Worsening Weather, Earthquakes, Vortices, Volcanoes, CMEs ... What's Up?

[space otter]

whatever you believe or read.. the weather is in constant flux


http://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/cold-blob-in-north-atlantic-ocean-may-affect-weather-in-europe-eastern-us/ar-AAfhPgG?li=AAa0dzB&OCID=msnHomepage

AccuWeather
Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist
12 hrs ago

Cold 'Blob' in North Atlantic Ocean May Affect Weather in Europe, Eastern US

A "blob" of abnormally cold water in the North Atlantic, located near Greenland, has the potential to put enough drag on the ocean current to impact weather conditions in the years to come.


According to data compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), sea surface water temperatures over much of the Atlantic were warmer than average spanning January to August 2015. Waters from the northwestern Caribbean to the central part of the ocean were not only very warm but were record warm.

However, very chilly to record cold water has developed near Greenland, the NOAA data revealed.

The reason for the cold pocket and less salty water is believed to be due to the melting ice in Greenland discharging fresh water into the nearby North Atlantic.

© Provided by AccuWeather

While the cold, less salty pool near Greenland may be some sort of balancing act in the Earth's complex climate, it could cause the Gulf Stream to weaken. A weakening Gulf Stream could have major impact on the weather and climate.

The Gulf Stream is a strong ocean current that transports warm water northward just off the East Coast of the United States and sends branches of water along western Europe. The Gulf Stream is a part of the Atlantic's circulatory system.

According to According to AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams, "If the Gulf Stream and correspondingly other currents in the Atlantic weaken, then it could change long-term temperature patterns all around the Atlantic basin."

Some scientists believe that prior temperature anomalies have already begun to alter and slow the Gulf Stream and the balance of the currents circulating through the Atlantic over the past 100 years or so.

The temperature of surface ocean water can vastly affect the temperature of nearby land areas.

In a short-term example, people along the New England coast notice the routine chilling effect the cold Labrador Current and a sea breeze have on their weather during a number of days in the spring.

The colder the water is along the coast, the colder nearby communities will be during a sea breeze. As the Labrador Current weakens and water warms later in the summer, the cooling effect becomes less pronounced.

"London, at 51.5 North latitude, is north of all of the contiguous states, even Caribou, Maine," Abrams said. "Despite how far north it is, the climate in London is fairly mild due to the influence of the warm Gulf Stream waters."

Fairly routine fluctuations in temperatures of the tropical Pacific Ocean, known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation have been known to affect weather patterns around a large part of the globe.

Temperature changes, related to El Niño have been known to impact fish population distribution. When fishing conditions change, it can make a real difference in regional economies.

Long-term effects of the altering of the Gulf Stream and other Atlantic currents are complex.

Assuming the Atlantic current slow-down theory is correct, and should the abnormally cold water off of Greenland remain consistent, it could continue to partially block the transport of warm water and correspondingly warm air into western Europe for years to come.

The climate in the region including in London, Amsterdam, Paris and Lisbon could then cool a few degrees, relative to the warming conditions around the globe.

According to AccuWeather Long-Range Experts Brett Anderson and Bob Smerbeck, there is always a cause and effect relationship in terms of the ocean and the atmosphere.

"When there is an anomaly with either the atmosphere or ocean temperature you can bet there will be some effect on the other nearby or far away," Anderson said.

Areas other than western Europe could also become cooler or warmer due to the effects of slowing currents; this includes Iceland, southeastern Canada, the U.S. East Coast and the Caribbean islands.

It could also make some areas around the Atlantic shoreline more or less stormy and cause fluctuations in rain, snowfall and tropical storms.

[zorgon]

Used to be a show on TV called "CONNECTIONS"

They did one on CASTLES  a favorite subject of mine

Most English Castles were just made of stone... no window, just openings, no interior wall covering, etc. You would think they were cold and drafty...

Well it was WARMER back then    until the last time the Gulf Stream weakens and cause the MINI ICE AGE

Those castles then got very cold and damp and drafty..

