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Inicio del calentamiento global

Muchos son los efectos que se derivan del ya conocido calentamiento global o cambio climático, pero lo cierto es que se desconoce a ciencia cierta el origen de esta problemática que está causando graves problemas ya no solo a nivel medioambiental, sino también a nivel social.
Por ello, vamos a empezar con la ansiada pregunta: ¿cuándo empezó el calentamiento global?

Pues bien, el calentamiento global empieza mucho antes de lo que la gente imagina. Esta problemática tiene sus orígenes en la Revolución Industrial, es decir, ni más ni menos que hace más de 150 años; para ser exactos hace unos 180 años.

Según muchos estudios, la etapa conocida como la Revolución Industrial trajo consigo el aumento de los gases responsables del efecto invernadero, suponiendo con ello, un aumento del calentamiento global de la Tierra. De hecho, antes del proceso industrial, gases como el C02 se situaban en unos niveles más o menos bajos, acelerando considerablemente con el inicio de esta nueva etapa en la era de la sociedad.

Así que ya tenemos claro cuándo empezó el calentamiento global y por qué. Ahora vamos a ver dónde empezó el cambio climático a producir sus primeros efectos.

En este caso, hemos de señalar que el calentamiento global empieza a notarse principalmente en la parte del Ártico y en los océanos tropicales, y con el paso del tiempo, el Norte de América, Europa y Asia.
Resulta importante destacar que un siglo después de encontrar estos resultados, se percibe un aumento de la temperatura en zonas del hemisferio sur, lo cual, nos lleva a deducir que el calentamiento global se ha extendido a estas zonas y ya no queda nada por poblar.

En definitiva, podemos concluir que el calentamiento global se inicia muchísimo antes de lo que la sociedad se imagina, de hecho, fue ni más ni menos que la Revolución Industrial la que origina esta grave problemática, es decir, el siglo XIX. Pero también hay que decir que la acción humana no ayuda a combatir esta situación.

Cuando empieza el calentamiento global la acción incontrolada del hombre provoca efectos muy nocivos para el medio ambiente, efectos que a la vez influyen en la sociedad, hasta tal punto de provocar graves alteraciones a nivel mundial, por lo que resultaría necesario un programa de concienciación si no queremos que esto se convierta en una catástrofe.

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La inteligencia artificial ya se está abriendo paso en todo el mundo en el ámbito de la salud, la educación y la industria, pero ¿cómo puede esta tecnología de vanguardia ayudar al mundo a combatir y mitigar los efectos del cambio climático?

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https://www.newswise.com/articles/uci-nasa-jpl-researchers-detail-causes-of-glacier-retreat-in-west-antarctica

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Newswise - Irvine, Calif., March 10, 2022 - An analysis of Antarctica's Pope, Smith and Kohler glaciers by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the University of Houston and other institutions has revealed an aggressive pattern of retreat connected to high melt rates of floating ice in the Amundsen Sea Embayment sector of West Antarctica.

In a paper published recently in Nature Geoscience, the team reports that the grounding line - where ice moves off the land and begins to float - of Pope Glacier retreated 3.5 kilometers in 3.6 months for an average of nearly 12 kilometers per year in 2017. Between 2016 and 2018, the western portion of Smith Glacier retreated at 2 kilometers per year and Kohler Glacier at 1.3 kilometers per year.

Observations from 2018 to 2020 showed a slowing of these rates, but the movement is still faster than anticipated by the glaciology community's yearly numerical models, according to the researchers.

"Alpine glaciers retreat by about 1 kilometer per century, so it's alarming to see these Antarctic glaciers receding at as much as 12 times that rate per year," said co-author Eric Rignot, UCI Donald Bren Professor and Chancellor's Professor of Earth system science and NASA JPL senior research scientist. "This pace is at the upper limit of what our models can replicate."

The Pine Island, Thwaites, Haynes, Pope, Smith and Kohler glaciers flow into West Antarctica's Amundsen Sea Embayment, which covers an area roughly the size of Texas. The volume of non-floating ice in these glaciers is equivalent to a 1.2-meter (nearly 4-foot) increase in global sea level.

Rignot and his colleagues surveyed the glaciers multiple times per year via synthetic aperture radar interferometry observations from Italy's COSMO-SkyMed satellite system. Combining these data with digital elevation models of the ice surface generated through readings from the German Aerospace Center's TanDEM-X satellite, the glaciologists were able to gain valuable information about the movement of glacier grounding lines and ice sheet thickness since 2014.

Rignot said the main culprit in the rapid glacier retreat is the interaction of floating ice and seawater, particularly in newly formed cavities at the ice-ocean boundary.

"Pressurized seawater intrudes into sub-glacial gaps and melts grounded ice," said lead author Pietro Milillo, an associate project scientist in UCI's Department of Earth System Science during this research project who's now an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Houston. "This process has an added effect of reducing basal resistance, which speeds up glacier retreat."

Equivalent to about 6 centimeters of global sea level rise, the Pope, Smith and Kohler glaciers account for a relatively small contribution in the Amundsen Sea Embayment sector. But the physical dynamics of the retreat of these three smaller glaciers that were the focus of the UCI/NASA JPL study are also in effect for the Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers, according to Rignot.

