Why Obama is at Fault for Global Warming you can read

[wirebender]

About 2,000 species examined are moving away from the equator at an average rate of more than 15 feet per day, about a mile per year, according to new research published Thursday in the journal Science which analyzed previous studies.

So that puts crocodiles back in the Thames about when?

 

[waltky]

Is hard on Granny when its hot an' the lawn needs mowin' - Uncle Ferd tells her to wait till its cooler inna evenin'...

U.S. experiences second warmest summer on record
September 8, 2011 - Texas has warmest summer on record of any state

The blistering heat experienced by the nation during August, as well as the June through August months, marks the second warmest summer on record according to scientists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, N.C. The persistent heat, combined with below-average precipitation across the southern U.S. during August and the three summer months, continued a record-breaking drought across the region.

The average U.S. temperature in August was 75.7 degrees F, which is 3.0 degrees above the long-term (1901-2000) average, while the summertime temperature was 74.5 degrees F, which is 2.4 degrees above average. The warmest August on record for the contiguous United States was 75.8 degrees F in 1983, while its warmest summer on record at 74.6 degrees F occurred in 1936. Precipitation across the nation during August averaged 2.31 inches, 0.29 inches below the long-term average. The nationwide summer precipitation was 1.0 inch below average.

This monthly analysis, based on records dating back to 1895, is part of the suite of climate services NOAA provides.

U.S. climate highlights – August

* Excessive heat in six states – Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana – resulted in their warmest August on record. This year ranked in the top ten warmest August for five other states: Florida (3rd), Georgia (4th), Utah (5th), Wyoming (8th), and South Carolina (9th).The Southwest and South also had their warmest August on record.

More NOAA: U.S. experiences second warmest summer on record

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Mass Extinction Linked To Ocean Acidity, Serves As Warning...

Acidic oceans linked to mass die-off
September 9, 2011 - Change decimated food chains in water and on land, researchers say[

A Canadian-led team of scientists may have solved the biggest whodunit in Earth history in a study showing the all-time greatest mass extinction on the planet - which wiped out about 90 per cent of all species 250 million years ago - appears to have been linked to rising levels of ocean acidity. Researchers have long believed massive volcanic eruptions in present-day Siberia - or possibly a huge meteorite strike - triggered the so-called Permian-Triassic extinction. But the precise mechanism of death for so many species remains a subject of debate, with some scientists convinced it was a resulting lack of oxygen in the Earth's oceans or a greenhouse-gas nightmare that nearly ended all plant and animal life.

But the study, headed by St. Francis Xavier University climate scientist Alvaro Montenegro, points to ocean acidification as a possible "main culprit" in the die-off. The Nova Scotia researcher said the finding should serve as a warning about present-day increases in ocean acidification. Although still far lower than that experienced in the ancient mass extinction, rising acidity has been documented by researchers around the world and is linked to the effects of climate change. Using a series of computer simulations to recreate conditions on the planet at the time, Montenegro and his five colleagues from Canada and Australia found it unlikely that oxygen-starved oceans led to the mass extinction.

Instead, their models pointed to a new prime suspect: spiking acid levels in the world's marine environments. The altered chemistry of the oceans, Montenegro said, would have made it difficult for most marine creatures - from microscopic plankton species to larger, snail-like mollusks - to manufacture sturdy outer shells or even internal skeletons. That could have decimated food webs in ecosystems around the planet, explaining the loss of nearly all marine species as well as the majority of plants and animals on land. Runaway ocean acidification "would definitely have a serious biological impact on ocean calcifiers," said Montenegro, referring to creatures that manufacture their bodily structures from minerals found in ocean water.

