6. Energy Flow In the Atmosphere

2007

2007 November 29. My Carbon Bathtub Runneth Over. Why we need to reduce CO2 emissions 80% by 2050, explained using an animated simulation of a bathtub. Simulation is based on a system dynamics model of the global carbon cycle and climate system.

2007 October 22. Caribbean Urged to Face Warming Risks. Associated Press. Excerpt: SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The Caribbean tourism industry, the lifeblood for many island economies, needs to brace itself for stronger hurricanes, more frequent droughts and rising sea levels resulting from global warming, scientists said Monday.
The Caribbean, where more than half the population lives within a mile of the coast, faces some of the greatest risks from climate change, according to the expert panel at the Caribbean Tourism Organization meeting in San Juan.
"The region as a whole is really vulnerable _ it's sand, sun and beaches," said Ulric Trotz, science adviser to the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center in Belize.
Trotz said governments should limit development along eroding coastlines, protect natural resources including reefs and mangroves and take other steps before global warming accelerates in the coming decades, as some experts forecast.
Already, rising ocean temperatures have been blamed for killing off coral that sustains significant marine life and fueling monstrous storms. This year was the first on record when two Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes _ Felix and Dean, which both gained strength in the Caribbean _ made landfall in the same season....

2005

29 April 2005 . NASA RELEASE: 05-111. Scientists Confirm Earth's Energy is Out of Balance. Scientists have concluded more energy is being absorbed from the sun than is emitted back to space, throwing the Earth's energy "out of balance" and warming the globe.Scientists from NASA, Columbia University, New York, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, Calif. used satellites, data from buoys and computer models to study the Earth's oceans. They confirmed the energy imbalance by using precise measurements of increasing ocean heat content over the past 10 years. The study reveals Earth's energy imbalance is large by standards of the planet's history. The imbalance is 0.85 watts per meter squared. That will cause an additional warming of 0.6 degrees Celsius (1 degree Fahrenheit) by the end of this century. To understand the difference, think of a one-watt light bulb shining over an area of one square meter (10.76 square feet). Although it doesn't seem like much, adding up the number of feet around the world creates a big effect. To put this number into perspective, an imbalance of one-watt per square meter, maintained for the past 10,000 years is enough to melt ice equivalent to one kilometer (.6 mile) of sea level, if there were that much ice. ... "Warmer waters increase the likelihood of accelerated ice sheet disintegration and sea level rise during this century," Hansen said. .... Data has shown they have risen by approximately 3.1 centimeters or 1.26 inches per decade. Although 3.1 centimeters is a small change, the rate of increase is twice as large as in the preceding century. There are positive feedbacks that come into play, as the area of ice melt increases.

2004

2 August 2004. RETREATING GLACIERS SPUR ALASKAN EARTHQUAKES. Goddard Space Flight Center. In a new study, NASA and United States Geological Survey (USGS) scientists found that retreating glaciers in southern Alaska may be opening the way for future earthquakes.

10 February 2004. NASA PREDICTS MORE TROPICAL RAIN IN A WARMER WORLD (RELEASE: 04-058). As the tropical oceans continue to heat up, following a 20-year trend, warm rains in the tropics are likely to become more frequent, according to NASA scientists. ... patterns of evaporation and precipitation, known as the water cycle, may accelerate in some areas due to warming temperatures.