"The destabilization of the Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers, which are also subject to rapid retreat from the intrusion of ocean water beneath the ice, can raise global sea level by more than a meter and cause the destabilization of a huge swath of West Antarctica," he said. "When that happens, which could be in as soon as a few years, we will have a major problem on our hands."

Joining Rignot and Milillo on this project - which was funded by NASA's Cryospheric Sciences Program and the Natural Environment Research Council/National Science Foundation's International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration - were Bernd Scheuchl, associate project scientist, and Jeremie Mouginot, associate researcher, of UCI's Department of Earth System Science; Paola Rizzoli, Jose Luis Bueso-Bello and Pau Prats-Iraola of the German Aerospace Center's Microwaves and Radar Institute; and Luigi Dini of the Italian Space Agency in Matera.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation's top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It's located in one of the world's safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County's largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UCI, visit www.uci.edu.

Media access: Radio programs/stations may, for a fee, use an on-campus ISDN line to interview UCI faculty and experts, subject to availability and university approval. For more UCI news, visit news.uci.edu. Additional resources for journalists may be found at communications.uci.edu/for-journalists.
NOTE TO EDITORS: IMAGE AVAILABLE AT
https://news.uci.edu/2022/03/10/uci-nasa-jpl-researchers-detail-causes-of-glacier-retreat-in-west-antarctica

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UCI, NASA JPL researchers detail causes of glacier retreat in West Antarctica

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Newswise - Irvine, Calif., March 10, 2022 - An analysis of Antarctica's Pope, Smith and Kohler glaciers by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the University of Houston and other institutions has revealed an aggressive pattern of retreat connected to high melt rates of floating ice in the Amundsen Sea Embayment sector of West Antarctica.

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Scientists are observing changes in the Earth’s climate in every region and across the whole climate system, according to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on 

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https://www.ipcc.ch/2021/08/09/ar6-wg1-20210809-pr/

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https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3154/international-sea-level-satellite-takes-over-from-predecessor/

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Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet

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On March 22, the newest U.S.-European sea level satellite, named Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, became the official reference satellite for global sea level measurements. This means that sea surface height data collected by other satellites will be compared to the information produced by Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich to ensure their accuracy.

Launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in November 2020, the satellite is continuing a nearly 30-year legacy started by the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite, which began its mission to measure sea surface height in the early 1990s. A series of successor satellites have carried on the effort since then, with Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich being the most recent. Its twin, Sentinel-6B, is slated to launch in 2025.

"These missions, of which Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is the latest, are the gold standard when it comes to sea level measurements, which are critical for understanding and monitoring climate change," said Josh Willis, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

Long-term records of sea level height are key to monitoring how much, and how fast, the oceans are rising in a warming climate. "We can't lose track of how much sea level has gone up because if we do, it's hard to predict what's going to happen in the decades to come," Willis added.

"The unprecedented accuracy of the sea level measurements provided by this mission ensures not only the continuity of a 30-year data record, but allows improving our understanding of climate change and the impact of rising seas on coastal areas and communities," said Julia Figa Saldana, ocean altimetry program manager at the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).

After Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich launched, it settled into orbit flying 30 seconds behind its predecessor, Jason-3. Science and engineering teams have spent the time since launch making sure Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich was collecting the intended data and that the information was accurate. Some of the initial data was made available last year for use in tasks like weather forecasting. And after further validation, the scientists agreed that Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich should become the reference satellite for sea level measurements.

Later this year, teams will move Jason-3 into what's called an interleaved orbit. From that new position, the ground track - or the strip of Earth that Jason-3's instruments see as the satellite travels around the planet - will run in between the ground tracks of successive orbits for Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich. Jason-3 will keep measuring sea level height from the interleaved orbit, although it will no longer serve as the official reference sea level satellite. But by continuing to collect sea level data, Jason-3 will essentially double the number of measurements seen by each pass of Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, helping to greatly increase the spatial resolution of sea level measurements provided by both satellites.

More About the Mission

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, named after former NASA Earth Science Division Director Michael Freilich, is one of two satellites that compose the Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS (Continuity of Service) mission.

Sentinel-6/Jason-CS was jointly developed by ESA (European Space Agency), EUMETSAT, NASA, and NOAA, with funding support from the European Commission and technical support on performance from CNES (France's National Centre for Space Studies). Spacecraft monitoring and control, as well as the processing of all the altimeter science data, is carried out by EUMETSAT on behalf of the EU's Copernicus programme, with the support of all partner agencies.

JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, contributed three science instruments for each Sentinel-6 satellite: the Advanced Microwave Radiometer, the Global Navigation Satellite System - Radio Occultation, and the Laser Retroreflector Array. NASA also contributed launch services, ground systems supporting operation of the NASA science instruments, the science data processors for two of these instruments, and support for the U.S. members of the international Ocean Surface Topography Science Team.

For more about Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/sentinel-6
To access data from Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, visit:
https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/Sentinel-6?sections=data https://search.earthdata.nasa.gov/search?q=sentinel-6
News Media Contacts

Jane J. Lee / Andrew Wang
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-0307 / 626-379-6874
jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov / andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov

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national aeronautics and space administration

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International Sea Level Satellite Takes Over From Predecessor - Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet

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On March 22, the newest U.S.-European sea level satellite, named Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, became the official reference satellite for global sea level measurements. This means that sea surface height data collected by other satellites will be compared to the information produced by Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich to ensure their accuracy.

