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Syrian Civil War Prompts First Withdrawal From Doomsday Seed Vault In The Arctic

Wed, 2015-09-23 21:25 — Maeryn Obley

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault was opened on Feb. 26, 2008. Carved into the Arctic permafrost and filled with samples of the world's most important seeds, it's a Noah's Ark of food crops to be used in the event of a global catastrophe. AFP/Getty Images

Image: The Svalbard Global Seed Vault was opened on Feb. 26, 2008. Carved into the Arctic permafrost and filled with samples of the world's most important seeds, it's a Noah's Ark of food crops to be used in the event of a global catastrophe. AFP/Getty Images

npr.org - September 23rd, 2015

A tall rectangular building juts out of a mountainside on a Norwegian island just 800 miles from the North Pole. Narrow and sharply edged, the facility cuts an intimidating figure against the barren Arctic background. But the gray building holds the key to the earth's biodiversity.

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CLICK HERE - Living Blue Planet Report 2015

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Ocean Fish Populations Cut In Half Since The 1970s: Report

Sat, 2015-09-19 10:33 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Populations of some commercial fish stocks, such as a group including tuna, mackerel and bonito, had fallen by almost 75 percent.

huffingtonpost.com - by Andy Campbell - September 16, 2015

A disturbing new report published by the World Wildlife Fund found that the world marine vertebrate population declined by 49 percent between 1970 and 2012.

The Living Blue Planet Report -- analyzed by the Zoological Society of London and issued as an update on our oceans' health -- also found that local and commercial fish populations have been cut in half, tropical reefs have lost nearly half of their reef-building coral, and there are 250,000 metric tons of plastic in our oceans.

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CLICK HERE - STUDY - Combustion of available fossil fuel resources sufficient to eliminate the Antarctic Ice Sheet

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Worst-Case Scenario: If We Burn All Remaining Fossil Fuels, Antarctica Would Melt Entirely, Raise Sea Level 200 Feet

Sun, 2015-09-13 21:51 — Kathy Gilbeaux

This chart shows how Antarctic ice would be affected by different emissions scenarios. “GTC” stands for gigatons of carbon. Ken Caldeira and Ricarda Winkelmann

newsweek.com - by Zoë Schlanger - September 11, 2015

“Combustion of available fossil fuel resources sufficient to eliminate the Antarctic Ice Sheet.”

Few peer-reviewed study titles sound quite so much like a line spoken by the bad-news-bearing scientist from a dystopian sci-fi movie. But there it is. A real-world—and apparently very possible—dystopia.

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Warming Oceans Putting Marine Life ‘In a Blender’

Fri, 2015-09-04 23:42 — Maeryn Obley

A lobsterman threw back a lobster near Mount Desert, Me. in 2012. The catch in the area has reached record highs. Credit Robert F Bukaty/Associated Press

Image: A lobsterman threw back a lobster near Mount Desert, Me. in 2012. The catch in the area has reached record highs. Credit Robert F Bukaty/Associated Press

nytimes.com - September 3rd, 2015 - Carl Zimmer

Up in Maine, lobsters are thriving. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission reported last month that stocks there have reached a record high.

Down the coast, however, the story is different.

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Grey Swan Hurricanes Pose Future Storm Surge Threat

Tue, 2015-09-01 13:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

About 80 percent of New Orleans was flooded when Hurricane Katrina's storm surge overwhelmed the city's levees.
Credit: Kelly Garbato/flickr

climatecentral.org - by Andrea Thompson - September 1, 2015

Black swans are catastrophic events that no one sees coming, while “grey swans,” as the are known, are extreme events for which there’s no historical precedent, but that could still potentially be predicted. A new study takes this concept into the realm of weather and climate, finding that global warming might sharply increase the odds of grey swan hurricanes and storm surge over the coming century.

While such tempests would still remain relatively rare, they could pose unrecognized but potentially serious threats to coastal areas like Tampa, Fla., and Dubai, with storm surge totals reaching into the double digits when measured in feet.

