April 29, 2019
Compiled by Lisa DiCaprio, Conservation Chair, NYC Group
In the “Key Resources on Recent Climate Change Reports” column in the Fall/Winter Sierra Atlantic, I provided resources on the October 2018 UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, the November 2018 “Fourth National Climate Assessment: Volume II: Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States” and the November 2018 Lancet report, “Countdown on health and climate change: shaping the health of nations for centuries to come.”
New studies published between December 2018 and February 2019 describe the acceleration of climate change impacts, such as the warming of the oceans, the melting of the Himalayan glaciers and the Antarctic ice sheet, sea level rise, and the extensive loss of ice from thousands of lakes in the Northern Hemisphere. In chronological order, here are the titles and first paragraphs of the pertinent articles:
2018: The Year in Climate Change, New York Times interactive article, December 12, 2018:
Carol Barford, “Key Internet Connections and Locations are at Risk from Rising Seas,” American Scientist, November – December 2018:
“Maps that combine projections of sea-level rise with networks of internet infrastructure show extensive flooding within decades.
"Despite whimsical advertisements about computing ‘in the cloud,’ the internet lives on the ground. Data centers are built on land, and most of the physical elements of the internet—such as the cables that connect households to internet services and the fiber-optic strands carrying data from one city to another— are buried in plastic conduits under the dirt. That system has worked quite well for many years, but there may be less than a decade within which to adapt it to the changing global climate…
"In some metropolitan areas, between one-fifth and one quarter of local internet links are at risk, and nearly one-third of intercity cables…”
“Maps that combine projections of sea-level rise with networks of internet infrastructure show extensive flooding within decades.
"Despite whimsical advertisements about computing ‘in the cloud,’ the internet lives on the ground. Data centers are built on land, and most of the physical elements of the internet—such as the cables that connect households to internet services and the fiber-optic strands carrying data from one city to another— are buried in plastic conduits under the dirt. That system has worked quite well for many years, but there may be less than a decade within which to adapt it to the changing global climate…
"In some metropolitan areas, between one-fifth and one quarter of local internet links are at risk, and nearly one-third of intercity cables…”
Kendra Pierre-Louis, “Ocean Warming Is Accelerating Faster Than Thought, New Research Finds,” New York Times, January 10, 2019:
“Scientists say the world’s oceans are warming far more quickly than previously thought, a finding with dire implications for climate change because almost all the excess heat absorbed by the planet ends up stored in their waters.
"A new analysis, published Thursday in the journal Science, found that the oceans are heating up 40 percent faster on average than a United Nations panel estimated five years ago. The researchers also concluded that ocean temperatures have broken records for several straight years…”
“Scientists say the world’s oceans are warming far more quickly than previously thought, a finding with dire implications for climate change because almost all the excess heat absorbed by the planet ends up stored in their waters.
"A new analysis, published Thursday in the journal Science, found that the oceans are heating up 40 percent faster on average than a United Nations panel estimated five years ago. The researchers also concluded that ocean temperatures have broken records for several straight years…”
Kendra Pierre-Louis, “As Climate Warms, Plants Will Absorb Less CO2, Study Finds,” New York Times, January 23, 2019:
“The last time the atmosphere contained as much carbon dioxide as it does now, birdlike dinosaurs roamed what was then a verdant landscape. The earth’s lushness was at least partly caused by the abundance of CO2, which plants use for photosynthesis. This has led to the idea that more CO2 in the atmosphere could create a literally greener planet.
"Today, plants and soil around the world absorb roughly a quarter of the greenhouse gases that humans release into the atmosphere, helping the Earth avoid some of the worst effects of climate change. In an ideal situation, as levels of carbon dioxide increased, plants would soak up more of these emissions, helping to fuel their growth.
But in a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, researchers found that under a warming climate, rather than absorbing more greenhouse gas emissions, plants and soil may start absorbing less, accelerating the rate of change …”
“The last time the atmosphere contained as much carbon dioxide as it does now, birdlike dinosaurs roamed what was then a verdant landscape. The earth’s lushness was at least partly caused by the abundance of CO2, which plants use for photosynthesis. This has led to the idea that more CO2 in the atmosphere could create a literally greener planet.
"Today, plants and soil around the world absorb roughly a quarter of the greenhouse gases that humans release into the atmosphere, helping the Earth avoid some of the worst effects of climate change. In an ideal situation, as levels of carbon dioxide increased, plants would soak up more of these emissions, helping to fuel their growth.
