Saudi Arabia on Thursday blocked a call by vulnerable island states at climate talks for a study into the impact of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of global warming, delegates said. The appeal came from the Association of Small Island States (AOSIS), gathering low-lying islands in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and the Pacific, which is lobbying hard for the UN climate arena not to abandon the 1.5 C target. The goal is receding as emissions of greenhouse gases rise and political problems for tackling climate change multiply. AOSIS, supported by the European Union (EU), Australia and New Zealand, called for a technical report on the cost of reaching the 1.5 C target and the consequences of breaching it. But it was thwarted by Saudi Arabia, with support from Kuwait and Qatar, under the UN's consensus rule, the sources said. Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers argue that ratcheting up action on carbon emissions will hurt their revenues as fossil-fuel consumers switch to cleaner energy. "Some small island states could become stateless from sea level rise, which is why they are calling for global temperature rise to be kept below 1.5 C," added Wendel Trio of Greenpeace. "That Saudi Arabia, a country with such obvious oil interests, exploited the UN consensus rule to stop the world's most vulnerable countries from getting a much-needed summary of the latest climate science is breathtaking for its criminal disregard for the human impacts of climate change."

To:  The US President and US Congress from Americans Concerned about the 2010 Gulf Oil Spill

Gulf Oil Spill Electric Car Credit
With oil prices expected to exceed $100 per barrel and millions of dollars of catastrophic damage occurring to U.S. coasts, wildlife, and coastal economies, all due to the 2010 Gulf Coast Oil Spill, it is time for a new direction for transportation in America.

In response to the Gulf Coast Oil Spill, this petition asks the U.S. Congress and Senate to introduce legislation and for the President to sign into law a bill that will do the following:
1) Increase the electric car tax credit for any American made Electric cars to 70% of the purchase price.
2) Provide a tax credit for consumers equal to the cost of labor to convert their gas engine vehicle to an electric engine vehicle.
3) To require that all Federal Agencies must use American made Electric cars for 70% of their vehicle fleets beginning January of 2011 and thereafter.

This will create instant demand for U.S. made electric cars, which will put Americans back to work, boost the American economy, reduce the demand for Oil, and will give the American people a choice to drive an affordable vehicle that is clean and does not pose a threat to our coastal economies or our wildlife.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

"What these two countries could not achieve from years of talking, has been resolved by global warming," said Hazra.

Scientists at the School of Oceanographic Studies at the university have noted an alarming increase in the rate at which sea levels have risen over the past decade in the Bay of Bengal.

Until 2000, the sea levels rose about 3 millimeters (0.12 inches) a year, but over the last decade they have been rising about 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) annually, he said.

Another nearby island, Lohachara, was submerged in 1996, forcing its inhabitants to move to the mainland, while almost half the land of Ghoramara island was underwater, he said. At least 10 other islands in the area were at risk as well, Hazra said.

"We will have ever larger numbers of people displaced from the Sunderbans as more island areas come under water," he said.

Bangladesh, a low-lying delta nation of 150 million people, is one of the countries worst-affected by global warming. Officials estimate 18 percent of Bangladesh's coastal area will be underwater and 20 million people will be displaced if sea levels rise 1 meter (3.3 feet) by 2050 as projected by some climate models.

...even if the public and governments drag their feet on reacting to a changing coast, others aren't waiting to adapt. State Farm, for example, announced this week that it will no longer write or renew insurance policies for structures on barrier islands to reduce its exposure in areas prone to catastrophic events like hurricanes.

The report suggests private property owners "withdraw, relocate or abandon assets that are high risk." Residents on the east coast of the United Kingdom, in Norfolk, are also feeling the sting of abandonment from local and national governments in some coastal areas, which have been deemed too costly to protect. More than 15 million people live near the U.K. coastline, but Britain's Environment Agency has already said that the area known as the Norfolk Broads will probably be left to be reclaimed by the sea.