The CONNECTION is that this sudden cold spell cause the invention of the Fire Place and Window Panes,  as well as Tapestries to hang on the wall to act as insulation on the now cold stone walls.

That was really a cool show... as it followed how things were invented by necessity and developed from there


Diminishing solar activity may bring new Ice Age by 2030

The arrival of intense cold similar to the one that raged during the "Little Ice Age", which froze the world during the 17th century and in the beginning of the 18th century, is expected in the years 2030—2040. These conclusions were presented by Professor V. Zharkova (Northumbria University) during the National Astronomy Meeting in Llandudno in Wales by the international group of scientists, which also includes Dr Helen Popova of the Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics and of the Faculty of Physics of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, Professor Simon Shepherd of Bradford University and Dr Sergei Zharkov of Hull University.

http://astronomynow.com/2015/07/17/diminishing-solar-activity-may-bring-new-ice-age-by-2030/

[A51Watcher]

[A51Watcher]

California has gotten out of the avacado growing business due to exteme drought and high water prices, and the fact that it takes 74 gallons of water to produce one pound of avocados.

Since drought-stricken California produces 95 percent of the avocados grown in the United States, Oregon farmers have been talking about trying to take up the slack, despite having no experience growing the crop.

They seem to be under some delusion that we have plenty of water.

I suggest they take a look at the current state of Mt. Hood (shown above) and do some serious re- thinking.

I have never seen the mountain look this bare or even close to it my whole life.

[space otter]

here's the link to check out your coast for higher water
http://choices.climatecentral.org/#12/40.7116/-74.0006?compare=scenarios&carbon-end-yr=2100&scenario-a=unchecked&scenario-b=extreme-cuts

More Than 400 U.S. Cities May Be 'Past The Point Of No Return' With Sea Level Threats

But there are still cities that could be saved by reducing carbon emissions.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/us-cities-sea-level-threats_561d338fe4b0c5a1ce60a45c
Lydia O'Connor
Associate News Editor, The Huffington Post
Posted: 10/13/2015 07:28 PM EDT

Millions of Americans live in places where it's too late to slow the threat of rising sea levels, a new study warns, and researchers are hoping those findings will serve as a call to action for cities that can still be saved by cutting carbon emissions.

The study, published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
http://www.pnas.org/content/current
examines how much rising sea levels will affect cities across the United States over time if carbon emissions stay the same or decrease. The most startling finding is that 414 towns and cities have already passed their lock-in date, or the point at which it's guaranteed that more than half the city's populated land will eventually be underwater no matter how much humans decrease carbon emissions; it's just a matter of when.

That's "the date where we let the genie out of the bottle, when it's past the point of no return," lead study author Benjamin Strauss of Climate Central told The Huffington Post.

Of those 414 cities, New Orleans stands to be one of the most compromised.

"Even in a best-case carbon emissions scenario, 98 percent of populated land in New Orleans would be below the future sea level," Strauss said, because it's so flat and low-lying. "So it's really just a question of building suitable defenses or eventually abandoning the city."

Those defenses could include higher levees around the city, but that's not an ideal solution, Strauss said.

"How deep a bowl do you want to live in?" he asked. "We already saw with [Hurricane] Katrina what can happen when a levee is breached, and the higher the water gets and the taller the levee gets, the more catastrophic a levee breach would become."

Conditions in New Orleans could be even worse than the study predicts, he noted, as it didn't take into account the fact that New Orleans is already sinking.

Low, flat Miami, another city that's past its lock-in date, is also of great concern because of the type of land beneath it.

"The extra problem that Miami has is that it's sitting on porous limestone, or, in other words, the bedrock underneath Miami is a lot like Swiss cheese," he said. "Water can just go through it and so building levees is not going to be effective in South Florida."

In every scenario in the study except the two most extreme ones, Florida contains at least 40 percent of the people living on potentially affected land.

