Scientists abandon global warming 'lie'

A United Nations climate change conference in Poland is about to get a surprise from 650 leading scientists who scoff at doomsday reports of man-made global warming – labeling them variously a lie, a hoax and part of a new religion.

Source: WorldNetDaily, December 11, 2008

Global warming debate heats up

While one NASA scientist says man-made catastrophic climate change will cause an apocalypse, another says hysterical pronouncements about carbon dioxide emissions are unwarranted and overblown.

Source: WorldNetDaily, October 13, 2008

The Physical Science behind Climate Change

How can we be sure that humans are responsible for these increases? Some greenhouse gases (most of the halocarbons, for example) have no natural source. For other gases, two important observations demonstrate human influence. First, the geographic differences in concentrations reveal that sources occur predominantly over land in the more heavily populated Northern Hemisphere. Second, analysis of isotopes, which can distinguish among sources of emissions, demonstrates that the majority of the increase in carbon dioxide comes from combustion of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas). Methane and nitrous oxide increases derive from agricultural practices and the burning of fossil fuels.

Source: Scientific American, October 6, 2008

Global Warming: Beyond the Tipping Point

The basic proposition behind the science of climate change is so firmly rooted in the laws of physics that no reasonable person can dispute it. All other things being equal, adding carbon dioxide (CO₂) to the atmosphere—by, for example, burning millions of tons of oil, coal and natural gas—will make it warm up. That, as the Nobel Prize–winning chemist Svante Arrhenius first explained in 1896, is because CO₂ is relatively transparent to visible light from the sun, which heats the planet during the day. But it is relatively opaque to infrared, which the earth tries to reradiate back into space at night. If the planet were a featureless, monochromatic billiard ball without mountains, oceans, vegetation and polar ice caps, a steadily rising concentration of CO₂ would mean a steadily warming earth. Period.

Source: Scientific American, October, 2008

Most Alaskan Glaciers Retreating, Thinning, Or Stagnating

Most glaciers in every mountain range and island group in Alaska are experiencing significant retreat, thinning or stagnation, especially glaciers at lower elevations, according to a new book published by the U.S. Geological Survey. In places, these changes began as early as the middle of the 18th century.

Source: ScienceDaily, October 6, 2008

Ice Core Studies Confirm Accuracy Of Climate Models

The findings, just published in the online edition of the journal Science, shed further light on the fluctuations in greenhouse gases and climate in Earth's past, and appear to confirm the validity of the types of computer models that are used to project a warmer climate in the future, researchers said.

Source: ScienceDaily, September 15, 2008

Investigating Sea Ice Decline

A revised outlook for the Arctic 2008 summer sea ice minimum shows ice extent will be below the 2005 level but not likely to beat the 2007 record. DAMOCLES will dispatch eleven research missions into the Arctic this autumn to better understand the future of the sea ice.

Source: ScienceDaily, August 5, 2008

Climate Change Science Program Issues Report On Climate Models

The U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) has released a new report "Climate Models: An Assessment of Strengths and Limitations," the 10th in a series of 21 Synthesis and Assessment Products (SAPs) managed by U.S. federal agencies.

Source: ScienceDaily, August 1, 2008

British Global Warming Documentary Misrepresented Scientists

A UK documentary called the The Great Global Warming Swindle misrepresented the views of several climate scientists and disregarded broadcasting rules on impartiality, according to a review by a regulatory panel. But the ruling on the much-debated global warming film gave both sides something to cheer, as it also said that the film did not mislead audiences “so as to cause harm or offence.”