About 10 million people in England and Wales live in flood risk areas. The project, launched on Friday, is a joint venture between the Institution of Civil Engineers (Ice) and the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba). The report, Facing up to Rising Sea Levels, urges the government, planning authorities and the public, to act sooner rather than later. "If we act now, we can adapt in such a way that will prevent mass disruption and allow coastal communities to continue to prosper," said Riba president Ruth Reed. "But the key word is 'now'," she added. The study warns that rising sea levels, an increase in the frequency of storms and sinking landmasses could leave many UK coastal areas vulnerable to extreme flooding.

The United Nations estimates Africa has 320 coastal cities and about 56 million people living in "low lying" coastal zones, those less than 10 meters above mean sea level. Some expects say sea levels have risen by about 20 cm since the start of the Industrial Revolution in northern Europe. That is no surprise to residents of Abidjan's Port Bouet, where abandoned concrete shacks litter the beach. Some have lost their front walls. Scaffolding is all that remains of others. "Twenty years ago the sea was far away from here," said Samassa Awa, 39, an unemployed nurse whose wooden shack has been flooded by the Atlantic many times. "You see all these destroyed houses? Many people fled but we decided to stay." ............. "We want the authorities of the world powers to come and rescue the poor people from the sea," said Diakite Abdullaye, 46, looking over his shoulder at the ruins of a house he said had already been destroyed by the advancing ocean. "If they can't stop the sea rising, then help us move somewhere else," said the resident of Ivory Coast's biggest city.

Mozambique has been identified as one of the countries likely to be affected most by climate change, and the issue will not go away. Much of what Mozambique would like to do is deemed too expensive While scientists cannot give an exact figure of how much the sea has already risen in Mozambique, the effects are already obvious. "I went to the beach a lot as a child, and I've noticed things are changing," said 34-year-old Jose, who lives in Maputo. "The water is eating the land - little by little it's eating the land." Mozambique has compiled an action plan, and has been offered help from the World Bank, UN agencies and a plethora of other aid agencies. But so far little has been done, and much of what the country would like to do is beyond its budget. "I think people are still at the stage of 'Oh my God - what are we going to do?'" as environmentalist Antonia Reina puts it.

Winter Games officials have given up on any help from Mother Nature and will now be trucking in snow for the freestyle skiing and snowboarding events at Cypress Mountain, on Vancouver's North Shore.... Mild temperatures and heavy rains earlier this month forced officials to close the mountain ahead of schedule, as snow gave way to mud.

1) Is there an issue with global warming...and is it caused by humans? Her answer to both related questions was an unqualified "yes." 2) Does she consider CO2 to be a pollutant? Her answer: It is a contributor to Global Warming, although it does not fit easily into the federal Clean Water Act... ...Based on her answers to the committee, I voted NO and will debate these issues on the full floor of the Senate when this comes to the full Senate for confirmation

We the undersigned ask President Obama to sign an Executive Order recognizing people displaced by Climate Change as Environmental Refugees and grant these Environmental Refugees asylum in the United States as permitted by Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America.

We also ask United Nations Secretary General to call a special session of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees to change the legal status of people displaced by Climate Change from 'Migrants' to 'Refugees' so that these displaced Refugees may seek asylum in other countries around the world.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

"Such a loss of Arctic sea ice cover has recently been assessed to set in motion powerful climate feedbacks which will have an impact far beyond the Arctic itself. This could lead to flooding affecting one-quarter of the world's population, substantial increases in greenhouse gas emissions from massive carbon pools and extreme global weather changes."

For the first time, people in the Arctic are reporting changes in the types of fish they catch and birds they see in their regions, with species of both fish and birds arriving from temperate climates. Native wildlife such as walrus, seals and polar bears are all becoming thinner and scarcer. Most alarming is the new presence of the sound of thunder, which is usually foreign in the Arctic circle. Elders of these areas, have told oral folk myths, one of which warns that should the ice ever disappear during the summer, their way of life will end. This has been, until recently, a myth that seemed impossible, with the vast expanse of sea ice seeming to last forever.

