by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 12. 8.09
Business & Politics, TreeHugger.com
It's rather unfortunate that a story like this requires reporting, but it's understandable: many fail to accept that global temperatures are rising on the grounds that last summer was cold where they live. Of course, that ignores data meticulously collected around the globe, but we humans are reactionary creatures--it's the way we're built. If we come out of an abnormally cool, rainy, summer, and then hear the likes of Beck or Limbaugh declaring global warming a hoax, we're going to be more apt to listen. So here's the hard truth: 2009 was an exceptionally hot year--maybe the 2nd hottest of the decade--for everywhere but North America.
Here are the details, via Climate Progress:
What makes these record temps especially impressive is that we're at "the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century," according to NASA. It's just hard to stop the march of anthropogenic global warming, well, other than by reducing GHG emissions, that is . . . Unfortunately, the warming isn't even across the globe:
Unfortunately, that is, because people are apt to be confused by conflicting accounts: what there bodies tell them, and what the vast consensus of science says:
This year above-normal temperatures were recorded in most parts of the continents. Only North America (United States and Canada) experienced conditions that were cooler than average. Given the current figures, large parts of southern Asia and central Africa are likely to have the warmest year on record. [Actually, NOAA says "The average annual temperature for the contiguous United States is projected to be above normal." It was the third coolest October for the contiguous 48 states.]
Finally, CP concludes, aptly:
That is no doubt one reason why Americans -- or at least conservative Americans -- have grown in skepticism this year: They have been bombarded with anti-scientific disinformation on "global cooling," while at the same time failing to personally experience a very warm year.
So here's a heads up to all those folks: the 00's were the hottest decade on record.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
"The 00s" the Hottest Decade on Record
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 12. 8.09
Science & Technology, TreeHugger.com
One of the biggest problems with the years 2000-2009 is that there was no agreed-upon, easy-to-say decade name. No 'nineties' or 'twenties.' No, instead, some people argued for the 'aughts' or, occasionally, the 'zeroes' (lame), but we pretty much came up nil. But just eclipsing that--just barely though--is another one of the decade's biggest problems: it has been confirmed that it will have been hottest on record.
Here's the news, via Climate Progress and the New York Times:
it is official from the World Meteorological Organization, in their news release today "2000-2009, The Warmest Decade":
The decade of the 2000s (2000-2009) was warmer than the decade spanning the 1990s (1990-1999), which in turn was warmer than the 1980s (1980-1989).
The NYT story was based on the WMO release early today, but NOAA's National Climatic Data Center also reports today:
The 2000 - 2009 decade will be the warmest on record, with its average global surface temperature about 0.96 degree F above the 20th century average. This will easily surpass the 1990s value of 0.65 degree F.
As for data on 2009, turns out it's been a pretty exceptionally warm year as well:
As for 2009, it is on track to be the 5th warmest the way WMO calculates global temps, which figures in the Hadley/CRU data. But 2009 could easily be as high as the second warmest in the NASA dataset, which is almost certainly more accurate than the Hadley/CRU dataset
And let me reiterate that NONE OF THE NOAA DATA WAS COLLECTED BY THE CRU. The data supporting the charge that the 00s was the hottest decade on record was collected by two different, completely separate sources: the World Meteorological Organization, which figures in CRU data, and the NOAA's National Climatic Data Center--which is free from whatever perceived taint there might be by the 'climategate' non-controversy. And guess what? Both data sets arrive at the same conclusions.
I wish anthropogenic climate change weren't happening, I really do. But there's more evidence than ever that it is, and it's getting worse. It's time to stop the bickering and to start taking it seriously again.
Science & Technology, TreeHugger.com
One of the biggest problems with the years 2000-2009 is that there was no agreed-upon, easy-to-say decade name. No 'nineties' or 'twenties.' No, instead, some people argued for the 'aughts' or, occasionally, the 'zeroes' (lame), but we pretty much came up nil. But just eclipsing that--just barely though--is another one of the decade's biggest problems: it has been confirmed that it will have been hottest on record.
Here's the news, via Climate Progress and the New York Times:
it is official from the World Meteorological Organization, in their news release today "2000-2009, The Warmest Decade":
The decade of the 2000s (2000-2009) was warmer than the decade spanning the 1990s (1990-1999), which in turn was warmer than the 1980s (1980-1989).
