Clouds in climate 'vicious cycle'




Low-level clouds have been found to cool the planet


Clouds over the North-East Pacific dissipate as the ocean warms, according to a study in the journal Science.
Researchers have described this as a "vicious cycle" of warming, as reduced cloud cover allows more of the Sun's rays to heat the Earth.
They say warming could gradually reduce the low-level cloud cover that is thought to help cool the globe.
But the team stressed that it was not yet possible to quantify how much this might impact on global temperatures.
They said that accurate simulations of these cloud effects would improve the models scientists use to predict future climate change patterns.
The accuracy of these models has been hampered by the uncertain influence of clouds on the global climate system.....

Getting a grip on Greenland's future



The Ilulissat glacier has retreated by approximately 15km over the past decade

There are few places in the world where the effects of global warming appear to be more dramatic than the Ilulissat ice fjord.
This is probably why green-tinged politicians and celebrities are routinely spotted posing for pictures close to the vast icebergs calved from the glacier at the head of the fjord.
"Look," they say, "the ice is melting. Unless we dramatically cut our emissions now, the Greenland Ice Sheet and our planet are in peril."
Are they right? Do scientific studies of the Greenland Ice Sheet indicate that catastrophe is around the corner?

The answer does not seem to be entirely straightforward...

New study backs UN panel on ocean rise prediction

PARIS: The UN’s climate panel has been backed over a key question as to how far global warming will drive up sea levels this century, a study published on Sunday says.

The UN experts are right that the oceans are unlikely to rise by an order of meters by 2100, as some scientists have feared, it says.

But, its authors caution, low-lying countries and delta areas could still face potentially catastrophic flooding if the upper range of the new estimate proves right.

In a landmark report in 2007, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicted oceans would rise by 18-59 cms by 2100

Human activity is driving Earth's 'sixth great extinction event'


Population growth, pollution and invasive species are having a disastrous effect on species in the southern hemisphere, a major review by conservationists warns

The leatherback turtle is endangered - but scientific reports expose worrying signs of mass extinctions among other wildlife species.



Earth is experiencing its "sixth great extinction event" with disease and human activity taking a devastating toll on vulnerable species, according to a major review by conservationists.
Much of the southern hemisphere is suffering particularly badly, and Australia, New Zealand and neighbouring Pacific islands may become the extinction hot spots of the world, the report warns.
Ecosystems in Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia need urgent and effective conservation policies, or the region's already poor record on extinctions will worsen significantly.
Researchers trawled 24,000 published reports to compile information on the native flora and fauna of Australasia and the Pacific islands, which have six of the most biodiverse regions on the planet. Their report identifies six causes driving species to extinction, almost all linked in some way to human activity....

New study backs UN panel on ocean rise

A new study has concluded that the UN climate panel's prediction for sea level rise this century is correct.
The study's findings, which appear in the journal Nature Geoscience, says oceans are unlikely to rise by an order of metres by 2100, as some scientists have feared.......