Oxygen levels are dropping and ocean waters are acidifying at the fastest rate in at least 300 million years when the greatest marine extinction in earth's history took place according to The State of the Ocean Report 2013 written by an international panel of marine scientists.

New light from CLOUD on climate change
In a paper published in the journal Nature, the CLOUD experiment at CERN reports on a major advance towards solving a long-standing enigma in climate science: how do aerosol particles form in the atmosphere? It is known that all cloud droplets form on aerosols: tiny solid or liquid particles suspended in the air. However, how these aerosol particles form or “nucleate” from atmospheric trace gases – and which gases are responsible – has remained a mystery.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), aerosol particles and their influence on clouds constitute the biggest uncertainty in assessing human-induced climate change. Understanding how aerosol particles form in the atmosphere is important since in increased concentrations, they cool the planet by reflecting more sunlight and by forming smaller but more numerous cloud droplets. That, in turn, makes clouds more reflective and extends their lifetimes. These poorly-understood processes currently limit the precision of climate projections for the 21st century.

Thanks to CERN expertise in materials, gas systems and ultra-high vacuum technologies, the CLOUD team was able to build a chamber with unprecedented cleanliness. This enabled them to introduce minute amounts of various atmospheric vapours into an initially “pure” atmosphere under carefully controlled conditions, and start unravelling the mystery.

The researchers made two key discoveries. Firstly, they found that minute concentrations of amines can combine with sulphuric acid to form aerosol particles at rates similar to atmospheric observations. Secondly, using a pion beam from the CERN Proton Synchrotron, they found that cosmic radiation has a negligible influence on the formation rates of these particular aerosol particles.

Unprecedented warming uncovered in Pacific depths

* 18:30 31 October 2013 by Michael Marshall
* For similar stories, visit the Climate Change Topic Guide

The effects of climate change are being felt almost a kilometre down in the biggest ocean on Earth.

A new record of water temperatures shows how the Pacific has warmed and cooled since the last ice age. It shows that the ocean has warmed 15 times faster in the last 60 years than at any time in the previous 10,000.

The fact that the heat of global warming is penetrating deep into the oceans is yet more evidence that we are dramatically warming the planet, says Yair Rosenthal of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, who led the study.
Time capsules

To take the temperature of the ancient Pacific, Rosenthal's team turned to the preserved remains of single-celled organisms called foraminifera.

Each "foram" builds a hard shell around itself, and the amount of magnesium in the shell varies depending on the temperature of the surrounding water. By measuring the amount of the mineral in the shells, it is possible to work out the temperature of the water in which the forams lived.

Rosenthal examined preserved forams found in sediments from the seas around Indonesia. These seas receive water from the north and south Pacific, so their temperature should reflect the average across the entire Pacific. He focused on three species, which lived at different depths, giving him a measure of temperature changes between 500 and 900 metres deep.
Heat spike

Rosenthal found that after a period of warming following the end of the last ice age, the Pacific steadily cooled by 2.1 °C over the next 9000 years. Temperatures then shot up at an unprecedented rate: increasing by 0.25 °C in 200 years. The timing of the uptick reflects the onset of the industrial revolution.

Similar temperature trends are known to have happened over land – encapsulated in the famous hockey stick graph.

It takes more energy to heat water by 1°C than it does to heat the same mass of air, so the oceans act as a gigantic heat sink that shields us from the effects of global warming.

"If we didn't have the ocean, we would be much warmer", says Rosenthal.

Journal reference: Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1240837

Greenhouse Gas Concentrations in Atmosphere Reach New Record

Geneva, 6 November 2013 - The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new record high in 2012, continuing an upward and accelerating trend which is driving climate change and will shape the future of our planet for hundreds and thousands of years.

The World Meteorological Organization’s annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin shows that between 1990 and 2012 there was a 32% increase in radiative forcing – the warming effect on our climate – because of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other heat-trapping long-lived gases such as methane and nitrous oxide.

Carbon dioxide, mainly from fossil fuel-related emissions, accounted for 80% of this increase. The atmospheric increase of CO2 from 2011 to 2012 was higher than its average growth rate over the past ten years, according to the Greenhouse Gas Bulletin.