The NYT story was based on the WMO release early today, but NOAA's National Climatic Data Center also reports today:
The 2000 - 2009 decade will be the warmest on record, with its average global surface temperature about 0.96 degree F above the 20th century average. This will easily surpass the 1990s value of 0.65 degree F.
As for data on 2009, turns out it's been a pretty exceptionally warm year as well:
As for 2009, it is on track to be the 5th warmest the way WMO calculates global temps, which figures in the Hadley/CRU data. But 2009 could easily be as high as the second warmest in the NASA dataset, which is almost certainly more accurate than the Hadley/CRU dataset
And let me reiterate that NONE OF THE NOAA DATA WAS COLLECTED BY THE CRU. The data supporting the charge that the 00s was the hottest decade on record was collected by two different, completely separate sources: the World Meteorological Organization, which figures in CRU data, and the NOAA's National Climatic Data Center--which is free from whatever perceived taint there might be by the 'climategate' non-controversy. And guess what? Both data sets arrive at the same conclusions.
I wish anthropogenic climate change weren't happening, I really do. But there's more evidence than ever that it is, and it's getting worse. It's time to stop the bickering and to start taking it seriously again.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
In a Frenzied Copenhagen, Crucial Climate Talks Begin
by Guest on 12. 8.09
Business & Politics, TreeHugger.com
Editor's Note: This post, written by Jonathan Hiskes, originally appeared on Grist.org
COPENHAGEN—There was no calm before the storm. At least not over the last few days, not in Copenhagen. The climate change conference begins for real this Monday morning, but the deluge—of information, of people, of noise of all sorts—swept into the city days ago.
Downtown, the wide sidewalks are jammed. Visitors ascend to street level at the central train station, rolling suitcases and opening maps. In bars and restaurants—I noticed this more once a bartender pointed it out—foreigners stare blankly at the Danish coins in their hands and try to figure out how much they're paying.
Aside from the permanent medley of neon signs--this city might be quaint, but it's commercialized too—climate-related posters and banners are everywhere.
Most advertise Hopenhagen LIVE, a package of concerts, educational pavilions, and a giant illuminated globe in the City Hall Square (the event must have a serious advertising budget). There are posters too for climate-related rallies, concerts, expos, and art exhibits. And booklets, pamphlets, leaflets--whatever--stacked in abundance. The ubiquitous public climate-change art seems designed to provide inspiration or moral orientation. But there's so much of it that it sort of runs
together. 100 Places to Remember Before They Disappear, an outdoor photo exhibit at Kongens Nytorv square, is stunning, but I don't know how many delegates will take the time to visit installations such as this.
A completely separate event, the Klimaforum09/Peoples Climate Summit offers a 48-page guide to its sessions. The Summit, which skews toward the down-with-capitalism crowd, will unfold at a posh downtown sports venue. According to the U.K. Telegraph, Copenhagen "officials" hope that the venue's climbing wall, swimming pool, and bowling alley will keep the radicals engaged downtown so the grownups at the U.N. conference can stay focused. (One group has threatened to break into the main conference site and "take over" for a day.)
At that main conference site, Copenhagen's Bella Center on the edge of the city, still more crowds gathered. On Sunday afternoon, an unattended suitcase led police to close entry and exit points and call in a bomb squad. The situation proved harmless, but it kept a crowd of delegates, NGO representatives, and media members waiting in the cold for about an hour.
Around the same time, organizers announced that the center was running into "capacity constraints"—34,000 people want to attend and the space holds only 15,000. The announcement introduced a quota system for NGOs and the press; only 3,500 media members would be allowed. I'll find out Monday morning exactly how conference organizers plan to handle this and other last-minute issues. Like whether to merge the AWG-LCA and AWG-KP negotiating tracks.
I haven't mentioned the policy jargon. AWG-LCA stands for Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Acion; AWG-KP is the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex Parties Under the Kyoto Protocol. Then there's the MRV--measurement, reporting, and verification goals. You get the point—it's a busy, confusing place, even before the conference begins.
Anyone who signed up to negotiate, or lobby negotiators, or report on them, should know by now that the climate problem is fraught with complexity, and so is the conference convening to address it. Nobody said this would be simple. I can't help but wonder how folks will find a measure of clarity amid the noise.
