Global Climate Change Archive - Models, Studies and Predictions

A collection of older (2004) news items that focus on models and predictions about the severity, and consequences of, global climate change. All links take you outside of the PRISM site. Use your back button to return.

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• December 17, 2004 - Crichton's Climate Fear Contention - BBC
  Michael Crichton has written a new book, State of Fear in which he argues that global warming is nonsense. He notes that his work is fiction, but is based on his research into the topic where he found the data weren't as strong as he expected them to be.
  
  
• December 15, 2004 - Disruption of Wildlife Populations in ... Report on Global Warming - Yahoo!
  The first comprehensive assessment of the impact of global warming's likely consequences on North American wildlife notes that there is "sufficient evidence to indicate that many species are already responding to warming" and that changes in the range of many animal populations have been noted.
  
  
• December 1, 2004 - Melting Arctic Bogs May Hasten Warming... - National Geographic
  A hotspot in western Siberia is home to the world's largest peat bog. If this peatland thaws and dries out due to the current warming trend, it would begin to release vast amounts of carbon dioxide, which could further accelerate global warming.
  
  
• Nov. 15, 2004 - Reports Point To Proof Of Global Warming - CNews
  The release of two scientific reports in the past few weeks show that global warming is not just a possibility, but a real phenomenon that is already transforming parts of the earth.
  
  
• Nov. 9, 2004 - Oceans To Rise One Meter by 2100 - Arctic Expert - Yahoo/Reuters
  The Arctic Ice is melting faster than expected from climate models and the world's oceans could rise by about a meter (3 feet) by 2100.
  
  
• Nov. 18, 2004 - Humans Face Extinction In 100 Years - Times of India
  A leading Antarctic scientist warns that the current behaviors of humans will cause them to become extinct by the end of the next century due to the ecological consequences of their actions. (Similar story from New Zealand News )
  
  
• Oct. 25, 2004 - Dire Warnings From Global Warming Report - Guardian Unlimited
  A report entitled "Forecasting the Future" shows that Scotland and the UK may suffer vast changes to their agriculture and marine ecosystem by 2050 because of global warming. The risk of illness from diseases such as Dengue fever also will increase as insect vectors invade.
  
  
• Oct. 21, 2004 - Climate Change Threatens World Aid - Belfast Telegraph
  Britain's development and aid agencies have formally declared that climate change is the most serious problem confronting the poor of the world. The agencies said they could no longer ignore their own evidence that the world's poorest people and countries are already being negatively affected by global warming, and that the impact could only be expected to increase. (Similar story from IC Newcastle.)
  
  
• Oct. 19, 2004 - Global Climate Change To Kill Earth With Ice and Deserts - Pravda
  Global climate change will have far-reaching impacts as the earth does not "heal its wounds" rapidly. Changes in the earth may even effect our solar system according to Russian scientists. Warming may, however, be good for Russia.
  
  
• Sept. 26, 2004 - China's Melting Glaciers - DAWN
  Chinese scientists are predicting that China's highest ice fields may be gone in 100 years or sooner if the current melting trend continues. They said urgent measures must be taken to prevent floods, deal with rising seas and to sustain agriculture.
  
  
• Sept. 26, 2004 - Study Links Melting Glaciers, Medical Threats - Toronto Star
  Scientists writing in the journal, Medical Hypotheses, contend that glaciers and ice caps MAY contain pathogens that are unknown and which may pose significant threat to mankind.
  
  
• Sept. 23, 2004 - Tundra Test Stuns Scientists - Toronto Star
  Scientists have run a simulation and report that it shows that climate warming might trigger conditions where tundra decomposition will dump carbon dioxide into the atmosphere faster than it's soaked up by accelerated plant growth. This was a very unexpected finding.
  
  
• Sept. 22, 2004 - Warming May Be Less Severe In the Central U.S. - Canoe
  The Central U.S. may not experience the severe warming in the middle of this century that the rest of the country will face.
  