Among the species that vanished from the rock record around the time of the extinction were most of the ammonites - large, snail-shaped marine creatures that are known today from the beautifully iridescent, multi-coloured fossils of their spiral shells, found in places such as southern Alberta. The relatively few ammonite species that survived the mass extinction 250 million years ago were later killed off by the meteorite-linked extinction at the end of the dinosaur age that occurred 65 million years ago. Among the co-authors of the Montenegro-led study, which is published in the latest issue of the scientific journal Paleoceanography, are fellow St. F-X scientist Michael Melchin and University of Victoria researchers Michael Eby and Paul Spence.

Read more: Acidic oceans linked to mass die-off

 

[waltky]

5th warmest summer in 132 years...

The heat wasn't just in USA: Hemisphere warmed to the task
15 Sept.`11 - It wasn't just the USA that sizzled to one of its warmest summers ever — the entire Northern Hemisphere also sweltered through its fifth-warmest summer since records began 132 years ago, federal scientists at the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., reported Thursday.

This was the 26th consecutive above-average Northern Hemisphere summer, according to the data center. Climatologists define summer as the months of June, July and August. The climate center is a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The unusual warmth also affected the Arctic, where the region's sea ice shriveled to its second-lowest extent on record, the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., announced on Thursday. "The minimum ice extent was the second lowest in the satellite record, after 2007, and continues the decadal trend of rapidly decreasing summer sea ice," the center reported in an online report. "This is not just a random event," said James Overland, a NOAA oceanographer, at a teleconference on Thursday. "This is a long-term change in the Arctic climate."

Satellite measurements of Arctic sea ice began in 1979, although partial data goes back at least to the 1930s, according to research scientist Walter Meier of the snow and ice data center. Across the globe, warmer-than-average conditions were recorded this summer in Mexico, the eastern two-thirds of the USA and Canada, along with most of Europe and Asia. Finland had its fourth-warmest summer since records began in the early 1900s, the climate center noted. The warmth across the northern latitudes this summer was caused partly by a lack of Arctic ice, reports climate scientist Jake Crouch of the climate data center. "The open water absorbs more energy from the sun, allowing the land areas to warm," he said.

Also, he said that La Niña, which cools the surface of the eastern Pacific Ocean, tends to cause some land areas to warm, including parts of Asia. Some spots were cooler-than-average this summer, including the U.S. West Coast, Alaska, Great Britain and parts of western Russia. The winter in the Southern Hemisphere was also warmer-than-average, marking the 43rd consecutive above-average winter south of the equator. Federal climate scientists last week announced that the USA experienced its 2nd-warmest summer on record, trailing only 1936.

Fall season no relief for Texas

No relief is in sight this fall for scorched, bone-dry Texas, which just endured its hottest summer on record. In its forecast for the months of October, November and December released Thursday, the Climate Prediction Center in Camp Springs, Md., reported that a continuation of hot, dry weather is expected throughout most of the southern tier of the USA. This is due in part to the return of La Nina, a climate pattern that usually favors dry autumns and winters in the southern USA, according to forecaster Ed O'Lenic of the climate center.

The drought and warmth will continue to exacerbate wildfire condtions in Texas this fall, reports Texas state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon, who added that it also will affect winter and spring agriculture as well as water supplies across the state next spring. The only part of the USA that should see a rainier fall than usual is the Pacific Northwest, particularly western Oregon and Washington. And the only cooler-than-average spot the next three months is forecast to be southern Florida.

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Dallas sets record with 70th 100-degree day
13 Sept.`11 – The Dallas-Fort Worth area has joined a long list of Texas cities with a record number of 100-degree days in 2011.

The National Weather Service said the high Tuesday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport reached triple digits for the 70th day this year. It broke a record from the 1980 summer that was considered the standard-bearer for Texas heat waves.

Wichita Falls broke its 1980 record several weeks ago, and Tuesday marked its 100th day of 100 degrees this year, according to weather service figures.

Dallas-Fort Worth became the 15th market among 19 around Texas to break a record for triple-digit days this year. Several Texas cities have nearly doubled records, and College Station broke a 94-year-old record this year.

Source