Marking Period 2 by Francesca Li https://padlet.com/18lif/89bsqvgb8hd4 Francesca Li en-us 2018-01-20 23:14:56 UTC 2018-05-14 16:22:52 UTC hello@padlet.com 2017 was one of the Hottest Years on Record 18lif https://padlet.com/18lif/89bsqvgb8hd4/wish/223052220 On Thursday scientists at NASA ranked 2017 as the second warmest year, trailing only 2016. The National  Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which which ranks a little differently, ranked it third, behind 2016 and 2015. The interesting part about these numbers is that last year we had no El Nino. El Nino is the shift in tropical Pacific weather patterns that usually is linked to record high temperatures. It is unusual that we still have such high temperatures even though we didn’t even have El Nino this year. 
Analyses by both the NASA and NOAA have found that 17 of the 18 warmest years since modern record-keeping began have occurred since 2001. Temperatures have increased more than 1.8 degrees Celsius due to emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases since the late 19th century. Scientists say that in order to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, we have to ensure that global temperatures do not increase more than 2 degrees Celsius. 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/18/climate/hottest-year-2017.html?action=click&contentCollection=climate&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront  
]]> 2018-01-20 23:38:12 UTC https://padlet.com/18lif/89bsqvgb8hd4/wish/223052220 How Republicans Feel about Climate Change 18lif https://padlet.com/18lif/89bsqvgb8hd4/wish/223052595 Over the past two decades, Republicans have become more doubtful about climate change, even as Democrats have grown more convinced that it’s happening and is caused by humans. But recent research published in the journal Climatic Change reveals greater nuance in partisan climate opinions across the country. "Pockets of Republicans, or even a plurality or majority, support some pro-climate issues," said Matto Mildenberger, a professor of political science at the University of California Santa Barbara and lead author on the study. Researchers found variation in Democratic beliefs too, he said, but those findings were less politically relevant because a majority of Democrats tend to accept climate science and support related policies no matter where they live. The study’s maps show how Republican support swings between minority and majority, depending on geography and how questions are posed. Across the country, most Republicans don’t think humans are causing climate change. Fewer than a third of registered Republicans nationwide say that climate change is caused mostly by human activities, while nearly half say it’s mostly due to "natural changes in the environment," according to the study, which looked at eight years of opinion data and mapped the results by congressional district. "Being skeptical about global warming has become part of Republican or conservative identity," said Riley E. Dunlap, a professor of environmental sociology at Oklahoma State University.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/14/climate/republicans-global-warming-maps.html?action=click&contentCollection=climate&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=7&pgtype=sectionfront
]]> 2018-01-20 23:48:21 UTC https://padlet.com/18lif/89bsqvgb8hd4/wish/223052595 Warming, Water Crisis, Then Unrest: How Iran Fits an Alarming Pattern 18lif https://padlet.com/18lif/89bsqvgb8hd4/wish/223052937 Nigeria, Syria, Somalia and now Iran have been and still are struggling with water crises. In each country, in different ways, a water crisis has triggered some combination of civil unrest, mass migration, insurgency or even full-scale war. In the era of climate change, their experiences hold lessons for a great many other countries. The World Resources Institute warned this month of the rise of water stress globally, "with 33 countries projected to face extremely high stress in 2040." A water shortage can spark street protests: Access to water has been a common source of unrest in India. It can be exploited by terrorist groups too. The Shabab has sought to take advantage of the most vulnerable drought-stricken communities in Somalia. Water shortages can prompt an exodus from the countryside to crowded cities. Across the arid Sahel, young men who are unable to live off the land are on the move. Shortage of water can also feed into insurgencies. Iran is the latest example of a country where a water crisis, long in the making, has fed popular discontent. That is particularly true in small towns and cities in what is already one of the most parched regions of the world. Farms turned barren, lakes became dust bowls. Millions moved to provincial towns and cities, and joblessness led to mounting discontent among the young. Water shortage has the ability to break the system in a country and ultimately lead to its demise.  