Business & Politics, TreeHugger.com
Editor's Note: This post, written by Jonathan Hiskes, originally appeared on Grist.org
COPENHAGEN—There was no calm before the storm. At least not over the last few days, not in Copenhagen. The climate change conference begins for real this Monday morning, but the deluge—of information, of people, of noise of all sorts—swept into the city days ago.
Downtown, the wide sidewalks are jammed. Visitors ascend to street level at the central train station, rolling suitcases and opening maps. In bars and restaurants—I noticed this more once a bartender pointed it out—foreigners stare blankly at the Danish coins in their hands and try to figure out how much they're paying.
Aside from the permanent medley of neon signs--this city might be quaint, but it's commercialized too—climate-related posters and banners are everywhere.
Most advertise Hopenhagen LIVE, a package of concerts, educational pavilions, and a giant illuminated globe in the City Hall Square (the event must have a serious advertising budget). There are posters too for climate-related rallies, concerts, expos, and art exhibits. And booklets, pamphlets, leaflets--whatever--stacked in abundance. The ubiquitous public climate-change art seems designed to provide inspiration or moral orientation. But there's so much of it that it sort of runs
together. 100 Places to Remember Before They Disappear, an outdoor photo exhibit at Kongens Nytorv square, is stunning, but I don't know how many delegates will take the time to visit installations such as this.
A completely separate event, the Klimaforum09/Peoples Climate Summit offers a 48-page guide to its sessions. The Summit, which skews toward the down-with-capitalism crowd, will unfold at a posh downtown sports venue. According to the U.K. Telegraph, Copenhagen "officials" hope that the venue's climbing wall, swimming pool, and bowling alley will keep the radicals engaged downtown so the grownups at the U.N. conference can stay focused. (One group has threatened to break into the main conference site and "take over" for a day.)
At that main conference site, Copenhagen's Bella Center on the edge of the city, still more crowds gathered. On Sunday afternoon, an unattended suitcase led police to close entry and exit points and call in a bomb squad. The situation proved harmless, but it kept a crowd of delegates, NGO representatives, and media members waiting in the cold for about an hour.
Around the same time, organizers announced that the center was running into "capacity constraints"—34,000 people want to attend and the space holds only 15,000. The announcement introduced a quota system for NGOs and the press; only 3,500 media members would be allowed. I'll find out Monday morning exactly how conference organizers plan to handle this and other last-minute issues. Like whether to merge the AWG-LCA and AWG-KP negotiating tracks.
I haven't mentioned the policy jargon. AWG-LCA stands for Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Acion; AWG-KP is the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex Parties Under the Kyoto Protocol. Then there's the MRV--measurement, reporting, and verification goals. You get the point—it's a busy, confusing place, even before the conference begins.
Anyone who signed up to negotiate, or lobby negotiators, or report on them, should know by now that the climate problem is fraught with complexity, and so is the conference convening to address it. Nobody said this would be simple. I can't help but wonder how folks will find a measure of clarity amid the noise.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Gore cancels climate lecture in Copenhagen
(AP) – 3 Dec. 2009
COPENHAGEN — Climate campaigner Al Gore has canceled a lecture he was supposed to deliver in Copenhagen.
The former vice president and Nobel Peace Prize winner had been scheduled to speak to more than 3,000 people at a Dec. 16 event hosted by the Berlingske Tidende newspaper group.
The group says Gore canceled the lecture Thursday, citing unforeseen changes in his schedule.
Gore spokeswoman Kalee Kreider says the decision was made because of "all the events going on with the summit." Dec. 16 is a key date for the meeting because that's when the ministerial segment starts.
Chief editor Lisbeth Knudsen says it's a "great disappointment" that Gore canceled and that all tickets will be refunded.
COPENHAGEN — Climate campaigner Al Gore has canceled a lecture he was supposed to deliver in Copenhagen.
The former vice president and Nobel Peace Prize winner had been scheduled to speak to more than 3,000 people at a Dec. 16 event hosted by the Berlingske Tidende newspaper group.
The group says Gore canceled the lecture Thursday, citing unforeseen changes in his schedule.
Gore spokeswoman Kalee Kreider says the decision was made because of "all the events going on with the summit." Dec. 16 is a key date for the meeting because that's when the ministerial segment starts.
Chief editor Lisbeth Knudsen says it's a "great disappointment" that Gore canceled and that all tickets will be refunded.