Source: Discover, July 2008

The Great Global Warming Hoax Hoax

Why doesn’t everyone believe in it? I shouldn’t say ‘everyone’ I should say mostly Americans. Here in Europe they’ve been convinced by the scientific evidence and even among the hoi polloi it’s taken as a fact. Climate change skepticism is more an American (although there are exceptions) phenomenon. Why? There are lots of explanations. First Climate change in the US became politicized. It was seen as a political stance rather than a scientific one. Next, there were big interests to keep the pot stirred. A year or so ago there was a nice Newsweek article that followed the money from Big Oil to the efforts to keep Climate Change perceived as an uncertainty in the US. It was reminiscent of Tobacco company efforts to keep smoking and cancer separated by attacking the studies. But I hate to descend into conspiracy theories when the science is as strong as it its. (But hey, the most powerful economic force in the world has a vested interest in there not being global warming—do you think there is a connection? We can always trust the most powerful lobbies on Earth right?)

Source: The Mormon Oerganon, July 20, 2008

Global Warming: How Do Scientists Know They're Not Wrong?

“We’re confident about what’s going on,” said climate scientist Gavin Schmidt of NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Science in New York.

But even if there is a consensus, how can scientists be so confident about a trend playing out over dozens of years in the grand scheme of the Earth's existence? How do they know they didn’t miss something, or that there is not some other explanation for the world’s warming? After all, there was once a scientific consensus that the Earth was flat. How can scientists prove their position?

LiveScience, July 16, 2008

Sun Could Cause 15% To 20% Of Effects Of Climate Change, Researcher Says

Global warming is mainly caused by greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activities; however, current climatic variations may be affected “around 15% or 20%” by solar activity, according to Manuel Vázquez, a researcher from the Canary Islands’ Astrophysics Institute (IAC) who spoke at the Sun and Climate Change conference, organised as part of the El Escorial summer courses by Madrid's Complutense University.

Source: ScienceDaily, July 18, 2008

Wilkins Ice Shelf, Near Antarctica, Hanging By Its Last Thread

The Wilkins Ice Shelf is experiencing further disintegration that is threatening the collapse of the ice bridge connecting the shelf to Charcot Island. Since the connection to the island in the image centre helps to stabilise the ice shelf, it is likely the break-up of the bridge will put the remainder of the ice shelf at risk.

Source: ScienceDaily, July 10, 2008

Summer Arctic Sea Ice Expected To Be Among Lowest On Record

The ice cover in the Arctic Ocean at the end of summer 2008 will lie, with almost 100 per cent probability, below that of the year 2005 -- the year with the second lowest sea ice extent ever measured. Chances of an equally low value as in the extreme conditions of the year 2007 lie around eight per cent. Climate scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association come to this conclusion in a recent model calculation.

Source: ScienceDaily, July 9, 2008

Has Global Warming Research Misinterpreted Cloud Behavior?

When researchers observe natural changes in clouds and temperature, they have traditionally assumed that the temperature change caused the clouds to change, and not the other way around. To the extent that the cloud changes actually cause temperature change, this can ultimately lead to overestimates of how sensitive Earth's climate is to our greenhouse gas emissions.

Source: ScienceDaily, June 12, 2008

Climate Changes Creating Green And Flowering Mountains

Over the last century, the temperature has risen by more than one degree. The cooling trend over several thousand years is broken, and this has triggered changes in flora, fauna, and landscapes. In important respects, the present state is similar to what occurred directly after the latest ice age.

Source: ScienceDaily, May 18, 2008

Ice Cores Reveal Fluctuations In Earth's Greenhouse Gases

The newest analysis of trace gases trapped in Antarctic ice cores now provide a reasonable view of greenhouse gas concentrations as much as 800,000 years into the past, and are further confirming the link between greenhouse gas levels and global warming, scientists reported May 14 in the journal Nature.

Source: ScienceDaily, May 17, 2008

Solar Variability: Striking A Balance With Climate Change

The sun has powered almost everything on Earth since life began, including its climate. The sun also delivers an annual and seasonal impact, changing the character of each hemisphere as Earth's orientation shifts through the year. Since the Industrial Revolution, however, new forces have begun to exert significant influence on Earth's climate.

Source: ScienceDaily, May 12, 2008

Cold Water Thrown on Antarctic Warming Predictions

Antarctica hasn’t warmed as much over the last century as climate models had originally predicted, a new study finds.

