21 September 2016, Climate News Network, Solar cycle not to blame for warming. New research confirms that increased greenhouse gas levels − rather than solar radiation impacts − are the key factor in global climate change. European scientists have dug deep to dismiss once again the old argument that climate change might be a consequence of solar radiation rather than atmospheric chemistry. The world is warming, they confirm, because more greenhouse gases are getting into the atmosphere, and the changes in the solar cycle are not a significant factor. This is not the first such reassurance. Teams of researchers have in the last few years eliminated cosmic radiation as a factor in climate change and confirmed that sunspots, too, can be declared innocent. But in 2011, with backing from the European Co-operation in Science and Technology (COST), scientists set up their own project. They wanted to better understand the relationship between the cyclically changing patterns of sunlight and variations in climate, against a background of global warming. Solar variability The TOSCA project – which stands for “towards a more complete assessment of the impact of solar variability on the Earth’s climate”− is a co-operation involving solar physics, geomagnetism, climate modelling and atmospheric chemistry. The scientists went for a global approach, with 61 researchers from many disciplines working together to examine as many aspects as possible that might link variations in the sun’s behaviour with variations in climate. And they have summarised the story-so-far in a new report. What they identified is solar mechanisms that could alter regional climate, but none that could trigger global warming. Read More here
Category Archives: Impacts Observed & Projected
21 September 2016, Climate News Network, Dire climate impacts go unheeded. New scientific studies address lack of awareness of the adverse economic, social and biodiversity effects that climate change is already having. The social and economic impacts of climate change have already begun to take their toll – but most people do not yet know this. Politicians and economists have yet to work out how and when it would be best to adapt to change. And biologists say they cannot even begin to measure climate change’s effect on biodiversity because there is not enough information. Two studies in Science journal address the future. The first points out that historical temperature increases depress maize crop yields in the US by 48% and have already driven up the rates of civil conflict in sub-Saharan Africa by 11%. Economic growth Hot weather in future could slow global economic growth rates by nearly 0.30 percentage points per year. Almost as surprising, according to Solomon Hsiang, principal investigator in the Global Policy Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, is that nobody seems to be aware of these facts. “People get so used to hot days, since they happen all the time, that they never stop to consider that those days are costing them,” Professor Hsiang says. “But if people used different technologies or organised their lives differently to adapt to their climate, then we might be able to do dramatically better.” Read More here
15 September 2016, The Conversation, After Tasmania’s year of disasters, bushfire tops the state’s growing list of natural hazards. Tasmania has had a damaging year, with the island state hit by a series of bushfires and floods. Now a comprehensive new assessment of Tasmania’s exposure to natural disasters shows that bushfire remains the number one hazard to people and property, while also highlighting a range of new threats. These include coastal flooding, pandemic influenza and – despite being Australia’s most southerly state – an increasing likelihood of heatwaves. The 2016 Tasmanian State Natural Disaster Risk Assessment (TSNDRA)aims to provide emergency services with key information to help prepare for and reduce the impact of disasters. It is the first state-level assessment in Australia that adheres to the recently updated National Emergency Risk Assessment Guidelines. All states and territories are required to produce their own risk assessments by June 2017. Given Tasmania’s unprecedented recent run of natural disasters, it is fitting that it should be the first state to publish a comprehensive roundup of the risks. The assessment of natural disaster risk took place over 12 months from March 2015. It involved a series of workshops and online surveys of experts in each hazard area. For the first time, the process was led not by state government agencies, but by a close collaboration between researchers at the University of Tasmania, RMIT University and the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, together with members of the State Emergency Service and related agencies, and other stakeholders including the Bureau of Meteorology, Australian Red Cross and Engineers Australia. The process aimed to allow a range of different voices to inform the identification of priority risks for Tasmania. Read more here
14 September 2016, Reuters, Climate change ‘significant and direct’ threat to U.S. military: reports. The effects of climate change endanger U.S. military operations and could increase the danger of international conflict, according to three new documents endorsed by retired top U.S. military officers and former national security officials. “There are few easy answers, but one thing is clear: the current trajectory of climatic change presents a strategically-significant risk to U.S. national security, and inaction is not a viable option,” said a statement published on Wednesday by the Center for Climate and Security, a Washington-based think tank. It was signed by more than a dozen former senior military and national security officials, including retired General Anthony Zinni, former commander of the U.S. Central Command, and retired Admiral Samuel Locklear, head of the Pacific Command until last year. They called on the next U.S. president to create a cabinet level position to deal with climate change and its impact on national security. A separate report by a panel of retired military officials, also published on Wednesday by the Center for Climate and Security, said more frequent extreme weather is a threat to U.S. coastal military installations. “The complex relationship between sea level rise, storm surge and global readiness and responsiveness must be explored down to the operational level, across the Services and Joint forces, and up to a strategic level as well,” the report said. Earlier this year, another report said faster sea level rises in the second half of this century could make tidal flooding a daily occurrence for some installations. Francesco Femia, co-founder and president of the Center for Climate and Security, said the reports show bipartisan national security and military officials think the existing U.S. response to climate change “is not commensurate to the threat”. Read More here