  
• Sept. 16, 2004 - Global Warming To Heighten Flooding Risk - Japan Times
  Simulations using the supercomputer, Earth Simulator, show that rainfall in Japan can be expected to increase greatly in some parts of Japan as the earth warms, though other parts might see droughts.
  
  
• Sept. 14, 2004 - Heat To Cause More California Deaths - ABC
  If the atmosphere continues to warm at the current rate, the number of heat-related deaths could more than double by 2050 according to a new report that looked at potential impact of global warming on California water supply, agriculture, coastline and ecology. Skeptics feel the report is based on unreliable global temperature projections.
  
  
• Sept. 10, 2004 - Climate Panel's Findings Seared By Peer Review - Scoop
  Leading economists have been very critical of economic assumptions made by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Some scientists have also charged that the group has greatly overestimated future greenhouse emissions and temperature change, possibly for political reasons.
  
  
• Sept. 8, 2004 - Link Between Global Warming and Evolution Revealed - Science A GoGo
  A genetics expert studying fossils from Wyoming reports that climate change can shape genetic diversity in some species.
  
  
• Sept. 7, 2004 - Climate Change Can Slash Animal Gene Pools - NewScientist
  A study on two different rodent species seems to indicate that climate change can decrease genetic diversity in some animal species affecting their long-term survival.
  
  
• Sept. 1, 2004 - Global Warming - National Geographic
  The September issue of National Geographic features an article on Global Warming. This website provides multimedia support for that article, including a forum,photographs, activities and information about GeoSigns, EcoSigns, and Time Signs of global Climate Change.
  
  
• August 31, 2004 - Ice Clarifies Climate's Secrets - USA Today
  Pink ice, possible plant material and mud extracted from the bottom of the Greenland ice sheet at North GRIP are providing many new interesting insights into climate through the ages and possible life at the bottom of the ice sheet.
  
  
• August 27, 2004 - Millions of Years of Climate Clues - CBS
  Scientists are hoping to to retrieve a sediment core from an deep underwater ridge in the Arctic. This sediment contains a record of the past 50 million years of the Earth's climate.
  
  
• August 27, 2004 - The Planet Goes Haywire - Guardian Unlimited
  Lots of extreme weather is being seen around the planet. It may only intensify if global warming worsens.
  
  
• August 26, 2004 - U.S. Study Links Human Activity to Global Warming - Yahoo! News
  The Bush administration has sent a report to Congress that says that a government-supported study has shown that warmer global temperatures since 1950 are in part due to human activities. This is in contrast to earlier statements that there was no clear scientific proof about the causes of global warming. (Similar article from International Herald Tribune.)
  
  
• August 25, 2004 - ...NCAR Study Projects Decrease In Frost Days - Newswise (NCAR)
  New climate models from the National Center for Atmospheric Research predict that much of the world will experience fewer days where the temperature drops below freezing. The model shows that this effect will be particularly pronounced in the western parts of North American and in Europe.
  
  
• August 21, 2004 - Story Sounds Environmental Alert - Hawaiian Star
  A Hawaiian professor has written a fictional novel, EarthQuest: Hawaii 2054, based on the 2001 United Nations report on global warming. His book has sea level rise seriously affecting housing, the economy and politics of Hawaii as well
  
  
• August 19, 2004 - Global Warming To Banish Cold Winters - ABC
  Europe could be facing much warmer winters, heat waves could increase in number and intensity, and climate-related disasters become more common by the year 2080 according to recent climate studies released by the European Environmental Agency. (Similar story from AZCentral, and another from Bloomberg.)
  
  
• August 18, 2004 - More Summer Storms Point To Global Warming - New Zealand Herald
  Climate researchers have warned that climate models predict an increased amount of flooding in Britain over the next twenty years, but are not sure whether a recent flood in Cornwall is indicative of this, or was just a an aberrant weather event.
  
  
• August 17, 2004 - Global Warming Menaces California - CNN
  A study of the impact of global warming on California warns that the state will become hotter and drier. Agriculture in this area needs to be prepared to adapt to such conditions, especially if little action is taken to reduce emissions.
  