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Lucas 4  climate change is worse than expected

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Lucas 4  climate change is worse than expected

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Climate change is causing greater impacts than expected at lower temperatures than anticipated, disrupting natural systems and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world, according to the latest report from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The new report found that droughts and heat waves are killing off trees and corals; sea level rise is forcing people in vulnerable areas to leave their homes; and extreme conditions may be increasing the likelihood of violent conflict. If warming is not halted soon, and it continues, as many as half the species living on land could become extinct, malnutrition in parts of the world will likely become widespread, and extreme weather events will become increasingly common.

The poor, the very young and very old, ethnic minorities, and Indigenous peoples are at most risk. And while measures to limit the impact of climate change do exist, the only truly meaningful step is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible.

According to Kelly Levin of the Bezos Earth Fund, a foundation that funds efforts to combat climate change, the report "shows clearly how much we need to change course, because delayed action risks triggering impacts that are so catastrophic that our world slowly becomes unrecognizable."

The report, Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, was published on Monday after approval from 195 governments. It runs 3,675 pages. Here are its major findings.

Many climate change impacts are worse than thought

To date, greenhouse gas emissions have resulted in a mean global temperature increase just shy of 1.1 degrees Celsius (about 2 degrees Fahrenheit). According to Camille Parmesan of the University of Plymouth's Marine Institute, who was co-author of the report's 35-page "Summary for Policymakers," "one of the most striking conclusions of our report is that we're seeing adverse impacts that are much more widespread and much more negative than expected" at that level of temperature increase.

Of particular concern, she adds, is that this relatively small amount of warming has been enough to begin melting permafrost, drying out peatlands, and damaging forests through insect pest outbreaks and wildfires.

The report also finds that climate change is already impacting agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and aquaculture, including in North America. "Across North America, climate change has reduced agricultural productivity since 1961," says Rachel Bezner-Kerr of the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, who was also a co-author of the official summary.

What's more, scientists can increasingly link extreme weather events directly to climate change. In fact, argues Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University and author of The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet, current models continue to "underestimate the impact that climate change is already having on persistent weather extremes and underpredict the worsening of these impacts with additional warming."

The report concludes that increased heat waves, droughts, and floods "are already exceeding plants' and animals' tolerance thresholds, driving mass mortalities in species such as trees and corals. These weather extremes are occurring simultaneously, causing cascading impacts that are increasingly difficult to manage."

The need for action is urgent

The recognition that climate impacts are already being felt increases the urgency of limiting further warming. On land, up to 14 percent of species will likelyface "very high risk of extinction" at global warming levels of 1.5°C (2.7°F), says the report; that figure increases to as much as 18 percent at 2°C (3.6°F), and all the way up to 48 percent at 5°C (9°F). (If the world's nations keep their current promises to reduce emissions, a recent analysis found, warming will be kept under 2.5ºC.)

At 2°C or higher of warming, human food security risks due to climate change will be more severe, leading to nutrient deficiencies and malnutrition, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Central and South America, and small island states. Furthermore, as temperatures continue to climb, climate change impacts and risks are likely to become "increasingly complex and more difficult to manage," with multiple hazards-from droughts and wildfires to sea-level rise and floods-occurring simultaneously.

It is for that reason that the goal of the Paris Agreement is to limit warming to "well below 2 degrees, and preferably 1.5 degrees" of warming. However, even many of the countries committed to 1.5°C are expecting the average global temperature to rise above that level first before dropping, a process known as overshoot. With severe impacts being felt now, such an approach may be dangerous.

"Because of all these changes already being put into motion, we are concluding that with overshoot ... we have an increased risk of irreversible impacts, such as species extinctions, and also that some of these processes that we're already seeing take place, will be increasingly difficult to reverse," says Parmesan.

"I would argue we have to try to limit warming to 1.5°C with as little overshoot as possible, ideally zero overshoot," says Mann. "But what we need to do is actually pretty straightforward: We need to ramp carbon emissions down as rapidly as possible."

Climate change affects some more than others

"Climate change affects us all, but it doesn't affect us all equally," explains Katharine Hayhoe, chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy. "Those already living below the poverty line, the very young and very old, ethnic minorities and Indigenous peoples: these are populations disproportionately affected by climate impacts. And in many cases, they're also the ones who have done the least to contribute to the problem. That's why climate change is profoundly unfair."

The report points out that vulnerability to climate change is higher in locations and among populations that have less resilience to extreme change: for example, those affected by poverty and violent conflict. While there is little evidence so far that climate change directly causes conflict, it may increase the risk of it by exacerbating social, economic, and environmental problems. From 2010 to 2020, human deaths from floods, droughts, and storms were 15 times higher in highly vulnerable regions, compared to regions with very low vulnerability. Flood and drought-related food insecurity and malnutrition have increased in Africa and Central and South America.

Climate and weather extremes are increasingly driving displacement of populations in some regions; small island states threatened by rising seas are disproportionately affected. The loss of ecosystem services has especially severe effects on those who rely directly on them to meet basic needs, including Indigenous peoples.