How quickly these situations would play out remains a mystery.

"Think of a pile of ice in a warm room," Strauss said. "It's very easy to know that it's going to melt, but it's harder to say just how quickly, and we have a similar problem with sea level projections."

While the future looks bleak in some cities, Strauss emphasized that many cities can be saved if people take swift action against carbon emissions.

"The most interesting thing to me is there are a great deal of cities where our carbon choices make a huge difference," he said. "For example, if you look at Philadelphia, under business as usual, land that accounts for more than 100,000 people could be submerged. But you divide that total by 10 with an extreme carbon cut. The very biggest difference of all is for New York City, where you can avoid submergence of land where one and a half million people live."

There's similar promise in Virginia Beach, Sacramento and Jacksonville, Florida, he said.

"To me this is really a question of our American legacy and American heritage," Strauss said. "Are we going to let the ocean take a state-sized bite out of America? If we make extreme efforts to cut carbon, we can avoid that."

You can find out how much rising sea levels will affect your city -- or any city -- under different carbon emissions scenarios using this map tool from Climate Central.
http://choices.climatecentral.org/#12/40.7116/-74.0006?compare=scenarios&carbon-end-yr=2100&scenario-a=unchecked&scenario-b=extreme-cuts

[zorgon]

Since drought-stricken California produces 95 percent of the avocados grown in the United States, Oregon farmers have been talking about trying to take up the slack, despite having no experience growing the crop.

I HATE Guacamole   They try to put it on everything down here.  They should also stop the almonds  I hear that takes ridiculous amounts of water

They seem to be under some delusion that we have plenty of water.

I think that comes from all those years of us hearing about the constant flooding in Oregon and Washington.  I too was under the impression that you guys are all wet

The pipeline is still a good idea  but lets go east... Look at the recent flooding out that way

Surely we are technologically advanced enough to manage our water between flood zones and dry zones... The Romans did it without pipes and pumps... built huge aquaducts that still stand today

But we are too busy messing around in the Middle East to take care of our own issues

Looks pretty wet to me in Oregon

[space otter]

ah-ha

http://www.inquisitr.com/2516818/how-deep-sea-bacteria-could-help-solve-climate-change/

October 24, 2015
Justin Streight

How Deep Sea Bacteria Could Help Solve Climate Change

Scientists may have a new weapon against CO2 buildup and the struggle against climate change – deep sea bacteria. One rare bacterium can change industrial CO2 into chalk with the help of human scientists. It may not be a silver bullet, but perhaps it could be one more tool to keep future temperatures down.


It's called Thiomicrospira crunogena, or T-Cru for short, and it produces an enzyme called carbonic anhydrase.

That substance reacts with water to convert CO2 into bicarbonate – which can then be used to make all sorts of products that don't change the climate, like chalk and baking soda. The reaction is normally used to remove CO2 from organisms, but there's a potential to use it in human industrial processes too.

T-Cru evolved on the sea floor near hydrothermal vents, where the pressure and heat are intense. That means the bacteria's enzyme can work in equally extreme industrial environments, like when sucking CO2 from the flue gases produced by burning fossil fuels, according to Doug Bennett at the University of Florida Health.


Credit: David McNew Getty images


A vent from the deep sea, a similar environment to the one T Cru is used to. [Image Credit: P. Rona/NOAA Photo Library]
The main idea is called sequestration, the capturing and neutralizing of the climate change gas CO2.

Exactly how that would work using the enzyme is what Professor Robert McKenna from the University of Florida and his two graduate assistants, Brian Mahon and Avni Bhatt, are trying to figure out.


The team's findings, so far, have been published in two journals Acta Crystallographica D: Biological Crystallography and Chemical Engineering Science.

They also figured out that they can genetically engineer strands of E. Coli bacteria to produce Thiomicrospira crunogena's valuable enzyme. That saves the trouble of going into the deep sea to try and collect the organisms.