United Nations to probe climate e-mail leak
By RAPHAEL G. SATTER
4 Dec. 2009
LONDON — The United Nations will conduct its own investigation into e-mails leaked from a leading British climate science center in addition to the probe by the University of East Anglia, a senior U.N. climate official said Friday.
E-mails stolen from the climate unit at the University of East Anglia appeared to show some of world's leading scientists discussing ways to shield data from public scrutiny and suppress others' work. Those who deny the influence of man-made climate change have seized on the correspondence to argue that scientists have been conspiring to hide evidence about global warming.
In an interview with BBC radio, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra Pachauri, said the issue raised by the e-mails was serious and said "we will look into it in detail,"
"We will certainly go into the whole lot and then we will take a position on it," he said. "We certainly don't want to brush anything under the carpet."
The University of East Anglia has defended the integrity of the science published by the climate unit and its researchers, but on Thursday said it would investigate whether some of the data had been fudged. Phil Jones, the director of the unit, stepped down earlier in the week pending the result of the investigation.
East Anglia said its review will examine the e-mails and other information "to determine whether there is any evidence of the manipulation or suppression of data which is at odds with acceptable scientific practice."
The theft of the e-mails and their publication online — only weeks before the U.N. summit on global warming — has been politically explosive, even if researchers say their content has no bearing on the principles of climate change itself.
Britain's Ed Miliband, the climate change secretary, acknowledged the revelations may have an impact on the Copenhagen talks on a new global emissions reduction pact, but dismissed as "flat Earth-ers" critics who claim the e-mails are proof the case for man-made climate change is exaggerated.
"We need maximum transparency including about all the data but it's also very, very important to say one chain of e-mails, potentially misrepresented, does not undo the global science," Miliband said Friday. "I think we want to send a very clear message to people about that."
"There will be people that want to use this to try and undermine the science and we're not going to let them," he said.
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have grilled government scientists on the leaked e-mails in a hearing Wednesday in Washington, but the scientists countered that the e-mails don't change the fact that the earth is warming.
"The e-mails do nothing to undermine the very strong scientific consensus ... that tells us the earth is warming, that warming is largely a result of human activity," said Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
She said the e-mails don't address data from her agency or the U.S. space agency NASA, which both keep independent climate records that show dramatic global warming.
Associated Press Writer David Stringer in London contributed to this report
4 Dec. 2009
LONDON — The United Nations will conduct its own investigation into e-mails leaked from a leading British climate science center in addition to the probe by the University of East Anglia, a senior U.N. climate official said Friday.
E-mails stolen from the climate unit at the University of East Anglia appeared to show some of world's leading scientists discussing ways to shield data from public scrutiny and suppress others' work. Those who deny the influence of man-made climate change have seized on the correspondence to argue that scientists have been conspiring to hide evidence about global warming.
In an interview with BBC radio, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra Pachauri, said the issue raised by the e-mails was serious and said "we will look into it in detail,"
"We will certainly go into the whole lot and then we will take a position on it," he said. "We certainly don't want to brush anything under the carpet."
The University of East Anglia has defended the integrity of the science published by the climate unit and its researchers, but on Thursday said it would investigate whether some of the data had been fudged. Phil Jones, the director of the unit, stepped down earlier in the week pending the result of the investigation.
East Anglia said its review will examine the e-mails and other information "to determine whether there is any evidence of the manipulation or suppression of data which is at odds with acceptable scientific practice."
The theft of the e-mails and their publication online — only weeks before the U.N. summit on global warming — has been politically explosive, even if researchers say their content has no bearing on the principles of climate change itself.
Britain's Ed Miliband, the climate change secretary, acknowledged the revelations may have an impact on the Copenhagen talks on a new global emissions reduction pact, but dismissed as "flat Earth-ers" critics who claim the e-mails are proof the case for man-made climate change is exaggerated.
"We need maximum transparency including about all the data but it's also very, very important to say one chain of e-mails, potentially misrepresented, does not undo the global science," Miliband said Friday. "I think we want to send a very clear message to people about that."
"There will be people that want to use this to try and undermine the science and we're not going to let them," he said.
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have grilled government scientists on the leaked e-mails in a hearing Wednesday in Washington, but the scientists countered that the e-mails don't change the fact that the earth is warming.