  
• August 12, 2004 - New Findings Show Earth Is Not Getting Warmer - ENN
  The Director of the National Center for Policy Analysis announced the results of two studies that support the idea that the earth is not warming. Both studies support the contention that most of the warming seen is at the surface, not in the atmosphere.
  
  
• August 6, 2004 - Global Warming - Yahoo News
  The attorney general of New York and those of seven other states are suing some of the nation's largest utility companies demanding that they reduce emissions that increase global warming.
  
  
• August 6, 2004 - NCPA Says NRDC Study Flawed... - Yahoo News
  The National Center for Policy Analysis says that the study that found that smog will increase if global warming continues to increase is fundamentally flawed. The NCPA asserts that their data show that smog has been reduced over the past 25 years and that trend will continue.
  
  
• August 4, 2004 - Cities' Air Quality Takes A Big Hit As Climate Warms - ENN
  Medical experts in a joint study of cities on the East Coast of the United States predict significantly more smog and "bad air days" as global warming increases.
  
  
• August 3, 2004 - Acid Rain 'Might Curb Warming' - BBC
  Microbes that produce methane are inhibited by the sulfates in acid rain according to a recent study. Since more methane is produced by nature than man, acid rain could help keep atmospheric methane in balance.
  
  
• August 3, 2004 - How Strongly Does The Sun Influence The Global Climate? - ScienceDaily - Mark Planck Society
  Sunspot activity has been unusually high since the 1940's but a study looking at the effect of this activity on the earth's climate has come to the conclusion that the "Sun can be responsible for, at most, only a small part of the warming over the last 20-30 years".
  
  
• August 2, 2004 - Early Humans Adapted Well... - NSF
  Experts who have studied Australopithecus afarensis, an early human in Africa, have found evidence that the population was able to survive in hot/dry conditions and then adapt to dramatic changes in vegetation and climate a few decades later.
  
  
• July 28, 2004 - Abrupt Climate Change: ...Ocean Currents Redistributed Heat During Rapid Warming and Cooling - ScienceDaily (Georgia Institute of Technology)
  Recently published data supports the theory that abrupt temperature changes seen in the North Atlantic in the paleoclimate record were related to heat transfer by ocean currents. The data also provide evidence that the climate of the Southern Hemisphere might have changed on a different timeline than did that of the Northern Hemisphere.
  
  
• July 18, 2004 - Computer Climate Models Not Useful In Setting Climate Policy - Canadian NewsWire
  The Frasier Institute in Canada issued a report saying that computerized climate models are not useful for setting policy, especially in determining whether to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. Several recommendations were made that would make the data more useful. Download the study
  
  
• July 16, 2004 - AURA Around The Earth - SpaceDaily
  The AURA satellite has been successfully launched. Its mission is to study the health of the atmosphere. It will measure ozone and CFC levels and track regional and global air quality.
  
  
• July 14, 2004 - Climatologist Exposes Cracks In Global Warming Foundation - ENN
  A new report from the National Center for Policy Analysis indicates there are serious problems with the historical climate trends reconstruction published by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).The groups cites the work of five independent research groups in support of this claim. Copy of the entire report.
  
  
• July 14, 2004 - Melting Ice Could Swamp Cities - Scotsman
  The British Chief Science Advisor, Sir David King has warned that London, New York and New Orleans are under threat from submersion from melting ice as greenhouse gases reach levels not seen for 55 million years. He says that recent data has borne out the worst predictions for global warming. (Similar story from Science A GoGo.)
  
  
• July 9, 2004 - Climate Change: India Faces Rough Ride - Mail & Guardian
  Global climate change is likely to result in increased temperatures and massive flooding in Northern India, and severe droughts in Southern India according to India's report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The same is predicted for Southern Africa.
  
  
• July 8, 2004 - Global Climate Change: This Risk Investors Can't Ignore - Business Day (Johannesburg)
  Investors in South Africa are being advised that climate change is not only about the cost of abatement, the limit to economic growth and impending natural disaster. As carbon becomes a tradable commodity, companies can hedge their risks, profit from emissions assets, and turn this new area into a competitive edge.
  
