Archive for February 13th, 2012

With climate change, today’s ‘100-year floods’ may happen every three to 20 years: research

Physorg: However, researchers from MIT and Princeton University have found that with climate change, such storms could make landfall far more frequently, causing powerful, devastating storm surges every three to 20 years. The group simulated tens of thousands of storms under different climate conditions, finding that today's "500-year floods" could, with climate change, occur once every 25 to 240 years. The researchers published their results in the current issue of Nature Climate Change. MIT postdoc Ning...

Satellites for Climate Checks Get Boost in Demand After Durban Talks

Bloomberg: Brazilian deforestation and melting polar ice caps are feeding a boom in demand in the $2.1 billion market for satellite data, images and services used to monitor the planet. More images means more satellites and that need has spurred the development of the European Space Agency’s Vega rocket, which lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, today at about 7 a.m. local time to release nine satellites into orbit on its maiden flight. “We’re adding this smaller brother to our launchers as there is...

India: Growth should not be at cost of environment: PM

Times of India: Ahead of a meeting with environment ministers of BASIC countries, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said growth is important for the people but should take place in a way which does not harm the environment. "Economic growth is essential for the people, but we cannot allow growth to be pursued in a manner which damages our environment," the PM said on Twitter, according to the PMO. Environment ministers of BASIC countries- Brazil, South Africa, India and China- are calling upon the Prime...

Forests: Rising temperatures push Andean species skyward

ClimateWire: The cloud forests of the Andes mountains, bound between the Amazonian lowlands to the west and the peaks of the Andean uplift to the east, harbor worlds upon worlds. Within the mountains' mosaic of high plateaus, deep-cut valleys and steeply climbing slopes, unique ecosystems have flourished side by side for centuries, their equilibrium protected by the rugged terrain and 12,000 years of relatively stable climate. Home to nearly one-sixth of the world's plant species, as well as hundreds of kinds...