climate change •

Climate Change And North American Forests Link

July 22, 2016 By Amilia Allport 1 Comment

North American forest consisting of trees.

North American forests are connected with climate change.

Based on the statistics, between 25 and 30 percent of carbon dioxide emissions caused by humans have a severe impact on forests, but these forests are also a valuable asset to slow down climate change.

A team of researchers conducted a study in which they combined the historic tree-ring records from the whole North American continent with future climate model projections. The target of the research was to establish how the tree-growth rate will be affected by a higher concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The findings have revealed that forests will no longer be able to deal successfully with elevated levels of carbon dioxide emissions in the future.

In other words, climate change, caused by air pollution, will have a severe impact on North American forests in just a couple of years if active measures are not taken immediately. Besides the fact that these forests will no longer be able to deal with carbon dioxide emissions, trees will be smaller and fewer, based on experts’ calculations.

The team from the University of Arizona in Tucson used the climate projections developed by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and combined them with 1,457 tree samples gathered between 1900 and 1950.

This way, researchers were able to predict the impact of air pollution. According to Noah Charney, first author of the study and postdoctoral research associate in UA’s Department of Ecology, the second step of the survey was to monitor the tree growth of those forests in association with climates.

That is how researchers were able to calculate how trees will be affected in the future. According to Brian Enquist, co-author, and a fellow of the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies in Aspen, Colorado, the changes of rainfall and temperatures combined with air pollution will affect the tree growth.

These findings have answered many previous questions regarding the shifting rainfall patterns, increased greenhouse gas emissions, and warmer temperatures.

It is also worth mentioning that the most severe changes occurred in the interior West of the North American continent. These statistics increased to 75 percent, meaning that the tree growth was severely slowed in the SW United States, along the Rockies, through Alaska and Canada as well.

There were only a few areas in which an increased tree growth was observed including the Florida panhandle, the Maritime Provinces, Northeastern Quebec, and the coastal area of the Pacific Northeast.

Image Source:Wikipedia

Polar Bears Became Long Distance Swimmers

April 25, 2016 By Amanda Lane Leave a Comment

“Hold your breath, Nanook. Only 100 miles to go until you eat.”

It seems like not a day can go by without us having to talk about climate change. Of course, it is a serious subject, affecting our entire environment for the worst, so this is why we have to keep raising awareness. Still, that doesn’t mean that talking about it can’t get tiresome or that it can’t do more harm than good in some circumstances.

But it is very important to raise awareness. So, to focus on the most recent news from the climate change front lines, let’s talk about the Arctic. According to a team of researchers studying them for close to a decade, polar bears became long distance swimmers due to melting Arctic ice.

As the ice from the polar caps is melting at a much faster pace than it is supposed to because of global warming, it effects continue to make their mark on the environment. And polar bears, having to live near the heart of the problem, are not faring all that well, according to the recent study.

Apparently, as the ice caps are melting, it’s getting increasingly difficult for the animals to get both food and empty solid surfaces. This puts them in the precarious position of having to swim many miles each day in order to be able to stay alive, fed, and to find land.

Before their migration season in 2007, over 100 polar bears were tagged with GPS transmitters in order for the scientists to be able to track them. The trackers served their purpose valiantly in 2007, and then again when a team of scientists from the University of Alberta and Environment and Climate Change Canada wanted to see how they are affected by the ice.

As recently as 2012, 69 percent of the polar bears in the Arctic had to swim distances longer than 31 miles at least once. Now, even those numbers have gone up, with one bear reported to have swam around 250 miles for nine straight days without being able to stop once for food or rest.

This is slowly becoming the reality for all the rest of the bears as well. And even though polar bears are excellent swimmers, even they lack the stamina to swim for so long in order to survive. Things are significantly more difficult for mothers with cubs, as they have to move much slower, as a group.

According to Nicolas Pilfold, lead author of the study,

Recent studies indicate that swimming may be energetically costly to polar bears. Given the continued trend of sea ice loss, we recognize that an increased frequency in the need to engage in this behavior may have serious implications for population of polar bears living around the Arctic Basin.

