Earth warming during reduced solar output

February 1st, 2012 by NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies

A NASA study underscores the fact that greenhouse gases generated by human activity — not changes in solar activity — are the primary force driving global warming.

The study, ‘Earth’s energy imbalance and implications’, published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics in December 2011, offers an updated calculation of the Earth’s energy imbalance, the difference between the amount of solar energy absorbed by Earth’s surface and the amount returned to space as heat. Continue reading

Broadest worldwide study to date shows complexity and variability of ocean acidification

January 29th, 2012 by UC Santa Barbara

Might a penguin’s next meal be affected by your car exhaust?

The answer may be yes, when you add your exhaust fumes to the total amount of carbon dioxide lofted into the atmosphere by humans since the start of the industrial revolution.

Car exhaust gases contribute to climate change and ocean acidification (click image to expand - ©RLLord)

One-third of that carbon dioxide is absorbed by the world’s oceans, making them more acidic and affecting marine life.

A UC Santa Barbara marine scientist and a team of 18 other researchers have reported results of the broadest worldwide study of ocean acidification to date. Continue reading

Sensible and practical actions will reduce greenhouse gas emissions says Nobel Laureate

January 10th, 2012 by Mark Golden

In December 2011, Stanford Nobel laureate Burton Richter received the 2011 Phi Beta Kappa Book Award in Science for ‘Beyond Smoke and Mirrors: Climate Change and Energy in the 21st Century‘ (Cambridge University Press, 2010).

Richter, who was in his mid-70s when he began work on the book, remains active, diving into energy and environmental issues. He also has been happily married for 51 years. “That helps a lot,” he says.

International climate negotiations concluded recently in Durban, South Africa. The results were seen as pretty weak. What are your thoughts? Continue reading

UK has second warmest year on record in 2011

January 1st, 2012 by Met Office Hadley Centre

The UK had the second warmest year on record in 2011.

banana plants growing in St Peter Port, Guernsey (click image to expand - ©RLLord)

All the UK’s top seven warmest years have occurred in the last decade, with 2006 leading the list.

The UK experienced the warmest April and Spring on record, and the second warmest Autumn in 2011. Continue reading

Largest investors vow to seize initiative in wake of Durban climate talks at UN meeting on 12 January

December 23rd, 2011 by Ceres

Despite the weak economy and inconclusive climate talks in Durban, South Africa, global investors are bringing unprecedented attention to climate change and its wide-ranging risks and opportunities for investment portfolios.

On 12 January 2012 nearly 500 of the world’s investors and most powerful financial players will gather at the United Nations to showcase their actions and discuss promising trends to catalyze the large-scale investment needed to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate potentially catastrophic climate impacts. Continue reading

European Investment Bank provides €300 million loan to improve energy efficiency of home appliances

December 21st, 2011 by European Investment Bank

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is supporting a development project to be carried out by BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH (BSH) involving energy efficiency in the home.

Washing machines, driers and refrigerators offer considerable potential for saving energy.

BSH is planning an extensive development project to lower domestic electricity consumption and reduce water consumption.

The EIB is involved in financing the project with a € 300 million loan. Continue reading

The Durban Vision Statement – unprecedented transformation required for global sustainability

December 15th, 2011 by Stockholm Environment Institute

(click image to download PDF file)

Looking ahead to Rio+20 and future climate negotiations, four of the world’s leading research institutes on global sustainability have released a statement calling on world leaders to “adopt a new mindset to listen to the voice of science and knowledge and address the unavoidable interconnections between global sustainability, poverty eradication, social justice and economic development in an environmentally constrained world.”

The four research institutes are: Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC), Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). Continue reading

Increased carbon dioxide emissions may significantly decrease survival and growth of some fishes

December 15th, 2011 by Stony Brook University

Fossil fuel combustion, and with it the release of heat-trapping carbon dioxide (CO2), is still growing globally.

Beyond climate change, this is also causing the world’s “other CO2 problem,” ocean acidification, i.e., the formation of carbonic acid when CO2 from the atmosphere enters seawater.

Previous studies have demonstrated a multitude of negative effects of elevated CO2 conditions for many groups of marine organisms such as corals, plankton, shellfish and sea urchins. Continue reading

Atlantic cod larvae vulnerable to ocean acidification

December 14th, 2011 by Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences

Fish stocks are not only threatened by over-fishing.

An international research group led by the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences (IFM-GEOMAR) has found evidence for potentially harmful effects the increasing acidification of the oceans may have on larvae of commercially important fish species such as cod.

The study, ‘Severe tissue damage in Atlantic cod larvae under increasing ocean acidification‘, was published in the internationally renowned journal Nature Climate Change. Continue reading

Climate change expanding ocean dead zones

December 14th, 2011 by United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The science behind counting fish in the ocean to measure their abundance has never been simple. A scientific paper authored by NOAA Fisheries biologist Eric Prince, Ph.D., and eight other scientists shows that expanding ocean dead zones – driven by climate change – have added a new wrinkle to that science.

In the 4 December 2011 paper, “Expansion of oxygen minimum zones may reduce available habitat for tropical pelagic fishes,” published in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change, these scientists sound an alarm that expanding ocean dead zones are shrinking the habitat for high value fish such as marlins in the tropical northeast Atlantic Ocean. Continue reading