Since the start of the industrial era in 1750, the global average concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased by 41%, methane by 160% and nitrous oxide by 20%.
What is happening in the atmosphere is one part of a much wider picture. Only about half of the CO2 emitted by human activities remains in the atmosphere, with the rest being absorbed in the biosphere and in the oceans.

“The observations from WMO’s extensive Global Atmosphere Watch network highlight yet again how heat-trapping gases from human activities have upset the natural balance of our atmosphere and are a major contribution to climate change,” said WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud.
“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its recent 5th Assessment Report stressed that atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide have increased to levels unprecedented in at least the last 800,000 years,” he said.

“As a result of this, our climate is changing, our weather is more extreme, ice sheets and glaciers are melting and sea levels are rising,” said Mr Jarraud.

[CONTINUED]

The meteorological organisation's secretary-general, Michel Jarraud, said all the warmest years across the planet had occurred since 1998, and 2013 once again continued the underlying long-term trend of warming.
"The coldest years now are warmer than the hottest years before 1998," he said. "Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases reached new highs in 2012, and we expect them to reach unprecedented levels yet again in 2013. This means that we are committed to a warmer future."
Global land and ocean temperatures are recorded by the organisation as about 0.48 degrees higher in January to September than the 1961-1990 average. The temperatures so far this year are the same as the average for 2001-10, the warmest decade on record.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/globa ... z2kWWXXOf5

An Update on Risks of Abrupt Jolts from Global Warming
By ANDREW C. REVKIN December 3, 2013, 11:00 am
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/ ... l-warming/

In 2002, the National Academy of Sciences published “Abrupt Climate Change: Inevitable Surprises,” a valuable report examining whether and how the building human influence on the climate system might lead to disruptive jolts. The most important finding, in a way, was that this was an area sorely in need of intensified research.

Most of the “monsters behind the door,” to use an apt phrase from Stephen W. Pacala of Princeton, were plausible rather than probable. There were signs they’d escaped before (evidence of past abrupt changes), but only faint scratching could be heard now.

Now there’s a new report from the Academy’s National Research Council. The title reflects advances in understanding: “Abrupt Impacts of Climate Change: Anticipating Surprises.” The findings laid out below reinforce the reality that the biggest impacts of greenhouse-driven global warming still lie several generations in the future.

Given humanity’s focus on the near and now, the greatest challenge posed by global warming is figuring out how to spur meaningful changes in energy norms based on a risk with this time scale.

With that in mind, the new report also looks at abrupt change in societies as well as the climate system. Read more on that below from one of the authors.

This excerpt from a summary nicely summarizes the basic findings:

Continues ...

‘Sand wars’ come to New England coast

As weather worsens, New England’s sea levels are rising fast — as are the stakes

By Beth Daley | NEW ENGLAND CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING DECEMBER 15, 2013
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Large waves crashed over sand barriers, destroying the decks of homes along the beach on Plum Island during a storm last winter.
ARAM BOGHOSIAN FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE



Large waves crashed over sand barriers, destroying the decks of homes along the beach on Plum Island during a storm last winter.

Sand is becoming New England coastal dwellers’ most coveted and controversial commodity as they try to fortify beaches against rising seas and severe erosion caused by violent storms.

The stakes are rising with sea levels. New England seas are rising at an annual rate three to four times faster than the global average. Scientists predict that the ocean here could rise 3 feet by the end of the century and that this region could see more powerful storms like those in 2011 and 2012 because of climate change. The one-two punch of powerful storm surges atop higher seas is expected to mean more erosion and flooding — reaching farther inland.

Global Warming: Four Degree Rise Will End Vegetation 'Carbon Sink', Research Suggests

Dec. 16, 2013 — Latest climate and biosphere modelling suggests that the length of time carbon remains in vegetation during the global carbon cycle -- known as 'residence time' -- is the key "uncertainty" in predicting how Earth's terrestrial plant life -- and consequently almost all life -- will respond to higher CO2 levels and global warming, say researchers.

Carbon will spend increasingly less time in vegetation as the negative impacts of climate change take their toll through factors such as increased drought levels -- with carbon rapidly released back into the atmosphere where it will continue to add to global warming.

