CT Green Scene

CO2 rises to alarming level

The New York Times reported over the weekend the disturbing news that the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have surpassed 400 part per million. Despite efforts at renewable or clean energy, we have failed miserably to make a dent in climate change. While countries like China contribute greatly to the junk in the air--take a look at the skyline in Hong Kong anytime--we have been using fossil fuels much longer than they have. We still rely heavily on those resources that feed global warming.  

(This information prompted my youngest daughter to make the sign you see to the left.)

Check out an excerpt from the article below. 

Heat-Trapping Gas Passes Milestone, Raising Fears
By JUSTIN GILLIS
Published: May 10, 2013 

The level of the most important heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide, has passed a long-feared milestone, scientists reported Friday, reaching a concentration not seen on the earth for millions of years.

Scientific instruments showed that the gas had reached an average daily level above 400 parts per million — just an odometer moment in one sense, but also a sobering reminder that decades of efforts to bring human-produced emissions under control are faltering.

The best available evidence suggests the amount of the gas in the air has not been this high for at least three million years, before humans evolved, and scientists believe the rise portends large changes in the climate and the level of the sea.

“It symbolizes that so far we have failed miserably in tackling this problem,” said Pieter P. Tans, who runs the monitoring program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that reported the new reading.

Ralph Keeling, who runs another monitoring program at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, said a continuing rise could be catastrophic. “It means we are quickly losing the possibility of keeping the climate below what people thought were possibly tolerable thresholds,” he said.

Virtually every automobile ride, every plane trip and, in most places, every flip of a light switch adds carbon dioxide to the air, and relatively little money is being spent to find and deploy alternative technologies.

To read more, click here. 

Got winter? Blame global warming.

Have you noticed the weather getting more severe? As Frank Bruni said in his Op-Ed, "The Land of the Binge," in the February 9th edition of The New York Times, "Even our weather is extreme: superstorms, Frankenstorms, snowmageddons."

Granted, he was mainly talking about our American society's inability to take things in moderation, particuarly with our intake of food. But still, it's hard to get past the weather we've been having of late. Historic droughts followed by historic storms.

Is it global warming? The evidence says yes. Even though we have tracked a decrease in snowfall in recent winters, it really packs a wallop when a storm hits. That's mainly because the air and the waters are warmer, meaning they pull in more moisture. So when it's cold enough for a snow storm, it easily becomes a blizzard. When it's just a little rain shower, it doesn't take much to suddenly dump inches of rain.

See this article originally reported by the Associated Press.

Climate contradiction: Less snow, more blizzards
By SETH BORENSTEIN | Associated Press – Tue, Feb 19, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) — With scant snowfall and barren ski slopes in parts of the Midwest and Northeast the past couple of years, some scientists have pointed to global warming as the culprit.

Then, when a whopper of a blizzard smacked the Northeast with more than 2 feet of snow in some places earlier this month, some of the same people again blamed global warming.

How can that be? It's been a joke among skeptics, pointing to what seems to be a brazen contradiction.

But the answer lies in atmospheric physics. A warmer atmosphere can hold, and dump, more moisture, snow experts say. And two soon-to-be-published studies demonstrate how there can be more giant blizzards yet less snow overall each year. Projections are that that's likely to continue with manmade global warming.

To read more, click here.

Image courtesy of The New York Times.

Superstorm Sandy tip of the iceberg?

While New Jersey got the brunt of Superstorm Sandy a month ago, residents along the coastline of Connecticut got extensive damage as well. There are still people without power and heat or their homes were destroyed--even more than from Hurricane Katrina. The question is how big will other storms be in our future and can we handle it?

See the clip from last night's Nightly News with Brian Williams.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

The New York Times article published on Sunday, November 25 referenced in the clip makes the strong point that with climate change proceeding at this rate may change the face of the cities we know today. See an excerpt below.

