, called for “a reaction that would affect transatlantic trade.”
> www.euractiv.com: US Republicans stir transatlantic tensions over climate change
What Can Be Done to Slow Climate Change?
(ScienceDaily) January 12, 2012 -
A new study led by a NASA scientist highlights 14 key air pollution control measures that, if implemented, could slow the pace of global warming, improve health and boost agricultural production.
> www.sciencedaily.com: What Can Be Done to Slow Climate Change?
> www.physorg.com: Cut back on soot, methane to slow warming: study
> www.vector1media.com: Fast Action Climate Measure Can Prevent 0.5°C of Global Warming
> www.sciencemag.org: Simultaneously Mitigating Near-Term Climate Change and Improving Human Health and Food Security
Met Office 2012 annual global temperature forecast: slightly warmer than 2011
London, January 4 2012 -
2012 is expected to be around 0.48 °C warmer than the long-term (1961-1990) global average of 14.0 °C, with a predicted likely range of between 0.34 °C and 0.62 °C, according to the Met Office annual global temperature forecast.
> www.metoffice.gov.uk: Met Office 2012 annual global temperature forecast
Ethical Analysis of the Climate Change Disinformation Campaign
University Park (Penn), January 3, 2012 -
Over the next few weeks, ClimateEthics will take a deeper look at what has been referred to as the "climate change disinformation campaign" through an ethical lens. Although ClimateEthics has examined these issues briefly before, see: An Ethical Analysis of the Climate Change Disinformation Campaign: Is This A New Kind of Assault on Humanity?, this is the first in a series of posts that will examine this phenomenon in depth.
> rockblogs.psu.edu: Ethical Analysis of the Climate Change Disinformation Campaign
That sleighbell winter? It's all part of climate change denial
London, January 2nd 2012 -
"Brrr-ace yourselves! Britain to shiver in -20C in WEEKS as councils stockpile extra grit". So the Mail on Sunday warned us in October. Blizzards, snowdrifts, locusts with the faces of men and the teeth of lions: we would become, it cheerfully assured us, prey to every nightmare nature could devise.
Last week the story flipped. "December has sprung! Spring blooms arrive early and autumn blossom lingers... so what happened to our winter?" I scoured the text but could find no mention that the Mail had forecast the polar opposite.
www.guardian.co.uk: That sleighbell winter? It's all part of climate change denial
Lufthansa warns EU scheme to raise fares
Frankfurt/Paris, January 2, 2012 -
Germany's Lufthansa told passengers on Monday to brace for higher ticket prices as it refuses to shoulder the costs of a carbon trading scheme at the centre of a brewing trade spat.
> www.reuters.com: Lufthansa warns EU scheme to raise fares
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