Climate Change news from around the world:

• Since Congress has refused to work on Climate Change, President Obama is moving to reduce the limits on emissions from Coal plants.  This is a very important move and one that needs to become law.  Over time, the limits need to be lowered even further - both here, and around the world.  China is now worse than the US when it comes to coal emissions.
• A recent military report concludes that Climate Change represents a national security risk, that could lead to global "instability and conflict".  In fact for thousands of years, climate issues have led to clashes, wars, and even demise of entire civilizations.   For example, extreme drought around 1200 BC in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean regions led to widespread death, and the displacement of people. Egyptians, Hittites, Canaanites, Cypriots, Minoans, Mycenaeans, Assyrians and Babylonians and 'sea peoples' from the Mediterranean area had conflicts during this time.  Drought and the famine it brings are very destabilizing.  Drought, earthquakes, and other events led to the collapse of civilization in this part of the world, as the Bronze Age was ending.
• You can become a tree!  There is a neat product from Unabios.com that lets you put your ashes into an urn, from which a tree grows - Maple, Oak, Pine, or othre choices.  Its a beautiful idea, and a way for a person to have an enduring legacy.
• Climate models predict increased storms near the poles.  A recent study found that very large ocean waves are accelerating the break of the ice in Antarctica.  This seems to be happening more, than in the Arctic or Greenland.   While the large waves can fracture ice even further inland, they are also behind the process 

• Climate Change leads to health risks.  We are seeing that in California already.   Drought there means that underground water supplies are being used more and more - supplies which can be contaminated by pesticides and herbicides.   Plus, drought leads to a drop in agriculture, which in turn hurts the economy of the entire area.
• The State of Wyoming has rejected new science standards for education because they include education about Climate Change.  This is backwards and hurts our children, and our future.
• Shell oil now says that Climate Change is a serious issue; they are joining Exxon and Mobile in calling for change.
• Cities cannot wait for the federal government to take action.  Cities all around the US, and around the world, are forming sustainability policies, and developing plans for dealing with Climate Change, and rising seas.  Coastal cities cannot ignore this risk - even if Congress is completely ignoring it.  
• A new study says that Climate Change will reduce Biodiversity
• Companies are starting to offer Climate Change Insurance
• The government of Scotland is preparing national standards for dealing with Climate Change; one of the first countries to do so.  We need more countries to follow suit.  Germany has pledged to be completely run by Renewables by 2050.
• Invasive species will invade the arctic, as melting continues.
• On a positive note, Israel no longer has water shortages; they are building desalinization plants.  If this could be run from renewable energy sources, it would be ideal.  Israel has 4  such plants now, and a fifth one is being produced.  Negotiations are underway for more sharing of water resources with Palestinians.  
• How to best reduce emissions in coal plants and other kinds of energy producing plants is not clear; it needs to be cost-effective to be accepted.  Experts do not agree.  Here is a good article in the New York Times.
• Good article in the Huffington post about the *rate* of species extinction; the rate is increasing.  We are killing off species faster than ever before.  Human activities like strip mining, deforestation, and even pollution are being eclipsed by Climate Change as the mechanism of species extinction.  Some are calling this the next "Great Exinction"; there have been 5 of them before, in all fo Earth's history.  We are causing the sixth.

  

Climate Change is a long term process where the earth's climate evolves due to many factors.  Warming is the average temperature across the entire planet; local areas can have temporary periods where they get colder. Factors for climate change include effects from the Sun, ocean currents, naturally occurring weather patterns, effects from the biology itself on our planet - and from human activities as well.   

The risk to us all is that human activities are increasing; the load we are putting on the atmosphere is getting worse each year, not better.  The science has shown that it is already too late to avoid the part of climate change that we have caused; now we have to try to at least slow it down, and we have to learn to live in a warming world.

The science is extensive, and very clear.  The overall picture of Climate Change:

• Air and Sea temperatures are both rising; they have done so for a long time, and this will accelerate
  
• Since 1970, 90% of the earth's warming has occurred in the oceans
  
• Scientists are now over 90% sure that man's activities are playing a role in global warming
• The biggest factor in global warming is CO2 production from fossil fuels, cement production, and land use
• Computer models have become much more sophisticated.  The same modeling techniques are used when scientists do other work in medicine, modeling nuclear explosions, and so on.
• Warming temperatures will melt glaciers, the poles, and the ice of greenland resulting is rising sea levels.
• Many species will be displaced or go extinct
• Deserts will increase in size, particularly in Africa and Australia
• Not all effects will be bad - as the poles melt, this will free  up new, usable land.
• Poor nations will suffer most; richer nations care less because their extensive resources maintain their quality of life.
• Extreme weather events will become more common, in a warmer world
• Some island communities will find their homeland completely disappears
• Food scarcity will become more common
• The public is largely unaware of the science; scientists need to do a better job of educating others

   
To get a more detailed understanding of climate change, read the Wikipedia articles on Global Warming and a second article, on Climate Change.

There is a lot that you can do to help the climate.  Improving your diet to eat more plants and less meat will reduce the effect of agriculture on climate change; it takes a lot of to raise animals for meat consumption.  Making your home more energy efficient, driving less and using public transportation helps - or get out your bike and get some exercise too!  Contact your legislators and urge more action on Climate Change.  Join online initiatives that can help the environment.  Start a web page, start your own local group to improve your city and local governments.  We can each make a big difference!

In 1938, British scientist Guy Stewart Callendar was the first person to publish about the relationship of carbon dioxide and global warming.  That was 76 years ago!

He was a steam engineer.  He was also the first person to show that temperatures had increased over the previous 50 year period.  We now know that climate change started with the dawn of the industrial revolution; and it continues to this day.

Paradoxically, Mr Callendar was in favor of global warming, as he believed it would be a deterrent to deadly glaciers.   So Mr Callendar realized the earth was warming but did not understand the full significance.

At the time his work got little notice, but modern climate scientists now recognize his contribution.  Callendars work not only made the connection between CO2 and warming, but also laid the groundwork for the idea that man's activities can directly affect the climate of our planet.
  

  
He did not have a computer, but his work was surprisingly accurate. He found the earth had warmed 0.3 degrees over the previous 50 years.  He believe that half of the rise was from CO2 alone.  The Climate scientists of his era ignored is work, because they believed - incorrectly - that mankind's activities could not affect the planet.  It was not until the 1950's that scientists started to understand the full CO2 cycle, including that CO2 in the atmosphere can absorb solar radiation.

As early as 1963 people were seeing pictures of the icecaps melting, but there was too much resistance to take it seriously.

Mr Callendar died in 1964; far too early to see how important his work has become.