Source: LiveScience, May 7 2008

The Science Daily article is here.

Will Global Warming Take A Short Break? Improved Climate Predictions Suggest A Reduced Warming Trend During The Next 10 Years

To date climate change projections, as published in the last IPCC report, only considered changes in future atmospheric composition. This strategy is appropriate for long-term changes in climate such as predictions for the end of the century. However, in order to predict short-term developments over the next decade, models need additional information on natural climate variations, in particular associated with ocean currents.

Source: ScienceDaily, May 5, 2008

Dennis T. Avery (a fixture among climate-change skeptics and listed as a senior fellow at the Heartland Institute) wrote an article originally published last fall by the Hudson Institute, “500 Scientists with Documented Doubts of Man-Made Global Warming Scares.” It turns out that the list might not hit such a nice round number, according to DeSmogBlog.

Source: LiveScience, April 30, 2008

Before Fossil Fuels, Earth's Minerals Kept Carbon Dioxide In Check

"The system is finely in tune," says Caldeira. "That one or two percent imbalance works out to an average imbalance in natural carbon dioxide emissions that is thousands of times smaller than our current emissions from industry and the destruction of forests."

Source: ScienceDaily, April 30, 2008

Human warming hobbles ancient climate cycle

Before humans began burning fossil fuels, there was an eons-long balance between carbon dioxide emissions and Earth's ability to absorb them, but now the planet can't keep up, scientists said on Sunday.

Source: NewsDaily, April 27, 2008

Antarctic Deep Sea Gets Colder

The Antarctic deep sea is getting colder, which might stimulate the circulation of the oceanic water masses. This is the first result of the Polarstern expedition of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association that has just ended in Punta Arenas/Chile. At the same time satellite images from the Antarctic summer have shown the largest sea-ice extent on record. In the coming years autonomous measuring buoys will be used to find out whether the cold Antarctic summer induces a new trend or was only a "slip“.

Source: ScienceDaily, April 23, 2008

Arctic Ice More Vulnerable To Sunny Weather, New Study Shows

The shrinking expanse of Arctic sea ice is increasingly vulnerable to summer sunshine, new research concludes. The study, by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and Colorado State University (CSU), finds that unusually sunny weather contributed to last summer's record loss of Arctic ice, while similar weather conditions in past summers do not appear to have had comparable impacts.

Source: ScienceDaily, April 22, 2008

Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, Largest In Northern Hemisphere, Has Fractured Into Three Main Pieces

A team of scientists including polar expert Dr. Derek Mueller from Trent University and Canadian Rangers have discovered that the largest ice shelf in the Northern Hemisphere has fractured into three main pieces.

Source: ScienceDaily, April 16, 2008

Scientists Debate The Accuracy Of Al Gore's Documentary 'An Inconvenient Truth'

There is no question that Al Gore’s 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth is a powerful example of how scientific knowledge can be communicated to a lay audience. What is up for debate is whether it accurately presents the scientific argument that global warming is caused by human activities. Climate change experts express their opinions on the scientific validity of the film’s claims in articles just published online in Springer’s journal, GeoJournal.

ScienceDaily, April 15, 2008

Why Is Arctic Sea Ice Melting Faster Than Predicted? NOAA Probing Arctic Pollution

NOAA scientists are now flying through springtime Arctic pollution to find out why the region is warming — and summertime sea ice is melting — faster than predicted. Some 35 NOAA researchers are gathering with government and university colleagues in Fairbanks, Alaska, to conduct the study through April 23.

Source: ScienceDaily, April 9, 2008

Climate Change Is Not Caused By Cosmic Rays, According To New Research

New research has dealt a blow to the skeptics who argue that climate change is all due to cosmic rays rather than to man-made greenhouse gases. The new evidence shows no reliable connection between the cosmic ray intensity and cloud cover.