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Grey swan tropical cyclones

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Greenland's Jakobshavn Glacier Sheds Big Ice Chunk

Mon, 2015-08-24 20:48 — Kathy Gilbeaux

This optical image of Jakobshavn glacier in western Greenland, acquired by Sentinel-2A on 16 August 2015, offers a valuable perspective of the scale of the calving event that took place between 14 and 16 August. The contour indicates the area of ice lost between images acquired on 6 and 16 August.

bbc.com - August 24, 2015

Scientists are studying a big mass of ice that has broken off the Jakobshavn Glacier in Greenland.

They say the 12.4km sq section is among the largest ever witnessed to come away from the ice stream's calving front.

Satellite imagery suggests the break-up occurred sometime between 13 and 19 August.

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Cost of Not Acting on Climate Change $44 Trillion: Citi

Sun, 2015-08-23 20:26 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Luiz Filipe Castro | Moment | Getty Images

cnbc.com - by Anmar Frangoul - August 18, 2015

Up to $44 trillion could be going up in smoke if the world does not act on climate change, according to the latest piece of research from U.S. banking giant Citigroup.

The report – Energy Darwinism II: Why a Low Carbon Future Doesn't Have to Cost the Earth -- has forecast that spending on energy will hit around $200 trillion in the next 25 years.

The study then examines two scenarios: one that Citi describe as an "'inaction' on climate change scenario", and another that looks at what could happen if a low carbon, "different energy mix" is pursued.

CLICK HERE - Energy Darwinism II: Why a Low Carbon Future Doesn't Have to Cost the Earth

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CLICK HERE - Climate Action Tracker

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Climate Action Tracker

Sun, 2015-08-23 15:31 — Kathy Gilbeaux

climateactiontracker.org

The "Climate Action Tracker" is an independent science-based assessment, which tracks the emission commitments and actions of countries. The website provides an up-to-date assessment of individual national pledges, targets and INDCs and currently implemented policy to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

CLICK HERE - ABOUT - Climate Action Tracker

CLICK HERE - Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) as Communicated by Parties

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Iran city hits suffocating heat index of 165 degrees, near world record

Tue, 2015-08-04 21:27 — Maeryn Obley

Chart showing temperature, dew point in index in Bandar Mahshahr over last 36 hours, using National Weather Service heat index value calculations. (Brian McNoldy)

Image: Chart showing temperature, dew point in index in Bandar Mahshahr over last 36 hours, using National Weather Service heat index value calculations. (Brian McNoldy)

washingtonpost.com - July 31st, 2015 - Jason Samenow

Wherever you live or happen to travel to, never complain about the heat and humidity again.

In the city of Bandar Mahshahr (population of about 110,000 as of 2010), the air felt like a searing 165 degrees (74 Celsius) today factoring in the humidity.

Although there are no official records of heat indices, this is second highest level we have ever seen reported.

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Disastrous Sea Level Rise Is an Issue for Today's Public - Not Next Millennium's

Tue, 2015-08-04 10:49 — Kathy Gilbeaux

huffingtonpost.com - by Dr. James Hansen - July 27, 2015

. . . 2°C global warming, rather than being a safe "guardrail," is highly dangerous. . . .

. . . My conclusion, based on the total information available, is that continued high emissions would result in multi-meter sea level rise this century and lock in continued ice sheet disintegration such that building cities or rebuilding cities on coast lines would become foolish. . . .

. . . A startling conclusion of our paper is that effects of freshwater release onto the Southern Ocean and North Atlantic are already underway and 1-2 decades sooner in the real world than in the model (Fig. 2).

CLICK HERE - Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics - Earth's energy imbalance and implications

CLICK HERE - Ice Melt, Sea Level Rise and Superstorms: Evidence from Paleoclimate Data, Climate Modeling, and Modern Observations that 2°C Global Warming is Highly Dangerous

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