But in a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, researchers found that under a warming climate, rather than absorbing more greenhouse gas emissions, plants and soil may start absorbing less, accelerating the rate of change …”
Richard B. Alley, Are Antarctica's Glaciers Collapsing? Scientific American, February 2019:
“GLACIERS ARE MELTING, SEAS ARE RISING. We already know ocean water will move inland along the Easter Seaboard, the Gulf of Mexico and coastlines around the world. What scientists are urgently trying to figure out is whether the inundation will be much worse than anticipated – many feet instead of a few. The big question is: Are we entering an era of an even faster ice melt? If so, how much and how fast? The answer depends greatly on how the gigantic Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica responses to human decision. It will determine whether the stingrays cruising seaside streets are sports cars or stealthy creatures with long, ominous tails…”
Kai Schultz and Bhara Sharma, Climate Crisis May Melt Most Himalayan Glaciers by 2100, New York Times, February 4, 2019:
“NEW DELHI — Rising temperatures in the Himalayas, home to most of the world’s tallest mountains, will melt at least one-third of the region’s glaciers by the end of the century even if the world’s most ambitious climate change targets are met, according to a report released Monday.
"If those goals are not achieved, and global warming and greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current rates, the Himalayas could lose two-thirds of its glaciers by 2100, according to the report, the Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment…”
Nadja Popovich, “Climate Change Could Leave Thousands of Lakes Ice-Free,” New York Times, February 5, 2019:
"Global warming is melting glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica, but for millions of people, ice is vanishing closer to home as lakes lose their winter cover.
"In a study published last week in the journal Nature Climate Change, scientists for the first time quantified the effects of rising temperatures on ice cover across 1.4 million lakes in the Northern Hemisphere. They found that, from Wisconsin to Japan, thousands of lakes that used to freeze reliably every winter already see some years without ice, and that ‘an extensive loss of lake ice will occur within the next generation.’
The vanishing ice will affect cold-water ecosystems and be felt by millions of people who live near northern lakes, the study said…”
John Schwartz and Nadja Popovich, “Its Official: 2018 Was the Fourth Warmest Year on Record,” New York Times, February 6, 2019:
“The Earth’s average surface temperature in 2018 was the fourth highest in nearly 140 years of record-keeping and a continuation of an unmistakable warming trend, NASA scientists announced Wednesday.
"The data means that the five warmest years in recorded history have been the last five, and that 18 of the 19 warmest years have occurred since 2001. The quickly rising temperatures over the past two decades cap a much longer warming trend documented by researchers and correspond with the scientific consensus that climate change is caused by human activity…”
Sarah Peyok, “With Sea-Level Rise, A Changing Forecast for Port Logistics,” Triple Pundit, February 15, 2019:
“For port authorities and logistics companies alike, sea-level rise and infrastructure concerns are coming into view faster than ever before. With extreme weather events happening more frequently and sea levels estimated to rise as much as four feet by 2100, what used to be cemented into a master plan that could span many decades is now under water…
"In the U.S. alone, according to the American Association of Port Authorities, seaport cargo activity accounts for 26 percent of the country’s GDP. Yet, improving port facility infrastructure for environmental impacts is the smallest line item on the agenda….”
Climate change in the spotlight: Hitting 1.5 degrees, a Special Report in the New Scientist.
“A special report comprising articles published in the New Scientist in December 2018 and January 2019 with this introduction: “Three years ago at the Paris climate talks, the world’s governments reached a historic agreement to do all they could to limit global warming to 1.5°C above the pre-industrial average. In a series of special features as they gather again in Katowice, Poland, we look at this target – and whether we’re doing enough to meet it.”
David Wallace-Wells, Time to Panic, New York Times, February 17, 2018:
“The planet is getting warmer in catastrophic ways. And fear may be the only thing that saves us.
"The age of climate panic is here. Last summer, a heat wave baked the entire Northern Hemisphere, killing dozens from Quebec to Japan. Some of the most destructive wildfires in California history turned more than a million acres to ash, along the way melting the tires and sneakers of those trying to escape the flames. Pacific hurricanes forced three million people in China to flee and wiped away almost all of Hawaii’s East Island.
"We are living today in a world that has warmed by just one degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) since the late 1800’s, when records began on a global scale. We are adding planet-warming carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at a rate faster than at any point in human history since the beginning of industrialization…”