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Archive for October, 2015
Middle East to Feel the Heat from Global Warming, Study Says
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on October 27th, 2015
Climate Central: Much of the Middle East already swelters through what are some of the hottest summers on the planet, but, occasionally, a combination of sky-high temperatures and incredible humidity can take conditions to almost unreal levels.
In late July this year, for example, a major heat wave combined with astronomically high humidity to send the heat index in Bandar Mahshahr, Iran -- near the northern coast of the Persian Gulf -- to a mind-bending 163°F.
A snapshot of the conditions that affected the...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Middle East to Feel the Heat from Global Warming, Study SaysPersian Gulf could experience ‘intolerable’ heat by end of the century
Posted by The Week: Catherine Garcia on October 26th, 2015
The Week: By 2100, parts of the Persian Gulf could experience heat and humidity so extreme that a person would not be able to survive being outside for several hours, researchers said.
In a study published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, Jeremy S. Pal of Loyola Marymount University and Elfatih A. B. Eltahir of MIT used climate models and a method of measuring atmospheric conditions known as wet-bulb temperature to determine how hot it would have to get for a person to sweat and still not cool...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Persian Gulf could experience ‘intolerable’ heat by end of the centuryAustralian PM Malcolm Turnbull rejects moratorium on new coal mines
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 26th, 2015
Agence France-Presse: Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull dismissed calls Tuesday for a moratorium on new coal mines urged by influential citizens and Pacific leaders who say they contribute to global warming.
Sixty-one prominent Australians, including rugby union's David Pocock and Nobel Prize-winning scientist Peter Doherty, wrote an open letter to world leaders calling for coal exports to be on the agenda at upcoming UN climate talks in Paris.
"Australia's coal contributes to climate change, with its global...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull rejects moratorium on new coal minesPersian Gulf: too hot for humans by 2100?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 26th, 2015
Agence France-Presse: Global warming could create peaks of humid heat in the Persian Gulf beyond human tolerance by century's end, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.
If greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated, heatwaves occurring on average once every 10 or 20 years would, by 2100, exceed the capacity of a young, healthy person to maintain a normal body temperature, the study found.
Even annual summer heatwaves would become dangerous, especially for the elderly and very...
These Cities May Soon Be Uninhabitable Thanks to Climate Change
Posted by Time: Justin Worland on October 26th, 2015
Time: A number of cities in the Persian Gulf region may be unlivable the end of the century due to global warming if humans do not curb greenhouse gas emissions, according to new research. The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, projects that by the end of the century heat waves in Doha, Abu Dhabi and Bandar Abbas could lead to temperatures at which humans physically cannot survive over a sustained period of time by around 2100. The threshold, estimated around 170ºF, takes into...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on These Cities May Soon Be Uninhabitable Thanks to Climate ChangePersian Gulf faces ‘intolerable’ heat on current emissions trends
Posted by Climate Home: Alex Pashley on October 26th, 2015
Climate Home: The Persian Gulf could be exposed to catastrophic temperatures by the end of the century if emissions of greenhouse gases follow current trends, US scientists said on Monday.
A mix of severe heat and humidity in the region would push temperatures past a “critical threshold” where the body overheats as sweat cannot evaporate, according to the study published in journal Nature.
Under such conditions, the cities of Doha and Dubai and parts of Saudi Arabia would become unbearable without air conditioning....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Persian Gulf faces ‘intolerable’ heat on current emissions trends‘Intolerable’ heat waves forecast for Persian Gulf
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 26th, 2015
USA Today: Heat in the Persian Gulf region, the world's epicenter of oil production, will approach 'intolerable' levels in the decades ahead due to man-made global warming, says a scientific study out Monday.
Already legendary for its searing combination of torrid temperatures and crushing humidity, heat in the Persian Gulf is forecast "to approach and exceed a threshold of human tolerance within this century if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase on their current trajectory," the study in the...
UN land restoration pact boosts Paris climate summit
Posted by Climate Home: Alex Pashley on October 26th, 2015
Climate Home: The UN’s desertification body has agreed to keep constant the stock of the planet’s healthy soil within 15 years. Envoys from 195 nations committed to target “land degradation neutrality” at the close of an Ankara summit on Friday, which officials called a “breakthrough”. The UNCCD estimates restoring the carbon storage capacity of land could reduce global warming by 0.5C by the end of the century. It is a first step in meeting a newly-launched international development goal to combat desertification...
Scientists Blast LA Times Story On Wildfires And Climate Change
Posted by Media Matters: None Given on October 26th, 2015
Media Matters: The Los Angeles Times has published several letters to the editor by scientists and other experts criticizing its October 18 article that wrongly challenged the link between climate change and the wildfires that have been ravaging California. The Times article baselessly claimed that "experts" say California Gov. Jerry Brown's comments describing such a link are "unsupported," when in fact numerous scientists and major scientific reports have detailed the connection global warming has to both recent...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Scientists Blast LA Times Story On Wildfires And Climate ChangeThe next food revolution: fish farming?
Posted by Christian Science Monitor: Michael Holtz on October 26th, 2015
Christian Science Monitor: Sanggou Bay looks like a place where the pointillism movement has been unleashed on an ocean canvas. All across the harbor on China’s northeastern coast, thousands of tiny buoys – appearing as black dots – stretch across the briny landscape in unending rows and swirling patterns. They are broken only by small boats hauling an armada of rafts through the murky waters.
For centuries, Chinese fishermen have harvested this section of the Yellow Sea for its flounder, herring, and other species. Today...