  
• July 5, 2004 - Australia Warned Of Water Crisis - BBC
  The Australian Climate Group has warned that Australia must drastically curb its greenhouse gas emissions or face a critical water shortage and more severe storms in the years to come.
  
  
• June 14, 2004 - Trapping Carbon In Soil Key For... Dealing With Climate Change - Science Daily (Ohio State University)
  Restoring soil carbon levels should be a top global priority if we want to insure food for the future and offset global fossil fuel emissions. Studies have shown that changes in farming practices that help preserve carbon result in healthier and more abundant crops.
  
  
• June 14, 2004 - Rising Seas & Climate Change Threaten 2 Billion - Science A GoGo
  More people than ever before are vulnerable to catastrophic flooding warned scientists at the United Nations University. Some areas of the world are more vulnerable than others. Climate change, deforestation, sea level rise and growing populations are all contributing to the danger.
  
  
• June 11, 2004 - Chemists Retrieve Clues to ... Global Greenhouse From Cretaceous Sediments - Science Daily (University of California)
  Study of sulfur isotopes, taken from 130 million year old sediments, has provided clues that should help scientists make more accurate predictions of how the climate may change as carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases cause the Earth's temperature to rise.
  
  
• June 9, 2004 - Oldest Antarctic Ice Core Reveals Climate History - British Antarctic Survey
  Analysis of the deepest ice core ever drilled in Antarctica indicates that the earth should not experience another ice age soon.The results confirm that the earth has experienced 8 ice ages in the past. (Similar story from BBC.)
  
  
• June 7, 2004 - Volcanoes Caused Global Warming - New Zealand Herald
  The explosion of undersea volcanoes released stupendous amounts of methane into the atmosphere causing a cataclysmic change in the world's climate about 55 million years ago according to the findings of Norwegian scientists. (Similar story from BBC.)
  
  
• June 4, 2004 - Continents Played Key Role in ... Earth's Early Greenhouse - Science Daily (Stanford University)
  The secret of the earth's collapse of the greenhouse effect and its subsequent regeneration billions of years ago appears to be embedded in rocks. Evidence indicates that the development of continents had a significant impact on climate and atmosphere.
  
  
• June 2, 2004 - Gas May Have Spurred Ancient Global Warming - Reuters
  Gas explosions from below the North Atlantic may have been the cause of global warming in the Eocene period. (Similar story about sediments and global climate from Newswise and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution .)
  
  
• June 1, 2004 - Climate Disaster "Upon Us" - Guardian Unlimited
  James Lovelock, a leading environmental scientist, reports that humans have probably damaged the environment irretrievably for their descendents. Several lines of research have led him to conclude that the world does not understand the seriousness of global warming.
  
  
• May 31, 2004 - Science Backs Theories Of Global Warming - Olympian
  Climate monitoring stations show that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing and that global temperatures have been rising in consequence. The National Academy of Science, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union all agree that climate change poses a serious threat to the earth and needs to be addressed.
  
  
• May 31, 2004 - Worms and Weeds To Flourish Under Global Warming - New Zealand News
  The more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the faster plants grow, but weeds and nematodes grow even faster. This is one finding of a recent study of pumping excess carbon dioxide over a paddock of sheep for six years to see if grass grown with excess carbon dioxide reduced methane emissions from the sheep.
  
  
• May 30, 2004 - The Trouble With Climate Forecasts - New Zealand Herald
  Natural variability in climate makes it hard for the experts to make confident predictions for the upcoming years. Data that contradicts some of the current models is discussed in this article.
  
  
• May 29, 2004 - Global Warming: A Formidable Challenge to Health - Newswise (British Medical Journal)
  Evidence is growing that climate change will increase malnutrition and outbreaks of infectious diseases because of the relationship between global warming and extreme weather events, such as drought, floods, and storms.
  
  
• May 25, 2004 - Real Life Art Imitating Science - BBC News
  A climate change scientist looks at the film The Day After Tomorrow and reports that the film's scenario is possible, but not probable. However, he does say that the film accurately portrays the difficulty scientists have convincing politicians that climate change poses a threat. (Similar story from National Center for Atmospheric Science and Newswise.)
  
