Category Archives: Climate Change

Climate change will reduce crop yields sooner than thought

A study led by the University of Leeds has shown that global warming of only 2°C will be detrimental to crops in temperate and tropical regions, with reduced yields from the 2030s onwards. Professor Andy Challinor, from the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds and lead author of the study, said:…

A Hunk Of Planet Dissolves Before Our Eyes

It begins with a growl. Then there's a crack — a slurpy, sucky, crunchy noise. A guy is on the phone, and his pal interrupts him and says, "It's starting, Adam, I think. Adam? It's starting ..." The two are up on a bluff, overlooking a giant ice field. They are standing next to time-lapse…

Arctic Sea Ice Melt Season Getting Longer

The summer melt season for Arctic sea ice has lengthened by a month or more since 1979, a new study finds. The primary culprit is a delayed fall freeze-up — the autumn chill when sea water freezes into ice — but the fallout remains the same: the Arctic ice cap is stuck in a vicious…

Florida’s mangroves are making a move north

From South Florida to St. Augustine, mangroves are making moves up Florida’s Atlantic coast, chewing up salt marshes in the latest indicator of global climate change. But scientists say the ecological consequences may not be harmful. “There are plenty of examples of climate change having a negative impact, but this is something very different,” said…

East Antarctica Is Sliding Sideways: Ice Loss On West Antarctica Affecting Mantle Flow Below

It's official: East Antarctica is pushing West Antarctica around. Now that West Antarctica is losing weight--that is, billions of tons of ice per year--its softer mantle rock is being nudged westward by the harder mantle beneath East Antarctica. The discovery comes from researchers led by The Ohio State University, who have recorded GPS measurements that…

Shrinking Arctic Sea Ice Means Scorching US Summers

Thirty years of shrinking Arctic sea ice has boosted extreme summer weather, including heat waves and drought, in the United States and elsewhere, according to a study published today (Dec. 8) in the journal Nature Climate Change. The new study — based on satellite tracking of sea ice, snow cover and weather trends since 1979…

Expert Assessment: Sea-Level Rise Could Exceed One Meter in This Century

Sea-level rise in this century is likely to be 70-120 centimeters by 2100 if greenhouse-gas emissions are not mitigated, a broad assessment of the most active scientific publishers on that topic has revealed. The 90 experts participating in the survey anticipate a median sea-level rise of 200-300 centimeters by the year 2300 for a scenario…

How climate change will affect the Southeast US

Rising sea levels, warming temperatures, heat waves, worsening air quality and stresses on the water supply are issues the Southeast will face over the next 20 years because of man-made climate change, according to a report released Tuesday. "The Southeast is a key part of the problem," said Keith Ingram, director of the Southeast Climate…

Nicholas Ogle stands at the water’s edge on Florida International University’s Biscayne Bay campus and holds what looks like a giant, rotten green bean out to the crowd of teenagers in front of him. “We don’t want any mushiness anywhere, especially at the top,” he says, and chucks the specimen to the side. Ogle, an…

Preparing for Hell and High Water: Researchers Advocate for Climate Adaptation Science

Changes are already happening to Earth's climate due to the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and large-scale agriculture. As changes get more pronounced, people everywhere will have to adjust. In this week's issue of the journal Science, an international group of researchers urge the development of science needed to manage climate risks and capitalize on…