 

Is This the End?
By JAMES ATLAS
Published: November 24, 2012

In 2009, the New York City Panel on Climate Change issued a prophetic report. “In the coming decades, our coastal city will most likely face more rapidly rising sea levels and warmer temperatures, as well as potentially more droughts and floods, which will all have impacts on New York City’s critical infrastructure,” said William Solecki, a geographer at Hunter College and a member of the panel. But what good are warnings? Intelligence agents received advance word that terrorists were hoping to hijack commercial jets. Who listened? (Not George W. Bush.) If we can’t imagine our own deaths, as Freud insisted, how can we be expected to imagine the death of a city? …

Last month’s “weather event” should have taught us that. Whether in 50 or 100 or 200 years, there’s a good chance that New York City will sink beneath the sea. But if there are no patterns, it means that nothing is inevitable either. History offers less dire scenarios: the city could move to another island, the way Torcello was moved to Venice, stone by stone, after the lagoon turned into a swamp and its citizens succumbed to a plague of malaria. The city managed to survive, if not where it had begun. Perhaps the day will come when skyscrapers rise out of downtown Scarsdale.

To read more, click here.

Image courtesy of The New York Times. 

 

Blame it on Global Warming--again

According to a NASA scientist, there's no denying global warming. It's not just a theory; it's a reality. Check out this story from NBC News and the Associated Press.

Blame blistering heat on global warming, study says
By The Associated Press and NBC News staff

The relentless, weather-gone-crazy type of heat that has blistered the United States and other parts of the world in recent years is so rare that it can't be anything but man-made global warming, says a new statistical analysis from a top government scientist.

The research by a man often called the "godfather of global warming" says that the likelihood of such temperatures occurring from the 1950s through the 1980s was rarer than 1 in 300. Now, the odds are closer to 1 in 10, according to the study by NASA scientist James Hansen. He says that statistically what's happening is not random or normal, but pure and simple climate change.

"This is not some scientific theory. We are now experiencing scientific fact," Hansen told The Associated Press in an interview…

The new research makes the case for the severity of global warming in a different way than most scientific studies and uses simple math instead of relying on complex climate models or an understanding of atmospheric physics. It also doesn't bother with the usual caveats about individual weather events having numerous causes.

The increase in the chance of extreme heat, drought and heavy downpours in certain regions is so huge that scientists should stop hemming and hawing, Hansen said. "This is happening often enough, over a big enough area that people can see it happening," he said.

To read more, click here.

Image courtesy of NBCNews.com.

Greenland glacier adds to rise in sea level

Sea levels may rise yet once again thanks to an iceberg the size of Manhattan breaking off from Greenland and floating out into the ocean. Although a bigger one broke off in 2010, it's still a growing trend as seen in Antarctica. The culprit? Global warming, of course. 

See the excerpt below from MSNBC.

Iceberg bigger than Manhattan breaks from Greenland glacier
OurAmazingPlanet
updated 7/17/2012 1:21:57 PM ET

A massive iceberg larger than Manhattan has broken away from the floating end of a Greenland glacier this week, an event scientists predicted last autumn.

The giant ice island is 46 square miles, and separated from the terminus of the Petermann Glacier, one of Greenland's largest…

"The Greenland ice sheet as a whole is shrinking, melting and reducing in size as the result of globally changing air and ocean temperatures and associated changes in circulation patterns in both the ocean and atmosphere," said Andreas Muenchow, an associate professor of physical ocean science and engineering at the University of Delaware.

To read more, click here.

Image courtesy of MSNBC. 

It’s not your imagination: Connecticut temperatures are rising

by Stephen Meno

With a country in the middle of a divisive presidential election, we can all agree on one thing: the past few summers have been absolutely brutal. According to a report by Climate Central that analyzed warming trends in the continental U.S. over the past century, Connecticut has had the 12^th greatest temperature increase. Since 1970, Connecticut’s average temperature rose 0.556ºF every decade, whereas it only increased about 0.8ºF from 1912 to 1970. Although this may not seem like a lot, the rise of over 2ºF in the past 40 years is the reason for our recent snowless winter, drought warnings, and one of the hottest starts to summer to date.

While it may come as no surprise that Arizona topped the list with a 2.556ºF increase in the past four decades, the two other regions that rose through the rankings were the upper Midwest and New England. Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts respectively placed fifth, eighth, and tenth. And Floridians are probably grateful that they made the bottom of the list, along with other southeastern states with an average climb of 0.4ºF. This pattern shows that northern-tier states experiencing greater seasonality are prone to greater warming.