  
• May 21, 2004 - Global Warming Could Mean Less Sunshine - Science A GoGo
  Scientists report that over the past forty years, there has been a 1.3%, per decade, decline in the amount of sunshine reaching the earth's surface. They attribute this to pollution and changes in clouds.
  
  
• May 11, 2004 - Earth Gets Wetter To Fight Global Warming - The Australian
  Climate scientists from Australia believe the earth's climate is self-regulating and cite evidence that the world is getting wetter as it warms, which will enhance carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere.
  
  
• May 11, 2004 - Fossil Trees Help Understand Climate Change - Newswise (U. of Bristol)
  Fossil trees found in Newfoundland may provide a clue to past climate change, by helping scientists pin down a date for the time upland areas became forested.The timing of upland ‘greening’ has major implications for understanding global temps in the past, and will help refine models of present-day climate change
  
  
• May 7, 2004 - ...Going To Glacier? You Should Hurry - New York Times
  Scientists from the United States Geological Survey predict that none of the 27 glaciers Glacier National Park may be present in 2030, if glacial melting continues at its present pace.
  
  
• May 5, 2004 - New Interpretation of Satellite Measurements Confirms Global Warming - Newswise (University of Washington)
  A new and more accurate system for analyzing satellite data indicates that the troposphere has been warming faster than the surface for more than two decades.
  
  
• April 30, 2004 - Contrails May Be Culprit In Warming Trend - Science A GoGo
  Clouds formed from aircraft exhausts may be major contributors to the warming trend seen between 1975 and 1999 according to data recently published in the Journal of Climate Research.
  
  
• April 26, 2004 - Arctic Ozone Loss More Sensitive... - Science Daily
  NASA scientists have quantified a previously unknown link between Arctic ozone loss and changes in stratospheric temperatures.The sensitivity of ozone to temperature was significantly higher than had been predicted by atmospheric chemistry models.
  
  
• April 22, 2004 - New Evidence Supports Three Major Glaciation Events In Distant Past - Science Daily
  Three major glaciation events appear to have occurred in the Arctic around 600 million years ago, and there may have been even more. Scientists from China and US have been studying this phenomena to try to understand it better.
  
  
• April 21, 2004 - Arctic Carbon A Potential Wild Card In Climate Change Scenarios - Science Daily
  It appears that most of the carbon in the Arctic Ocean is fairly young carbon brought by rivers, and thus is not likely to play a big part in affecting global climate.
  
  
• April 21, 2004 - Like Ozone Hole, Polar Clouds Take Bite Out of Meteoric Iron - Science Daily
  Polar clouds have been found to play a significant role in removing meteoric iron from the mesosphere. It appears the iron is deposited on ice crystals in the clouds. Polar clouds are also known to play an important part in the destruction of ozone.
  
  
• April 19, 2004 - Fertilization of Phytoplankton Not A Solution for CO2 Removal - Science A GoGo
  New data shows that though fertilizing the ocean with iron to increase phytoplankton bloom does have some impact on moving carbon from surface waters to the ocean depths, but the quantity removed is probably not enough to make any difference.
  
  
• April 15, 2004 - Scientists Stirred to Ridicule Ice Age Claims - New Scientist
  Climate scientists say the movie "The Day After Tomorrow," in which global warming leads to an ice age, is a very unlikely scenario for the near future. Some scientists think it could happen eventually, but are not worried about it occurring in the next 100 years.
  
  
• April 7, 2004 - Greenland's Ice Cap Under Threat - BBC
  A recent glaciology study predicts an 8°C increase in Greenland's temperature by 2350. Such a change would melt the Greenland ice cap and cause average sea level to rise.
  
