Browsing: climate change

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Oceans Warmer Than Ever Before: Report

Last year was the warmest ever for the world’s oceans, according to a new study by scientists from 16 institutes around the world. It actually was the fourth year in a row to set records for high ocean temperatures. To make matters worse, the speed at which oceans are getting warmer is faster and faster, raising concerns about more powerful storms in the near future, as well as melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica and rising sea levels around the world. The new study was published last week in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences. It examined the temperature…

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Alaska Cancels Snow Crab Season

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game just cancelled this year’s snow crab season in the Bering Sea for the first time ever. It said that 90 percent of the snow crab population has been lost in the past few years, probably as a result of warmer waters and climate change. The current number of crabs, the department said, is below the threshold for opening the fishery. The annual season usually opens on Oct. 15. The snow crab fleet consists of about 65 boats; some of them are in the Coast Guard’s picture of Dutch Harbor, above. The crabbers and…

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Maine Fisherman Up for $100 Million Prize

A Maine fishermen, from a family of Maine fishermen, is among the finalists for a $100 million prize for fighting climate change from Elon Musk. Marty Odlin, whose family has been fishing in Maine for generations, has started a small company named Running Tide (the name of  his boat) to remove carbon dioxide, a main culprit in global warming, from the atmosphere. The company would build buoys in the ocean that would grow microforests of kelp that would gather carbon dioxide and eventually sink down to the ocean floor. Now, Running Tide is a finalist for Elon Musk’s $100 million…

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Studies: Climate Change Causing More Hurricanes

Climate change has already caused a “decisive increase” in violent  hurricanes, according to this Grist story about two new studies: In our world of warming waters, extreme Atlantic hurricane seasons are becoming more likely and much wetter. That’s according to a pair of studies published this week. The fact that heat and moisture fuel hurricanes isn’t new, but the two studies offer fresh insights into how climate change is shaping today’s hurricanes. “Climate change is often thought about as a long-term problem,” said Kevin Reed, an extreme weather expert at Stony Brook University and lead author of one of the studies,…

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Ice Shelf Size of L.A. Collapses in Antarctica

An ice shelf the size of New York City or Los Angeles collapsed two weeks ago during an Antarctic heat wave, sending a massive slab of ice into the ocean. Satellite imaging showed that the Conger Ice Shelf on East Antarctica, which had been there for thousands of years, suddenly disappeared between March 14 and 16. The ice shelf has been shrinking slowly since the 1970s. Even though the shrinkage was accelerating lately, the entire disappearance of the ice shelf was totally unexpected. East Antarctica is one of the coldest and driest places on earth. But the collapse of the…

Destinations
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Heat Stress Hits Coral in Great Barrier Reef

Coral on the Great Barrier Reef is in trouble, again. Indeed, the Australian agency in charge of managing the reef just said it has been hit by “significant heat stress” over the summer. The Great Barrier Reef, the most extensive coral reef in the world, is listed as a World Heritage Site. Scientists and researchers from the United Nations are visiting the reef this week to determine whether it should be listed as “in danger.” The reef just avoided such a designation last year, after intensive lobbying efforts in Australia led UNESCO to postpone such a decision until now. Meanwhile,…

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Climate Change Increasing Too Fast: UN Report

Climate change is happening so fast that we may not be able to turn it around, according to a new report by a global group of scientists working with the United Nations. Rising sea levels are a particular concern, along with increasingly intense storms, particularly on the Gulf and East Coasts of the United States. By 2050, sea levels could  be as much as 10 to 12 inches higher than they are today, affecting metropolitan areas, waterfront communities, power plants and oil refineries. The report, issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, involved 270 scientists from 67 countries. It…

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Network of Currents in Atlantic Breaking Down

The crucial network of currents in the Atlantic, including the Gulf Stream, is slowing down, and is now the weakest it’s been in more than 1,000 years, according to a new study published in the British journal Nature Climate Change. The slowdown is reaching a tipping point with dramatic consequences, including a more rapid rise in sea levels along the east coast of the United States, colder temperatures in Europe, reduced rainfall in parts of Africa, and even more monsoons in the tropics. The study looked at the circulation patterns of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, the conveyer…

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World’s Largest Iceberg Breaks Off in Antarctica

The world’s largest iceberg, larger than the state of Rhode Island, has just broken off in Antarctica. The iceberg, 105 miles long and 15 miles wide, is now floating on the Weddell Sea, where British explorer Ernest Shackleton lost his ship Endurance to pack ice in 1915. The iceberg was spotted by satellites from the European Space Agency as it calved from the western edge of Antarctica’s Ronne Ice Shelf. It is named A-76, after the Antarctic quadrant where it was first seen. The ESA issued a picture showing that the iceberg, measuring 1,667 square miles, is larger than the…

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Sea Levels Rising Faster than Expected: New Study

Sea levels around the world are rising faster than current models predicted, according to a new study by a group of European researchers. A result of warming temperatures and climate change, the rising sea levels could result in massive coastal flooding and property damage. The new study was just published in Ocean Science, the journal of the European Geosciences Union. It considered more data to revise previous estimates made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that predicted that seal levels will rise about 39 inches by the end of this century. That prediction was based on data going back…

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