Global Warming Effects » Extreme Weather Events

Global Warming Effects have impact California economy

admin — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:54:29 +0000

Global warming will have catastrophic consequences for the wider economy in California for a century, in a report released today says.

Up to $ 2.5 trillion of the $ 4 trillion in real estate properties – houses and other buildings – data at risk from rising sea levels, wild fires and other extreme weather events occurring as the world gets warmer, according to a report from the University of California, Berkeley agricultural And economic resources, Professor David Roland-Holst and Fred Rich Kahrl.

The 127-page report was sponsored by the following non-profit foundation that 10 studies of the intersection of California and the future economy and environment.

Believed to be the first time in the academic institution has tried to put a price on the potential damage to the climate in California between now and 2100. Roland-Holst characterized as Golden State’s 2006 version of “Stern Review on the economics of climate change,” to see the consequences of global warming on the world economy and so most clearly the type of research.

In an interview, Roland-Holst said that despite the overwhelming numbers, he did not want his research appeared as a doomsday report.

“This is not a small chicken. This is a call up as a result,” he said. “Estimates are currently a lot of uncertainty there, but we have to take it seriously.”

Roland-Holst Kahrl offered predictions about the consequences of global warming on the seven-INDUSTRIES sectors of California.

# Water: An estimated $ 5 billion in assets at risk and the cost could reach $ 600 million a year in what one investigator called “high-warming scenario.”

# Energy: $ 21 billion in assets at risk, with annual damage at $ 2.7 billion to $ 6.3 billion. Potential impacts will include small hydropower because of less rainfall, more hot days, which requires increased use of air conditioning, and winter storms caused several power outages.

# Transportation: $ 500 billion in danger of ports, air fields, roads and bridges.

# Travel & Leisure: $ 98 billion in assets at risk, with annual damage starting at $ 200 million to $ 7.5 billion. “The highest warming scenario, the California ski industry collapse,” said Roland-Holst. Beaches, golf courses and state and national parks, will be affected also. And in a few days when golf can hit the links can actually increase because of global warming, the warmer days would be to burn the golf course.

# Real estate and insurance: $ 2.5 billion in assets at risk, and water damage could cost $ 1.4 billion a year, while fire can cause damage to the $ 2.5 billion in damages.

# Agriculture, forestry and fisheries: $ 113 billion in assets at risk, with annual damage starting at $ 300 million to $ 4.3 billion.

# Public Health: Annual costs due to changes in atmospheric range from $ 3.8 billion to $ 24 billion a year.

“Our estimates show that the climate risk – damage, if no action is taken – will include tens of billions of dollars a year in direct costs, indirect costs even higher, and expose trillions of dollars in assets collateral risk,” he wrote investigator on Abstract.

“This is the most expensive that we can do about climate change is not something,” said Roland-Holst. “We can ignore the change is already happening, or we can make the threat of climate damaging energetic a chance to change, renewal and growth.”

The investigator described California’s landmark climate change legislation, AB 32, as “a positive … but only the beginning.” AB 32 implementation plan faces final approval by the state Air Resource Board in December. He noted that about 32 AB is a relief, or reduce the risk of climate change. His research was a call for an adjustment, he said, or to limit the damage caused by climate change.

The investigator’s recommendations more efficient allocation of water in the country, more promotion of renewable technologies, more investment in the country’s natural and scores of entertainment and research on climate change on human health, especially when it comes to the elderly and low-income residents.

Something on the scale of the New Deal during the Great Depression, the Marshall Plan after the devastation of Europe during World War II or the conquest of space will be required to make climate change, researchers said.

“We will not wait until the Bay Bridge to fall to build a new,” said Roland-Holst. “It was in response to a perceived risk. We know earthquakes come, and the cost of early action far less than action later.”

Climate change is not impressive as Earth asteroid, he said, but much more as a threat that can be avoided by immediately begin to manage supertanker in a different direction.

Deluges and Floods caused by Global Warming, as seen on Midwest

admin — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 06:18:44 +0000

British and Chinese understanding of global warming has led to record flooding. The United States? Not so much.

Although we do not know that most of the media in the U.S. , to record “once in a hundred years flood” West now seems to be every decade, more or less exactly what scientists had expected the heat.

