Fatalistic Friday: Climate change killing 300K/souls/yr, menacing North America, more

categories: Arctic & Antarctic, Fatalistic Friday, Oceans

Published May 29, 2009 @ 02:52PM PT

What a Difference Seven-Tenths of a Degree C Make: Global warming is killing 300,000 people a year, and leaving around 45 million hungry, says the Global Humanitarian Forum, a think tank founded by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan. And those numbers will likely double by 2030. 9 out of 10 deaths are related to deteriroration of the environment; deaths caused by climate-related malnutrition, diarrhea and malaria outnumber direct fatalities from weather-related disasters. 99 percent of the fatalities are in developing countries, which have contributed less than one percent of the world's total carbon emissions to what's built up in the atmosphere. And oh yeah: climate change is already costing the world $125 billion annually, conservatively. (CNN) (Hat tip to Mike)

Bigger, Stronger, Faster: The pace of global warming is accelerating at an alarming rate, says U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon. (Our response to climate change, not so much.) "What is frightening is that the scientists are now reviewing their predictions [in the IPCC's fifth assessment report], and recognizing that climate change impact is accelerating at a much faster pace," Ban said. He'd really like people to take serious action when the world meets over the international climate treaty this December, in Copenhagen. (Reuters)

Rock, Meet Hard Place: Lead particle pollution changes the altitude and distribution of clouds, ultimately cooling the climate. The lead particles provide sites for an ice nucleus to form and eventually create the ice crystals that make up cirrus ice clouds. “The cloud changes let more longwave radiation escape into space, leading to a cooling effect on the climate,” researcher Dan Cziczo concludes.

If the Melting Antarctic Ice Sheet Doesn't Get Us: [[I really can't do better than this precis by Bruce:]] "Antarctica melts, water floods into oceans, the planet’s gravity changes because the polar ice is gone and the North Atlantic rises and beats the living hell out of the USA. Hey, nice one, Exxon." Research published in the journal Science. (Beyond the Beyond)

Then the Melting Greenland Ice Sheets Might: Melting of the Greenland ice sheet this century may drive more water than previously thought toward the already threatened coastlines of the northeastern United States and Canada. "If Greenland's ice melts at moderate to high rates, ocean circulation by 2100 may shift and cause sea levels off the northeast coast of North America to rise by about 12 to 20 inches (about 30 to 50 centimeters) more than in other coastal areas. The research builds on recent reports that have found that sea level rise associated with global warming could adversely affect North America, and its findings suggest that the situation is more threatening than previously believed." (Science Daily)

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Comments (8)

Global warming is a complete hoax. The scientists are now saying that we will be going through a global warming over the next few years. This is a normal cycle historically and is being used to make money through cap and trade with credits being sold only by Al Gore's company and funneled through GE.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm and self interest there?

Posted by NONA WAY on 05/31/2009 @ 06:52PM PT
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You're confusing the cap and trade permits with "carbon credits" sold by Gore's company, but yes, there is plenty of rent-seeking going on in Washington right now.

Posted by Mark O on 06/03/2009 @ 05:26PM PT
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Your statement is false and amounts to libel. You should be sued.

Posted by David Saia on 06/07/2009 @ 08:15PM PT
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Haven't people in developing countries been dying due to malnutrition for 1000s of years? It may sound cold, but if the countries can't support their population why don't we change the way we deal with the issue. Start moving the people out. Find water, build wells, give them technology? There's an old saying about continuing to do the same thing the same way over and over and expecting different results...

I do believe we have an issue, and yes North America contributes a lot to it. However, The earth has continually gone through global changes since the dawn of time. We should look at ways to become better stewards to our planet. Pointing fingers and complaining about the problem isn't solving anything

Posted by melissa ander on 06/07/2009 @ 01:24PM PT
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If the only argument to this article is that there a cyclical changes throughout history... then there is a lot of misinformed people out there. Yes, there have been changes, and no... the changes occurring now are at a much faster rate than ever before, due to increased levels of CO2 from anthropogenic sources.

This is fact.

The debate over whether there is global warming or not is really over. The evidence is out there, for those who are willing to look. For people like Nona Way, who are looking with their eyes closed, all I can say is try to keep up.

The beauty of it all is that the non-believers will be proven wrong in time, unfortunately... everybody will be paying the price at that point.

Let me say one more thing. I currently go to a college that highly regarded for its research facilities. Every geography, environmental science, hell... every science teacher I've met on this college... to a man, agree that there is global warming and it will have an impact in the near future. And if you can't trust your schools, colleges and universities, who can you trust? I suggest that naysayers do some research, and then come back and post.

Posted by Robert Bonfante on 06/07/2009 @ 11:33PM PT
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"The debate over whether there is global warming or not is really over."

You're missing the point there, sonny. The debate is about whether the undisputed warming trend is caused by people or the Sun. If you are going to announce the end of the debate, then why not smack us with some evidence instead of lazily spouting that cultish "debate is over" bologna, and saying that it's "out there, for those who are willing to look."

If you aren't prepared to support your case with evidence and reliable sources, than perhaps you haven't spent enough time talking to your professors about your own work, and about what it truly means to be an academic.

I appreciate your youthful zeal, but, "Dude, some really smart people said so," is not a valid point. Bring something fresh and fact-based to the table instead of rehashing the same tired opposition-silencing techniques of your favorite blog. Otherwise, it's still just your opinion. And even though you're fully entitled to it--and I do celebrate your wonderful and magnificent right to hold any opinion for any reason--you should avoid dressing it up as fact, unless you can prove, with finality, that it is so.

Posted by Joe M on 06/16/2009 @ 10:21PM PT
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Actually, the notion that the sun is forcing the unusual rise in the Earth's surface temperature has been thoroughly discredited. However the Sun might be affecting temperatures, it's not a sufficient influence to explain the extent of what's happening.
Here's simply the latest research to lay this myth to rest:

"Carnegie Mellon University's Peter Adams along with Jeff Pierce from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, have developed a model to test a controversial hypothesis that says changes in the sun are causing global warming. The hypothesis they tested was that increased solar activity reduces cloudiness by changing cosmic rays. So, when clouds decrease, more sunlight is let in, causing the earth to warm. Some climate change skeptics have tried to use this hypothesis to suggest that greenhouse gases may not be the global warming culprits that most scientists agree they are."

"In research published in Geophysical Research Letters, and highlighted in the May 1 edition of Science, Adams and Pierce report the first atmospheric simulations of changes in atmospheric ions and particle formation resulting from variations in the sun and cosmic rays. They find that changes in the concentration of particles that affect clouds are 100 times too small to affect the climate."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090511122425.htm

Posted by Emily Gertz on 06/17/2009 @ 05:33AM PT
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And yes, the reality of human-caused global warming is effectively proven, in terms of good science.
As this blog is caused "stop global warming," it's not a debate that's often relevant to the posts on the blog. Such as this particular post.

Posted by Emily Gertz on 06/17/2009 @ 05:35AM PT
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