We can adapt; nature is key

As temperatures increase, humans need to adapt. One of the report's key findings, says Parmesan, is that such adaptation "is more reliant on natural ecosystems than we'd seen in prior reports. There is more evidence now of that dependency."

Flood risk along rivers can be reduced by restoring wetlands and other natural habitats in flood plains, or by returning rivers to their natural courses. Conserving mangroves protects shorelines from storms and erosion. By reducing overfishing, marine protected areas provide resilience against climate change. Cities can be cooled by parks and ponds and by greening streets and rooftops. Farmers can increase both their climate resilience and their yields by improving soil health.

Adaptation that focuses on the maintenance of natural systems also helps avoid "maladaptation," the report says. Irrigating fields with groundwater can provide immediate relief from drought, for example-but if droughts become more frequent or long-lasting, the water table may ultimately disappear. Similarly, sea walls might protect coastal areas in the short term, but their construction can destroy coastal ecosystems such as coral reefs, which themselves contribute to coastal protection.

"The worst possible maladaptation," Mann argues, would be "to put too many marbles in the adaptation bag and not enough in the mitigation bag"-in other words, to adapt to the impacts of climate change without taking adequate steps to eliminate the greenhouse gas emissions that cause it. In a sense, he continues, "the report is a summary of what we already know: Dangerous climate change is now upon us, and it is simply a matter of how bad we're willing to let it get."
Editor's Note: The IPCC's report comprises 3,675 pages.

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Climate change already worse than expected, says new UN report

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The effects of warming are already driving people from their homes as seas rise, as well as killing trees and animal species. We can adapt, but also urgently need to make deep and immediate emissions cuts to head off even worse impacts, experts say.

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https://coastalreview.org/2022/02/new-report-projects-sea-levels-to-rise-a-foot-in-30-years/

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New report projects sea levels to rise a foot in 30 years | Coastal Review

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A federal report released last week forecast sea levels in the contiguous United States to rise by about a foot in the next 30 years. These findings support predictions in previous North Carolina-based reports.

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https://earth.org/how-does-deforestation-affect-the-environment/

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Forests, a vital component of life on Earth, -cover approximately 31% of our planet's land area You might also like: 10 Deforestation Facts You Should Know About. However, more than 75% of the Earth's surface has been modified and degraded by human activities such as deforestation. Destroying forests alters weather patterns, destroys habitats, and negatively affects rural communities, leading to food insecurity and causing irreversible damage to entire ecosystems. So how does deforestation affect the environment and what threats does it pose to living species?
To answer the question of how deforestation affects the environment, it is important to look at why humans need forests in the first place. Deforestation is the purposeful cleaning of forest land for other uses. Among the main reasons for this damaging practice are agricultural expansion and cattle breeding as well as to obtain raw materials such as palm oil, a key ingredient in cosmetics and food products widely used around the world, and timber used for fuel, manufacturing, and infrastructure development. Studies show that 15,3 billion trees are chopped down every year and over the past 12,000 years, nearly 50% of the world's trees have been purposefully cleared by humans. This practice threatens our environment, from altering the climate and various ecosystems to compromising the existence of millions of humans and animals.

How Does Deforestation Affect the Environment?

1. Effects on Climate Change

The scientific consensus on deforestation is that it intensifies climate change at a dramatic rate. The Global Forest Watch made it clear: protecting tropical rainforests is essential for achieving the climate goals of the Paris Agreement. Trees are known for their capacity to absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. Healthy forests act as extremely valuable carbon sinks, with the Amazon rainforest being one of the world's most important ones. However, deforestation is turning these sinks into huge net emitters , something that can have huge implications for slowing the pace of climate change and contributing to a steep rise in global temperatures. The current rate of rainforest-loss generated emissions is nearly 25% higher than those generated in the European Union and just slightly below US levels. Deforestation also increases the risk of uncontrollable wildfires because of humans burning vegetation. This, in turn, contributes to destroying forests, intensifying deforestation even more.

2. Effects on Soil Pollution and the Water Cycle

In addition to their role as carbon sinks, forests are a crucial component of the water cycle and have the all important function of preventing desertification. Cutting down trees can disrupt the cycle by decreasing precipitation and affecting river flow and water volume. In the case of the Amazon rainforest, research shows that at least 80% of its trees would be needed in order to keep the hydrological cycle going. With nearly 17% of the forest lost already, the Amazon is currently at its tipping point . Statistics show that deforestation in the tropics reduces precipitation over the Amazon by around 10% , or 138 millimeter, every year. In the South Asian Monsoon region, the reduction in rainfall is even higher, with around 18% less rain recorded in India in a single year.

Aside from their contribution to the water flow, trees help the land retain water and sustain forest life by supplying the soil with rich nutrients. Deforestation deprives the land of its cover, leaving the soil exposed to wind and rain. This makes soil vulnerable to being washed away, and prone to erosion. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), as much as half of the world's topsoil has been lost as a consequence of the nearly 4 million square miles of forest that have been lost since the beginning of the 20th century.

