Global Warming

Drought In Russia; Floods In Pakistan And China; High Temps In The U.S. Consistent With Climate Change Projections

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A number of extreme weather events have been happening around the world this summer, including record flooding in Pakistan that has killed more than 1,000 people and displaced millions of others; the worst drought in Russia in decades, which has triggered wildfires and doubled the daily death rate in Moscow to about 700; and torrential rains in China, which have caused massive flooding and triggered landslides that have killed more than 3,000 people. Meanwhile, here at home, residents in more than 15 states have been sweltering from heat waves that flared in June.

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Glacial Melt And Ocean Warming Drive Sea Level Upward

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The average sea level around the world has risen a total of 222 millimeters (mm) since 1875, which means an annual rate of 1.7 mm. Yet at the end of this long period, from 1993 to 2009, the sea level rose 3.0 mm per year—a much faster rate. An estimated 30 percent of the sea level increase since 1993 is a result of warmer ocean temperatures that cause the water to expand (thermal expansion). Another 55 percent of the increase results from the melting of land-based ice, mainly from glaciers and the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.

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Glacial Melt And Ocean Warming Drive Sea Level Upward

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The average sea level around the world has risen a total of 222 millimeters (mm) since 1875, which means an annual rate of 1.7 mm.1 (See Figure 1.) Yet at the end of this long period, from 1993 to 2009, the sea level rose 3.0 mm per year—a much faster rate.2 An estimated 30 percent of the sea level increase since 1993 is a result of warmer ocean temperatures that cause the water to expand (thermal expansion).3 Another 55 percent of the increase results from the melting of land-based ice, mainly from glaciers and the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.4 (Sea ice that melts does not contribute t

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More Than One Out Of Three U.S. Counties Face Water Shortages Due To Climate Change

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Greatest Risks Seen in 14 States: AZ, AR, CA, CO, FL, ID, KS, MS, MT, NE, NV, NM, OK and TX;WASHINGTON (July 20, 2010) -- More than 1,100 U.S. counties -- a full one-third of all counties in the lower 48 states -- now face higher risks of water shortages by mid-century as the result of global warming, and more than 400 of these counties will be at extremely high risk for water shortages, based on estimates from a new report by Tetra Tech for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

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Near-Term Emissions Choices Could Lock In Climate Changes For Centuries To Millennia; Report Estimates Impacts From Various Levels Of Warming

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WASHINGTON — Choices made now about carbon dioxide emissions reductions will affect climate change impacts experienced not just over the next few decades but also in coming centuries and millennia, says a new report from the National Research Council. Because CO2 in the atmosphere is long lived, it can effectively lock the Earth and future generations into a range of impacts, some of which could become very severe.

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Multiple Heat Waves Cap Planet’s Warming Trend

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Climatewire: This time, the heat is really on. From Boston to Washington, D.C., temperatures have soared to 100 degrees or more in recent days, stressing electrical grids, scrambling rail transportation and prompting the swift creation of cooling centers for those who lack air conditioning. Central Canada, portions of the Middle East and China are also coping with searing heat.

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Renewables Must Generate 50% Of Global Electricity: IEA

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Renewable energies must generate almost half of the world’s power by 2050, up from the current level of 18%, says the International Energy Agency (IEA).Global investment in green power was led by wind and solar in 2008, and reached a record level of US$112 billion and remained broadly stable in 2009 despite the economic downturn, explains IEA’s ‘Energy Technology Perspectives 2010.’ Many car companies are adding hybrid and all-electric vehicles to their fleets, and 5 million such vehicles could be on t

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Governments Face Cost Hurdle To Halve CO2 By 2050: IEA

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Country: USA/FRANCE Author: Tom Doggett and Muriel Boselli Governments will have to grapple with sharply higher upfront costs to deploy clean energy technologies and halve carbon emissions by 2050, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday. Action to curb greenhouse gases is going in the "wrong direction," said the energy advisor to 28 industrialized nations, adding that under current trends carbon emissions would instead double by mid-century. Many renewable energy technologies cost more upfront but benefit from fuel savings.

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Melting Glaciers And Snow Put Millions At Risk In Asia

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From: David Fogarty, Reuters Increased melting of glaciers and snow in the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau threatens the food security of millions of people in Asia, a study shows, with Pakistan likely to be among the nations hardest hit. A team of scientists in Holland studied the impacts of climate change on five major Asian rivers on which about 1.4 billion people, roughly a fifth of humanity, depend for water to drink and to irrigate crops.

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