Archive for the ‘Climate’ Category

by Internews Network

Question: How are the major rivers of india affected by climate change?
I have some homework, i need to make a chart about how the major rivers of india are affected by climate change. it would be really really helpful if you can give me a link to a site or any information on the topic. thanx!!
thanx soooo much for the answers!! u guys rock!!

Answer:

Answer by Tom A
Many rivers in India are fed by melt water from glaciers. Many of these glaciers are rapidly disappearing due to climate change. When the glaciers are gone, so is a reliable source of water from the rivers.

Question: Why is climate easier to predict than weather?
When people make the comment that if we can not predict weather a couple of days from now, how can we predict it 100 years from now, the answer is always there is a difference between climate and weather.

So what makes climate easier to predict? Do we have such a good understanding of the earth’s climate that we can make such predictions? If so why are the oceans cooling and not warming like the models predict? Why did nobody make such a prediction?

Answer:

Answer by Look A
climate is long term and weather is short term… if you look at it variations in temp. are easier to predict from past temps. and cycling, where weather is very variable on an hour to hour basis…

Question: Who else seems to think that Congress used the MJ death to sneak in the Climate Change bill?
I personally think that Congress used the media attention on MJ’s death to sneak in the Climate bill without it gaining attention from the masses. It sounds like something they would do. Anyone else agree, disagree?
Pelosi is probably the one person in this country who is the most out of touch with society.

Answer:

Answer by jared
i agree

Question: What energy efficiency techniques could be considered or used for a house in a hot climate?
Planning a house involving sustainable living and energy efficiency homes. How can i make my home as energy saving as possible? What things could i do such as solar panels (techniques) to make it more efficient ad energy saving? ReMEMBER MY HOUSE IS SET IN A HOT CLIMATE!!!
thankss

Answer:

Answer by Jerry Lee
If house could be near an ocean or body of water, might use water to absorb heat. If dry, evaporating water could cool; and if wet, trees might shade house. You might consider heat-pump water heaters.

by manos_simonides

Question: Since everyone here knows for a fact only humans can change the climate how did the cavemen mange to do it?
I mean it was very cold during the last ice age yet the planet’s climate changed to make the earth warmer. Since everyone here knows for a fact only humans can change the climate how did the cavemen mange to do it?

Answer:

Answer by Nata T
ITS so easy, even a caveman can do it.

Question: How do you adjust to living in a high elevation(5,000 ft) and dry climate area?
I’m moving to Albuquerque, NM from Seattle , WA area. How difficult will this move be on my body? I’ve heard it’s hard to adjust to the elevation, is that really true? If anybody else has gone thru this, I would REALLY appreciate any comments/advice you can give me! I am moving from a humid, sea level climate, and am curious how to prepare myself for the move?

Answer:

Answer by nurserachet_0000
Drink large amounts of water. It takes about 6-8 weeks to develop the extra red blood cells needed at that altitude.

by Oxfam International

Question: How Are Penguins Affected By Climate Change in the NORTHERN Hemisphere?
What are some facts or statistics showing that penguins are being affected by climate change in the northern hemisphere NOT southern.

and also what are they being affected by and how do these factors change the penguins life in a negative way ( being related to climate change or global warming) Thanks!

Answer:

Answer by NW Jack
Wild Penguins do not exist in the Northern Hemisphere.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin#Distribution_and_habitat

The closest thing was the great awk. It went extinct nearly 16 decades ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Auk

Edit:
Most of the Global warming that has happened in the last 3 decades has happened in the Arctic (0.5 kelvins), while the Antarctic has not changed much at all. http://www.ssmi.com/msu/msu_data_description.html#figures
During the 3 decades from 1940 to 1970, when the earth was cooling, most of the cooling happened in the Arctic (-0.5 kelvins), while the Antarctic did not change much at all. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Global_Cooling_Map.png

So perhaps, you were asking because most of the changes have been in the Arctic. Note that the cooling map linked to above looks like a negative of the warming map linked to above.

Edit @Antarcticice:
The increase of 0.5 Kelvins for the Arctic, and the lack of change in the Antarctic is based on the TLT (Temperature Lower Troposphere) map in the SSMI.com (satellite measurements) link that covers the last 31 years. The decrease of the same amounts between 1940 and 1970 is based on the Wikipedia link right next to the numbers.

Yes, Arctic warming and cooling at twice the global average is about right as per the same links.