3. The Effects on Humans

In answering the question of how does deforestation affect the environment, you may discover that in fact, it also has a direct impact on the human population. With the loss of trees and entire forests, homelands are also being destroyed in the process. Indigenous communities who live in forests and depend on them to sustain their life bear the brunt of impacts from deforestation. As their houses are destroyed and resources compromised, these tribes are forced to migrate elsewhere and find other ways to sustain themselves. The Amazon rainforest is home to over one million Indigenous people , mostly of Indian descent, divided into more than 400 indigenous tribes. They live in settled villages by the rivers, and grow and hunt their food. These "uncontacted" tribes live by the rules of nature but are becoming increasingly vulnerable to deforestation, which has forced many of them to migrate. While some of them move into areas occupied by other tribes, straining the land's resources, others are forced to relocate to urban settings and completely change their way of living.
You might also like: 12 Major Companies Responsible for Deforestation
4. The Effects on Animals and Plants

Along with Indigenous tribes, animals are some of the biggest victims of deforestation. Forests around the world are home to more than 80% of all terrestrial animal, plant, and insect species . However, the rapid destruction of forests is contributing to a decline in biodiversity never seen before. The main effect of deforestation on animals and plants is the loss of their habitat. Many factors related to cutting down trees contribute to driving species to extinction. Through land erosion, the soil is depleted of its nutrients, a huge source of nourishment for animals and plants. Furthermore, many animal species are heavily reliant on specific plants and their fruits for food sources. When these resources are lost, animals become weaker, more vulnerable to diseases and often succumb to starvation. Another important role of trees is to regulate the temperature of forests and maintain it constant. When deforestation occurs, temperature variates more drastically from day to night and this extreme change can often prove fatal for many animal species.
Featured image: Global Water for Sustainability
5. The Effects on Food Security

One last major effect of deforestation is its impact on food security through the loss of biodiversity. While food availability for Indigenous tribes and animals that live in forests is reduced in the process of deforestation, its effects on weather patterns and soil degradation also drastically decrease agricultural productivity. Populations located in the proximity of tropical forests are mostly impacted by the worsening trend. Indeed, millions of people living in these areas depend almost entirely on agriculture and are thus extremely vulnerable to the impact of deforestation on food security, struggling to grow enough food and prevent crops from damage. It has been shown that the deforestation of the Amazon contributes to a decline in pasture productivity of about 39% as well as a drop of soy yields of nearly 25% in over half of the Amazon region and of a staggering 60% in a third of the area.

Can We Halt Deforestation?

Knowing how deforestation affect the environment more than one way and its catastrophic effects on the planet, it is crucial that people around the world take action to mitigate its impact. This can be done on an individual level, for example by reducing meat consumption, going paperless and recycling products as much as possible, opting for natural products that do not contain ingredients such as palm oil and supporting organisations and sustainable companies that are committed to reducing this dangerous practice. On a governmental level, the consequences of deforestation can be mitigated by introducing policies that protect natural forests and regulate mining and logging operations as well as other operations that require the destruction of tree plantations.

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How Does Deforestation Affect the Environment? | Earth.Org

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Forests, a vital component of life on Earth, cover approximately 31% of our planet's land area. How does deforestation affect the environment and humans?

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https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/royal-navy-survey-ship-finds-another-antarctic-glacier-in-retreat

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Image courtesy Royal Navy

Sailors on the Royal Navy's polar research ship HMS Protector have found an enormous Antarctic glacier vanishing at an alarming rate.

The Sunshine Glacier has shrunk by one seventh in 20 years - an area the size of more than 130 football pitches has melted away. Just two decades earlier, where HMS Protector's small survey boat visited had been a towering wall of ice some 700 meters from the glacier's current terminus.

The icebreaker and survey ship recorded the worrying changes when she visited Coronation Island - a forbidding lump of rock and ice 45 kilometers long and the largest isle in the South Orkney chain.

It was the first visit to the inhospitable, uninhabited island - with names such as Penguin Point and Despair Rocks - since 2017, and provided a rare opportunity for the ship and survey motor boat James Caird IV to conduct survey activity in the archipelago's ice filled glacial bays.

The ship was asked to update existing charts of the waters around the island - including Iceberg Bay, where Sunshine Glacier spills into the ocean. Here the mass of ice and rock - continuously moving at around 25 centimeters a day - ends its five-kilometer journey. Enormous chunks of blue and white ice the size of a house, or larger, break off, and bob in the bay.

Protector and her launch James Caird IV - crammed with hi-tech sensors but able to use them in shallower, tighter waters her mothership cannot access - set about surveying the three-kilometer-wide bay, dwarfed in a primeval world of rocks and seracs, huge towers of ice.

"A quick check of the chart showed James Caird IV conducting survey lines north of the glacial terminus as plotted in 2001 - but the boat was most definitively still at sea and hadn't yet reached the new position of the ice front," said Lieutenant Michael Wafer. "The actual position of the ice front and towering seracs (pillars of ice) was almost 700 meters north of the 2001 charted position. It's quite possibly just more demonstrable proof of climate change in action."

Dr Robert Larter, marine geophysicist at British Antarctic Survey, who has been involved in similar studies on the glaciers around the Antarctic Peninsula, said Protector's findings mirrored his organisation's findings: 87 per cent of glaciers in the area have retreated over the past 75 or so years.

