Jul 09 2010

Climate Changes

Posted by: Kory Raftery

Several stories on the science and politics of global warming caught our attention this week:

Temperatures on the Eastern Seaboard have soared above 100 degrees in recent days, wearing out air conditioners, stressing the electrical grid, and prompting the swift creation of cooling centers to give people some relief. People in other regions of the world are sweating as well as China, Central Canada and portions of the Middle East have all recorded heat waves as of late. "We can't say that one individual or even two heat waves are due to global warming," said David Easterling, a climatologist with NOAA's National Climatic Data Center. "But what we can say is that warming temperatures do increase the probability of a heat wave."

A recent Stanford University study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters claims targets set by policy makers to slow global warming are too soft to prevent future heat waves and extreme temperatures in the United States. The study goes on to predict that the trend will have an adverse affect on human health and agriculture. Climate experts cited in the study stated that moderately constraining global warming to above pre-industrial conditions may not be sufficient to avoid dangerous climate change. "In the next 30 years, we could see an increase in heat waves like the one now occurring in the eastern United States or the kind that swept across Europe in 2003 that caused tens of thousands of fatalities," said the lead author of the study.

Global warming may have an impact on crocs - the animals, not the shoes. According to a study done by Australian scientists, global warming could make it harder for crocodiles to find food and take refuge from predators. The scientists claim crocodiles are finding it more difficult to dive due to water temperature increases in the warmer months.

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