Climate Change: The tipping point

By Stephen Meno

Stephen has just joined CT Green Scene as our summer intern. He is a recent Tufts graduate who interned his last semester with Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, an environmental non-profit in Boston. Stephen believes in raising environmental awareness. But, he says, there is enough talk about the problems and not enough about real solutions. Whether it’s climate change or the best green products on the market, environmentalism is accessible and change is well within our reach. Please join us in welcoming Stephen. 

Experts have just declared that the planet’s changing climate is quickly approaching the point of no return. I could give you the gory details: there are 390 parts per million (ppm) carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and at the current rate of CO₂ output which, if things continue as they have been, will increase to 1000 ppm by 2100. What does that mean? If the global community does not act quickly, drastic changes in temperature, weather patterns, and sea level will result in famine, mass extinctions, and trillions of dollars in property damage. 

Rising Sea Levels Increase Risk of Flooding

Global warming melts the polar ice caps which in turn raises sea levels. This creates an environment prone to flooding in low-lying areas. Well, duh...

This information, while originally scoffed at as crazy environmental hooey, has become a reality. With a rising tide comes floods affecting homeowners along the entire coastline of the U.S. States particularly prone are Florida, Maryland's Chesapeake Bay, and also parts of New York and New Jersey in our tri-state area.

This article from yesterday's New York Times indicates the sea level will continue to rise and global warming persists. See the excerpt below.

Rising Sea Levels Seen as Threat to Coastal U.S.
By JUSTIN GILLIS
Published: March 13, 2012 

About 3.7 million Americans live within a few feet of high tide and risk being hit by more frequent coastal flooding in coming decades because of the sea level rise caused by global warming, according to new research.

If the pace of the rise accelerates as much as expected, researchers found, coastal flooding at levels that were once exceedingly rare could become an every-few-years occurrence by the middle of this century.

By far the most vulnerable state is Florida, the new analysis found, with roughly half of the nation’s at-risk population living near the coast on the porous, low-lying limestone shelf that constitutes much of that state. But Louisiana, California, New York and New Jersey are also particularly vulnerable, researchers found, and virtually the entire American coastline is at some degree of risk.

“Sea level rise is like an invisible tsunami, building force while we do almost nothing,” said Benjamin H. Strauss, an author, with other scientists, of two new papers outlining the research. “We have a closing window of time to prevent the worst by preparing for higher seas.”

To read more, click here.

Image courtesy of The New York Times.

Lecture on Climate Change at Audubon Greenwich

Averting the Climate Crisis: How urban/suburban lifestyle changes can help our environment
Presented by Peter Libre, MD
Saturday, January 7, 2012
4:00-5:30 pm
$5/adult. Youth are free. RSVP requested. Simply leave a message for Jeff Cordulack at 203-869-5272 x239.  (Snow date: Jan. 14.) 


Ring in 2012 with a Saturday afternoon presentation about our carbon footprint, climate issues, and the relationship of health and lifestyle to both. Learn new ways to transform your way of living and by doing so, improve your personal, planetary and fiscal well-being. Dr. Peter Libre is a Columbia University eye surgeon who performs 350 eye surgeries a year while living a low carbon lifestyle. He bikes 2,500 miles a year, keeps chickens, and grows vegetables. With solar hot water and electricity, good insulation, and a woodstove, his family’s utility bills are $25 a month. 

The northward and inland movement of North American birds, confirmed by thousands of citizen-observations, provides new and powerful evidence that global warming is having a serious impact on natural systems, according to new analyses by Audubon scientists. The findings signal the need for dramatic policy changes to combat pervasive ecological disruption.

Snowtober signals Climate Change

The wrap-up from this weekend's freakish storm in the Northeast pretty much says it all: Climate Change is not a fantasy dreamed up by environmentalists with nothing better to do. It is very real and has a sizeable impact. This year alone, we have seen more damaging weather from horrendous storms causing massive power outages to year-long droughts in Texas. The handwriting is on the wall, people.

