The Daily Climate

Consequences

The sacred island that's shrinking away.

More than 4 million people live on the Indian side of the Sundarbans. The delta is wrapped in the world's largest block of mangrove forest and is the habitat of the endangered royal Bengal tiger, which is threatened by the rising waters. Morning Edition 17 Feb

Fjords contribute to melting of glaciers.

Greenland’s glaciers are melting faster than they used to, contributing to the rise of sea levels worldwide. Scientists wonder if warmer waters are also melting the many glaciers that flow into the fjords. New York Times 16 Feb

Hampton Roads in 'dire straits' because of global warming predictions, says expert.

Sobering evidence of how storms will have an increasingly devastating effect on the Peninsula as the century progresses is outlined in a new model by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. Newport News Daily Press 16 Feb

Fossils 'record past sea changes'.

An international team of researchers will spend 45 days at sea, gathering core samples from about 40 sites. Described as the “trees of the sea”, coral have growth rings that show seasonal variations. BBC 16 Feb

Adaptation

Threatened by rising seas, Maldives moves to go carbon-neutral.

The low-lying island of the Maldives, in the Indian Ocean, is being faced with the looming threat of rising sea levels, a direct effect of global warming and President Mohamed Nasheed is trying to rally the world to come together and tackle carbon pollution. Metro Ottawa 15 Feb

South Florida's floodgates vulnerable to rising sea levels.

Rising sea levels already threaten South Florida's coastal floodgates, likely prompting the need for costly retrofits to protect some of the state's most populated areas, especially Broward and Miami-Dade counties, water managers warned Wednesday. South Florida Sun-Sentinel 11 Feb

Rising sea level poses threat to Seychelles.

In the past decade, the rising sea level has taken a bite out of Seychelles' spectacular strip of shore. But tourists are not the only ones threatened; a gradual increase in sea temperature is killing coral reefs and endangering a rare species of sea turtle. Abu Dhabi National 12 Feb

Sea levels to rise 73 cm by 2100: Experts.

The waters in Halifax Harbour are indeed rising, but don't start building your ark just yet. A team of experts charged with studying sea-level rise in the harbour gave a detailed presentation to regional council yesterday, explaining that the current generation won't see a significant difference in water levels - but their children certainly will. Metro Halifax 10 Feb

Other News

Sea-level records challenged.

Nature 12 Feb

Editorials

On a Redwood City development.

Ecologically sensitive salt ponds on the outskirts of Redwood City are the wrong place to build 12,000 new homes at sea level surrounded by levees. In a time of global warming, the Bay Area should be running away from that kind of development, not approving it. San Francisco Chronicle 04 Mar

A complicated argument.

If the Maldives and lower Manhattan are destined to go under water, we won’t be able to avert that outcome with a Copenhagen greenhouse gas policy. When and if such threats become real, we’ll be obliged to take protective action for the particular problems at hand. Columbia Tribune 17 Feb

A stormy century.

The possibility of even a slight increase in storms that are even stronger than Katrina should prompt faster action on building defenses that can protect people and property from those killer storms. New Orleans Times-Picayune 30 Jan

Cape Wind battles reflect lack of energy seriousness.

The winds along the nation's coastlines are an untapped energy resource that could reduce the need for coal, oil and natural gas, but battles over the past decade vividly illustrate why wind energy still provides just one-half of 1 percent of the nation's energy. USA Today 11 Jan

Who started the fire?

As mankind debates global warming at summits, holds meetings under water and on mountain peaks, the heat is definitely on. Here is our list of top ten climate altering events over the last one year. Deccan Herald 29 Dec

The task facing COP15.

Island nations and the poorest countries which are mostly likely to be affected by global warming regard the problem quite differently from China, India and other emerging economic powers whose emissions levels are increasing. Asahi Shimbun 15 Dec

Climatologists under pressure.

Stolen e-mails have revealed no scientific conspiracy, but do highlight ways in which climate researchers could be better supported in the face of public scrutiny. Nature 03 Dec

Flash, but no smoking gun, in climate e-mails.

In the end, it's the totality of data that matters. Unfortunately for global warming deniers, that evidence is stacked against them. St. Louis Post-Dispatch 24 Nov

Opinion

The new world order.

Cleo Paskal, a London-based journalist and a scholar at the think tank Chatham House, presents a fascinating geopolitical chessboard, on which the United States and the European Union face off against China and Russia as climate change takes hold. Nature 11 Mar

New NOAA climate office would meet growing needs.

NOAA’s and the nation’s climate-related information resources are not organized to meet the growing demand. To remain relevant and responsive, NOAA must adapt. Science News 08 Mar

Let's not fret over climate migration.

This century will be dominated by human movement, but not one caused by temperature. Toronto Globe and Mail 27 Feb

Avatar: The prequel.

How many wouldn’t pay big bucks for a Pandora-style, sensory-expanding guided tour of our own planet? It would be a harrowing tale of environmental degradation, resource scarcity, and perennial conflict in the twilight years of humanity’s decline. Think of it as Avatar: Earth’s Last Stand. CBS News 24 Feb

Wong: Climate sceptics are red herrings,

Red herrings and arguments at the fringes of the debate cannot dismiss the fact that that the world is warming. In 20 years, can we look our children and grandchildren in the eye and say we sat on our hands because of a computer hacker? Sydney Morning Herald 18 Feb

A nature lover's bucket list.

