Global CO2 Levels Set to Pass 400 ppm Milestone
The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has reached 399.72 parts per million (ppm) and is likely to pass the symbolically important 400ppm level for the first time in the next few days. Readings at the U.S. government's Earth Systems Research laboratory in Hawaii, are not expected to reach their 2013 peak until mid May, but were … Read More
Fast-Moving Climate Zones Are Speeding Extinction
As global temperatures rise, climate zones will shift at greater speed, according to new research in Nature Climate Change. If greenhouse gas emissions carry on increasing, then about 20 percent of the land area of the planet will undergo change – and the creatures that have made their homes in what were once stable ecosystems will have to adapt s… Read More
Boost to Colorado Snowpack May Lessen Wildfire Risk
As recently as late March it appeared that most of the West, including Colorado, was headed for a long, and tinderbox-dry spring and summer, with the effects of a long-running drought becoming ever more apparent in the form of dwindling water supplies and destructive wildfires. Many officials feared a repeat of last year’s disastrous wildfire seaso… Read More
Six to See: Slideshow of the Week’s Top Climate News
We have more tools to help prepare for disasters and we'll need them with all the wild weather swings. … Read More
U.S. Shows Rapid Rise of Temps Since First Earth Day
In commemoration of Earth Day, 2013, Climate Central has just released a new report that provides a state-by-state analysis of temperature trends since the first Earth Day took place in 1970. That occasion marked a significant change in America’s environmental consciousness, and led to the creation of, among other things, the Environ… Read More
Cutting Short-lived Pollutants Can Slow Sea Level Rise
As ocean waters warm and land-based ice sheets melt in response to manmade global warming, global sea levels have been rising by about 1.2 inches per decade, and recent studies project up to 1 meter, or about 3.3 feet, of sea level rise by the end of this century. This would imperil some of the world’s largest coastal population centers, such as Ne… Read More
Interactive: Short-Lived Pollutants and Sea Level Rise
The article, "Mitigation of short-lived climate pollutants slows sea level rise", by Hu et al., is a collaboration between scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Climate Central, and examines how … Read More
Andes’ Tropical Glaciers Going Fast, May Soon Be Gone
The glaciers of the tropical Andes have shrunk by between 30 and 50 percent in 30 years and many will soon disappear altogether, cutting off the summer water supply for millions of people, according to scientists studying the region’s climate. Their findings are particularly significant because glaciers in the tropics, 99 percent of which are in … Read More