Using the E. Coli, the team have produced several milligrams of carbonic anhydrase, and they believe they can ramp up production to the several kilograms that would be required for a practical application.

There's still a major problem though – the enzyme doesn't work fast enough. Avni Bratt explained further.


"You want it to do the reaction faster and more efficiently. The fact that it has such a high thermal stability makes it a good candidate for further study."


The next steps are to increase the longevity and efficiency of the substance through testing different variants.

That's something scientists like McKenna have been trying to accomplish for sometime.


As previously reported by the Inquisitr, progress on the policy has been picking up steam too. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping, leaders of the two biggest CO2 contributing nations, spoke informally about climate change plans and strategies on September 25th.

Part of the discussion was a cap and trade system, which China hopes to unveil in 2017. China has already rapidly decreased the amount of coal they use as the country's renewable energy sector continues to boom. China's switch from coal was likely a contributing factor to the halt in the rise of CO2 emissions in 2014, according to the BBC.


Likewise, the U.S. has pledged to cut carbon emissions by 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025 and plans to make companies apply for permits for their emissions.

When those policies get underway, the value of a bacteria like T-Cru and its enzymes might start rising.


Although that may be a ways off, Prof. McKenna is confident about the potential of the deep sea bacteria and its enzyme as a tool against climate change.


"It shows that it's physically possible to take known enzymes such as carbonic anhydrase and utilize them to pull carbon dioxide out of flue gas."

[zorgon]

River of Ice through Saudi Arabia with hail the size of golf balls

[space otter]

wow Z...luv'd this next headline  from Christian today..heh heh heh 

'Hell freezes over' as ice storm sweeps Saudi Arabia desert

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/apocalyptic.signs.hell.freezes.over.as.ice.storm.sweeps.saudi.arabia.desert/69626.htm

Apocalyptic signs? 'Hell freezes over' as ice storm sweeps Saudi Arabia desert
Andre Mitchell    Published 04 November 2015



To many people, Saudi Arabia is a land of dry deserts where the sun shines bright and where the rain rarely falls.

Just recently, however, parts of Saudi Arabia experienced unusual hailstorms, thunderstorms and heavy rains, which turned deserts white and caused floods that have so far claimed the lives of 19 people.

A terrifying footage of the hailstorm, posted on the website of The Mirror, showed hailstones the size of golf balls raining heavily down at an alarming speed on the desert. The video clip has already been seen 50,000 times.

When the hailstones melted, the dry desert turned into a raging river of ice water. The amount of rain and hail that poured over Saudi Arabia in the past two days was estimated to be eight years' worth of precipitation.

Some residents also took to social media to post photos of the flooding, which turned a dry valley in a virtual body of water.

Others on social media, including Christian evangelicals, meanwhile expressed fears that the odd hailstorm and flooding in Saudi Arabia could be another sign that the end of the world is near.

"There was an ice storm in the desert. This surely is a sign that 'Hell freezes over'," one of the social media posters commented, as quoted by The Express.

Climate scientist Dr Abd al-Aziz al-Rubaie, however, explained that the hailstorm and heavy rains were caused by the seasonal low pressure area.

Unprecedented downpours were also experienced in the Middle Eastern nations of Iraq and Iran in the past days, with 50 people needing to be rescued by the government due to flooding. The flashfloods have also affected Syrian refugees in these areas.

Al-Rubaie also predicted that the precipitation may become even heavier in the coming days, especially in Yemen and Oman, due to Tropical Cyclone Chapla.?

[space otter]

maybe if we learn chinese and how to swim we'll be ok..bwhahahahahah

or heck.. just move to higher ground     I won't be around so what do I care. 


http://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/new-york-prepares-for-up-to-6-feet-of-sea-level-rise/ar-BBmKSmJ?li=BBgzzfc

New York Prepares for Up to 6 Feet of Sea Level Rise

LaGuardia Airport is about to be rebuilt in New York City, but by the end of the century, fish could be swimming where airplanes once parked at the terminal. That's because sea levels in the area could rise by as much as 6 feet over the next 75 years, according to new predictions released by the state of New York.