If you wish to know whether or not the ice cover in the Arctic is “normal”, you need to consider the 95% confidence level, normally considered the minimum for statistical significance. (Expect a result outside of 95% confidence once in twenty samples if everything remains normal.) This is at 2.1 standard deviations from the curve for a 22 sample data set. Here is a link to your graph with the the 94% confidence level (2 standard deviations) added. http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/images/daily_images/N_stddev_timeseries.png
Notice that the current ice cover is not an outlier. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlier

As for where the penguins actually live, ice cover is also normal, but slightly above average. http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/images/daily_images/S_stddev_timeseries.png

Interesting article you provided about the Antarctic warming. They used 1957 as a base reference point based on the establishment of one of the weather stations there in that year. Note that they did not say how much it warmed, and that they used the same data for the last 31 years that was used to create the map that shows almost no net change for the last 31 years. Their data includes the period from 1957 to 1979 based on a hand full of temperature recording stations that the TLT map I linked to does not. The cooling map that shows no net cooling in Antarctica from ~1940 to ~1970 is based on averages around the start/stop dates based on existing temperature recordings from existing stations there.

You can show either a warming trend or a cooling trend for Antarctica if you cherry pick your dates.

Question: Should we increase research into new areas of climate science?
It appears that recent earthquakes and Iceland’s volcano are prompting researchers to say it may be prudent to look further into a climate/geological activity connection.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/apr/19/climate-change-geological-hazards

Should this research be supported and if so should it be supported with extra funding or a shift of funding from current existing climate research grants?

Answer:

Answer by jim z
quiote
Richard Betts, a climate modeller at the Met Office Hadley Centre in Exeter, said: “This is a new area of academic research with potentially interesting implications. It was previously assumed there was no link at all between climate change and these events, but it is possible to speculate that climate change might make some more likely. If we do get large amounts of climate change in the long term then we might see some impacts.”
unquote

Notice Betts is a climate modeler. He shouldn’t pretend to provide expert opinion on things he obviously knows nothing about. We might have a sudden increase in rabid unicorns too. Should we investigate that as well.

quote
“He said there was no evidence that current levels of global warming were influencing events such as last week’s earthquake in China that killed hundreds of people and the volcanic eruption in Iceland that grounded flights across Europe.
unquote

That is correct. There is no evidence. There is more evidence of the unicorns.

quote
Experts say global warming could affect geological hazards such as earthquakes because of the way it can move large amounts of mass around on the Earth’s surface. Melting glaciers and rising sea levels shift the distribution of huge amounts of water, which release and increase pressures through the ground.
unquote

So what. It isn’t like glaciers have never melted before. I am waiting for an alarmists to provide any example of an earthquake greater than 4.0 magnitude caused by isostatic rebound. They won’t come up with it either. I have yet to hear from a reputable geologist that would dare put up with this nonsense but when you drag money through a university such as Berkeley, you never know what might take the hook.

quote
These pressure changes could make ruptures and seismic shifts more likely. Research from Germany suggests that the Earth’s crust can sometimes be so close to failure that tiny changes in surface pressure brought on my heavy rain can trigger quakes. Tropical storms, snowfall and shifting tides have all been linked to shifts in seismic activity.
unquote

Are you sure this isn’t from the National Enquiror. Heavy rains can cause earthquakes. Show me where. Tropical storms and snowfall. These people are a joke. I half suspect the article is from April 1. These people must believe in fairy dust and unicorns.

I won’t go on. They say there is no evidence and of course there is no evidence. I think the money would be better spent vacinating the unicorns.

Note: I have no problem with funds going to study isostatic rebound but it shouldn’t be funded under the false shadow of AGW. Earthquakes in general are far more important to study than minor settling (and that is what isostatic rebound is) from melting ice.

by manos_simonides

Question: How does climate change affect poverty?
I have to do a project on this for school. I have to create awarness of the way climate change affects poverty. I have searched this but i haven’t come up with sufficient results. There isn’t many websites with this kind of information.
Thank in advance!

Answer:

Answer by The original housekeeper
the hotter it is the more money you have. the colder it is the less money you have.

Question: How does climate change affect poverty?
I have to do a project on this for school. I have to create awarness of the way climate change affects poverty. I have searched this but i haven’t come up with sufficient results. There isn’t many websites with this kind of information.
Thank in advance!

Answer:

Answer by The original housekeeper
the hotter it is the more money you have. the colder it is the less money you have.