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Showing posts with the label Climate Change

Ocean temperatures turbocharge April tornadoes over Great Plains (aka Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta) region

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ScienceDaily Do climate shifts influence tornados over North America? New research found that Pacific and Atlantic ocean temperatures in April can influence large-scale weather patterns as well as the frequency of tornadoes over the Great Plains region. Story here. US Dept. of Commerce.

Black carbon lofts wildfire smoke high into the stratosphere to form a persistent plume

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Science Magazine. In 2017, western Canadian wildfires injected smoke into the stratosphere that was detectable by satellites for more than 8 months. The smoke plume rose from 12 to 23 kilometers within 2 months owing to solar heating of black carbon, extending the lifetime and latitudinal spread. Comparisons of model simulations to the rate of observed lofting indicate that 2% of the smoke mass was black carbon. The observed smoke lifetime in the stratosphere was 40% shorter than calculated with a standard model that does not consider photochemical loss of organic carbon. Photochemistry is represented by using an empirical ozone-organics reaction probability that matches the observed smoke decay. The observed rapid plume rise, latitudinal spread, and photochemical reactions provide new insights into potential global climate impacts from nuclear war.   More here. Smoke-filled skies over San Diego - fall 2007. Photo by Eric Pettigrew.

'Act before it's too late': The prairie province of Saskatchewan, Canada at high risk of water shortages, says global study

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CBC News Climate change, resource extraction, agriculture among causes of potential water shortage, says author.  Story here. Echo Lake, SK. Photo by Joe Mabel from Seattle.

CO2 emissions are on track to take us beyond 1.5 degrees of global warming

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Science News A fertilizer plant in Brandon, Manitoba, Can. A PinP photo. Current and planned energy infrastructure could emit around 850 gigatons of the greenhouse gas.  Story here.

Canada's Permafrost Is Thawing 70 Years Earlier Than Expected, Study Shows. Scientists Are 'Quite Surprised'

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TIME Of course, "The Big Thaw" is not confined to Canada. This Alaskan permafrost has melted, causing one of this lake's banks to collapse.  As a result, its waters are draining into a river,  then into the sea,  perhaps leading to the lake's disappearance! NPS Climate Change Response  Photo (C.Ciancibelli) The Canadian Arctic permafrost is thawing 70 years earlier than expected, a rate shocking a group of scientists who released the findings of their long-term study this month. More here.

Older forests resist change, climate change, that is

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Science News A  forest in Maritime Canada. A PinP photo. With age, forests in eastern US and Canada become less vulnerable to climate change, study finds.  Story here .

Downpours of torrential rain more frequent with global warming

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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

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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!

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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?

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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 p erisoreus canadensis )   at the southern edge of their range in Algonquin Park, Ontario. (The birds can be found in all Canadian provinces and territorie

Bill McKibben likens climate change to Second World War

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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

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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.

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UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA A collapsed block of ice-rich permafrost in Alaska. Benjamin Jones, U.S. Geological Surve y 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.

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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)

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