Robert Corell, chairman of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, said in Ilulissat [Greenland] yesterday: "We have seen a massive acceleration of the speed with which these glaciers are moving into the sea. The ice is moving at 2 meters an hour on a front 5km [3 miles] long and 1,500 meters deep. That means that this one glacier puts enough fresh water into the sea in one year to provide drinking water for a city the size of London for a year." The glacier is now moving at 15km a year into the sea although in surges it moves even faster. He measured one surge at 5km in 90 minutes - an extraordinary event.

The latest scientific discipline to enter the fray over global warming is geology. And the forecasts from some quarters are dramatic - not only will the earth shake, it will spit fire. A number of geologists say glacial melting due to climate change will unleash pent-up pressures in the Earth's crust, causing extreme geological events such as earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. A cubic metre of ice weighs nearly a tonne and some glaciers are more than a kilometre thick. When the weight is removed through melting, the suppressed strains and stresses of the underlying rock come to life. (from Alan Glazner, a volcano specialist at the University of North Carolina) "When you melt glacial ice, several hundred metres to a kilometre thick . . . you've decreased the load on the crust and so you've decreased the pressure holding the volcanic conduits closed. "They're cracks, that's how magmas gets to the surface . . . and where they hit the surface, that's where you get a volcano."

...quakes ranged from six to 15 per year from 1993 to 2002, then jumped to 20 in 2003, 23 in 2004, and 32 in the first 10 months of 2005 - matching an increase in Greenland temperatures.

"(Professor Taira) and his team studied repeating earthquakes because they provided a "background frequency" against which changes in the fault could be compared. "These events happen regularly and the size of the event is about the same," he told BBC News. "But after Sumatra (in 2004) the frequency changed - it increased - but the magnitude decreased. "That is a signal of the fault weakening; you only have to push a little bit and the fault fails."

In February, Berman and Susman--along with two attorneys who have previously worked on behalf of the village, and Matt Pawa, an environmental lawyer specializing in global warming--filed suit in federal court against 24 oil, coal, and electric companies, claiming that their emissions are partially responsible for the coastal destruction in Kivalina. More important, the suit also accuses eight of the firms (American Electric Power, BP America, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Duke Energy, ExxonMobil, Peabody Energy, and Southern Company) of conspiring to cover up the threat of man-made climate change, in much the same way the tobacco industry tried to conceal the risks of smoking--by using a series of think tanks and other organizations to falsely sow public doubt in an emerging scientific consensus.

(Environmental) Lawsuits in California, Mississippi, and New York have been dismissed by judges who say a ruling would require them to balance the perils of greenhouse gases against the benefits of fossil fuels--something best handled by legislatures.

"Nowhere in their complaints do plaintiffs ask the court to fashion a comprehensive and far-reaching solution to global climate change, a task that arguably falls within the purview of the political branches. Instead, they seek to limit emissions from six domestic coal-fired electricity plants on the ground that such emissions constitute a public nuisance that they allege has caused, is causing and will continue to cause them injury."

]]> http://www.praer.org/2009/10/the-definition-of-justice.html http://www.praer.org/2009/10/the-definition-of-justice.html Barack Obama carbon emission Carteret islands climate refugees Copenhagen environmental refugees European Union Fiji fossil fuels Industrialized countries Kirabiti Kivalina legal status Maldives relocation Senate Tuvalu United Nations United States Vanuatu Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:40:36 -0700 Huffington post) Update: I will be inserting additional information about the new Earthquakes and Tsunamis that were triggered since Tuesday... In the recent climate change debate, some of our leaders, like Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe, are still insisting that these are cyclical, natural changes, or that global warming is not real because "God is still up there". I foresee that a decade from now -- when we see all the damage that has happened -- Sen. Inhofe's comments on climate change will be viewed as some of the most misguided statements ever made by a senator. Why? There was a significant development that occurred yesterday, as an 8.3 earthquake struck Samoa and set off tsunami warnings in the South Pacific. Comparisons were being made to the Indian Ocean earthquake, which was the worst earthquake ever recorded at over 9 on the Richter scale. Update it seems the same fault line in Indonesia has become active - from Huffington Post

