Global Warming keeps children awake at night

[Martin]

http://www.gm.tv/index.cfm?articleid=24717

Global warming concerns are keeping children awake at night

Half of young children are anxious about the effects of global warming, often losing sleep because of their concern, according to a new report today.

A survey of 1,150 youngsters aged between seven and 11 found that one in four blamed politicians for the problems of climate change.

Are you doing enough?

One in seven of those questioned by supermarket giant Somerfield said their own parents were not doing enough to improve the environment.
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The most feared consequences of global warming included poor health, the possible submergence of entire countries and the welfare of animals.

Most of those polled understood the benefits of recycling, although one in 10 thought the issue was linked to riding a bike.

Pete Williams, of Somerfield, said: "Concerns over our environment dominate the media at present and kids are exposed to the hard facts as much as anybody.

"While many adults may look the other way, this study should show that global warming is not only hurting the children of the future, it's affecting the welfare of kids now.

"By raising awareness amongst today's young, hopefully we are improving our chances of reaching a solution.''

The study marked Somerfield's drive to reduce the eight billion plastic bags wasted by UK households every year.

[DansDarkSide]

Well I guess in about 30 years we can start to stop Global warming.

[RadioactiveMan]

Damn pansies. They should be out shooting each other in gangs, not thinking about pollution.

First he invents the internet, now he gonna save the world...

Gore's Oscar win could be good for climate
February 27, 2007 - THE double Oscar win for An Inconvenient Truth, former US vice-president Al Gore's expanded slide-show on global warming, could spur grassroots support for the fight against climate change, environmental advocates say.

That was because a movie, especially one that many people had seen on home video, took the issue beyond the realm of distant policymakers and put it on a more personal footing, according to Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club. "The funny thing about the Oscars is, they're very intimate - people watch them in their living rooms," Mr Pope said.

"Global warming has seemed abstract, distant, something `for people who know more than I do'. "I think what (the Oscar victory) really does is it puts this issue into people's living rooms," he said.

"While the climatology is really complicated, they're going to see that the solutions are pretty common sense, and people will talk about them and get excited." An Inconvenient Truth won two Academy Awards: one for best documentary and another for best song.

More http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599...-23109,00.html

Wonder if Mt. Fuji is losing its snow cover?

Tokyo has first snow-less winter in 130 years
Thursday 1st March, 2007 - Tokyo, March 1 (Xinhua) Tokyo experienced its first winter without any snowfall since 1876, the Japan Meteorological Agency said Thursday.

The weather service's observatory point in Otemachi, central Tokyo, did not record any snowfall from December to February, the period defined as winter in Japan.

According to the agency, the Japanese capital usually has heavy snowfall in early spring rather than in midwinter. However, as the temperatures are expected to remain higher than usual, snowfalls seem even more unlikely this month.

Last winter was extremely cold in Japan. However, this year's was warmer than expected, with average temperatures in January 1.44 degrees Celsius higher than usual. Sales of winter clothing and kerosene suffered, resulting in a 0.8 percent year-on-year fall in the country's retail sales in January, according to government statistics.
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Global Warming as dangerous as war, U.N. chief says
1 Mar. 2007 - Upheaval from droughts, floods 'likely to become a major driver of war'

Human-induced global warming poses as much danger to the world as war, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday as he urged the United States to take the lead in the fight against global warming. In his first address on the subject at the U.N. General Assembly hall, Ban said he would emphasize the climate crisis with the leaders at a June meeting in Germany of the Group of Eight industrialized nations — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, the United States and Russia.

“The majority of the United Nations work still focuses on preventing and ending conflict,” Ban told an international U.N. school conference on global warming. “But the danger posed by war to all of humanity and to our planet is at least matched by the climate crisis and global warming.” “In coming decades, changes in our environment and the resulting upheavals from droughts to inundated coastal areas to loss of arable land are likely to become a major driver of war and conflict,” said Ban, who became U.N. chief on Jan. 1.

