"Years of Living Dangerously"

Climate change is a complex topic and even some of the experts have a difficult time grasping all of the implications.  As the climate changes so does the society and world in which we live.  The most recent findings of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) point out what the science knows and the risks ahead.

Now a documentary series tries to bring the knowledge of climate change to the ordinary person.  It does this by telling the stories of people affected by climate change.  How does degrading the environment affect the world and the food you eat?  How does drought relate to climate change?  What are the risks involved in our future?

These are some of the questions addressed in a new Showtime series airing Sunday, April 13, 2014, at 10 p.m. called “Years of Living Dangerously”.  It is a nine-part series that will address a number of topics related to climate change.

The first episode is already available on the internet at the website www.yearsoflivingdangerously.com .  If you do not get Showtime, you can watch it here.  Below is a discussion on the documentary and climate change from two of the participants in the program on a recent Face The Nation on CBS:

From Wet To Steamy

Drought has been the rule since the fall of 2009 in parts of South Carolina.  Only 6 out of the next 36 months saw above normal rainfall in Columbia, South Carolina until 2013.  Then the pattern changed and 2013 has been wetter than normal.  In fact, 4 out of the last 6 months have been above normal and July is likely to add to that total.

The first week of July has been extremely wet. The airport has seen 2.19 inches of rain while the city has received 4.35 inches of rain in just six days.  July is normally the wettest month of the year, but this year has been wetter than normal.  In fact, the last two weeks have been quite wet.

The map below shows the observed rainfall across South Carolina for the past two weeks ending on July 6.  Note that the area east of a line from Lancaster to Columbia to Barnwell has seen the greatest rain with 10 to 15 inches of rain in eastern Orangeburg and southeastern Clarendon counties.  The rain has been less west of the line until you get into the upstate of South Carolina.

The 14-day observed rainfall ending at 8 a.m. July 6, 2013.  Click on image for a larger view.  Image Credit: NOAA/AHPS.

Heavy rainfall has resulted in significant rises in many of the rivers with minor flooding of the Congaree River in the Columbia area.  The Congaree Swamp has seen considerable flooding over the past month closing some of the trails.  This is likely to continue as much of the flood waters from the Upstate have yet to pass through the Midlands.

So, why is this happening?  It turns out that our weather is linked to a pattern which has caused record heat in the Southwest and cooler than normal conditions in the Midwest.

It's All About Chemistry

In 1827 the French mathematician and scientist, Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier postulated that something in the atmosphere was helping keep the earth warmer than it might otherwise.  He is generally credited with discovering the greenhouse effect even though he did not coin the phrase.  However, his work set the stage for later developments in the nineteenth century.

It was the British scientist John Tyndall who demonstrated the absorption of infrared radiation from different gases in 1861.  His work found that nearly all of the greenhouse effect was due to just a few trace gases like water vapor and carbon dioxide (CO2).  This was a startling discovery, because it had huge implications for Earth’s climate.

The Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius was the first to actually detail how a doubling of carbon dioxide would change the global temperature with the publication of his work in 1896.  His work eventually led to the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1903.  He is recognized with beginning modern climate science.

The discovery of global warming is a fascinating story.  I highly recommend the book by Spencer Weart by the name The Discovery of Global Warming.  If you are interested in the scientific papers, it is available in the collection called the The Warming Papers edited by David Archer and Raymond Pierrehumbert.

Note that the foundation of climate science occurred over a century ago.  It is also noteworthy that the trace gases were recognized for their ability to influence Earth’s climate as far back as the nineteenth century.

Fast forward to today.  The burning of fossil fuels has fueled (pardon the pun) the world economic growth.  China and the U.S. are the two largest emitters of CO2.  In the latest accounting the global growth in emissions continues.

How do we know that the increases in CO2 come from burning fossil fuels?

Arctic Sea Ice Matters

A record low in the Arctic sea ice extent occurred on September 16, 2012 and it was the lowest in the satellite record which started in 1979. Even more troubling was that this year also saw a record low in sea ice volume.

