Climate Science

06/02/14
Author: 
Mike De Souza
Debi Daviau is president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada.

OTTAWA – The federal government will cut $2.6 billion in spending and nearly 5,000 jobs from its science-focused departments between 2013 and 2016, says a report released Thursday by a union representing government scientists and professionals. The report, which includes survey data showing a majority of scientists believe their departments are weakening efforts to protect Canadians and the environment, highlights the departure of key experts who did research on rail safety and public health, as well as the recent review of Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline proposal.

06/02/14
Author: 
Robert Scribbler
(Greenland’s vast Jakobshavn Isbrae Glacier rushes toward the sea at 10 miles per year. Image source: The University of Washington)

Polar amplification. It’s kind of a dirty word in the climate science community. It’s, what would seem, a counter-intuitive displacement of much of the warming world’s heat over some of its coldest regions, during its coldest seasons. It’s not the curse word that everyone can’t say. No, that’s more likely hydrogen sulfide gas — the veritable F-word of the oceanic climate community and only slightly worse than the M-word, methane. But it’s an uncomfortable term nonetheless because it brings up some rather uncomfortable issues.

Category: 
27/01/14
Author: 
Sophie Morlin-Yron

Global temperatures continued rising in 2013 despite the cold snap that hit parts of the US this winter, NASA research shows. Last year tied with 2009 and 2006, making it the seventh warmest year since record-keeping began back in 1880. The report was released on Tuesday by NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. GISS climatologist Gavin Schmidt said such long-­term trends are "unusual".

Category: 
31/01/14
Author: 
Ian Lovett
Launch media viewer State reservoir levels are lower in California than they were at this time in 1977, the last time the state endured a drought this severe.  David Mcnew/Getty Images

LOS ANGELES — Responding to one of the worst droughts in California’s history, state officials announced on Friday that they would cut off the water to local agencies serving 25 million residents and about 750,000 acres of farmland.

Category: 
26/01/14
Author: 
Steve Connor

Tropical rainforests are becoming less able to cope with rising global temperatures according to a study that has looked back over the way they have responded to variations in temperature in the past half a century. For each 1C rise in temperature, tropical regions now release about 2 billion extra tonnes of carbon-containing gases – such as carbon dioxide and methane – into the atmosphere, compared to the same amount of tropical warming in the 1960s and 1970s, the study found.

Category: 
02/01/14
Author: 
Steve Connor

An emergency "Plan B" using the latest technology is needed to save the world from dangerous climate change, according to a poll of leading scientists carried out by The Independent. The collective international failure to curb the growing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has meant that an alternative to merely curbing emissions may become necessary.

Category: 
22/01/14
Author: 
Kofi Annan

When Nelson Mandela formed the Elders in 2007 to promote peace and human rights across the world, he challenged us to be bold and to give a voice to those who have none. No issue demands these qualities more than our collective failure to tackle climate change. Climate change is the biggest challenge of our time. It threatens the well-being of hundreds of millions of people today and many billions more in the future.

Category: 
13/12/13
Author: 
Kevin Anderson

Below is an open letter (dated 13th Dec. 2013) to the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, outlining how, if the EU is to “set in stone a commitment to cap the temperature increase at 2 degrees Celsius” it must double its proposed 2030 decarbonisation target. As the letter makes clear, for the EU to honour this commitment the Commission must find the courage to pursue an equitable and science-based 2030 decarbonisation target of around 80%.

Category: 
21/01/14
Author: 
Peter Rugh
Dr. Katie Gibbs speaks at a Stand Up for Science rally at Parliament Hill in Ottowa last September. (Evidence for Democracy / Kevin O’Donnell)

Seven of Canada’s most prized scientific libraries are being shut down and some of their contents have already been burned, thrown away or carted off by fossil fuel consultancy firms.

26/01/14
Author: 
Steve Connor
                                For each 1C rise in temperature, tropical regions now release about 2 billion extra tonnes of carbon-containing gases

Tropical rainforests are becoming less able to cope with rising global temperatures according to a study that has looked back over the way they have responded to variations in temperature in the past half a century. For each 1C rise in temperature, tropical regions now release about 2 billion extra tonnes of carbon-containing gases – such as carbon dioxide and methane – into the atmosphere, compared to the same amount of tropical warming in the 1960s and 1970s, the study found.

Category: 

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Climate Science