Ban said the world needed a more coherent system of international environmental governance and that he hoped the United States would take the lead in looking toward the climate change fight beyond 2012 when the international Kyoto climate pact expires. “I hope that United States, while they have taken their role in innovative technologies as well as promoting cleaner energies, will also take the lead in this very important and urgent issue,” Ban said.

Forecast for warmer century

Not so cold and snowy in Vermont anymore...

Vermonters say winter's not what it used to be
March 4, 2007 • Lack of snow hurting ski resorts • Winter temperatures going up faster than other seasons

Jane Larrabee hadn't had to shovel snow off the roof of her cottage in three years, until a big storm socked Vermont on Valentine's Day. Maple sugar maker Burr Morse, Jr., can no longer predict when the sap will start running in his farm's 3,000 maple trees. In recent years, warm weather has tricked trees into believing it's springtime, prompting runs in January instead of March.

Janisse Ray, an outdoor recreation buff, was so frustrated by winter's late arrival this year that she organized a waterborne protest in January, joining three friends in wet suits and inner tubes to float down the West River, under a sign saying "Where's winter?" Whatever the cause, winter isn't what it used to be in this part of the world. Erratic weather in recent years has wreaked havoc on New England and its outdoor culture, turning tradition on its earmuff. Ice festivals have been canceled, ski seasons delayed and snowmobile races scrapped for lack of snow.

"People are really scratching their heads, wondering what's going on," said bait vendor George LeClair, who sells to ice fishermen. Historically, winter arrives here well before the calendar says it does, with ski resorts opening in mid-November and staying open through April. But warm weather on both ends of the season spelled trouble last year, with rains washing out trails last spring and 40-degree weather forcing ski resorts to postpone their openings.

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More glaciers melting...

Majority of Himalayan glaciers receding
Monday 12th March, 2007 Even as a majority of the Himalayan glaciers - source to rivers like the Ganges and the Yamuna - are receding, India Monday expressed its inability to check the recession effectively.

The factors for the glacial meltdown may be subnormal snowfall, higher temperature during summer, less severe winter, global warming or all of them, Minister of State for Environment and Forests N.N. Meena said Monday.

'The Geological Survey of India, which carried out a study, is monitoring some of the Himalayan glaciers in different basins. The recession of glaciers can be checked to a very limited extent (site-specific only) through artificial measures,' Meena told the Lok Sabha.

'But such projects cannot be undertaken on a large scale in view of the nature of the Indian Himalayan glaciers (debris covered), economic feasibility, scale of operation and likely pollution,' he added.

Calling it a 'worldwide phenomenon', the minister said the rate of recession in different climatic zones of Himalaya is found to be variable both on an average and on a year-to-year basis.

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[waltky]

I remember as a kid, wondering if the acid in the rain would burn me...

Acid Rain Hits Near-Shore Ocean Waters Hard
September 9, 2007 - The release of sulfur and nitrogen into the atmosphere by power plants and agricultural activities--commonly referred to as acid rain--plays a minor role in making the ocean more acidic on a global scale, but the impact is greatly amplified in the shallower waters of the coastal oceans, according to new research.

The most heavily affected areas tend to be downwind of power plants (particularly coal-fired plants) and predominantly on the eastern edges of North America, Europe, and south and east of Asia.

Ocean acidification occurs when chemical compounds such as carbon dioxide, sulfur or nitrogen mix with seawater, a process which lowers the pH and reduces the storage of carbon. It hampers the ability of marine organisms--such as sea urchins, corals and certain types of plankton--to harness calcium carbonate for making hard outer shells or exoskeletons. These organisms provide essential food and habitat to other species, so their demise could affect entire ocean ecosystems.

"Acid rain isn't just a problem of the land; it's also affecting the ocean," said Scott Doney, lead author of the study and a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Woods Hole, Mass. "That effect is most pronounced near the coasts, which are already some of the most heavily affected and vulnerable parts of the ocean due to pollution, overfishing and climate change."