December 18, 2013
EcoAlert: Species from Warmer Atlantic Now Reproducing in Arctic Seas

2013 review: The year in environment

09:00 20 December 2013 by Michael Marshall and Catherine Brahic
For similar stories, visit the Climate Change Topic Guide
Read more: "2014 preview: 10 ideas that will matter next year"

Don't stop at the bad news. Behind the usual headlines about rising greenhouse gas emissions and mostly stalled United Nations negotiations, this was a remarkable year.

For the first time, there were signs that the rise in our carbon emissions may be slowing. The underlying causes seem to be better, more efficient use of energy, and a shifting power supply – mostly towards gas. But we also learned this year that renewable sources of power are growing faster than all other sources including coal.

We are not out of the woods, not by a long shot. Some long-standing fears are becoming a reality – the devastating storm surge from Typhoon Haiyan was magnified by the rising seas, for example. But we are beginning to see the effects of the limited action on climate that governments and people have taken so far.

Here is a selection of the most important, fascinating or simply mind-boggling environment stories of the year.

'Massive' reservoir of melt water found under Greenland ice

Researchers say they have discovered a large reservoir of melt water that sits under the Greenland ice sheet all year round.

The scientists say the water is stored in the air space between particles of ice, similar to the way that fruit juice stays liquid in a slush drink.

The aquifer, which covers an area the size of Ireland, could yield important clues to sea level rise.

The research is published in the journal, Nature Geoscience.

The melting of the Greenland ice sheet has been a significant contributor to a rise in sea levels over the past 100 years.

According to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the ice sheet lost 34 billion tonnes of ice per year between 1992 and 2001 - but this increased to 215 billion tonnes between 2002 and 2011

Scientists still have many unanswered questions about the direction and speed and ultimate destination of this melted water.

Ice free liquid
This new research finds that a significant amount is stored in partially compacted snow called firn.

In the spring of 2011, researchers drilled deep into this slushy layer and to their surprise, found liquid water flowing back to the surface even though air temperatures were -15 degrees C.

As this was well before the onset of the summer melt, the team concluded the water had persisted in a liquid state through the Greenland winter.

"This discovery was a surprise," said Prof Rick Forster from the University of Utah.

"Instead of the water being stored in the air space between subsurface rock particles, the water is stored in the air space between the ice particles, like the juice in a snow cone."

The scientists have also come up with a rough estimate for the amount of water that is contained in the aquifer which itself covers an area of 70,000 sq km.

They believe that it holds roughly 140 billion tonnes of water, which is the equivalent to 0.4mm of sea level rise per year - about half of what Greenland contributes to the sea every year.

But crucially the scientists don't know the ultimate destination of the water in the reservoir.

"It depends on whether it is currently connected to a system that is draining into the ocean or if it is a bit isolated and completely acting as a storage source without a current connection," said Prof Forster.

"We don't know the answer to this right now. It's massive, it's a new system we haven't seen before - we need to understand it more completely if we are to predict sea level rise."

Solar activity not a key cause of climate change, study shows
Dec 22, 2013

Climate change has not been strongly influenced by variations in heat from the sun, a new scientific study shows.
The findings overturn a widely held scientific view that lengthy periods of warm and cold weather in the past might have been caused by periodic fluctuations in solar activity.
Research examining the causes of climate change in the northern hemisphere over the past 1000 years has shown that until the year 1800, the key driver of periodic changes in climate was volcanic eruptions. These tend to prevent sunlight reaching the Earth, causing cool, drier weather. Since 1900, greenhouse gases have been the primary cause of climate change.
The findings show that periods of low sun activity should not be expected to have a large impact on temperatures on Earth, and are expected to improve scientists' understanding and help climate forecasting.
Scientists at the University of Edinburgh carried out the study using records of past temperatures constructed with data from tree rings and other historical sources. They compared this data record with computer-based models of past climate, featuring both significant and minor changes in the sun.
They found that their model of weak changes in the sun gave the best correlation with temperature records, indicating that solar activity has had a minimal impact on temperature in the past millennium.
The study, published in Nature Geoscience, was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council.