New York State environment officials announced Friday that they're creating new sea level rise regulations that will help coastal communities build more resilient homes and other buildings that will be better able to withstand storm surges and other flooding made worse by rising seas driven by climate change.


The new regulations will require developers in New York City, along Long Island and on the shores of the Hudson River to prepare for sea levels that could rise between 15 and 75 inches by 2100.  At the far end of that scale, many of the areas hit hard by Hurricane Sandy — the Rockaway Peninsula and the shores of Staten Island, for example — could be underwater.

In addition to increasing temperatures and more frequent extreme weather, rising seas are expected to be among the most destructive effects of climate change. If greenhouse gas emissions are left unchecked, most of the U.S. population could be affected by rising seas, submerging some of America's most famous icons, such as Wall Street, New Orleans and the Everglades.

About 500,000 people live on the 120 square miles of land that lie less than 6 feet above the mean high tide line in the state of New York. More than $100 billion in property value exists in that area.

The sea level rise projections were created as part of New York's Community Risk and Resiliency Act of 2014, which requires the state to set official sea level rise projections for the end of the century. It also requires many building permit applicants to consider future flooding risks posed by rising seas.

The sea level rise range the state uses comes from a study conducted by Cornell and Columbia universities and Hunter College showing that rapid melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets could raise sea levels much faster and much higher than previously expected.

The study projects that sea levels could rise between 15 and 72 inches at Montauk Point on the eastern edge of Long Island, and between 15 and 75 inches in New York City. The level of the Hudson River near Albany, more than 150 miles inland from New York Harbor, could rise by up to 71 inches.

Cynthia Rosenzweig, study co-author and senior research scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Columbia University's Center for Climate Systems Research, said the state's use of the study ensures consistency between resilience planning at both the state and city levels because New York City's climate change panel is using the same methods to determine the threat from sea level rise.

"The New York State sea level rise projections, developed using state-of-the-science methods, will provide the best available climate risk information for decision makers throughout the state," she said.

Daniel Zarrilli, director of the New York City Mayor's Office of Recovery and Resiliency, said in a statement that accurate science is critical to effective climate adaptation.

"These coordinated projections, which also inform the city's investments, will support critical work of making investments in climate adaptation and resiliency across the entire state," he said.

[zorgon]

maybe if we learn chinese and how to swim we'll be ok..bwhahahahahah

or heck.. just move to higher ground     I won't be around so what do I care. 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/new-york-prepares-for-up-to-6-feet-of-sea-level-rise/ar-BBmKSmJ?li=BBgzzfc

That explains why Morgan Chase sold Chase Manhattan Plaza to the Chinese

Sell out while it still has value

[space otter]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/dramatic-retreat-seen-in-greenland-glacier/ar-BBmW2B0?ocid=ansmsnnews11

AFP
7 hrs ago

'Dramatic retreat' seen in Greenland glacier

© Provided by AFP This NASA satellite image released on August 2, 2015 shows the edge of the Zachariae Isstrom glacier on Greenland?'s east coast

A major glacier in northeastern Greenland is rapidly crumbling into the Atlantic Ocean and experts warned on Thursday the breakup will likely raise global sea level by 18 inches (a half meter).

The glacier, known as Zachariae Isstrom, "entered a phase of accelerated retreat in 2012" tripling the pace of melting. It is now losing mass at a rate of five billion tons per year, said the study in the journal Science.

"The shape and dynamics of Zachariae Isstrom have changed dramatically over the last few years," said lead author Jeremie Mouginot, an assistant researcher in the Department of Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine.

The glacier is dumping "high volumes of icebergs into the ocean, which will result in rising sea levels for decades to come," he said.

The findings are based on 40 years of satellite data from global space agencies as well as aerial surveys monitoring the shape, size and position of glacial ice over time.

