Downpours of torrential rain more frequent with global warming

PHYS ORG

Flooding in Saskatchewan. A PinP photo.

The frequency of downpours of heavy rain—which can lead to flash floods, devastation, and outbreaks of waterborne disease—has increased across the globe in the past 50 years, research led by the University of Saskatchewan (USask) has found. Story here.

Climate change is already affecting global food production—unequally

PHYS ORG

A soy field in Canada. A PinP photo.

The world's top 10 crops— barley, cassava, maize, oil palm, rapeseed, rice, sorghum, soybean, sugarcane and wheat—supply a combined 83 percent of all calories produced on cropland. Yields have long been projected to decrease in future climate conditions. Now, new research shows climate change has already affected production of these key energy sources—and some regions and countries are faring far worse than others. Story here.

A warming Arctic produces weather extremes further south!

PHYS ORG

The Northern Hemisphere Jet Stream can be seen crossing
Cape Breton Island in Eastern Canada. A NASA photo.

Atmospheric researchers have developed a climate model that can accurately depict the frequently observed winding course of the jet stream, a major air current over the Northern Hemisphere. It demonstrates that the jet stream's wavelike course and subsequent extreme weather conditions like cold air outbreaks in Central Europe and North America are the direct results of climate change. 

Story here.

Will the rich escape climate apocalypse?

New Internationalist

The dirty grey is smoke from Alberta wildfires this year.
Photo by NASA.
The billionaire class is preparing for doomsday. Only problem is, the rest of us aren't invited. Story here.

Climate Change Has Made Droughts More Frequent Since 1900

The Smithsonian

Photo by Tomas Castelazo

Tree ring data from various parts of the world show that greenhouse gas increases have impacted soil moisture for over 100 years. Story here.

How To Talk About Climate Change So People Will Listen

by Katharine Hayhoe CHATELAINE

Railway tracks damaged by severe flooding in
High River, Alberta, 2013. Photo by Resolute.

As a climate scientist, I've been called everything from a charlatan to the handmaiden of the Antichrist. Here's how I handle the tough conversations. 

Climate change made the Arctic greener. Now parts of it are turning brown.

ScienceNews

A green Arctic meadow - Baffin Island, CA.
Photo by Mike Beauregard.

Warming trends bring more insects, extreme weather and wildfires that wipe out plants. More here.

Yukon temperatures are the highest in 13,600 years

CLIMATE&CAPITALISM

Photo by Diego Delso.
Warming of over 2 degrees Celsius is above the global average and well above the average of the rest of the Arctic region.More here.

Even Canada's beloved grey jay is not immune from the ravages of manmade climate change.

Decades of Canadian research, just released, finds "strong evidence" that increasing "freeze-thaw" cycles are destroying food the birds store away in the fall. This, in turn is damaging their ability to reproduce and likely playing a role in a severe population decline in at least one region.
by Larry Powell

 The grey jay,  AKA as Canada jay or "Whiskey-Jack."
Photo by Steve Phillips, via Canadian Geographic magazine.

It's been known for some time that our changing climate is leading to reductions, even entire removal of many species from certain areas (a process called "extirpation"). This new research by the University of Guelph, sheds more light on just how that happens.  Using 40 years of breeding data, scientists studied grey jays (scientific name perisoreus canadensis) at the southern edge of their range in Algonquin Park, Ontario. (The birds can be found in all Canadian provinces and territories.)  Like many species, they hide or "cache" significant amounts of food away which they'll need later on when it is more scarce - mainly the breeding season late in the following winter. In past years, when winters were more consistently cold, this would allow them to retrieve it, intact. But with "freeze-thaw" cycles becoming more frequent, that food is either rotting or greatly degrading in nutrient value. As a result, the jays are having fewer young and those young are less healthy than before.  Alex Sutton, PhD candidate, Dept. of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph. The spokesperson for the study, Alex Sutton (above), tells PinP, "The population in Algonquin has declined by over 50% since the 1980s. So we do believe that climate change is currently affecting this population. While work is ongoing about the actual cause of the decline, it is likely that changes to reproductive performance do contribute to the decline." The birds eat a variety of things, some which you might expect, like insects, berries and mushrooms, and some you might not - like nestling birds they catch themselves and game meat that has been shot or trapped by humans. (It's the meat, berries and fungi which are most vulnerable to spoilage.) The birds often hide it away in tree forks, behind flakes of bark or in conifer needles.  It is this instinctive practise that seems to be coming back to haunt them now. To quote the study, "Our results suggest that freeze-thaw events have a significant detrimental impact on the quality and/or quantity of cached food available to Canada jays. Future increases in such events, caused by climate change, could pose a serious threat to Canada jays and other food-caching species that store perishable foods for long periods of time."  Anyone who has visited or camped in our boreal forests has likely seen them. They don't shy away from begging food from people, or stealing it from your picnic table when you're not watching! They've become an iconic and well-loved symbol in our country.  The research findings have just been published in the proceedings of The Royal Society in the UK. -30-