"The e-mails do nothing to undermine the very strong scientific consensus ... that tells us the earth is warming, that warming is largely a result of human activity," said Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
She said the e-mails don't address data from her agency or the U.S. space agency NASA, which both keep independent climate records that show dramatic global warming.
Associated Press Writer David Stringer in London contributed to this report
Record-attempting solar powered plane's first 'hop'
BBC News
4 December 2009
The Solar Impulse prototype plane, part of a planned solar-powered circumnavigation of the globe, has left the ground for the first time.
The maiden flight was dubbed a "flea hop" by project leaders, at 350m in length and a height of just one metre.
The next flight, at the Payerne air force airfield in western Switzerland, will see the plane reach an altitude of nearly 9,000m, once more using on-board batteries.
The final version of the plane will attempt a solar-powered transatlantic flight in 2012 prior to the round-the-world trip.
Record solar plane's first 'hop'
By Jason Palmer
Science and technology reporter, BBC News
The Solar Impulse prototype plane, part of a planned solar-powered circumnavigation of the globe, has left the ground for the first time.
The maiden flight was dubbed a "flea hop" by project leaders, at 350m in length and a height of just one metre.
The plane will now be transported to a different airfield for a flight of a few hours in March.
The final version of the plane will attempt a transatlantic flight in 2012 prior to the round-the-world trip.
The prototype first ventured outside a hangar in November, with a range of on-the-ground tests and a run-up of the plane's motors.
Solar Impulse plane
Thursday's flight, with test pilot Markus Scherdel at the controls, was the first time the plane had been brought to takeoff speed.
"The airplane flew the way we have experienced it in the simulators," said Bertrand Piccard, a founder of Solar Impulse and the first person to carry out a round-the-world balloon flight.
"That's of course a very big comfort for all the engineers who've worked for six years to build this airplane."
The next flight, at the Payerne air force airfield in western Switzerland, will see the plane reach an altitude of nearly 9,000m.
Only after this flight will the plane make its first "solar flight" - that is, powered by the solar generators rather than the on-board batteries.
The team plans a flight of a full day and night in the summer of 2010, building up to a transatlantic flight in small steps as the crew ensure the plane's behaviour is well-understood.
"It's a completely new flight domain," said Dr Piccard.
"It's the first time in the history of aviation that an airplane so big and so light using so little energy gets in the air - basically everything is new."
Solar Impulse plane
4 December 2009
The Solar Impulse prototype plane, part of a planned solar-powered circumnavigation of the globe, has left the ground for the first time.
The maiden flight was dubbed a "flea hop" by project leaders, at 350m in length and a height of just one metre.
The next flight, at the Payerne air force airfield in western Switzerland, will see the plane reach an altitude of nearly 9,000m, once more using on-board batteries.
The final version of the plane will attempt a solar-powered transatlantic flight in 2012 prior to the round-the-world trip.
Record solar plane's first 'hop'
By Jason Palmer
Science and technology reporter, BBC News
The Solar Impulse prototype plane, part of a planned solar-powered circumnavigation of the globe, has left the ground for the first time.
The maiden flight was dubbed a "flea hop" by project leaders, at 350m in length and a height of just one metre.
The plane will now be transported to a different airfield for a flight of a few hours in March.
The final version of the plane will attempt a transatlantic flight in 2012 prior to the round-the-world trip.
The prototype first ventured outside a hangar in November, with a range of on-the-ground tests and a run-up of the plane's motors.
Solar Impulse plane
Thursday's flight, with test pilot Markus Scherdel at the controls, was the first time the plane had been brought to takeoff speed.
"The airplane flew the way we have experienced it in the simulators," said Bertrand Piccard, a founder of Solar Impulse and the first person to carry out a round-the-world balloon flight.
"That's of course a very big comfort for all the engineers who've worked for six years to build this airplane."
The next flight, at the Payerne air force airfield in western Switzerland, will see the plane reach an altitude of nearly 9,000m.
Only after this flight will the plane make its first "solar flight" - that is, powered by the solar generators rather than the on-board batteries.
The team plans a flight of a full day and night in the summer of 2010, building up to a transatlantic flight in small steps as the crew ensure the plane's behaviour is well-understood.
"It's a completely new flight domain," said Dr Piccard.
"It's the first time in the history of aviation that an airplane so big and so light using so little energy gets in the air - basically everything is new."
Solar Impulse plane
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