The excerpt below from The Washington Post puts it in perspective. The rumbling "thundersnow"--frankly, two words not often put together like "balanced" and "budget"--in New York City. The hundreds of damaged trees. The fact that many residents still have no power and will continue to be without power for several more days. School has been cancelled. And for some towns, so was Halloween.

Read more below.

Historic October Northeast storm: Epic. Incredible. Downright ridiculous.
Posted at 11:02 AM ET, 10/31/2011
By Andrew Freedman

"Coming in the midst of what is already one of the most extreme years in American weather history, the Snowtober event had a greater impact in some states than August’s much-hyped Tropical Storm Irene. It was the snowstorm, not Irene, which caused the largest power outage in Connecticut history, for example.

To put the storm into its proper meteorological context, consider these snowy facts.

Climate Summer

by Eileen Weber

A little over a week ago, five college-aged bikers whisked through New Haven. Why, you ask? They’ve been on a more than 900-mile journey as a statement of solidarity against the burning of fossil fuels, of course.

In a day and age in which the tangible signs of environmental damage—from climate change to air pollution and everything in between—the danger of fossil fuels is all too real. And these students are trying to make that point on two wheels instead of four with an exhaust pipe.

Some of the riders are from the Northeast region; some are from as far away as Singapore. But like any self-respecting environmentalist, they are all united on the concept that we must change the way we live in order to preserve our planet for future generations.

“Instead of being dependent on fossil fuels, we should be dependent on each other and rely on renewable resources,” said team member Tara Escudero in a recent press release.

Beans, Greens, and Protein

by Brittany Shutts

Cutting back on the meat in your diet can take your palate on the road to new gastronomic adventures and help the environment as well. According to Worldwatch, livestock and their byproducts account for 50% of the greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Meat consumption in the United States, especially, is far from being sustainable. Studies show that the U.S. alone consumes almost 10 billion chickens, pigs, cows, and turkeys every year. The horrors of the livestock industry, the growth hormones, and the antibiotics are enough to kill even the heartiest appetite.
   
Going meatless just once a week will lower your risk of cancer, reduce your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, lower body weight, and prevent long-term weight gain. Eating beans and peas will increase your intake of other important minerals, such as protein, folate, zinc, iron, and magnesium. They contain less saturated fat and total fat.

Snowmageddon!

Connecticut residents have spent the better part of today digging out from--well, a dump of snow. And there's more to come next week. Many residents are wondering where to put all of it because they're running out of space.

There has been record snow fall in this country, including areas that usually never see any. Europe has had record low temperatures. So what happened to global warming? Where's Al Gore when you need him?

Anyone following climate change with any consistency can tell you the warming trends are consistent with the kind of snowstorms we've been seeing lately. In fact, based on an article in The New York Times earlier this week, the Arctic is actually seeing warmer temperatures than normal. The cold air trough is dipping low into the U.S. while warmer air is blowing toward the north. As one northern Canadian resident claimed in reference to the lower 48, "That's where all our snow is going."

See the excerpt below.

Cold Jumps Arctic ‘Fence,’ Stoking Winter’s Fury
By JUSTIN GILLIS
Published: January 24, 2011

"For two winters running, an Arctic chill has descended on Europe, burying that continent in snow and ice. Last year in the United States, historic blizzards afflicted the mid-Atlantic region. This winter the Deep South has endured unusual snowstorms and severe cold, and a frigid Northeast is bracing for what could shape into another major snowstorm this week.

Yet while people in Atlanta learn to shovel snow, the weather 2,000 miles to the north has been freakishly warm the past two winters. Throughout northeastern Canada and Greenland, temperatures in December ran as much as 15 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. Bays and lakes have been slow to freeze; ice fishing, hunting and trade routes have been disrupted…

The deeper issue is whether this pattern is linked to the rapid changes that global warming is causing in the Arctic, particularly the drastic loss of sea ice. At least two prominent climate scientists have offered theories suggesting that it is. But others are doubtful, saying the recent events are unexceptional, or that more evidence over a longer period would be needed to establish a link.