A powerful earthquake struck western Indonesia on Wednesday, triggering landslides and trapping thousands under collapsed buildings - including two hospitals, an official said. At least 75 bodies were found, but the toll was expected to be far higher. The temblor started fires, severed roads and cut off power and communications to Padang, a coastal city of 900,000 on Sumatra island. Thousands fled in panic, fearing a tsunami. Buildings swayed hundreds of miles (kilometers) away in neighboring Malaysia and Singapore. In the sprawling low-lying city of Padang, the shaking was so intense that people crouched or sat on the street to avoid falling. Children screamed as an exodus of thousands tried to get away from the coast in cars and motorbikes, honking horns. The magnitude 7.6 quake occurred at 5:15 p.m. (1015GMT, 6:15 a.m. EDT), just off the coast of Padang, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. It occurred a day after killer tsunami hit islands in the South Pacific and was along the same fault line that spawned the 2004 Asian tsunami that killed 230,000 people in 11 nations.

...and the damage in Samoa was worse than previously reported From Huffington Post

APIA, Samoa -- Disaster officials rushed food, medicine and a temporary morgue to the Samoas on Wednesday after a powerful earthquake unleashed a tsunami that flattened villages and swept cars and people out to sea. At least 119 people were killed. Survivors fled to higher ground on the South Pacific islands after the magnitude 8.0 quake struck at 6:48 a.m. local time (1:48 p.m. EDT; 1748 GMT) Tuesday

Scientists are reporting that these events are unrelated - which very well may be true, however, as you will read below, there is a common denominator to the tectonic instability that is being witnessed. How can this be? Well, the Earth's tectonic plates have sensitive fault lines, which when triggered to move, cause earthquakes and volcanoes. As a sphere, the Earth 'reflects' vibration internally, so that an earthquake in the South Pacific is picked up by seismologists across the world -- say in Alaska. The Indonesian quake resonated so strongly that it set off quakes in Alaska. (Samoa also had a 7.9 earthquake in March.) Now, add in this to the equation. In Greenland, and to a lesser extent, Antarctica, ice sheets and glaciers are melting and more importantly, sliding in rapid bursts. This is caused by moulins, which are holes that melting water form from the top of a glacier to the bottom. The water then lubricates and melts the underside of the glacier, causing them to detach from the bedrock -- and creating a 'slip-n-slide' for glaciers that weigh in the megatons -- some the size of Manhattan.

Robert Corell, chairman of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, said in Ilulissat [Greenland] yesterday: "We have seen a massive acceleration of the speed with which these glaciers are moving into the sea. The ice is moving at 2 meters an hour on a front 5km [3 miles] long and 1,500 meters deep. That means that this one glacier puts enough fresh water into the sea in one year to provide drinking water for a city the size of London for a year." The glacier is now moving at 15km a year into the sea although in surges it moves even faster. He measured one surge at 5km in 90 minutes - an extraordinary event.

The result, each 'slide' of these multi-ton glaciers sets off an 'ice quake' that register an average of 3 to 5 on the Richter scale. This might sound minor, but these are occurring multiple times a year. This means that the Earth is being jolted repeatedly by these ice quakes, destabilizing faults lines which has many, many consequences.

The latest scientific discipline to enter the fray over global warming is geology. And the forecasts from some quarters are dramatic - not only will the earth shake, it will spit fire. A number of geologists say glacial melting due to climate change will unleash pent-up pressures in the Earth's crust, causing extreme geological events such as earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. A cubic metre of ice weighs nearly a tonne and some glaciers are more than a kilometre thick. When the weight is removed through melting, the suppressed strains and stresses of the underlying rock come to life. (from Alan Glazner, a volcano specialist at the University of North Carolina) "When you melt glacial ice, several hundred metres to a kilometre thick . . . you've decreased the load on the crust and so you've decreased the pressure holding the volcanic conduits closed. "They're cracks, that's how magmas gets to the surface . . . and where they hit the surface, that's where you get a volcano."

And it is not likely to slow down, but may instead speed up:

...quakes ranged from six to 15 per year from 1993 to 2002, then jumped to 20 in 2003, 23 in 2004, and 32 in the first 10 months of 2005 - matching an increase in Greenland temperatures.