Click on the image for a high-resolution version. Image Credit: NSIDC.

The previous record minimum extent occurred in 2007.  What was extraordinary about this year was that weather conditions were not as favorable for melting as in 2007.  That year was noted for long periods of sunshine which allowed the ice to melt over much of the Arctic.  This year came on the heels of a cold winter in which the ice extent came close to normal.  There were more clouds and a powerful storm which hit the Arctic in early August which helped to break up more of the thin ice.

Click on the image for a high-resolution version. Image Credit: Climate Central.

Climate Change Attributions

Extreme Heat: The Odds Are Increasing, was published just before the American Meteorological Society (AMS) released their annual climate report this past week. 

The 2011 State of the Climate report is peer-reviewed and published annually as a special supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. The report is part of a suite of climate services NOAA provides government, business and community leaders so they can make informed decisions. It was edited by Jessica Blunden, Ph.D., and Deke Arndt of NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center. The full report can be viewed online. The report highlights are available online.

The map above shows where in the United States June 2012 temperatures were different from the 1981–2010 average. Shades of red indicate temperatures up to 8° Fahrenheit warmer than average, and shades of blue indicate temperatures up to 5° Fahrenheit cooler than average—the darker the color, the larger the temperature difference.  Image Credit: NOAA Climate.

Additionally, for the first time a complementary article was published by the AMS examining the linkages between climate change and extreme events of 2011. The paper looked at six global extreme weather and climate events from last year.

Living on a Planet with a Fever

You may have missed this over the weekend.  It was a commentary on CBS News by science and environment contributor M. Sanjayan.  If you don't want to read about climate change, this sums up the situation well.  This is a must see video:



Note: Those on IPads and IPhone may have to go to the following link to see the video .

M. Sanjayan is the lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy, where he specializes in human well-being and conservation, Africa, wildlife ecology and media outreach and public speaking on conservation issues.  In addition to being the Conservancy’s lead scientist, Sanjayan holds a doctorate from the University of California, Santa Cruz and has a research faculty appointment with the Wildlife Program at the University of Montana.  His scientific work has been published in journals including Science, Nature, and Conservation Biology, and he co-edited the book Connectivity Conservation (Cambridge University Press, 2006).

Dr. Sanjayan is correct in saying that this is our sink or swim moment.  The next 25 years are already baked into the cake.  If we want to affect the rate of climate change beyond that, we have to start now.  Many of the projections you see are for 2100, but the change will not stop there.  Change is already occurring and the changes will likely accelerate in the near future.

Recently the Heartland Institute in Chicago aroused the anger of many with a billboard trying to tie belief in climate change to the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.  It was a poor attempt to associate such belief with murderers, tyrants, and madmen.


Peter Sinclair, the originator of the Climate Crock of the Week series, has put together an interesting rebuttal entitled "This is not Cool: Murderers, Tyrants, and Madmen.  It is part of the Yale forum on Climate Change and the Media series "This is not Cool".  I highly recommend watching the video.

Video: Extreme Weather and Rapid Arctic Warming

This is a repost of an article that appeared today at Climate Central.  It was originally published on the Yale Forum on Climate Change and the Media.  The video is produced by videographer Peter Sinclair who produces a series called Climate Denial Crock of the Week.  I have added a link to series under the Climate Links on the right-hand side of the blog.  There is more to this story and I will have a post on this soon.  In the meantime enjoy this video by Peter Sinclair.

By Andrew Freedman (Climate Central)


Recently I reported on a study showing links between rapid Arctic climate change and shifts in the jet stream throughout the Northern Hemisphere. The study, led by Jennifer Francis of Rutgers University, suggests that there may be an Arctic connection to some extreme weather events, particularly ones that result from stuck, or "blocked," weather patterns.

The study shows that by changing the temperature balance between the Arctic and mid-latitudes, rapid Arctic warming is altering the course of the jet stream, which steers weather systems from west to east around the hemisphere. The Arctic has been warming about twice as fast as the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, due to a combination of human emissions of greenhouse gases and unique feedbacks built into the Arctic climate system.