Since satellites began tracking it in 1979, the ice on the Arctic Ocean’s surface in the bellwether month of September has declined by more than 30 percent. It is the most striking change in the terrain of the planet in recent decades, and a major question is whether it is starting to have an effect on broad weather patterns."

Click here to read more of the article. 

Still digging out from last week's blizzard? According to an article originally published in Time online, that huge dump of snow may be one more link in the climate change chain. The past decade has been one of the warmest recorded so far. And, it appears that the warming trend in the Arctic may, in fact, be to blame for wilder winter weather. See the excerpt below.

The Northeast Snowstorms: One More Sign of Climate Change
By BRYAN WALSH–Mon Jan 3, 3:05 am ET

"It's become as much a winter tradition as eggnog at Christmas and champagne on New Year's Eve - the first major snowstorm of the year bringing out the climate-change skeptics. And the bona fide blizzard that has frozen much of the Northeast just a few days after winter officially began definitely qualifies as major. But while piles of snow blocking your driveway hardly conjure images of a dangerously warming world, it doesn't mean that climate change is a myth. The World Meteorological Organization recently reported that 2010 is almost certainly going to be one of the three warmest years on record, while 2001 to 2010 is already the hottest decade in recorded history. Indeed, according to some scientists, all of these events may actually be connected.

One theory is that a warmer Arctic may actually lead to colder and snowier winters in the northern mid-latitudes. Even as countries like Britain - suffering through the coldest December on record - deal with low temperatures and unusual snow, the Arctic has kept on warming, with Greenland and Arctic Canada experiencing the hottest year on record. Temperatures in that region have been 5.4°F to 7.2°F (3°C to 4°C) above normal in 2010. As a result, the Arctic sea-ice cover has continued to shrink; this September, the minimum summer sea-ice extent was more than 770,000 sq. mi. (2 million sq km) below the long-term average, and the third-smallest on record. Snow may be piling up in midtown Manhattan, but the Arctic is continuing its long-term meltdown."

Click here to read more.

Image courtesy of Time.com.

Staying Optimistic About Climate Change Policy

by Angela Hotaling

The 2010 climate change conference in Cancun has stirred up lots of controversy. The conference started on November 29th, culminating on December 10th. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which set emission reduction guidelines, will expire in December 2012 and there are pessimistic predictions for a legal continuation of the agreement.

Pessimism is a common theme of the media coverage overcastting the two week conference taking place in Cancun, Mexico. Last years summit in Copenhagen and its offspring, the Copenhagen Accord, has fallen short of making desired progress. There are many possibilities for what will come of all of this and those of us here who care about progress in climate change politics should really reflect upon the breadth of this issue.

Leaf Peeping Season Underway

by Angela Hotaling

Angela is a recent graduate from SUNY Oneonta where she earned a B.S in Philosophy. She is a native to southern Columbia County in New York and is there now working on her applications to graduate school. Angela is very passionate about the environment and enjoys hiking, playing, and promoting the protection of various places. One of her favorite places to visit is the Catskill Mountains. She also enjoys traveling, cooking fresh vegetarian meals, and reading. One of the accomplishments that Angela hopes to achieve within the next year is to master her downhill skiing abilities.   
   
It’s foliage season! All throughout the northeast, residents and visitors admire the yellows, oranges, and reds of giant oaks and maples. The trees are a significant tourist attraction throughout the area and people value the sensual autumnal stimulation that is flying through the air. Autumn is a period of transition between summer and winter and it contains feelings of reflection and anticipation. We miss the hot, languid days of summer as the days grow shorter. The winter will soon be here.

A Mild March

by Courtney Dumais

Was last month warm or was it just me? There were periods of balmy weather, but a few frigid days snuck in as well. The truth, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is that combined land and global temperatures in March 2010 were 56.3F, the highest since record keeping began more than a century ago. Ocean temperatures in March were the highest ever recorded and were 1.01F higher than the average 20th century ocean temperatures. Surface temperatures were the fourth highest on record; March 2008 holds the record. March 2010 surface temperatures were 2.45F higher than the 20th century average.