LET ME REPEAT THAT STATISTIC...

...quakes ranged from six to 15 per year from 1993 to 2002, then jumped to 20 in 2003, 23 in 2004, and 32 in the first 10 months of 2005 - matching an increase in Greenland temperatures.

That is tripling of earthquakes in a 15 year period and more importantly an exponential change in the activity. This trend is causing changes exponentially. For instance, since the Arctic has opened an ice free passage, the Arctic is no longer a stationary sea -- currents from the Pacific and the Atlantic are encroaching into the Arctic circle and creating an additional heating feedback loop -- which is as equally dangerous as a heating feedback loop as the loss of reflective ice. This video highlights the feedback loop that scientists are seeing in Greenland. And, sadly, the latest report from the IPCC reflects this exponential change, as scientists report now that even if the world's countries commit to all of the recommendations to reach by 2050 -- (which the U.S. Senate is likely to block) the Earth's temperature will rise 6.3 degrees by 2100. This is not good, since scientists worldwide have agreed that to survive climate change, we must limit the temperature rise to 2 degrees. So, not only are we on a path that with displace as many as 75 million people by 2050, many of them islanders, but we are also putting many more people in peril due to the threat of this increased tectonic activity. The industrialized countries must change their polluting policies and begin to think about their responsibility for the Indonesian earthquake that resulted in 229,866 people lost, including 186,983 dead and 42,883 missing. These may have been the first wave of people who have died in a widespread fashion from the unintended effects of climate change. And yes, even though as some will argue, tectonic plates have been moving for thousands of years, it is a fact, that the climate is changing, the Arctic is heating, and Ice Quakes are increasing, all due to human made pollution. Since writing this story Tuesday, I feel both vindicated and horrified to see the very things I am worried about happening - and to see that our Senate is still waffling on the middling, do little, but necessary ACES Climate bill. We must do pass much, much more effective legislation and recognize the legal status of Environmental Refugees. There are many changes that are going to happen, and we are going to have to realize, globally, that we are all in this together. Most importantly, we must begin to talk openly about adaptation to these global changes, and not act in merely a reactionary approach. ]]> http://www.praer.org/2009/09/climate-change-whole-lot-of-sh.html http://www.praer.org/2009/09/climate-change-whole-lot-of-sh.html Climate change earthquakes global warming greenland Ice Sheets indonesia magma samoa tsunami sea level rise South Pacific sumatra volcanos Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:44:27 -0700 2-0. Denver is a great city with the great outdoors and the Rocky Mountains just a 20 minute drive away. But this information reported today, makes me sad and mad with Denver.

Denver released the largest amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) and Barcelona the smallest amount in a new study documenting how differences in climate, population density and other factors affect GHG emissions in global cities.

Now living in a city that is this beautiful, it is hard to believe that we beat out Los Angeles for pollution.

Denver had the highest overall GHG emissions, with levels two to five times higher than other cities. Its high levels were due partly to its high use of electricity, heating and industrial fuels, and ground transportation, they note - Los Angeles was second on the list...

What if a city's reputation for pollution was reflected in the Sports team's names? Instead of the Denver Broncos we would be the Denver Bronchitis? It really should give the leaders of our state's energy policy pause, in light of global warming's threat to the 2 billion dollar Colorado skiing and tourism industry, when deciding on how to power our state and what Denver emits. Anyone visiting Colorado Rockies can already see the 2 million Pine trees that are dead or dying due to Pine Beetles - an epidemic many scientist attribute to global warming. The voters have proven that they want alternative energy - and they proved so by passing approving Amendment 37 in 2004 - the first bill in the nation to require a percentage of the state's energy sources be derived from renewable energy. The time is now to call on our elected leaders like the Mayor and the Governor to change the way we power our city. And it is not just about Colorado, while our pollution is 'just' killing our trees in Colorado, it is robbing others of the world's citizens their very way of life. the time to act is now - even if you are not from Colorado - we are all in this together - contact your Senator to support Climate Change legislation like Waxman-Markey a.k.a ACES As I have written previously, even though ACES is not perfect,especially when it comes to coal - we must go to Copenhagen with some kind of climate bill to get some real action globally started for their sakes. ]]> http://www.praer.org/2009/09/i-love-denver-but-this-has-got.html http://www.praer.org/2009/09/i-love-denver-but-this-has-got.html Colorado Denver Denver Broncos environmental refugees Pine Beetles Pollution Rocky Mountains Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:06:59 -0700 from the BBC

An Indian civil servant, SM Raju, has come up with a novel way of providing employment to millions of poor in the eastern state of Bihar.