In addition to acidification, excess nitrogen input from the atmosphere likely promotes the overgrowth of phytoplankton and other marine plants that have caused more frequent harmful algal blooms and eutrophication (including the creation of oxygen-depleted dead zones) in the oceans.

"This analysis provides strong evidence that carbon dioxide is the culprit globally, even though locally, contamination by strong acids may be primarily responsible for increasing seawater acidity," said Donald Rice, director of the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s Chemical Oceanography Program, which co-funded the research with NASA and NOAA.

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In Greenland as Icebergs Raise Sea Levels
Sept. 9, 2007 - Greenland: Where Towering Icebergs Raise Sea Levels; Scientists, Tourists Visit Glacier Threatened by Global Warming

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The Jakobshavn glacier and ice fjord at Ilulissat, jammed with towering icebergs, are breathtaking to see, but scientists report they are now pouring out some 20 million tons of frozen water into the ocean every day. It is helping to raise sea levels at a rate scientists say could devastate the homes and properties of hundreds of millions of people on the world's coastlines by mid-century.

As climate experts become more and more familiar here, some Greenlanders also hope that global warming will bring them a lot more tourists. It's clearly beginning to, and one local tour guide and shop owner overflows with stories about global warming:

"I never seen, like now, the last six, seven years, the bay doesn't frozen no more. No more ice," Silverio Scivoli, owner of Tourist Nature, told us over a cup of hot tea in the back of his shop. He showed us satellite photos depicting the long retreat of the Jakobshavn glacier, which has been pulling back since the industrial revolution accelerated the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels. "In 1850, the glacier was here. Now, we are down here," Scivoli said. Now, the glacier is melting even faster. It has retreated nine miles in only the last five years.

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[waltky]

No wonder the kids are afraid...

Report - Climate change will increase world tension
Wednesday 12th September, 2007 - A report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies says climate change is likely to hit crop yields and water availability everywhere, causing great human suffering and regional strife.

The IISS report said a major climate catastrophe would have an effect similar to that of a nuclear war. It is believed the effects would cause a host of problems including rising sea levels, forced migration, disease epidemics, crop failures and famines. The IISS report says conflicts in Kenya and Sudan are a sign of the competition that is occurring in places of dwindling resources.

The report, an annual survey of the impact of world events on global security, said conflicts due to climate change would reduce the ability of the world's political leaders to correct the effects of global warming. The gap between rich and poor would heighten racial and ethnic tensions which in turn would produce fertile breeding grounds for more conflict.

Falling crop yields due to reduced water and rising temperatures would push food prices higher. Overall, the report said, 65 countries were likely to lose over 15 per cent of their agricultural output by 2100 at a time when the world's population was expected to grow from six billion now to nine billion people.

Report - Climate change will increase world tension

[waltky]

When I was a lil' kid, sometimes I'd have nightmares about tornadoes chasin' me...

Tornadoes tear across Britain
September 24, 2007 -- Tornadoes rip across southern and central Britain, weather officials say; Farnborough, Luton, Nuneaton and Northampton affected; The Met Office said weather conditions are conducive to tornadoes

Tornadoes ripped across southern and central Britain on Monday, tearing tiles off roofs and uprooting trees, Meteorological officals said. Farnborough in Hampshire, Luton in Bedfordshire, Nuneaton in the West Midlands, and Northampton were among the affected areas, the UK Press Association reported.

In Farnborough, 20 homes were hit by a tornado, which pulled a roof off a garage and uprooted trees, firefighters said. At around 0645 GMT a tornado tore through Luton, north of London, ripping up gardens and roof tiles. A tornado hit Northampton just before 0600 GMT, uprooting trees and causing chaos on the roads, the Northampton Chronicle and Echo reported.

A spokeswoman for the UK's Meteorological Office said weather conditions at the time of the storms were conducive to tornadoes. "The weather system that we are going through at the moment -- very windy with heavy rain -- is traveling across the country," she told the Press Association.

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