Situation Report

Read more about Climate Change’s Links to Conflict Draws UN Attention
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Recent Changes in the Ventilation of the Southern Oceans

Wed, 2013-02-06 21:51 — Kathy Gilbeaux

sciencemag.org - Darryn W. Waugh¹,Francois Primeau²,Tim DeVries³,Mark Holzer⁴- February 1, 2013

Abstract

Surface westerly winds in the Southern Hemisphere have intensified over the past few decades, primarily in response to the formation of the Antarctic ozone hole, and there is intense debate on the impact of this on the ocean's circulation and uptake and redistribution of atmospheric gases. We used measurements of chlorofluorocarbon-12 (CFC-12) made in the southern oceans in the early 1990s and mid- to late 2000s to examine changes in ocean ventilation. Our analysis of the CFC-12 data reveals a decrease in the age of subtropical subantarctic mode waters and an increase in the age of circumpolar deep waters, suggesting that the formation of the Antarctic ozone hole has caused large-scale coherent changes in the ventilation of the southern oceans.

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http://www.sciencemag.org/content/339/6119/563.abstract

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Detecting Ozone- and Greenhouse Gas–Driven Wind Trends with Observational Data

Wed, 2013-02-06 21:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

sciencemag.org - Sukyoung Lee¹,Steven B. Feldstein¹- February 1, 2013

Abstract

Modeling studies suggest that Antarctic ozone depletion and, to a lesser degree, greenhouse gas (GHG) increase have caused the observed poleward shift in the westerly jet during the austral summer. Similar studies have not been performed previously with observational data because of difficulties in separating the two contributions. By applying a cluster analysis to daily ERA-Interim data, we found two 7- to 11-day wind clusters, one resembling the models' responses to GHG forcing and the other resembling ozone depletion. The trends in the clusters' frequency of occurrence indicate that the ozone contributed about 50% more than GHG toward the jet shift, supporting the modeling results. Moreover, tropical convection apparently plays an important role for the GHG-driven trend.

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Solomons Quake Triggers Tsunami, Destroys Villages

Tue, 2013-02-05 22:57 — Kathy Gilbeaux

ABC News - Live Coverage Blog - February 5, 2013

A magnitude 8.0 earthquake off Solomon Islands has generated a tsunami and destroyed three villages.

(GO TO THE LIVE BLOG)

Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
http://ptwc.weather.gov/

From GDACS . . . Estimated wave height and arrival times of Tsunami
http://tinyurl.com/a72nss9 . . .

USGS - 8.0 Earthquake
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usc000f1s0#summary

West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center
http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/

National Data Buoy Center - Facebook Announcement
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=401774316576562&id=128538033843673

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Major Storm Accelerated Arctic Sea Ice Loss, Study Finds

Mon, 2013-02-04 22:10 — Kathy Gilbeaux

climatecentral.org - by Andrew Freedman - February 1, 2013

(LINKS TO STUDY - LOCATED AT THE BOTTOM)

The "Great Arctic Cyclone of 2012," which struck the Arctic at the height of the sea ice melt season in early August, was not responsible for causing sea ice extent to plunge to a record low just a few weeks later. That is one of the conclusions of a new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. It is the first study to quantify the impacts that the storm had on the fragile Arctic sea ice cover, which has been rapidly shrinking and thinning in response to rapid Arctic warming.

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http://www.sld.cu/sitios/colera/verpost.php?blog=http://articulos.sld.cu/colera/&post_id=1587&c=521&tipo=2&idblog=178&p=1&n=dfp

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Official Report of 01 Ogawa Cholera in Havana

Sat, 2013-02-02 23:57 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Official Report of 01 Ogawa Cholera in Havana

Ministry of Public Health, Cuba - sld.cu - January 16, 2013

Location: El Cerro, Havana

Cases: 51

The outbreak of cholera (01 Ogawa Vibrio cholerae) in Havana is now being reported as under control. Cuba has a strong public health system, which has traced the cholera outbreak to a single asymptomatic food vender. In addition to rigorous epidemiological measures, the Ministry of Health has also stepped up health communication regarding hand-washing, and the use of sanitary measures regarding clean water and the cooking of food.

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Disease

Health

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CIA-commissioned report on climate change released

Thu, 2012-11-15 00:58 — Maeryn Obley

2010 Drought in Russia. (c) New York Times.

Image: 2010 Drought in Russia. (c) New York Times.

foreignpolicyblogs.com - November 10th, 2012 - Mia Bennett

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and National Research Council (NRC) have released a report commissioned by the CIA and various other American intelligence agencies on the security threats posed by climate change. The report’s goal is to inform intelligence agencies as to how to best carry out monitoring to anticipate climate-related disasters, help prevent them from occurring, and, when they do, respond to emergencies. The report investigates how climate change could potentially induce social and political stresses that will affect U.S. security over the next decade.

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Disaster Risk Reduction

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U.S. to Overtake Saudi Arabia, Russia as World's Top Energy Producer

Wed, 2012-11-14 13:17 — Maeryn Obley

Oil derricks like this one outside of Williston, North Dakota, are part of a shale oil boom that has helped put the United States on track to overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's leading oil producer. Photograph by Gregory Bull, AP

Image: Oil derricks like this one outside of Williston, North Dakota, are part of a shale oil boom that has helped put the United States on track to overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's leading oil producer. Photograph by Gregory Bull, AP

news.nationalgeographic.com - November 12th, 2012 - Theodore K. Grose

In an indication of how "fracking" is reshaping the global energy picture, the International Energy Agency today projected that the United States will overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's largest oil producer by 2017.

And within just three years, the United States will unseat Russia as the largest producer of natural gas.

Both results would have been unthinkable even a few short years ago, but the future geography of supply has shifted dramatically due to what IEA calls America's "energy renaissance."

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Economics

Energy

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2012 State of the Future

Mon, 2012-11-12 18:18 — Maeryn Obley

millenniumproject.org - Jerome C. Glenn, Theodore J. Gordon, and Elizabeth Florescu

The 2012 State of the Future with access to all of The Millennium Project’s research over the past 16 years is now available in several different modes: Online Download, CD, Flash drive, and Print.

You can purchase the Executive Edition of 120 pages (without the appendix supporting the research and without all of the previous research 10,000 pages) on Kindle from Amazon.

(VIEW PROJECT WEBSITE)

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Sustainable Development

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Sandy forces climate change on US election despite fossil fuel lobby

Thu, 2012-11-01 21:38 — Maeryn Obley

Currie Wagner looks over the debris from his grandmother Betty Wagner's house, destroyed by Sandy, in New Jersey. Photograph: Julio Cortez/AP

Image: Currie Wagner looks over the debris from his grandmother Betty Wagner's house, destroyed by Sandy, in New Jersey. Photograph: Julio Cortez/AP

guardian.co.uk - October 31st, 2012 - Bill McKibben

Here's a sentence I wish I hadn't written – it rolled out of my Macbook in May, part of an article for Rolling Stone that quickly went viral:

"Say something so big finally happens (a giant hurricane swamps Manhattan, a megadrought wipes out Midwest agriculture) that even the political power of the industry is inadequate to restrain legislators, who manage to regulate carbon."

I wish I hadn't written it because the first half gives me entirely undeserved credit for prescience: I had no idea both would, in fact, happen in the next six months.

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