  
• April 2, 2004 - First Ever Wind Scrubbers To Be Built - Newswise/Chemistry and Industry
  A group in Arizona is building a prototype structure designed to remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as the wind passes through it. This information courtesy of http://www.chemind.org
  
  
• Mar. 24, 2004 - Ozone-destroying Gas in Atmosphere Increased Significantly During Industrial Age... - Science Daily
  Human activity over the past 150 years has significantly increased atmospheric levels of methyl bromide, a gas that is harmful to the ozone layer. This was determined using ice core data from Antarctica.
  
  
• Mar. 24, 2004 - Rising Seas Point to Bigger Global Problem - IOL
  New data show that melting glaciers, eroding snowcaps and ice fields have contributed more to rising sea levels over the past century than is usually predicted.
  
  
• Mar. 19, 2004 - Glacial Records Depict Ice Age Climate in Synch Worldwide - Newswise
  New studies corroborate the theory that ice ages in the Northern and Southern hemispheres occurred simultaneously.
  
  
• Mar. 15, 2004 - Water Vapor May Harm Earth Less Than Some Models Predict - Newswise
  A new study shows that some climate prediction models may be flawed because they may have overestimated the amount of water vapor that will enter the atmosphere as the earth warms.
  
  
• Mar. 11, 2004 - ...Study Sheds New Light On Climate Change Process - Science Daily
  A new study shows that the deep-ocean circulation system in the North Atlantic is integrally associated with salinity levels in the Caribbean Sea.
  
  
• Mar. 9, 2004 - Over the Top - SMH Australia
  The melting of the Arctic ice cap may have a profound effect on global shipping, by opening the much sought Northeast Passage. If the ice cap continues to melt, this route could become as busy as the Suez Canal.
  
  
• Mar. 8, 2004 - Will The World Just Chill Out - Space Daily
  Global warming in the Arctic could plunge Western Europe and North America into a deep freeze in the next few decades.The thawing of sea ice could disturb the warming currents found in the North Atlantic. Satellite records of sea ice extent show a clear retreat of the sea ice over the past 25 years, a trend that appears to be accelerating.
  
  
• Mar. 3, 2004 - Climate Change Set to Poke Holes In Ozone - Nature
  Thinning of ozone layer over the Arctic could increase due to a side-effect of global warming, more clouds in the Arctic.
  
  
• Mar. 2, 2004 - British Antarctic Survey Ozone - British Antarctic Survey
  Latest ozone data from British Stations in Antarctica. Updated monthly.
  
  
• Mar. 1, 2004 - Ice Sheets Caused Massive Sea Level Change During Late Cretaceous - NSF/Innovations Report
  Cores drilled from the coastal plain of New Jersey indicate that ice sheets caused massive sea level changes in the late Cretaceous period - a period previously thought to be ice-free.
  
  
• Feb. 9, 2004 - Scientists Discover Ozone-Destroying Molecule - NASA - JPL
  Analysis of data from a NASA aircraft flying over the Arctic has allowed observation of a molecule (chlorine monoxide dimer) that has been postulated to be important in the destruction of stratospheric ozone. Measurements of this molecule will help scientists better quantify ozone loss in this region.
  
  
• Feb. 9, 2004 - Climate Change Killed Neandertals - National Geographic
  30 scientists from several different nations have issued a study that uses a variety of data to look at the demise of the Neandertals. Their conclusion was that inability to adapt their hunting practices, as they were forced to new hunting grounds by the changing climate, played a major role in their disappearance.
  
  
• Jan. 25, 2004 - Global Warming Could Plunge Britain Into New Ice Age... - NZ Herald
  A significant change in the circulation of the North Atlantic Ocean, tied to global warming, could cause Britain to experience a much colder climate if it turns off the Gulf Stream, as it appears to be poised to do. This change could occur within our lifetime, according to scientists.
  
  
• Jan. 16, 2004 - ...Origins of Peat Bogs Raises Concerns - Science Daily
  Siberian peat bogs which are typically frozen appear to be huge repositories of carbon dioxide and thus play a major role in world climate balance. If these bogs thaw due to currently rising temperatures in the Arctic, there is concern that they may release this gas into the atmosphere causing major and unexpected shifts in climate. (Similar story from National Geographic; Another story from NSF).