Clean Economy News
Most Viewed Stories
EPA Lists 24 Climate Change Indicators to Inform Future Policy
In the future, the EPA will be looking closely at bird migration patterns and counts of heat-related deaths, as well as changes in the oceans, glaciers and atmosphere, as it determines how to respond to a changing climate.
The agency released a list of 24 climate change indicators Tuesday that it intends to rely on when deciding how best to use its policy-making and program management resources to respond to climate change and evaluating the success of those efforts. The EPA is still focused on mitigating climate change through efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, but the list shows it is moving on to adaptation, as well.
Some of the indicators are based on fairly straightforward data gathered in much the same manner for over a century, such as temperature and precipitation. Others, the EPA notes, are new measurements that have been defined and collected over only the past few decades, such as heat-related deaths and climate forcing.
"These indicators show us that climate change is a very real problem with impacts that are already being seen," said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation.
The 24 climate change indicators and some of the agency's related findings so far are:
U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: From 1990 to 2008, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, such as transportation and electricity generation, increased 14 percent to 6,957 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. Emissions of carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas, increased 16 percent.
Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Worldwide emissions of human-caused greenhouse gases rose 26 percent from 1990 to 2005, to 38,000 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. Emissions of fluorinated compounds, some with global warming potentials thousands of times greater than CO2, more than doubled. CO2, accounting for three-quarters of all global emissions, increased 31 percent.
Atmospheric Concentrations of Greenhouse Gases: Greenhouse gas concentrations are higher now than they have been in thousands of years, “even after accounting for natural fluctuations,” the EPA says. Since the industrial revolution, they have risen from about 270 ppm to close to 390 ppm.
Climate Forcing: From 1990 to 2008, scientists calculated a 26 percent increase in radiative forcing, or energy absorption. About 80 percent of it comes from CO2. The EPA notes, however, that there are uncertainties and limitations in the models used to calculate radiative forcing.
Temperature: The past decade was the warmest on record worldwide. Average temperatures in the lower 48 states have risen an average 0.13 degrees Fahrenheit per decade since 1901.
Heat Waves: The frequency of heat waves and the percentage of the United States experiencing heat waves has increased since the 1970s, though the most severe years remain the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s.
Drought: Data on this indicator is relative new, so the EPA notes that it can’t yet say whether droughts are increasing or decreasing over time.
Precipitation: Average rain and snowfall has increased in the U.S. at a rate of 6.4 percent per century since 1901, though conditions vary within regions. Parts of the Southwest, for example, have seen a decrease in precipitation.
Heavy Precipitation: Eight of the 10 worst years for downpours, or “intense single-day events,” in the United States have been since 1990.
Tropical Cycle Intensity: Six of the 10 most active hurricane seasons have been since the mid-1990s.
Ocean Heat: Studies show an increase since the 1950s in heat stored, which effects sea surface temperature, sea levels and currents. EPA notes that the data interpretations vary as scientists are working with different measuring techniques.
Sea Surface Temperature: Temperatures rose an average of 0.12 degrees per decade from 1901 through 2009, with the fastest rise over the past 30 years.
Sea Level: On average, sea level has increased at a rate of six-tenths of an inch per decade since the 1870s.
- 1
- 2
- next page »
Comments
The Deniers
Submitted by Orkneygal (not verified) on April 28, 2010 - 3:26am.
The overwhelming paleoclimate evidence from around the globe is that the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) was synchronous, world wide and much warmer than today.
However, the MWP deniers will never admit the existence of the MWP because it means that their religious-like belief in AGW is exposed for the steaming pile of junk science that it truly is.
In total, climate change is complex and not well understood.
But this part is simple.
Since the world was warmer when CO2 levels were lower, CO2 cannot be the earth's temperature regulator.
A thousand years ago, the Earth was warmer than it is today; before the social and industrial advances that have made modern people the healthiest and most prosperous in history. MWP deniers want us to believe that plant friendly and life giving CO2 is a bad thing to better advance their meglomanical desire to both boss around the developed world and further impoverish the poor while pocketing a lot of taxpayer money along the way.
Taxing carbon is not the answer to the ever changing climate.There is only one answer to changes in climate that has ever worked for humanity.
That is adaptation.
One of the many links to the overwhelming Paleoclimate evidence of the global nature of the MWP is below.
say anything
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on April 28, 2010 - 8:44am.
Where did you come up with that one? No one's denying that the Medieval period had a warm spell. In fact, its on the hockey stick graph that you're talking about. Scientists who have been studying temperature records for years don't believe that period was warmer than now, though.
For anyone interested in a reality check, here's what NOAA says about it. (This was written in 2008, during the Republican administration):
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/globalwarming/medieval.html
"Man-made global warming" -- a ridiculous fairy tale!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on April 28, 2010 - 12:17pm.
You are right, no thinking person believes the ridiculous "man-made global warming" any more.
If man-made CO2 really increased the earth's temperature, we should be burning more oil and producing more CO2 because the earth is really COOLING. But, if there's any connection between CO2 and temperature, it may be that AFTER temperature increases, CO2 may increase because warmer temperatures promote more life.