His campaign to encourage people to plant trees effectively addresses two burning issues of the world: global warming and shrinking job opportunities.

Evidence of Mr Raju's success could clearly be seen on 30 August, when he organised 300,000 villagers from over 7,500 villages in northern Bihar to engage in a mass tree planting ceremony.

In doing so the agriculture graduate from Bangalore has provided "sustainable employment" to people living below the poverty line in Bihar...

"I told the villagers that they would get 100 days employment in a year simply by planting trees and protecting them. The old, handicapped and widows would be given preference," he explained.

Every village council has now been given a target of planting 50,000 saplings - a group of four families has to plant 200 seedlings and they must protect them for three years till the plants grow more sturdy.

"They would get the full payment if they can ensure the survival of 90% of the plants under their care. For a 75-80% survival rate, they will be paid only half the wage. If the survival rate is less than 75%, the families in the group will be replaced," the guidelines say.

Under NREGA rules, each worker has to be paid 100 rupees ($2) per day for 100 days in a year.

"I told the villagers that they would get 100 days employment in a year simply by planting trees and protecting them. The old, handicapped and widows would be given preference," he explained.

Every village council has now been given a target of planting 50,000 saplings - a group of four families has to plant 200 seedlings and they must protect them for three years till the plants grow more sturdy.

"They would get the full payment if they can ensure the survival of 90% of the plants under their care. For a 75-80% survival rate, they will be paid only half the wage. If the survival rate is less than 75%, the families in the group will be replaced," the guidelines say.

Under NREGA rules, each worker has to be paid 100 rupees ($2) per day for 100 days in a year.

Dear US political leaders,

could we have this in the USA - perhaps a tree planting program aimed at offsetting the pine beetle die off in the Rocky Mountains?

]]> http://www.praer.org/2009/09/indias-citizens-make-the-move-1.html http://www.praer.org/2009/09/indias-citizens-make-the-move-1.html air crops global warming India land ngo oxygen sea level rise trees water Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:23:30 -0700 ]]> http://www.praer.org/2009/09/post-1.html http://www.praer.org/2009/09/post-1.html Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:08:06 -0700 this is a map of the theaters hosting the events.
map
see here
AVAAZ Global Wake Up Call

The Global Wake-Up Call Is here!

On 21 September 2009, at more than 2200 events in 128 countries across the globe, an unstoppable global movement is issuing a wake-up call to world leaders on climate change! Call our leader now--you can select your country from the list at left, and the numbers will appear. Be polite but firm; leave a message urging your leader to travel to Copenhagen for the climate talks in December and sign a fair, ambitious, and binding climate treaty!

If you went to an event, post a note about it below, and email photos or video to photos@avaaz.org (or upload here). And if you make a phone call--post a message below about who you called and what happened. If you keep getting a busy signal, that's a good sign: it means our global wake-up calls are flooding the lines, and our message is getting
through!

video excerpt

]]> http://www.praer.org/2009/09/attend-flash-mob-movie-event-a.html http://www.praer.org/2009/09/attend-flash-mob-movie-event-a.html Age of Stupid movie event climate change environmental refugees Global Warming Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:20:15 -0700

From FishOutofWater's diary 

Global ocean surface temperatures broke all time highs for August and the northern hemisphere summer.

• The June-August worldwide ocean surface temperature was also the warmest on record at 62.5 degrees F, 1.04 degrees F above the 20th century average of 61.5 degrees F.
.....
• The worldwide ocean surface temperature of 62.4 degrees F was the warmest on record for any August, and 1.03 degrees F above the 20th century average of 61.4 degrees F.

