global warming tagged posts

The Jason series of U.S./European satellites can measure the height of the ocean surface. (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

The amount of sea level rise in the Pacific Ocean can be used to estimate future global surface temperatures, according to a new report led by University of Arizona geoscientists. Based on the Pacific Ocean’s sea level in 2015, the team estimates by the end of 2016 the world’s average surface temperature will increase up to 0.5 F (0.28 C) more than in 2014. In 2015 alone, the average global surface temperature increased by 0.32 F (0.18 C). “Our prediction is through the end of 2016,” said first author Cheryl Peyser. “The prediction is looking on target so far.”

Scientists knew that both the rate at which global surface temperature is rising and sea level in the western Pacifi...

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Jason-3 spacecraft onboard is shown at Vandenberg Air Force Base Space Launch Complex 4 East in Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, January 16, 2016. REUTERS/Gene BlevinsSpace …

A $180 million satellite to study the world’s oceans in a changing climate will blast off Sunday atop a Falcon 9 rocket, which SpaceX will try to land on a floating platform after launch. The satellite, Jason-3 will show how global warming and sea level rise affect wind speeds and currents as close as 1 km from shore, whereas past satellites were limited to ~6.2 miles from the coast. “That is a significant advantage over our predecessors,” said Jim Silva,National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The technology will also monitor global sea surface heights, tropica...

New work demonstrates the planet’s remaining fossil fuel resources would be sufficient to melt nearly all of Antarctica if burned, leading to a 160 to 200 ft rise in sea level. Because so many major cities are at or near sea level, this would put many highly populated areas where more than a billion people live under water, including NYC and DC.

“Our findings show that if we do not want to melt Antarctica, we can’t keep taking fossil fuel carbon out of the ground and just dumping it into the atmosphere as CO2 like we’ve been doing,” Caldeira said. “Most previous studies of Antarctic have focused on loss of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Our study demonstrates that burning coal, oil, and gas also risks loss of the much larger East Antarctic Ice Sheet.”

Although Antarctica has already b...

Swirls of sea ice along the coast and dark blue waters of the Arctic Image Credit: NASA/Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC

As the northern hemisphere experiences the heat of summer, ice moves and melts in the Arctic waters and the far northern lands surrounding it. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this true-color image of sea ice off Greenland on July 16, 2015.

Large chunks of melting sea ice can be seen in the sea ice off the coast, and to the south spirals of ice have been shaped by the winds and currents that move across the Greenland Sea. Along the Greenland coast, cold, fresh melt water from the glaciers flows out to the sea, as do newly calved icebergs...