Climate+Change+-+Effects

==Ice Stars in new climate exhibition == Nigel Williams 21 Dec 2010 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982210015836

“Ice cores reveal a record of climate and environmental change covering many hundreds of thousands of years. In my experience the sight and story of the extraction of ice cores, and what they tell us, never fails to enthral,” says Chris Rapley, director of the museum. “At a time when public understanding and engagement with climate change science is recovering from the effects of a turbulent year, these tools provide a wonderful means to communicate and captivate.” Ice cores have revealed that, during the Earth's natural ice age cycles, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has varied between 100 parts per million (ppm) in an ice age to around 300ppm in a warm period, during which the Earth's mean temperature has varied by about 5–6°C and polar regions by 10°C. The ice core on display comprises three segments with the most recent ice 50 years old to the most ancient up to 700 years old containing air trapped in the early 15th century. It was collected in 1989 by a team of UK and US researchers and transported under special freezer conditions to the British Antarctic Survey headquarters in Cambridge. In the new gallery it is displayed in a specially adapted medical freezer. http://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0960982210015836-gr1.jpg

=Researchers ponder a 4°C temperature rise =


 * [|Michael Gross]


 * Michael Gross is a science writer based at Oxford. He can be contacted via his web page at www.michaelgross.co.uk

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982210015782

==Summary == As the 2°C target in the Copenhagen Accord begins to appear increasingly elusive, researchers have drawn up an overview of the challenges the world will face if global temperatures rise by 4°C or more. ** Michael Gross ** reports.

==Main Text == In September 2009, scientists concerned over the lack of information available on the high-end scenarios of global warming held a conference at Oxford to pool their insights into the challenges the world will face if global temperatures rise by 4°C or more. Building on the information collected there, organiser Mark New and colleagues have now compiled a themed issue of the // Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society //, entitled ‘Four degrees and beyond: the potential for a global temperature increase of four degrees and its implications// ’, // which was released on the first day of the Cancún climate change meeting.



Emblematic: One of the most dramatic factors in climate change is the reduction in glaciers. Researchers are looking at some of the implications of global temperatures rising by 4°C. (Picture: Splashdown Direct/Photolibrary.)  <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #5c5c5c; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS','Arial Unicode',Arial,'URW Gothic L',Helvetica,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #2e2e2e; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS','Arial Unicode',Arial,'URW Gothic L',Helvetica,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">Rising sea levels are among the most often cited consequences of climate change, but they are also notoriously difficult to predict, due to the vagaries of melting ice sheets. Even when taking a 4°C temperature increase as given, the sea-level change associated with that could range from 0.5 metres to 2 metres, according to Sally Brown's research at Southampton University. At the higher end of this range, the rising water may displace up to 187 million people. Looking more closely at population displacements not just from coastal areas, but also from sub-Saharan Africa, François Gemenne from the University of Liège, Belgium, fears that “a greater temperature change would not only affect the magnitude of the associated population movements, but also — and above all — the characteristics of these movements, and therefore the policy responses that can address them.”

<span style="color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 21.81818199157715px;">//Climate Change has the potential to significantly effect the World we live in.// <span style="color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 21.81818199157715px;">//This following series of reports will assist students in understanding the possible effects of climate change.// <span style="color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 21.81818199157715px;">//Environmental reporter Sarah Clarke has prepared the following reports.//

> //<span style="color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;">Part 5: How will climate change effect Australia's oceans and reefs? // > > > <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;">Climate scientists are urging Australian authorities - and residents - to prepare for rising sea levels that could put about $300 billion worth of commercial property, infrastructure and homes at risk. > > The United Nations' chief science body will meet in Hobart tomorrow for the latest round of talks before the release of its fifth major climate paper in September. > > More than three-quarters of Australians live near the ocean, and Alan Stokes from the National Sea Change Taskforce says sea-level rises will challenge many Australians' beachfront lifestyles. > > <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16.363636016845703px;">// Part 2 (Summary) // > <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;">Australia's farmers will need to adapt to cope with a potentially hotter and drier continent as the effects of climate change take hold, scientists say. > As the UN's chief science body meets in Hobart today to update the latest climate modelling, the CSIRO says forecasts show Australia will have to cope with less rainfall, longer dry periods and crops struggling to grow in changing conditions. > CSIRO climate applications scientist Steve Crimp says the nation's agricultural sector will likely feel the heat of a hotter climate. > > //<span style="color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15.454545021057129px;">Part 3 (Summary) // > <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;">With climate change forecasts showing the Pacific will face hotter days and more extreme weather in the future, climate scientists and medical authorities say the implications could be serious for human health. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;">The Federal Government's Climate Commission is predicting a warmer Pacific will produce more heart attacks, strokes, exhaustion and more heat-related deaths. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;">Hotter temperatures also bring a greater chance of more bushfires. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;">A Climate Commission report warns that could translate to more smoke-induced asthma attacks and burns.
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #310099; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em; text-decoration: initial;">//Part 1: How will **rising seas** affect Australia's homes and infrastructure//
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #310099; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em; text-decoration: initial;">//Part 2: What effect will climate change have on **agriculture** and **food production**?//
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #310099; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em; text-decoration: initial;">//Part 3: What effect will climate change have on **health** in the Pacific?//
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #310099; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15.454545021057129px; text-decoration: initial;">//Part 4: What effect will climate change have on Australia's **animal** and **plant** species?//
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;"> //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15.454545021057129px;">Part 1 (Summary) //

//<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15.454545021057129px;"> Part 4 (Summary) // <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;">The severity and pace of the current bushfires across Australia's east coast has meant thousands of native species have had little chance. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;">Colleen Wood has spent 17 years caring for koalas and runs the Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter in Victoria. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;">She says the fires in 2009 were the worst. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;">"During the Black Saturday fires we had just over 100 koalas but prior to that we had 40 or 50 koalas at a time," she said. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;">"Obviously they are directly impacted by fire, by the flames, and indirectly impacted later with limited feed source." <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;">She says the sheer intensity and the number of recent fires means there has not been enough time for the habitat to return to good health.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-17/global-warming-to-threaten-australian-wildlife/4468026 <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;">The severity and pace of the current bushfires across Australia's east coast has meant thousands of animals have had little chance. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;">Colleen Wood has spent 17 years caring for koalas and runs the Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter in Victoria. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;">She says the fires in 2009 were the worst.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-18/warming-to-put-oceans-and-reefs-in-hot-water/4470104 <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;">As the planet continues its warming trend, climate scientists say whole marine ecosystems are also feeling the heat. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;">The east coast of Australia is now considered one of the fastest warming areas in the region. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;">The CSIRO says fish are moving south in search of cooler waters, and marine heatwaves like the recent one off Western Australia are likely to cause major damage to corals and fisheries. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;">Scientists also warn climate change is now considered the single greatest threat to the long-term survival of the Great Barrier Reef. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #111111; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em;">Every month for the past 70 years, the ocean temperature has been recorded at the Port Hacking station off New South Wales.