"Similar rapid retreat is occurring on many glaciers along the Antarctic Peninsula as a result of rapid regional warming - three times the average global rate - during the second half of the 20th Century," he explained. "Along much of the western side of the peninsula, glacier retreat is also being driven by incursion onto the continental shelf of warm water from the deep ocean. Loss of ice from Antarctica currently accounts for about 10 per cent of global sea-level rise - and the rate of ice loss has been steadily increasing over the past 30 years."

Protector is the Royal Navy's sole icebreaker, dedicated to spending summer in the southern hemisphere in and around the Antarctic peninsula supporting UK and international scientists' understanding of the frozen continent, its unique environment and wildlife, as well as updating existing maritime charts of the waters to the latest standards.

When the weather rules out work in the polar regions, Protector shifts her activities to warmer water; last autumn she worked extensively off St Helena and Ascension Island - two UK Overseas Territories in the mid-Atlantic.
HMS Protector delivers supplies to the BAS outpost on Rothera (Royal Navy)
The icebreaker also delivers supplies and personnel to numerous BAS bases and research stations, from South Georgia on the fringe of Antarctica to the main research station at Rothera.

She paid her final visit to Rothera in the dying days of the austral summer, offloading stores and cargo ahead of the arrival of winter when weather conditions prevent ships getting through. Visits to Rothera over the past two years have been few, making this Covid-secure stay even more critical to the year-round work of the station team and scientists there.
This article appears courtesy of Royal Navy News and may be found in its original form here.

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Royal Navy Survey Ship Finds Another Antarctic Glacier in Retreat

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Sailors on the Royal Navy's polar research ship HMS Protector have found an enormous Antarctic glacier vanishing at an alarming rate. The Sunshine Glacier has shrunk by one seventh in 20 years - an area the size of more than 130 football pitches has melted away.

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https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/03/01/sydney-hit-by-torrential-rain-bracing-for-flooding/

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Sydney hit by torrential rain, bracing for flooding

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The flood crisis in New South Wales continues with another death confirmed.

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https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/03/01/sydney-hit-by-torrential-rain-bracing-for-flooding/

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Sydney hit by torrential rain, bracing for flooding

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The flood crisis in New South Wales continues with another death confirmed.

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https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/03/01/sydney-hit-by-torrential-rain-bracing-for-flooding/

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Sydney hit by torrential rain, bracing for flooding

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The flood crisis in New South Wales continues with another death confirmed.

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https://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/what-is-deforestation-deforestation-causes-why-its-bad-and-links-to-climate-change-and-global-warming-3620817

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What is deforestation? Deforestation causes, why it’s bad and links to climate change and global warming

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As the International Day of Forests rolls around again for another year, here’s what deforestation is and why its causes are more important to take note of than ever

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https://www.fairplanet.org/story/an-ancient-himalayan-village-empties-as-glaciers-vanish/

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At noon, it is difficult to see without squinting one's eyes as the sun shines over the snowy landscape of Kumik, one of the oldest and most remote villages in northern India. Located in the Zanskar region of the newly-crafted Union Territory of Ladakh, the village sits on the hem of glaciers that are now gradually receding, revealing the bare dusky surface.

Tsering Dorjey, in his mid-80s, sits in a chair outside of his whitewashed mudhouse, humming hymns, almost inaudibly. Dorjey's home is one of the 40 houses that cascade down a hill. Those houses have been abandoned and deserted for years. Atop of the hill, one can see the barren fields, dried-up canals and sparse vegetation, signalling the decline of life in Kumik.

The elders of the village, like Dorjey, say that Kumik used to be surrounded by thick, ice-coated mountains. In springtime, the snowmelt flowed through Kumikthu, a stream slithering through the Kumik, irrigating its fields and tending to the sparse households.

But for many years, the village of Kumik has been struggling due to an increasing water scarcity as the glaciers have begun to recede. The region used to witness snowfall as deep as three metres, which offered sufficient moisture for soil to grow barley and acted as the main source of water. However, since the glaciers started retreating, snowfall fell to less than a metre, which in turn led to a reduction in the supply of irrigation water.

This water scarcity has forced many inhabitants to migrate to the new village of Lower Kumik. Over 20 families - half of the village's population - have already relocated, leaving behind their ancestral land and homes. A 2019 report by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development stated that at least a third of the huge ice fields in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya mountains could melt due to climate change by the end of this century, potentially bringing massive floods to countries nearby.

The Hindu Kush-Himalaya sprawls over 3,500 kilometres, spanning through eight countries - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, Myanmar and Pakistan. These mountain ranges are sources for 10 major rivers in Asia that tend to the needs of over 4 billion people. Changes in the ice fields could have an impact on many households.

The problem is getting worse. A study published by the American Meteorological Society in August 2021 stated that the glaciers around the world have continued to recede for the 33rd consecutive year. Another study, led by the University of Leeds, stated that the Himalayan glaciers are receding far more rapidly than glaciers in other parts of the world. They termed the rate of loss of glaciers as "exceptional." The study also revealed that, over the last few decades, the Himalayan glaciers have lost ice 10 times faster than on average since the Little Ice Age - the last major glacier expansion between 400 and 700 years ago.

Rapid warming

Kumik is on the frontline witnessing the drastic impacts of climate change.

Dorjey tells FairPlanet that less snowfall and warm springs have led to the rapid recession of glaciers, causing acute water shortages and forcing many out of the village.

