Climate 411

Extreme Weather Across Europe

The author of today’s post, Bill Chameides, Ph.D., is Chief Scientist at Environmental Defense.

A week or so ago I wrote about all the recent extreme weather in the United States. Well, it’s not just happening here. Great Britain is being hit by the worst flooding in decades, and it keeps on raining. A heatwave blanketing south-eastern Europe has killed hundreds of people, and out-of-control wildfires are burning across Greece.

Is this global warming? It’s impossible to say for sure what causes a particular weather event, but global warming does make extreme weather events more likely. Whether or not the events in Europe are due to global warming, I do think the Europeans are, unfortunately, getting a taste of things to come. For more, visit our Web page on global warming and extreme weather.

Posted in Extreme Weather / Comments are closed

Gray's Hypothesis Doesn't Hold Water

The author of today’s post, Bill Chameides, Ph.D., is Chief Scientist at Environmental Defense.

This morning, the Wall Street Journal published an Op-Ed by Dr. William Gray titled "Hurricanes and Hot Air". In it, Dr. Gray argues that there is no link between global warming and the recent "increase in major hurricanes".

Unfortunately, this piece has several inaccuracies and omissions. Let me clear them up.

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Posted in News / Read 12 Responses

The Greenhouse Effect Explained

The author of today’s post, Bill Chameides, is Chief Scientist at Environmental Defense.

Last week we got a request to explain the Greenhouse Effect. Here goes.

The Greenhouse Effect

Source: National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior

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Posted in Basic Science of Global Warming / Read 4 Responses

Scientific Uncertainty

The author of today’s post, Lisa Moore, is a scientist in the Climate and Air Program.

I’ve been reading a great book called Uncertain Science… Uncertain World by Henry Pollack – a readable and engaging discussion of decision-making in the face of uncertainty. Pollack argues that decision-makers use uncertainty as an excuse for inaction, when in fact it should be a stimulus for creativity and progress.

How sure do you have to be that something will happen to act on the possibility?

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Posted in News / Read 4 Responses

Short-term Change and El Niño

The author of today’s post, Bill Chameides, is Chief Scientist at Environmental Defense.

Last week in our Suggestion Box we got this question:

I’ve compiled a NCDC state by state average temperature map and trends from 1895 thru 2006. 1998 was the warmest year, but years since then are showing either the same as 1998 or cooler in most states. How can I explain to people why average temps haven’t been warming EVERY year since 1998 instead of going up and down?

This is a good question, and one I get fairly often, so let me try to explain.

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Posted in News / Read 8 Responses

Signs of Global Warming

In reading the news this week, I was struck by how many reports there were from around the world of problems related to global warming. Here’s what I found:

Warming poses threat to Chesapeake
Washington Post, July 20, 2007

China says climate change drying up major rivers
Yahoo! News – Reuters, July 16, 2007

Warming may bring hurricanes to Mediterranean
Yahoo! News – Reuters, July 16, 2007

Glacier in retreat
New York Times, July 17, 2007

Climate change threatens Italy’s Po River delta
Yahoo! News – AFP, July 17, 2007

I also came across an interesting article in the Washington Post about by a guy who went around the world visiting places affected by global warming. The descriptions are, um, chilling.

Posted in News / Read 3 Responses