Bill McKibben likens climate change to Second World War

National Observer

Ponds in the Canadian Arctic, believed to be caused by melting of the permafrost.
Photo by Steve Jurvetson

Environmentalist and author Bill McKibben calls climate change the most important issue facing the world today and likens the struggle against it to the Second World War. Story here.

Canada failing in climate change fight: watchdog

PHYS ORG

Trees downed in a fierce windstorm in Duck Mountain forest, Manitoba, Canada.
A PinP photo.

Canada is doing too little to combat climate change, a parliamentary report warned Tuesday, a day after government scientists warned the country was warming at twice the global rate. Story here.

A slippery slope: How climate change is reshaping the Arctic landscape.

UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA

A collapsed block of ice-rich permafrost in Alaska.
Benjamin Jones, U.S. Geological Survey

Extremes of summer climate trigger thousands of thermokarst landslides (ones triggered by melting permafrost) in a High Arctic environment. Details here. (Includes a must-see video.)

RELATED:

Canada warming at twice the global rate, climate report finds 

Great Lakes are rapidly warming, likely to trigger more flooding and extreme weather.

CBC News

North shore of Lk. Superior. A Wikimedia photo.

Report also predicts more severe algae blooms will increase water treatment costs. Story here.

Let's get serious about controlling carbon emissions. (Video)

The destruction of the Earth is a crime. It should be prosecuted. Opinion.

George Monbiot  - The Guardian.

Ashcroft Reserve wildfire - Look Lake, BC, 2017. Photo by Shawn Cahill

Businesses should be liable for the harm they do. Polly Higgins is pushing to make that happen. Story here.

"People are Dying." A must-see video about the importance of addressing the climate crisis.

Cyclone Idai shows the deadly reality of climate change in Africa

The Guardian - opinion.

Volunteers distribute donated goods to those in need.
Photo by Columbus Mayhunga/VOA
Vain promises and empty slogans have got us nowhere. Fossil-fuel extraction must end before more lives are lost. Details here.

Climate change affecting fish in Ontario lakes, study reveals

PHYS ORG

A lake in northwestern Ontario. Photo by PinP.

Warmer temperatures are having a ripple effect on food webs in Ontario lakes, according to a new University of Guelph study. Story here.

Beat the Heat: Canada's French-fry potatoes in climate change trouble

Canadian Science Publishing

After PEI, Manitoba is Canada's largest potato-producing province. 
Over 1200 million pounds are processed here each year on about 80 thousand acres. 
A PinP photo.
Desiccating summer heat, brought on by climate change, could have adverse effects on Canada's potato industry. In a recent study, researchers examined the heat stress response of 55 potato varieties to estimate how they might fare under changing climate conditions. The news is not good.  Details here.

Coal power stations disrupt rainfall, global study finds

PHYS ORG

A coal-fired power plant in Poland. Photo by Petr Stefek.

Modern coal-fired power stations produce more ultrafine dust particles than road traffic and can even modify and redistribute rainfall patterns, a new 15-year international study shows. Story here.