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/climate/water-iran.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fclimate&action=click&contentCollection=climate&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront 
]]> 2018-01-20 23:59:32 UTC https://padlet.com/18lif/89bsqvgb8hd4/wish/223052937 Huge Oil Spill Spreads in East China Sea, Stirring Environmental Fears 18lif https://padlet.com/18lif/89bsqvgb8hd4/wish/223057403
Officials said Tuesday that In Hong Kong an oil spill from an Iranian tanker that sank in the East China Sea is rapidly spreading, alarming environmentalists about the threat to sea and bird life in the waterway. The tanker, the Sanchi, was carrying 136,000 tons of highly flammable fuel oil when it crashed into a freighter on January 6th. China Central Television said on Sunday that the Sanchi sank after a huge blast sent up a great plume of black smoke and set the surface of the water on fire. The bodies of three crew members have been recovered, and the remaining 29 were presumed dead, the Iranian government said. Thirty Iranians and two Bangladeshis were believed to have died. One environmental concern is that since the Sanchi sank, marine life will be endangered by the fuel oil’s spreading instead of burning off. Experts are further concerned that the even dirtier bunker fuel powering the tanker will be released into the sea, exposing delicate marine life to the extremely toxic substance. When spilled, the condensate can produce a deep underwater plume damaging to marine life.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/15/world/asia/oil-tanker-spill-sanchi-east-china-sea.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fclimate&action=click&contentCollection=climate&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront

]]> 2018-01-21 02:16:30 UTC https://padlet.com/18lif/89bsqvgb8hd4/wish/223057403 California Sea Lion Population rebounded to new highs 18lif https://padlet.com/18lif/89bsqvgb8hd4/wish/223057851 California sea lions have fully rebounded under the protection of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), with their population on the West Coast reaching carrying capacity in 2008 before unusually warm ocean conditions reduced their numbers, according to the first comprehensive population assessment of the species. The sea lion population is healthy and robust, the new research found, and its recovery over the past several decades reflects an important success for the MMPA. The landmark 1972 legislation recognized marine mammals as a central element of their ocean ecosystems, setting population goals based on levels that would contribute to the health and stability of those ecosystems. The MMPA calls those levels the Optimum Sustainable Population (OSP), and provides options for states to take over management of species that have reached their OSP. California sea lions have now reached those levels, according to the new assessment by scientists from NOAA Fisheries' Alaska Fisheries Science Center and Southwest Fisheries Science Center. They published the results of the long-term collaborative study today in the Journal of Wildlife Management. "The population has basically come into balance with its environment," said coauthor Sharon Melin, a research biologist at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center who has tracked sea lion numbers in Southern California's Channel Islands for years. "The marine environment is always changing, and their population is at a point where it responds very quickly to changes in the environment."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180117115003.htm 

]]> 2018-01-21 02:31:52 UTC https://padlet.com/18lif/89bsqvgb8hd4/wish/223057851 Coping with Climate Stress in Antarctica 18lif https://padlet.com/18lif/89bsqvgb8hd4/wish/223058119 Coping with climate stress in Antarctica  
Some Antarctic fish living in the planet's coldest waters are able to cope with the stress of rising carbon dioxide levels the ocean. They can even tolerate slightly warmer waters. But they can't deal with both stressors at the same time, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. The study, published recently in the journal Global Change Biology, of emerald rockcod is the first to show that Antarctic fishes may make tradeoffs in their physiology and behavior to cope with ocean acidification and warming waters. "In dealing with climate stress, these fish are really bad multi-taskers," said senior author Anne Todgham, an associate professor with the UC Davis Department of Animal Science. "They seem quite capable of coping with increases in CO2, and they can compensate for some warming.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180117121640.htm 
]]> 2018-01-21 02:42:45 UTC https://padlet.com/18lif/89bsqvgb8hd4/wish/223058119