"I have lived all my life here. As a child, I have seen these mountains glistening with snow and these fields lush green in spring. I remember the bustle this village once witnessed," Dorjey says.

What once used to be green has turned barren and brown, the stream has dried up and there are fewer places where cattle can graze.

Like many other families, Dorjey says, he is also planning on migrating to the Lower Kumik. "In old age, it is tormenting to leave behind the home where I grew up in - but what choices do we have?" Dorjey says.

In winters, Kumik records temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius. The snowfall also shuts down the road linking the village to the rest of the world. Dorjey and many others are waiting for summer to come so that, as the temperature rises, they can pack their belongings and shift to another place where they can grow vegetables and crops and have access to water.

Lack of government support

Villagers are restarting their lives from scratch in Lower Kumik on government-allocated land. Lower Kumik is close to the Zanskar river. In the early 2000s, the villagers dug a seven kilometre-long canal from the Lugnak river, channelling water to Lower Kumik to irrigate their lands: it took them six years. The villagers said they carved the canal themselves without any help from the government.

50 year-old Tashi Stobdan, who migrated to the Lower Kumik over a decade ago, tells FairPlanet that for many winters, Kumik witnessed less snowfall and warmer summers, causing the rapid retreat of snowline on glaciers.

"When Kumikthu dried up, some people from our village went up to the mountains to see what had happened. They saw the snow cover had vanished from the mountain, leaving the hard rock surface bare. The water that trickled from the remnant glacier flowed in another direction," Stobdan says.

He says they could not divert the water towards their village. "It is at a very high altitude and this mission requires a lot of money and manpower. We could not do it on our own without the government's help," he adds.

As a result, the villagers stopped growing any vegetables and the cattle died because they had no vegetation to graze. Dorjey said he and many others tried to dig a canal from the glaciers to channel the water to their village. "But it did not help. I injured my spinal cord instead. But the water did not come," he says.

Kumik is not the only village that faces serious challenges of survival. Almost 25 other villages in Zanskar, hemming the mountain slopes, rely on the torrent that dribbles from the glaciers. The entire region of Ladakh is a cold desert, receiving an annual rainfall of 10 cm. As such, growing crops is a challenge in areas hit by water scarcity. Those who have migrated are hopeful that they will not have to suffer again. Stobdan says they are adjusting to the changes in nature and learning to adapt to climate change.

Poverty limits geographical mobility

Almost half of Kumik's population has stayed in the village. While Dorjey and other households are waiting for the advent of the summer to migrate - even if that would cost them abandoning their ancestral village and an ancient way of life - many families cannot afford to migrate.

52 year-old Tsering Motup sits by the window of his mudhouse, overlooking his neighbourhood that cascades down a hill. Some of his neighbours have left and others will soon abandon their homes too. "I cannot migrate. It takes a lot of effort and money to rebuild everything from scratch," Motup says.

Motup says he too would have migrated and built a house in Lower Kumik or elsewhere, but his financial condition restrains him. "It is a lot of money. This village is one of the poorest in Zanskar. Unless someone else helps us out, we will not migrate," he says.
Image by Black Zero via Wikimedia Commons

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An ancient Himalayan village empties as glaciers vanish | FairPlanet

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At noon, it is difficult to see without squinting one's eyes as the sun shines over the snowy landscape of Kumik, one of the oldest and most remote villages in northern India. Located in the Zanskar region of the newly-crafted Union Territory of Ladakh, the village sits on the hem of glaciers that are now gradually receding, revealing the bare dusky surface.

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extreme weather conditions are increase Nº: 8

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extreme weather conditions are increase Nº: 8

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https://kfdm.com/news/local/setx-school-districts-close-for-severe-weather-others-monitoring-forecast

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west hardin county consolidated independent school district

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west orange-cove consolidated independent school district

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SETX school districts close for severe weather; others monitoring forecast

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Several Southeast Texas school districts cancelled class for Tuesday, March 22, in anticipation of severe weather, while others are delaying the start. EVADALE ISD: "Due to inclement weather and the chance for tornadic activity during start of day and continuing throughout instruction time, Evadale ISD will not have school March 22.

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- North Carolina's coastline could start to shrink, putting some of our state's history in jeopardy of disappearing.

The reason? Climate change. A new report projects the U.S. sea level will rise as much in the next 30 years as it did in the past 100 years.

One historical coastal community that could see direct impacts from climate change is Washington, North Carolina. From stories of triumph where the enslaved once dashed along the Freedom Trails to the historic homes that line the waterfront, Beaufort County is rich in history.

People who live along the riverside say it is unsettling to think about rising sea level on top of the flooding risk they already face with tropical weather.

Richard Smoot, owner and innkeeper of 1820 Elmwood, a bed and breakfast in Washington, said the house had prominent roles on both sides of the Civil War.

In the 1800s, Samuel Latham Grist, the owner's son, was a member of the Confederate regiment the Washington Grays.

"When the regiment departed, the sendoff ceremony was held at Elmwood due to its local prominence rather than at the county courthouse, which would have been more typical," Smoot said.

Smoot added, "During the Civil War, Washington was occupied by Union forces in 1862, and Elmwood was used as the Union headquarters, Camp Ceres, from 1863 to 1864. Like many large southern homes during the Civil War, Elmwood was also used as a wartime hospital."