It’s hard to believe that there are still people who believe in the global warming/climate change fairy tale! Obama and his accomplices obviously don’t believe it. They are ready to let companies emit CO2 as long as they pay! Some of the “dumbed down” U.S. population (as per Pravda), however, are ready to kill the economy to “stop global warming”!
When it became evident that the earth was not warming, Obama and his comrades came out with “climate change,” which made the hoax even more ridiculous! Even the words "climate change" are NONSENSE. By its very nature, climate changes. The climate on earth has ALWAYS CHANGED and will continue to CHANGE, no matter what we do.
And it’s even more absurd to claim that humans are responsible for climate change! It's like saying "Wet Rain" and then blaming humans for rain being wet! No matter what we do, rain will always be wet!
Man-made global warming is a hoax
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on April 28, 2010 - 12:06pm.
The EPA can be trusted as much as the gang of Marxists who currently control the EPA.
More and more scientists and thinking people all over the world are realizing that man-made global warming is a hoax. It's the hoax, not "global warming" that threatens our future and the future of our children.
More than 700 international scientists dissent over man-made global warming claims. They are now more than 13 times the number of UN scientists (52) who authored the media-hyped IPCC 2007 Summary for Policymakers. http://www.climatechangefraud.com/content/view/3562/218/
Additionally, more than 30,000 American scientists have signed onto a petition that states, "There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate." http://www.petitionproject.org
We pray that honest leaders – both Democrat and Republican - are able to save us from the cap and trade SCAM, another job-killing, prosperity-killing SCAM!
The first carbon bomb is lethal to the oceans
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on April 29, 2010 - 6:25pm.
The commentary that persists on focusing on future emissions of CO2 belies the real tragedy of the fossil fuel age. To date, the collective emissions of fossil CO2 amount to more than a trillion tonnes. This trillion tonnes of CO2 is already airborne as one horrific carbon bomb.It's effects can be seen where it hits first and hardest, and that is in the 70% of this blue planet that are our oceans. With just the first 1/4 of the first carbon bomb absorbed the oceans are already 30% more acidic, sea life that grows a shell is already far more than decimated. Shellfish larvae survival has dropped to a few percent of historic levels, myriad forms of tiny sea life including all important tiny swimming snails, pteropods, are so stressed in larval stages that they simply are not maturing. These are one of the most important food sources for oceanic fish.
But by far the worst effect of the first carbon bomb is the fact that as high and rising CO2 benefits plants on land, and this is a planet of mostly grass not trees, the enhanced growth and survival of grasses has dramatically improved ground cover. This might seem like a good thing, less topsoil lost, less dust blowing in the wind... But dust in the wind is the most vital source of mineral micronutrients for ocean pastures. In just 30 years the decline of ocean pastures has been seen to be staggering. The Southern Ocean pastures are down by 10% of their net plant life, with that lost plant life those same Southern Ocean pastures now support only 20% of the krill they supported just a few decades ago. The Atlantic pastures are down by 17%, the Pacific pastures by 26%, and the sub-tropical tropical pastures by 50%.
This loss of ocean pasture results in less production of higher life that inhabit those pastures. The annual loss of fish due to lack of pasture is at least hundreds of millions of tonnes each year. Compare this with the toll the usual suspects in the story of declining fish are blamed, for which Conservation International recently stated that overfishing was 10-20 million tonnes each year.
Then there are the climate change carpet baggers who promote and pitch all manner of "climate change action." They make their own hay on the backs of the tragic story and advise that along with sending them donations to continue their pitch that we ought to screw in another energy saving light bulb, drive a hybrid car that costs thousand more to make and saves CO2 emissions that one or two trees planted per year would turn to good use. For them the only solutions are to be found in the future and the past is the past and there is nothing to do about it.
The greatest tragedy of the carbon age is that we are told to ignore the lethal dose of CO2 already emitted, ignore the deadly effect of that carbon bomb, and focus instead on controlling and changing the future. We are told that upon coming to the scene of this terrible fossil fuel traffic accident we should forget about the victim that lies bleeding to death before us. We are instead to incited to form a mob to chase down, punish the fossil fueled vehicle that ran that victim down, and begin to fund the re-engineering or even outlawing of the technology that was the fossil fueled vehicle weapon. The problem is that the victim is all important to us all, she is our Mother Earth, and she is only one. We simply must save the victim first or all the rest we do will be for naught.
The great tragedy of the carbon age is that we ignore our most valuable and effective allies, the trees and ocean pastures. Indeed many so called green organizations fight adamantly to prevent any sort of effort to administer the anti-dote to the first lethal dose of CO2 from taking place. They lie and scheme and brand the replenishment of plant life as part of the solution as if it is a penance for sins already committed and shriek that such penance if allowed becomes a permission to pollute. This is the tragic manner and method of carpet baggers whose desire is to seize power over the future having crept onto the scene after the horror of the battle and bleeding. They eschew treating the injuries for there is scant profit in healing the wounded when compared to ruling the next generation.
SAVE YOUR MOTHER - RESTORE HER TREES AND SEAS
Post new comment
|
© InsideClimate News |