Warmer ocean water is eroding the glacier from below, and increasing air temperatures are melting it from above.

"Zachariae Isstrom is being hit from above and below," said senior author Eric Rignot, professor of earth system science at UCI.

"The top of the glacier is melting away as a result of decades of steadily increasing air temperatures, while its underside is compromised by currents carrying warmer ocean water, and the glacier is now breaking away into bits and pieces and retreating into deeper ground."

Another large glacier near Zachariae Isstrom -- known as Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden -- is also melting but not as quickly because it is protected by an inland hill.

The study said the two glaciers "make up 12 percent of the Greenland ice sheet and would boost global sea levels by more than 39 inches if they fully collapsed."




................


http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4771

News | November 12, 2015

In Greenland, Another Major Glacier Comes Undone

slides at link

It's big. It's cold. And it's melting into the world's ocean.

It's Zachariae Isstrom, the latest in a string of Greenland glaciers to undergo rapid change in our warming world. A new NASA-funded study published today in the journal Science finds that Zachariae Isstrom broke loose from a glaciologically stable position in 2012 and entered a phase of accelerated retreat. The consequences will be felt for decades to come.

The reason? Zachariae Isstrom is big. It drains ice from an area of 35,440 square miles (91,780 square kilometers). That's about 5 percent of the Greenland Ice Sheet. All by itself, it holds enough water to raise global sea level by more than 18 inches (46 centimeters) if it were to melt completely. And now it's on a crash diet, losing 5 billion tons of mass every year. All that ice is crumbling into the North Atlantic Ocean.

"North Greenland glaciers are changing rapidly," said lead author Jeremie Mouginot, an assistant researcher in the Department of Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine. "The shape and dynamics of Zachariae Isstrom have changed dramatically over the last few years. The glacier is now breaking up and calving high volumes of icebergs into the ocean, which will result in rising sea levels for decades to come."

Mouginot and his colleagues from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California; and the University of Kansas, Lawrence, set out to study the changes taking place at Zachariae Isstrom.

The team used data from aerial surveys conducted by NASA's Operation IceBridge and satellite-based observations acquired by multiple international space agencies (NASA, ESA, CSA, DLR, JAXA and ASI) coordinated by the Polar Space Task Group. The NASA satellite data used are from the joint NASA/USGS Landsat program. The various tools used -- including a highly sensitive radar sounder, gravimeter and laser profiling systems, coupled with radar and optical images from space -- monitor and record changes in the shape, size and position of glacial ice over long time periods, providing precise data on the state of Earth's polar regions.

The scientists determined the bottom of Zachariae Isstrom is being rapidly eroded by warmer ocean water mixed with growing amounts of meltwater from the ice sheet surface. "Ocean warming has likely played a major role in triggering [the glacier's] retreat," Mouginot said, "but we need more oceanographic observations in this critical sector of Greenland to determine its future."

"Zachariae Isstrom is being hit from above and below," said the study's senior author Eric Rignot, Chancellor's Professor of Earth system science at UCI, and Joint Faculty Appointee at JPL. "The top of the glacier is melting away as a result of decades of steadily increasing air temperatures, while its underside is compromised by currents carrying warmer ocean water, and the glacier is now breaking away into bits and pieces and retreating into deeper ground."

Adjacent to Zachariae Isstrom is another large glacier, Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden, which is also melting rapidly but is receding at a slower rate because it's protected by an inland hill. The two glaciers make up 12 percent of the Greenland ice sheet and would boost global sea levels by more than 39 inches (99 centimeters) if they fully collapsed.

The sector where these two glaciers reside is one of three major marine-based basins in Greenland, along with Jakobshavn Isbrae in central west Greenland and the Petermann-Humboldt sector in central north Greenland. The latter two sectors hold enough water to raise global sea level by 2 feet (0.6 meters) each, and both are also undergoing significant changes at present. The authors conclude it is likely that Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden and Petermann-Humboldt glaciers will lose their ice shelves in coming years, further increasing Greenland's future contributions to global sea level rise.

