XIENCE

  • Near-record temperatures for June

    The Guardian reports that last month was the third-hottest June in recorded history, despite the La Nina cycle which should have depressed temperatures.  The information comes from the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  The Guardian article notes, The figures also cement estimations that warming is now at levels not seen for 115,000 years, and…

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  • Scientists confirm climate change

    By congressional mandate, scientists from multiple federal agencies prepare a National Climate Assessment every four years.  A final draft report completed this year concludes that Americans are feeling the effects of climate change right now.  The report received little attention until it was just published in the New York Times.  Scientists leaked the draft out of…

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  • Huge iceberg breaks away; maps will need to be withdrawn

    The Delaware-sized Larsen C iceberg has finally broken away from Antarctica.

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  • Analysis shows more hot days ahead; will be worse if no united world action on global warming

    With moderate climate action, there will be more hot days.  With no action, things will be far worse.  NYT article here.

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  • Graphic shows shrinking ice in Glacier National Park

    NYT article uses data USGS and Portland State University.

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  • Scientists consider a radical solution to gobal warming

    Interesting New York Times article about solar geoengineering.

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  • Trump’s budget proposes 16% cut for Commerce, primarily NOAA

    From the Washington Post: "Climate change and ocean research would suffer sharp cuts in the Trump budget proposal for the Commerce Department, which aims for a reduction of 16 percent, or $1.5 billion, much of that targeted at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."  Most affected would be coastal research programs. More here.

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  • Early spring a function of climate change

    New research shows a strong link between global warming and the warm February that has led to an early bloom in many parts of the country.  Take a look at the fascinating graphic in this article.

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  • Vatican Conference on biological extinction sounds the alarm

    World scientists will gather next week to discuss the problem of resource consumption. The meeting aims to connect the dots between social behavior and ecosystem destruction.   Read the story in The Guardian.

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  • Doomsday clock advances in response to Trump’s statements

    The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which operates a symbolic Doomsday clock, today moved its minute hand a half-minute closer to the final hour.  It had been at three minutes before the hour; now it is at two-and-a-half minutes before the hour.  In a New York Times op-ed article, two scientists involved in the decision…

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  • As the world heats up: The anti-EPA nominee for EPA head takes a trip to Capitol Hill

    Here's Elizabeth Kolbert of The New Yorker on the irony of Scott Pruitt's Senate confirmation hearing for the position EPA head occurring on the same day that NASA and NOAA announced that 2016 had been warmest year since record keeping began.

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  • U.S. scientists declare 2016 hottest year on record

    NASA and NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) today jointly announced that 2016 had been the hottest year on record, surpassing 2015 which had also set a record. Can there be any doubt that this is a desperately serious global warming trend?

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  • Intervening in nature to counter global warming

    On its way out, the Obama White House recommended research into the controversial concept of geoengineering as a means to slow or reverse global warming.  New York Times story here.

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  • IUCN publishes latest update of threatened species list

    The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) released a new update to its Red List of Threatened Species. The update includes the first assessments of various crops essential to food security, and includes the information that the global giraffe population has plummeted by 40% in the last 30 years. “Many species…

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  • Please, Mr. Trump, reflect before you act!

    As President-Elect Trump moves toward contravening the Paris agreement, how can he ignore these Pew Research Center graphics on what the world thinks about climate change?

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  • Trump Could Put Climate Change on Course for ‘Danger Zone’ – NYT

    Can anyone doubt that Donald Trump's election will be disastrous for our planet's future? Here's a New York Times story on the threat to domestic regulations and to Paris climate agreement.

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  • Was threat level to endangered species understated?

    This article in Science online reports on a study finding that the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species has misclassified the threats to hundreds of animals.

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  • Harder to adapt from a one-down position

    This article from Skeptical Science makes the point that not only is rapid climate change a threat to plant and animal forms that do not have time to adapt, but also the effect is increased by the fact that these forms of life are less resilient in the first place, with a "shifting baseline" of…

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  • A picture is worth a thousand words

    GIF of 1999-2014 National Geographic atlases shows shrinking of Arctic ice sheet:  Source: National Geographic, 8/3/2015

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  • Halloween’s coming; here’s some scary food for thought

    For those considering a move to mitigate the effects of climate change, the New York Times provides a list of places that may be safer to retreat to, but warns that that safety is relative: Even if you manage to avoid extreme heat, drought, etc., “I don’t care if you found the safest place in the…

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