Source: ScienceDaily, April 4, 2008

"Mountains of the Moon" Glaciers Melting in Africa

Photographs taken by members of a WWF expedition to the Ruwenzoris last month show a massive reduction in glacier size when compared with similar images from the 1950s, probably from increased temperatures or humidity.

Source: The National Geographic News (online), March 25, 2008

Huge Iceberg Breaks Away, Antarctic Ice Shelf 'Hangs By A Thread'

British Antarctic Survey has captured dramatic satellite images of an Antarctic ice shelf that looks set to be the latest to break out from the Antarctic Peninsula. A large part of the Wilkins Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula is now supported only by a thin strip of ice hanging between two islands. It is another identifiable impact of climate change on the Antarctic environment.

Source: ScienceDaily, March 25, 2008

Climate facts to warm to

Duffy asked Marohasy: "Is the Earth stillwarming?"

She replied: "No, actually, there has been cooling, if you take 1998 as your point of reference. If you take 2002 as your point of reference, then temperatures have plateaued. This is certainly not what you'd expect if carbon dioxide is driving temperature because carbon dioxide levels have been increasing but temperatures have actually been coming down over the last 10 years."

Source: The Australian (online), March 22, 2008

Arctic Pollution Dates to 1800s

Today's Arctic explorers are well-acquainted with the ugly haze that hangs over the North Pole, created by air pollution that drifts up from cities in lower latitudes. But a new study suggests this veil of pollution has been present since the late 1800s.

Source: LiveScience, March 19, 2008

Arctic ice has reformed rapidly this winter after a record summer low, but it still covers less of the Arctic Ocean than it did in previous decades, NASA scientists announced today in an update of the states of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice.

Source: LiveScience, March 18, 2008

Thickest, oldest Arctic ice is melting

The thickest, oldest and toughest sea ice around the North Pole is melting, a bad sign for the future of the Arctic ice cap, NASA satellite data showed on Tuesday.

Source: NewsDaily, March 18, 2008

Even Skeptics Admit Global Warming is Real [Video]

In other words, even skeptics, deniers, contrarians—pick your favorite term—agree that global warming is real, or so it appears from the recent three-day conference in New York City put together by the Heartland Institute, a bastion of free-market thinking on the perils of junk science and government economic regulation. They just disagree—even amongst themselves—whether it is man-made.

Source: Scientific American (online), March 18, 2008

UN: World's Glaciers Melting Faster

Haeberli said glaciers lost an average of about a foot of ice a year between 1980 and 1999. But since the turn of the millennium the average loss has increased to about 20 inches.

Source: LiveScience, March 16, 2008

Glaciers Before and After

Glacier Image Gallery

Source: LiveScience

Not Much Warming Under the Sun

To help nail down the effect of solar radiation, geophysicist Mike Lockwood of the University of Southampton, U.K., examined data available since 1955 on the monthly average output of the sun, including sunspots, magnetic activity, and cosmic-ray variations. Then he compared those data, month by month, with average global temperature records, as well as El Niño- and La Niña-induced weather cycles and the atmospheric effects of major volcanic eruptions. The result, Lockwood and colleagues report in two papers published online this week in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A, is that for the past half-century, the sun has exerted only a small influence on climate--about 3% compared with the warming influence of greenhouse gases and natural climate cycles (see illustration).

Source: ScienceNOW (AAAS), March 12, 2008

Scientists meet in NYC to challenge Gore, U.N.

Global warming is a natural process, not likely the result of human activities, argued more than 100 internationally prominent environmental scientists in papers presented at the 2008 International Conference on Climate Change, which concluded here today.

Source: WorldNetDaily, March 4, 2008

Baliunas Says Global Warming Related To Sun

Dr. Baliunas' work with fellow Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics astronomer Willie Soon suggests global warming is more directly related to solar variability than to increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, an alternative view to what's been widely publicized in the mainstream media.

Source: Tyler Morning Telegraph (online), February 14, 2008