global warming – Page 10 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

West Antarctic Ice Sheet ‘Could Be More Stable than Thought’

By Guest PostMarch 14, 2011Environmentantarctic ice sheet, cataclysmic event, cosmogenic dating, global temperatures, global warming, interglacial period

Whether global warming may cause the giant West Antarctic Ice Sheet to melt and raise sea-levels by several metres is one of the most contested debates in climate science. (more…)

It’s all in a Name: ‘Global warming’ versus ‘Climate change’

By Guest PostMarch 9, 2011Environmentamericans, climate change, conservative think tanks, democrats, general changes, global climate change, global warming, jonathon schuldt, levels of belief, liberal think tanks, norbert schwarz, partisan divide, phenomenon, political orientation, political think tank, republicans, sara konrath, temperature, temperature increases, wording matters, world weather

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Many Americans are skeptical about whether the world’s weather is changing, but apparently the degree of skepticism varies systematically depending on what that change is called.

According to a University of Michigan study published in the forthcoming issue of Public Opinion Quarterly, more people believe in “climate change” than in “global warming.” (more…)

Earth’s Sixth Mass Extinction: Is It Almost Here?

By Guest PostMarch 4, 2011Environment, Scienceanimal species, anthony barnosky, big five, biodiversity, biodiversity baseline, disease, earth, extinction, extinction rate for mammals, fossil record, global warming, habitat fragmentation, hazard of climate change, human activities, invasive species, mammals, mass extinction, richard lane, road to extinction, species, storm of threats

*Steep decline of many animal species warns that Earth is on the brink*

With the steep decline in populations of many animal species, scientists have warned that Earth is on the brink of a mass extinction like those that have occurred just five times during the past 540 million years.

Each of these “Big Five” saw three-quarters or more of all animal species go extinct.

In results of a study published in this week’s issue of journal Nature, researchers report on an assessment of where mammals and other species stand today in terms of possible extinction compared with the past 540 million years.

They find cause for hope–and alarm. (more…)

Canadians More Likely to Support Policies to Address Climate Change Than Americans

By Guest PostFebruary 28, 2011Environmentamerican public opinion, climate change, evolution, global warming

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Americans are less willing to open their wallets to pay for increased production of renewable energy resources than Canadians, a new University of Michigan report indicates. (more…)

Global Warming May Reroute Evolution

By Guest PostFebruary 21, 2011Environment, Nature, Scienceasclepias syriaca, asexual reproduction, carbon dioxide levels, cardenolides, chemical defenses, driving force of evolution, elevated carbon dioxide, environmental factors, genetic composition, global warming, heart poisons, interaction, mark hunter, milkweed, milkweed plants, monarch caterpillars, plant eating insects, plant evolution, plants and insects, rachel vannette, selection pressure

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Rising carbon dioxide levels associated with global warming may affect interactions between plants and the insects that eat them, altering the course of plant evolution, research at the University of Michigan suggests.

The research focused on the effects of elevated carbon dioxide on common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca. Milkweed is one of many plants that produce toxic or bitter chemical compounds to protect themselves from being eaten by insects. These chemical defenses are the result of a long history of interactions between the plants and insects such as monarch caterpillars that feed on them. (more…)

Rising Seas Will Affect Major U.S. Coastal Cities by 2100

By Guest PostFebruary 19, 2011Environmentglobal average temperature, global warming, jonathan overpeck, national elevation dataset, new orleans, rising sea affect, rising sea levels, southern atlantic coasts, us coastal cities, virginia beach

*The Gulf and southern Atlantic coasts will be particularly hard hit, research predicts. Miami, New Orleans, Tampa, Fla., and Virginia Beach, Va. could lose more than 10 percent of their land area by 2100*

Rising sea levels could threaten an average of 9 percent of the land within 180 U.S. coastal cities by 2100, according to new research led by University of Arizona scientists. (more…)

‘Feeling Warm Makes People More Likely to Believe in Global Warming’

By Guest PostFebruary 2, 2011Culture, Environmentchicago booth, clayton critcher, desertification and drought, feeling warm, fresh drinking water, global warming, haas, hot landscapes, hot sun, idea of global warming, jane risen, mental image, overheated room, pretzels, risen and critcher, warm room

Being in a warm room can make the idea of global warming seem more likely, according to researchers from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley.

A new study finds that when people feel warmer—either because they are out in the hot sun or because they are in an overheated room—they believe in global warming more. The findings were published online Jan. 20 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. (more…)

More Frequent Drought Likely in Eastern Africa

By Guest PostJanuary 28, 20111 commentEnvironmentaerosol emissions, food shortages, frequency of drought, global temperature, global warming, tropical warm pool

The increased frequency of drought observed in eastern Africa over the last 20 years is likely to continue as long as global temperatures continue to rise, according to new research published in Climate Dynamics. (more…)

Tag Archives: global warming