|
|
|
ClimateClimate defines the average of weather in a region over a long period of time, typically 30 years. Weather defines the short term atmospheric conditions over a few hours or days, basically what you get in the local weather forecast for your community. The terms Climate Change and Global Warming are often used interchangeably, but the scientific community prefers Climate Change because some areas are warmer and some are cooler, and some areas have warmer summers but cooler winters. The overall global trend on a statistical basis is one of warming. In this website we have divided Climate into five categories for discussion: Air Pollution, Fossil Fuels, Global Warming, Ozone Layer, Climatic Events and Oceans.
The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a scientific intergovernmental body set up by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). It’s stated role is “to assess on a comprehensive, objective, open and transparent basis the latest scientific, technical and socio-economic literature produced worldwide relevant to the understanding of the risk of human-induced climate change, its observed and projected impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation.” The IPCC periodically puts out assessment reports, the most recent being the November 2007 report for 2006.
The IPCC reports deserve special mention because they are the most often referenced in articles, speeches, books, and publications by other scientific organizations, scientists, authors and journalists and their websites.
|
Latest Climate Content  | | Article Details: The U.S. has done the least among the world's eight largest economies to address global warming, a study released Thursday found. The G-8 Climate Scorecards 2008, released Thursday ahead of next week's gathering of the Group of Eight, also found that none of the eight countries are making improvements large enough to prevent temperature increases that scientists think would cause catastrophic climate changes. | |
|
| | | Article Details: It seems unthinkable, but for the first time in human history, ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year. The disappearance of the Arctic sea ice, making it possible to reach the Pole sailing in a boat through open water, would be one of the most dramatic – and worrying – examples of the impact of global warming on the planet. | |
|
|  | | Article Details: Last year global levels of atmospheric CO2, the primary driver of global climate change, increased by 0.6 pct, or 19 billion tons. In addition methane rose by 27 million tons after nearly a decade with little or no increase. The burning of coal, oil, and gas, is the primary source of increasing CO2 emissions. Oceans, vegetation, and soils soak up half of these emissions. The rest stays in the air for centuries. | |
|
|  | | Article Details: The task of cutting greenhouse gas emissions enough to avert a dangerous rise in global temperatures may be far more difficult than previous research suggested, say scientists who have just published studies indicating that it would require the world to cease carbon emissions altogether within a matter of decades. | |
|
|  | | Article Details: The extraordinary winter conditions over the past year: snow in Johannesburg and Baghdad, Arctic sea ice returning with a vengeance, blizzards in China, and a sharp drop in the globe’s average temperature, have stimulated more debate on global warming. However, a host of climate experts say it is mostly good old-fashioned weather, along with a cold kick from the tropical Pacific Ocean, which is in its La Niña phase for a few more months. | |
|
|  | | Quote Details: It is time to break our addiction to fossil fuels. The evidence of global warming is mounting. We threaten the global environment with our continued use of fossil fuels. Not only is this an ecological threat, it is a tremendous economic threat, facing all of humanity. Global warming will bankrupt the re-insurance industry, spread infectious tropical diseases, and increase severe and unpredictable weather | |
|
|  | | Quote Details: There's nothing wrong with dealing with global warming. And it's a high priority for me. But there is a big difference between talking about global warming, which requires global solutions, and the idea of America warming. No one talks about America warming. If we're going to have solutions that deal, for instance, with a cap in trade program or a BTU tax or anything of that nature, it has to be global in its sweep. | |
|
| | |  | | Quote Details: Most of the observed increase in globally-averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic GHG concentrations. It is likely there has been significant
anthropogenic warming over the past 50 years averaged over each continent (except Antarctica). IPCC 4th Assessment Report, Climate Change 2007 | |
|
| | |  | | Quote Details: For this generation, climate change is our space race. The climate crisis is also one of the greatest economic opportunities in the history of our country. It will unleash a wave of innovation, create millions of new jobs, enhance our security and lead the world to a revolution in how we produce and use energy. | |
|
|  | | Quote Details: Our guiding principle is clear: We must lead the world to produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and we must do it in a way that does not undermine economic growth or prevent nations from delivering greater prosperity for their people. | |
|
|  | | Article Details: The author points out the inconsistencies between political rhetoric and the actual statements of the IPCC on global warming. While Senator Bernie Sanders states that "melting Greenland ice would cause a 23-foot rise in sea levels worldwide," the IPCC on the other hand, “projects that the melting of Greenland will cause a rise in sea levels of between half an inch and 4.5 inches by 2100.” | |
|
|  | | Article Details: For those that don't want to wade through pages and pages of the IPCC's 4th Assessment Report, this article in the UCCS website summarizes the key points. One of those points is that it is “very likely” that emissions of heat-trapping gases from human activities have caused “most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century.” | |
|
|  | | Article Details: Palaeoclimate data show that the Earth’s climate is remarkably sensitive to global forcings. Positive feedbacks predominate. This allows the entire planet to be whipsawed between climate states. One feedback, the ‘albedo flip’ property of ice/water, provides a powerful trigger mechanism. A climate forcing that ‘flips’ the albedo of a sufficient
portion of an ice sheet can spark a cataclysm. | |
|
|
|