"Not long ago, we wondered about the effect on sea levels if Earth's major glaciers in the polar regions were to start retreating," Rignot noted. "We no longer need to wonder; for a couple of decades now, we've been able to directly observe the results of climate warming on polar glaciers. The changes are staggering and are now affecting the four corners of Greenland."

In 2015, NASA kicked off a new six-year field campaign, Oceans Melting Greenland, which will examine ocean conditions around Greenland affecting the Ice Sheet. For more information on OMG, visit:

https://omg.jpl.nasa.gov/portal/

Ongoing research into the health of ice sheets and glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica is supported by funding from NASA's Cryospheric Sciences Program.

For more information on the study, visit:

http://news.uci.edu/research/massive-northeast-greenland-glacier-is-rapidly-melting-uci-led-team-finds/

[space otter]

Viewers were treated to a rare moment of candor at the end of a recent PBS NewHour interview with Kenneth Cohen (above), ExxonMobil's vice president of public and government affairs.

NewsHour host Judy Woodruff pressed Cohen about an accusation New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman made during a taped interview that aired just before Cohen's segment. Schneiderman -- who had announced the week before that he was investigating ExxonMobil over whether it had misled the public and shareholders about climate change risks -- had charged that ExxonMobil funds climate change denier organizations to malign mainstream climate science.

"Has Exxon been funding these organizations?" she asked.

"Well, the answer is yes," Cohen replied. "And I will let those organizations respond for themselves."




the rest is here

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elliott-negin/did-exxonmobil-just-admit_b_8625514.html


Elliott Negin Become a fan
Senior Writer, Union of Concerned Scientists

Did ExxonMobil Just Admit It's Still Funding Climate Science Deniers?
  Posted:  11/23/2015 9:07 am EST    Updated:  1 hour ago

[space otter]

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34908482

COP21: Rhone Glacier drone footage shows ice retreat
26 November 2015 Last updated at 00:07 GMT

Diplomats and climate experts are to meet in Paris for the UN Conference on Climate Change, aiming to secure a new global deal that would limit emissions of carbon dioxide.

For many of us the impact of climate change can often seem distant and difficult to visualise - but that is far from the case in Switzerland.

There, a temperature rise of 2C in the last 150 years has led to a rapid acceleration in the melting of the country's glaciers.

If greenhouse emissions continue to rise according to current trends, all of the large masses of ice in the Swiss Alps will have almost vanished by the end of the century, scientists warn.

BBC video journalist Howard Johnson travelled to the Rhone Glacier, which has receded by 30m in the last year alone.

He met glacier expert Dr David Volken who set out the evidence for the ice sheet's retreat - and why the world should sit up and pay attention.


......


The basic facts about climate change?

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-24021772

.......

Special report: Climate change

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34320399

.......



http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34915448
COP21: 2015 likely to be warmest on record, says UN weather body
By Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent, BBC News
25 November 2015



The map shows how far this year's temperatures have deviated from the 1961-1990 average


Global average temperatures in 2015 are likely to be the warmest on record, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

Data until the end of October showed this year's temperatures running "well above" any previous 12 month period.

The researchers say the five year period from 2011 to 2015 was also the warmest on record.

The rise, they state, was due to a combination of a strong El Nino and human-induced global warming.

The WMO said their preliminary estimate, based on data from January to October, showed that the global average surface temperature for 2015 was 0.73 degrees C above the 1961-1990 average.


Their scientists also found that global temperatures were approximately 1 degree C above the 1880-1899 period, mirroring a recent finding by the UK Met Office.



'Bad news'

The record-breaking five year period from 2011 to 2015 was 0.57C above the average for 1961-1990.

The WMO said that levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached new highs. In the northern hemisphere, the spring of 2015 saw the three-month global average concentration of CO2 cross the 400 parts per million barrier for the first time.

"The state of the global climate in 2015 will make history for a number of reasons," said WMO secretary-general Michel Jarraud.