August warmth in the southern hemisphere broke all time records.

• The Southern Hemisphere average temperatures for land and ocean surface combined were the warmest on record for August.

This August was the second warmest on record for land and water just behind the super El Nino year of 1998. The cooling effects of the deep solar minimum, the quietest sun in 100 years, were not able to counteract the effects of anthropogenic greenhouse gases and a weak to moderate El Nino.

NCDC scientists also reported that the combined average global land and ocean surface temperature for August was second warmest on record, behind 1998. For the June-August 2009 season, the combined global land and ocean surface temperature was third warmest on record.

SST Anomalies for August 31, 2009

By NOAA FishOutofWater

I'm enjoying warm water temperatures on vacation body surfing at Cape Hatteras this week. The Gulf Stream has been exceptionally warm. The warm temperatures let me stay in the water comfortably for 5 hours yesterday without a wet suit. However, warm water temperatures are creating hot spots that threaten the health of coral reefs and temperature sensitive marine organisms. The intense hot spots off of central America and western Africa pose severe threats to coral reefs there.

By NOAA FishOutofWater

The warm Atlantic temperatures have not led to an active Atlantic hurricane season because El Nino has caused strong westerly winds at high levels, shearing storms as they approach the north American side of the Atlantic ocean. However, I enjoying surfing waves from hurricane Fred yesterday that were generated before it was torn apart by wind shear.

I suspect that the Pacific ocean is having a very intense hurricane/typhoon season this year because the waters are so warm.

]]> http://www.praer.org/2009/09/warmest-ocean-temperatures-eve.html http://www.praer.org/2009/09/warmest-ocean-temperatures-eve.html climate change environmental refugees sea level rise Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:06:01 -0700 Daily Kos) After news this week that the Arctic is Warmer than it has ever been in the past 2000 years, and that quote

How much energy we're getting from the Sun is no longer the most important thing governing the temperature of the Arctic.

I was glad to hear about the following below: From the President of Maldives, at the sneak preview of the movie "Age of Stupid" staring Pete Postlewaite, which provides a bleak view of our future should we not act to stop Climate Change. From the President Nahseed: and a clip from the movie: I hope this movie will help motivate more action at the Copenhagen summit. More from the BBC on the warming arctic and a statement Secretary General Ban Ki Moon:

Much debate on climate change has centred on the Mediaeval Warm Period, or Mediaeval Climate Anomaly - a period about 1,000 years ago when, historical records suggest, Vikings colonised Greenland and may have grown grapes in Newfoundland. The new analysis shows that temperatures were indeed warmer in this region 1,000 years ago than they were 100 years ago - but not as warm as they are now, or 1,000 years previously. "It shows that the Mediaeval Warm Period is real, and is... an exception from the general trend of cooling," commented Eystein Jansen from Bergen University in Norway, who was not involved in the research. "It also shows there's lots of variability on the 100-year timescale, and that's probably more so in the Arctic than elsewhere." Professor Jansen was a co-ordinating lead author on the palaeoclimate (ancient climate) chapter of the last Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment

This is the excuse I have heard from Climate Change Deniers: that these cooling and heating trends are the Earth's natural patterns - often citing the warming period where the Vikings settled Greenland 1000 years ago. It seems like these Climate Scientists finally decided to focus on the Denier's claims and research that issue. There is no doubt this refutes that claim.

As the Science study emerged, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was telling the World Climate Conference in Geneva that many of the "more distant scenarios" forecast by climate scientists were "happening now". Earlier this week, Mr Ban visited the Arctic in an attempt to gain first-hand experience of how the region is changing. "Scientists have been accused for years of scaremongering. But the real scaremongers are those who say we cannot afford climate action," he said in his Geneva speech, calling for world leaders to make bigger pledges of action in the run-up to December's UN climate summit in Copenhagen.

Bravo Secretary General - let's hope our leaders hear this loud and clear.]]> http://www.praer.org/2009/09/please-dont-be-stupid.html http://www.praer.org/2009/09/please-dont-be-stupid.html climate change environmental refugees EROSION Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:10:19 -0700