A bucket list usually tallies what a person would like to experience before kicking the bucket, as made famous in the eponymous 2007 movie. But with climate change rapidly degrading our landscape, time is running out for many natural wonders. High Country News 18 Feb

The science isn't settled. Now what?

The climate debate is usually portrayed as a fight between people who think global warming is a hoax and people who think catastrophe is imminent. So which side should you believe? Neither of them. Toronto Globe and Mail 16 Feb

Climate panel: Time for a refit?

There's a strong case for arguing that the IPCC occupies an absolutely pivotal role, and it's well worth taking time to get the form and structure right so that it, or some other arrangement, can play the role as effectively as humanity needs it to. BBC 11 Feb

Group urges localities to plan together for rising sea levels.

As a regional planner, John Carlock knows getting each Hampton Roads community to agree is rarely, if ever, simple. His next task could be even harder: Convince 16 cities and counties to work together to combat rising sea levels. Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot 08 Mar

States at sea over coastal levels.

Australia's six state governments have four different figures for predicted sea-level rise caused by climate change, leaving developers and councils confused and sparking calls for a federal takeover of coastal climate change planning. Sydney Australian 07 Mar

Cars homes drinking water 'under threat.'

The availability of fresh drinking water in the Bahamas could be jeopardised by climate change and hurricanes, warned State Environment Minister Phenton Neymour, who said this country urgently needs proper water networks and management policies. Nassau Tribune 07 Mar

White House lays out plans for Gulf Coast renewal.

The Obama administration on Thursday laid out a plan to deal with the catastrophic dangers of rising sea levels, hurricanes and erosion on the Gulf Coast, and backed efforts to invest in restoring barriers islands and wetlands in Mississippi and Louisiana. Associated Press 05 Mar

Florida Keys residents confront rising sea levels.

Waters around the Florida Keys are nine inches higher than a century ago. Efforts to battle rising sea levels make the Keys 'a canary in the coal mine,' an indicator of what other areas might need to prepare for. Christian Science Monitor 05 Mar

Arctic melt to cost up to $24 trillion by 2050: Report.

Arctic ice melting could cost global agriculture, real estate and insurance anywhere from $2.4 trillion to $24 trillion by 2050 in damage from rising sea levels, floods and heat waves, according to a report released on Friday. Reuters 05 Mar

France's crumbling sea walls no match for ocean.

Environmental groups say the storm that engulfed France's Atlantic coast Sunday and killed at least 52 people should be a wake-up call about the danger of weak sea defenses. Scientists warn that climate change will bring even fiercer storms and rising seas in the years ahead. Associated Press 04 Mar

Planning for a sea level rise in Eurobodalla.

Planners from the Eurobodalla Shire Council are now taking into account predictions of the sea level rising 40cm by 2050 and 90cm by 2100 when approving new developments and building infrastructure. Narooma News 04 Mar

How much will sea level rise?

A sea-level rise of three feet might not sound like a lot, but it could do enormous damage Climate Central 03 Mar

Iceberg breaks in Antarctica not where expected.

A big chunk of ice, slightly smaller than Oahu, broke off from a place it wasn't supposed to and in a way that wasn't quite anticipated, scientists reported Friday. Associated Press 28 Feb

Antarctic spits out iceberg the size of Luxembourg.

An iceberg the size of Luxembourg has split off from the Antarctic continent and could disrupt global ocean patterns and weather systems for decades, according to scientists. London Times 28 Feb

New iceberg breaks off east end of Antarctica.

With the dramatic crash of an iceberg against a glacier that dislodged a massive new chunk of ice, the mysterious continent of Antarctica once again did the unexpected. Associated Press 27 Feb

Mammoth iceberg could alter ocean circulation: Study.

An iceberg the size of Luxembourg knocked loose from the Antarctic continent earlier this month could disrupt the ocean currents driving weather patterns around the globe, researchers said Thursday. Agence France-Presse 26 Feb

Sea-level threat ends coastal development.

The risk of rising sea levels has put an end to plans for residential development in coastal Victoria. Sydney ABC News 26 Feb

Support brackets won’t help these weakening shelves.

NASA

Ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula are weakening and retreating as ocean temperatures rise and currents shift - and that will likely take the brakes of glaciers here as well, letting them drop giant ice cubes into the ocean. Climate Central 24 Feb

Climate change opponents hit rough seas at Bondi.

A war of words erupted last week after the Federal Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, warned that Bondi beach could be seriously affected by climate change. Wentworth Courier 24 Feb

Start preparing Sydney, warming is inevitable.

Action to reduce greenhouse emissions is lagging so far behind what the science tells us is necessary that some degree of warming is now inevitable, a global climate expert warned MONday. Sydney Morning Herald 23 Feb

Climate scientists withdraw journal claims of rising sea levels.

Scientists have been forced to withdraw a study on projected sea level rise due to global warming after finding mistakes that undermined the findings. London Guardian 22 Feb

Stop developers from influencing coastal planning, says Flannery.

Addressing a forum on how Australia's coastal communities needed to adapt to climate change, Professor Tim Flannery said the nation's governments need to rein in coastal development of homes that would be threatened by rising sea levels. Sydney Australian 20 Feb