A 2004 analysis by the NOAA National Climatic Data Center found a rise during the 20th century by rainfall, temperature, flow, heavy and very heavy rainfall and high flows in the East. “They found an increase of 14 percent” strong rainfall events “More than 2 inches in a day, and an increase of 20 percent” very heavy rainfall events, “best described as the largest Deluge-4 centimeters in a day. These rains are extremely exactly what was expected by warming comprehensive and scientific models.

Indeed, 2007 saw the second most extreme rainfall over the United States in the historical record, according to the NCDC climatic extremes Index (CEI). Here is a land of the percentage of the country (or two), much higher than normal proportion of precipitation derived from extreme 1-day precipitation events (extreme, which is equal to the higher percentile of tenth Deluge):

I do not know that our government has maintained an index extreme weather? Why do you have? The media does not write about it.

U. S. extreme climate index was created expressly to take a complicated subject ( “multiple climate change and multidimensional in the United States”) and to make them easier to understand for citizens and policy makers. As far in 1995, the analysis by the National Climatic Data Center showed that during the 20th century, the United States has suffered a statistically significant improvement in a variety of extreme weather events, which hopefully heating in general as more – and more – precipitation. Analysis concluded that the chances were only “5-10 percent” this increase was due to other factors that global warming, such as natural climate variability. “And since 1995, the climate has become more extreme .

I have followed this issue, the link between climate change and extreme weather events very closely – and yet, in 2006, we have not seen a single mention of the index in the media, or even a scientific paper on its initial For more than a decade. Global warming may be a hot topic, and in 2006 was the second year ever more extreme, but try a search on Google News “extreme weather Index” (the quotation marks) – do not get to all matches.

Story after story appearing in the mainstream media have no connection with any extreme weather, global warming and disconnected from man-made, a trend that eventually all our lives. The media should do a better job.

What does the term Global Warming mean?

admin — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:11:50 +0000

Global warming refers to the increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation.

The global average air temperature near the Earth’s surface rose 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F) during the last 100 years. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes, “most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations via the greenhouse effect. Natural phenomena such as solar variation combined with volcanoes probably had a small warming effect from pre-industrial times to 1950 and a small cooling effect from 1950 onward.The range of values results from the use of differing scenarios of future greenhouse gas emissions as well as models with differing climate sensitivity. An increase in global temperatures is expected to cause the sea level to rise, increase the intensity of extreme weather events, and change the amount and pattern of precipitation. Other effects of global warming include changes in agricultural yields, glacier retreat, species extinctions and increases in the ranges of disease vectors.

Most national governments have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The term “global warming” is a specific example of the broader term climate change, which can also refer to global cooling. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) uses the term “climate change” for human-caused change, and “climate variability” for other changes.

Earth’s climate changes in response to external forcing, including variations in its orbit around the sun (orbital forcing), volcanic eruptions, and atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. The detailed causes of the recent warming remain an active field of research, but the scientific consensus identifies elevated levels of greenhouse gases due to human activity as the main influence. In contrast to the scientific consensus that recent warming is mainly attributable to elevated levels of greenhouse gases, other hypotheses have been suggested to explain the observed increase in mean global temperature. Climate commitment studies indicate that even if greenhouse gases were stabilized at 2000 levels, a further warming of about 0.5 °C (0.9 °F) would still occur.

Greenhouse process is the process by which absorption and emission of infrared radiation by atmospheric gases warms a planet’s atmosphere and surface.

Naturally occurring greenhouse gases have a mean warming effect of about 33 °C (59 °F), without which Earth would be uninhabitable. Some other naturally occurring gases contribute very small fractions of the greenhouse effect; one of these, nitrous oxide (N₂O), is increasing in concentration owing to human activity such as agriculture. The atmospheric concentrations of CO₂ and methane have increased by 31% and 149% respectively above pre-industrial levels since 1750. Future CO₂ levels are expected to rise due to ongoing burning of fossil fuels and land-use change. Fossil fuel reserves are sufficient to reach this level and continue emissions past 2100, if coal, tar sands or methane clathrates are extensively used.