Image source: Wikimedia

Antarctic Loss Could Make Current Sea Level Estimates Obsolete

March 31, 2016 By Amanda Lane Leave a Comment

A group of researchers believes that current sea level prediction for this century may be too conservative.

A new study suggests the Antarctic ice loss could double the current sea level rise estimates by the end of the century.

The new study made use of advanced computer models paired with a better understanding on how climate shifts led to changes in the global sea levels over the past thousands of years.

The models showed that we should be prepared for worse-than-expected sea level rise over the next decades. According to researchers, Antarctica could contribute to a sea level rise of 3.74 feet, or 1.1 meters by the end of the century, and more than 50 feet or, 15 meters by 2500.

The team suggests that curbing greenhouse gas emissions could prevent these worst-case-scenarios from happening. Yet, in a moderate emission scenario global sea levels could rise by as much as two feet, or 58 centimeters by 2100 and about 20 feet, or 6 meters by 2500.

Still, these contributions would be from Antarctica alone. There are other parts of the world that are major contributors such as Greenland and mountain glaciers. Greenland is melting at a much faster rate than Antarctica, and researchers estimate that when it will completely dry up, oceans would rise an extra 20 feet, or six meters.

The recent study is consistent with past research that showed that current sea level predictions may be too conservative. Two years ago, another team of researchers found that West Antarctica is melting irreversibly due to warmer sea waters that erode it from below.

One of the most exposed glaciers in the region is the Thwaites Glacier, which is now being scrutinized by an international team of researchers that seek data on the seabed beneath it and how warming waters will further affect it.

Robin Bell, co-author of the recent study and Columbia University researcher, likened the latest findings with a laser pointer that suggests where scientists should go. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that the latest estimates may have some limitations since the team does not yet know the exact topography of the seabed beneath the massive Thwaites Glacier.

The glacier could stand on a ‘smooth ramp’ or a ‘lumpy terrain’ which greatly affects the melting rate scenarios, Bell noted.

As a follow-up, researchers plan to compare current melting rates and climate shifts with scenarios in the distant past when natural climate shifts have caused similar polar melt and sea level rise.

The study was published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Image Source: Pixabay

Climate Change May Make French Wines Even Tastier

March 22, 2016 By Kurt Cottrell Leave a Comment

According to a new study, climate change-driven hot summers could boost the production of finer wines in France.

Apparently, climate change has a bright side. French winemakers now benefit from early-ripening grapes, which means that their wines will get even better, a new research has found.

Earlier-than-expected harvests often yield highly rated wines. But, French vineyards needed a drought to create the best conditions for an early harvest. Scientists found, however, that these conditions could become more frequent due to climate change.

According to the study, which was published this week in Nature Climate Change, the rising temperatures triggered by climate change have benefited winemakers in the French regions of Bordeaux and Burgundy in an unexpected way. Early harvests meant better wines and a better business for everyone.

Scientists noted that summers have become so warm that even summer rains cannot prevent grapes from maturing earlier and develop tannins, acids, and sugars.

Benjamin Cook, co-author of the study and researcher at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, explained that early harvests are associated with tastier wines, but up to a point. Cook said that summers that are too hot may not always benefit winemakers.

For instance, in 2003, an extremely dry summer allowed grape growers to harvest fruits several weeks earlier than normal. In that summer, grapes could be harvested as early as mid-August in France, but the resulting wine was quite ‘middling,’ as Cook put it.

The researcher believs that it can get so warm that even with an early harvest the old rule of better wines is no longer valid.

On the other hand, past research had shown that climate change may compromise most of the global winemaking industry. A 2013 study found that climate change may make summers so hot that grape growers would need to relocate their vineyards to higher, cooler locations.

Lee Hannah, one of the authors of the 2013 study and climate scientist at University of California, noted that climate change’s impact on vineyards and wine production worldwide would differ from one region to another.

Hannah expects Europe to be less affected by the changing climate, but California could be one of the worst impacted areas. The scientist explained that rising temperatures in California have often been coupled with droughts, which rarely happens in Europe.

So, Napa and Sonoma counties could soon become too hot to produce the high-quality wines we were accustomed with, Hannah added.

Image Source: Flickr

Carbon Dioxide Levels Increased at Record Pace in 2015

March 11, 2016 By Dean Lamori Leave a Comment

U.S. government scientists detected a record leap in CO2 levels in 2015.

On Wednesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that atmospheric CO2 concentrations climbed by a record margin last year. Researchers noted that the spike was the highest since records began, 56 years ago.

The new report depicts a grim picture of the greenhouse gas effect and its effect on global warming. NOAA scientists based their report on data collected by the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii.

According to the report, CO2 levels in the atmosphere spiked by 3.05 parts per million in 2015, which is the largest leap in more than half of century of measurements.

This year, carbon dioxide levels across the world amount to 402.59 parts per million which is nearly twice as much as preindustrial levels (280 part per million). Pieter Tans of the NOAA’s Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network described the levels as “explosive” when we compare them with natural processes.

But NOAA has also an explanation for the record rise. Besides fossil fuel consumption, the change was triggered in part by El Nino, which raises sea temperature levels, triggers unusual weather phenomena, and promotes droughts in some parts.

Droughts and unusual precipitation prevent forests and other carbon sinks from absorbing carbon at their maximum capacity.

NOAA scientists mentioned that the last time the planet saw a similar spike in carbon dioxide levels was in 1998, which was a year also marked by a strong El Nino event. Fortunately, the impact of El Nino on CO2 levels is natural and relatively short lived.

Researchers at the World Meterological Organization commented on the latest readings, and said that El Nino was only partially a culprit. In their opinion, the main culprit remains man-triggered greenhouse gas emissions.

“We have the power and responsibility to cut these,”

said Petteri Taalas of the WMO.

Taalas also believes that the latest NOAA report should prompt world leaders to approve the Paris Climate Agreement, and take the necessary steps before global temperatures jump by 2 degrees C.

Since 1880, greenhouse gas emissions including CO2 jumped by more than 40 percent. As these gases add up they trap more heat which raises global temperatures and promotes extreme weather events across the planet. So far, 2015 was deemed the hottest year on record.

According to official reports, China and India are the countries with the largest CO2 output. China emits more than North America and Europe combined, while India is quickly catching up with a 5.1 percent increase in 2013, while the U.S. had a 2.9 percent increase in the same year.

Snow Should Not Be Ingested Regardless of Its Color

January 23, 2016 By Kurt Cottrell Leave a Comment

Snow is still pretty much harmless, as long as you do not consider it edible and partake in its consumption.

The old saying that you shouldn’t eat yellow snow has been around for centuries up to this point, but according to a study conducted at McGill University in Canada, snow should not be ingested regardless of its color. This study comes a month prior to a World Health Organization research regarding air pollutants.

Because snowflakes present active areas across their surface, they can absorb pollutants while falling from the sky. But that does not stop there, because according to the study, once on the ground, pollutant absorption gains a massive increase in speed.

The research was based on applying toxic pollutants emitted by car exhaust pipes, commonly found within urban areas, on a patch of isolated snow inside a laboratory. By doing this, the team was able to see how snow effectively removed air pollutants from the enclosed environment, storing them within its structure.

After subjecting the patch of snow to exhaust fumes for an hour, the team concluded that the amount of pollutants encapsulated within it reached health-threatening levels. The chemicals that are considered to be severely detrimental to one’s health were benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes. Out of the ones mentioned, benzene is proven to be a potent substance that can lead to the onset of cancer, known as carcinogens.

If one would take into account the fact that the snow was exposed to pollutants only for an hour, it’s safe to say that the snow outside has an exponentially greater amount of air pollutants. But this factor does differ from area to area. The research team based their study only on urban environments, leaving rural areas with close to none pollutant emissions out of the picture.

In order to create a better model that shows how snow encapsulates air and ground pollutants, the team has admitted that further studies have to be conducted with several different factors in mind. Some of these modifications will be based on the amount of pollutants present in the air at any given time, the general climate of the area, as well as the amount of snow present on location.

Although the idea that snow should not be ingested regardless of its color might seem common knowledge at first glance, the concept raises a pretty important topic in regards to the amount of air pollutants present in the area and the way through which snow can somewhat decrease it. But in order for that to be completely proven, the team has to take into account climate change as well, because regular snow pattern models have shifted due to the increase in temperatures.

Image source:www.pixabay.com

Categories