New Colour Purple Depicts Worsening Climate Risks in U.N. Draft Report
Some parts of nature and human society are more vulnerable than expected to climate change, according to a draft of a U.N. report that adds a new purple colour to a key diagram to show worsening risks beyond the red used so far.
Unprecedented Rate and Scale of Ocean Acidification Found in the Arctic
Acidification of the Arctic Ocean is occurring faster than projected according to new findings. The increase in rate is being blamed on rapidly melting sea ice, a process that may have important consequences for health of the Arctic ecosystem.
Oil Industry and Smoke From Residential Burning Speed Arctic Thaw
Gas flaring by the oil industry and smoke from residential burning contributes more black carbon pollution to Arctic than previously thought, potentially speeding the melting of Arctic sea ice.
New Analyses Find Evidence of Human-Caused Climate Change
New analyses find evidence of human-caused climate change in half of the 12 extreme weather and climate events analyzed from 2012
Austral Summer Scenery, by WHOI
The sights of summer in Antarctica invariably includes ice. Researcher Emelia DeForce captured this image of a well-worn iceberg in January 2013, the height of austral summer during a cruise in early 2013.
Rising Ocean Acidity Will Exacerbate Global Warming
The slow and inexorable increase in the oceans’ acidity as they soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere could itself have an effect on climate and amplify global warming, according to a new study.
Earth Overshoot Day 2013
There are only so many natural resources the earth can supply and today we’ve gone over our annual limit. August 20 is Earth Overshoot Day 2013, marking the date when humanity exhausted nature’s budget for the year. We are now operating in overdraft. For the rest of the year, we will maintain our ecological deficit by drawing down local resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Climate Panel Cites Near Certainty on Warming
An international panel of scientists has found with near certainty that human activity is the cause of most of the temperature increases of recent decades, and warns that sea levels could conceivably rise by more than three feet by the end of the century if emissions continue at a runaway pace.
Changing Climate May Have Driven Collapse of Civilizations in Late Bronze Age
Climate change may have driven the collapse of once-flourishing Eastern Mediterranean civilizations towards the end of the 13th century BC.