"2015 is likely to be the hottest year on record, with ocean surface temperatures at the highest level since measurements began. It is probable that the 1C threshold will be crossed.

"This is all bad news for the planet."


The graph shows the divergence of annual temperatures from the 1961-1990 average

Other researchers agreed that the latest data from the WMO reinforces the view that human emissions of carbon dioxide, from burning fossil fuels, are continuing to heat the Earth beyond natural variability.

"The fingerprint of a warming planet is becoming clearer in nearly every corner of the world," said Dr Ed Hawkins, a climate scientist at the University of Reading.

"Moreover, 2015 is not a one-off, as indicated by the last five years' average also being the warmest on record.

"In the UK, our variable weather means that 2015 will not set any records for warmth, but the longer view shows UK temperatures have risen about 20% faster than the global average. We can expect this faster rate to continue in future."

As well as warming the land, much of the heat has gone into the oceans. The WMO said the waters have been absorbing more than 90% of the energy that has accumulated in the climate system from human emissions of greenhouse gases. The temperature of the tropical Pacific was more than 1C above average, consistent with a strong El Nino.

The WMO said this weather phenomenon has been a factor in pushing this year past previous records. El Nino has gained in strength over the past few months and has been rated as one of the three strongest since 1950.

The researchers said that the impact of an El Nino is typically felt more strongly in the second calendar year, meaning that 2016 is likely to be more strongly influenced by the event than 2015.

The record temperatures of 2015 were being felt in many different parts of the world. China recorded its warmest ever January to October period. For Africa, this year has been the second warmest on record.

Heat waves affected many parts of the world, with India seeing average maximum temperatures over 45C in some areas. There were also extremely hot periods in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere.

The WMO also argued that many of the extreme weather events in the past five years, especially those relating to higher temperatures, have had their probabilities substantially increased as a result of human-induced climate change.

The new findings are likely to feature prominently at COP21 in Paris next week, when global political leaders and negotiators will aim to secure a new global deal that would limit emissions of carbon dioxide.

[space otter]

good lead in and the original article is very in depth with good drone footage..


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/marshall-islands-drone-footage-climate-change_565f0ae2e4b08e945fed82bf?utm_hp_ref=science&ir=Science&section=science

Damon Beres
Tech Editor, The Huffington Post ? ?

? 12/02/2015 04:46 pm ET

Drone Footage Shows The Harsh Reality Of Rising Sea Levels
"It gives you a scale you can't get anywhere else."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/marshall-islands-drone-footage-climate-change_565f0ae2e4b08e945fed82bf?utm_hp_ref=science&ir=Science&section=science



In the next 40 years, millions of people may lose their homes because of rising water levels brought on by global warming.

To illustrate this problem, The New York Times on Wednesday published startling footage of the Marshall Islands. Residents of the Pacific country deal with floods of saltwater and sewage as a result of rising seas. Staff photographer Josh Haner used a drone to capture shots of homes at the water's edge, where the shoreline is disappearing.

Haner previously used a drone to capture footage of Greenland's melting ice sheet, and he told The Huffington Post that he hopes the unique perspective provided by these flying machines will provide readers with a different way to think about climate change.

"Many of us have been dulled by images of melting glaciers and sinking islands, and we want to avoid using a drone just for the sake of using a drone," Haner said in an email. "But drone imagery here adds a new visual layer that hopefully draws readers into an important story gives them a new perspective on a complicated subject."

Residents are desperately working to avert damage to their homes by building makeshift sea walls. Needless to say, the footage of far-off vistas is striking, but Haner doesn't want that to be a distraction.

"We are also highly aware that we don't want the beauty of the footage to mask the severity of the problem. That's why we bring you different angles throughout the piece; some micro, some macro. It gives you a scale you can't get anywhere else," Haner said.

You can view the full New York Times feature here
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/12/02/world/The-Marshall-Islands-Are-Disappearing.html?_r=1