10 myths about global warming, and what the science really says. THE REASONS FOR raising doubts about the human causes of global warming, explains Skeptical Sciences John Cook, are often political rather than scientific. Cook hears from climate change skeptics that ‘“its all a liberal plot to spread socialism and destroy capitalism. However, what is causing global warming is a […]
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Cold-blooded animals like lizards, insects and fish have a preferred body temperature range at which they hunt, eat, move quickly and reproduce. Fear that a warming climate will constrict this temperature range underlies recent studies that warn of the detrimental effects of climate change on the activity and survival of cold-blooded animals. While not contradicting these warnings, a new paper […]
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The Southwest and central Great Plains are likely to be hit in coming decades by the most prolonged megadrought in more than 1,000 years, a new climate study predicts. Scientists from NASA, Columbia University, and Cornell University created a long-term climate model after analyzing historical temperature records, carbon dioxide emissions, and drought trends from tree rings.The record shows that the […]
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Earth’s temperature has increased by 1°C over the past century, and most of this warming has been caused by carbon dioxide emissions. But what does that mean locally? A new study published in Nature Climate Change pinpoints the temperature increases caused by CO2 emissions in different regions around the world. Using simulation results from 12 global climate models, Damon Matthews, […]
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Ocean temperatures first collected during one of the great 19th-century voyages of exploration confirm one of the consequences of climate change: humans have managed to warm even the deepest parts of the ocean. A new study in Nature Climate Change calculates that the amount of heat absorbed by the ocean has doubled in the last 18 years. A third of […]
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Across the world, bats are in trouble from climate change – not only through collisions with the wind turbines that are intended to mitigate its effects, but from what the increasing warmth does to their ability to find their prey. Bats often get a bad press, portrayed as disease-spreading bloodsuckers. In fact, they perform a vital role as pollinators, seed […]
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Results from a new climate reconstruction of how Antarctica’s ice sheets responded during the last period when atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) reached levels like those expected to occur in about 30 years, plus sediment core findings reported in a companion paper, suggest that the ice sheets are more vulnerable to rising atmospheric CO2 than previously thought. Details appear in two […]
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In 2015, Pope Francis, the leader the Catholic Church, issued the first-ever comprehensive set of Vatican teachings on climate change, in the form of an encyclical—or “papal letter”—sent to churches worldwide. Plans also include personally lobbying for climate action action in a series of high profile meetings ahead of the all-important UN global warming negotiations in Paris. A papal letter […]
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It’s not like we really needed to be told again that our planet is getting warmer…. But IT IS!!! Both NASA and NOAA have independently concluded that Earth’s surface temperatures in 2015 were higher than any previous year in recorded history. The hottest year recorded before that? 2014!! The temperatures in 2015 beat the 2014 record by a whopping 32.2 […]
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