Elmwood was moved to its current site near the Tar and Pamlico rivers in 1910.

Smoot said the house is 10 feet above sea level, which may be the reason the 200-year-old home is still standing. He hopes his flood insurance will help preserve the history at his bed and breakfast.

"[Flood insurance] is a must-have if you want to live in a place that is beautiful 99% of the time, you have to cover that 1% of the time that might be a little risky," Smoot said.

Jillian Howell from Sound Rivers, a nonprofit protecting the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico rivers in eastern North Carolina, said humans can't wait to consider what rising sea level could do.

"These are more frequent, wetter storms that happen all year round, dropping a lot of rain," Howell said. The storms have been fueled by climate change and are causing localized flooding in and around the basins."

Howell said we must start thinking about climate change now because people live along the river.

"There are a bunch of communities along the river in the process of going through resiliency planning efforts, thinking about what the next 50 years look like or how the people adapt," said Howell.

Howell said infrastructure programs won't stop climate change, but they could help with mitigation. Sound Rivers is exploring ways to mitigate flooding by building constructive wetlands, installing cisterns and using bio soil so there is more capacity to hold water when there is more of it.

"We have a program where we are installing green storm water infrastructure around community college campuses," she added.

Smoot added he will also be looking for other ways to make sure Elmwood stays around for years to come.

In Dare County, after an oceanfront home fell into the sea earlier this year, experts said the one next door could collapse at any time, and nearly all of the houses on the street are in danger.

As the climate continues to warm, environmental experts say that the threat to homes in Rodanthe is only going to increase.

"Sea level rise is likely to continue to make these problems worse and make it even more challenging to manage these coastal areas," said David Hallac, superintendent of the eastern North Carolina branch of the National Parks Service.

Hallac said even visitors are at-risk as the ocean sucks up homes along the shore. When these homes do collapse, wood structures and nails end up in the ocean and will eventually wash up on the shore.

"Public safety is probably our number one concern right now," he said. "The second concern of course is just the beauty of the seashore. Folks come to the seashore to see pristine, un-impacted beaches. And we hope to be able to provide that."

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Rising sea level could impact North Carolina's coastline :: WRAL.com

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North Carolina's coastline could start to shrink, putting some of our state's history in jeopardy of disappearing. The reason? Climate change. A new report projects the U.S. sea level will rise as much in the next 30 years as it did in the past 100 years.

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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/meerut/glaciers-retreat-may-cause-water-shortage-in-ganga/articleshow/90039727.cms

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MEERUT: In the first detailed "inventory of glaciers" at the Alaknanda river basin, which contributes the maximum water to river Ganga, scientists from IISc and IITs discovered a reduction of 59 sq km in the glacier area over a period of almost 50 years, between 1968 and 2020. This meant that 8% of the total area of glaciers decreased. Scientists said regional climate change was a big reason behind the development.
This study of the river basin, which took over two years to complete, was published in the Geocarto Journal by Taylor & Francis. The average retreat rate of glaciers in the basin was 11.75 m per year.

The study was authored by Remya S N and Anil V Kulkarni, scientists from the Divecha Centre for Climate Change, IISc in Bengaluru; Tajdarul Hassan Syed, associate professor, Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Kanpur; and R Anand from the Department of Applied Geology, IIT Dhanbad. It was done on the basis of field visits and satellite data provided by the United States Geological Survey.
The analysis of climatic parameters in the basin suggested substantial evidence of deglaciation due to global warming, especially since the winter temperature increased by 0.03 celsius per year between 1968 and 2020.

The team of scientists studied almost all satellite imagery since 1968 meticulously, and found that though the area of the glaciers reduced in the river basin, the number of glaciers increased from 98 to 116.
"Glaciers are like trees, with many branches coming out of them. In the Alaknanda river basin, we found that many extended portions of the glaciers got separated from the main glacier, mainly because of climatic reasons. This increased the number of glaciers in the area," said Remya.
However, scientists said the increase in numbers was "nothing to celebrate". Small portions of the glaciers were melting in a way that they would not contribute water to the river and hence, there would be a "cascading effect" on the water security of the people living downstream, they said.
"They are melting faster and forming new water bodies such as lakes near the glacier. If the glaciers melt faster in the future, these water bodies will get added water and may overflow, causing destruction," Remya said. She added that the Kedarnath disaster happened due to the overflow of a similar water body.
Apart from the reduction in the glacier area, the Alaknanda basin also witnessed an increase in the formation of debris cover, which is another factor reducing water flow in the river Ganga.
"The increase in debris happened due to non-climatic parameters. Results revealed that the total debris of the Alaknanda basin increased by 38% between 2000 and 2020. The glaciers with less debris-covered areas and steep slopes showed a higher retreat than those with a high debris-cover and a gentle slope," said Syed, another author of the study.

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'glaciers Retreat, May Cause Water Shortage In Ganga' | Meerut News - Times of India

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MEERUT: In the first detailed "inventory of glaciers" at the Alaknanda river basin, which contributes the maximum water to river Ganga, scientists from IISc and IITs discovered a reduction of 59 sq km in the glacier area over a period of almost 50 years, between 1968 and 2020.