Climate Change To Spur Extreme Weather

Storms, Droughts And Floods Will Intensify With Global Warming, Gov't Report Says

(AP)  Droughts will get dryer, storms will get stormier and floods will get deeper with changing climate, a government research report said Thursday.

Events that have seemed relatively rare will become commonplace, said the latest report from the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, a joint effort of more than a dozen government agencies.

There has been an increase in the frequency of heavy downpours, especially over northern states, and these are likely to continue in the future, Thomas R. Karl, director of the National Climatic Data Center, said in a briefing.

For example, Karl said, by the end of this century rainfall amounts expected to occur every 20 years could be taking place every five years.

Such an increase "can lead to the type of events that we are seeing in the Midwest," said Karl, though he did not directly link the current inundations to climate change.

But the report cautioned that preparing for weather than has been relatively common can leave people vulnerable as extreme events occur more and more.

"Moderate flood control measures on a river can stimulate development in a now 'safe' floodplain, only to see those new structures damaged when a very large flood occurs," the report said.

At the same time heavy rains increase, there'll be more droughts, especially in the Southwest, Karl said.

"When it rains, it rains harder and when it's not raining, it's warmer - there is more evaporation, and droughts can last longer," he explained.

The Southwestern drought that began in 1999 is beginning to rival some of the greatest droughts on record including those of the 1930s and 1950s, he added.

Gerald A. Meehl, a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said there has been a trend toward increasing power in hurricanes since the 1970s in the Atlantic and western Pacific, a change that can be linked to rising sea surface temperatures.

There is a statistical connection between rising sea surface temperatures and hurricane activity, Meehl said, but linking changes in hurricanes to human actions will require more study.

More easily attributed to human impact, through release of greenhouse gases, is an overall increase in temperatures, he said.

It's not getting as cold at night as it did in earlier decades and there are fewer nights with frosts, a trend expected to continue into the future, Meehl said.

"A day so hot that it is experienced only once every 20 years would occur every three years by the middle of the century," under the mid-range projections of climate models, the report said.

Researchers can use computer models of climate to separate out cause and effect of this warming, he explained - looking at the effect of things like changes in solar radiation or volcanic eruptions - and the result is to attribute climate warming to the burning of fossil fuels.

Participating in the Climate Change Science Program are the Agency for International Development, Department of Agriculture, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, National Institutes of Health, Department of State, Department of Transportation, U.S. Geological Survey, Environmental Protection Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Science Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution.

[on_alert247]

Interesting article. Seems observations during the recent period of warming do not indicate such climate extremes; as supposed from historic records during the MWP. So the press story is hyping things up because that is what the climate models and AGW supporters say is supposed to happen.

http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/prometheus/archives/climate_change/001462what_the_ccsp_extrem.html

[aerhed]

Stay with it Jimbo. You''ve got more enrgy than me.
Seawhack, eat my hummer.
247, You remind me of Brad Pitt in 13 monkeys.

[jimfinster]

At last, we are getting a believable story: warmer weather generally increases precipitation, but also increases evaporation. Higher temperatures correspond to bigger floods, and bigger droughts.

Scientists 1, IPCC 0.

Posted by octavianfdlr



This article in no way contradicts IPCC work.

[octavianfdlr]

Now, at last, we are beginning to hear from the scientists, as opposed to the UN (United Nations) mouthpieces. Do you remember when the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Pannel on Climate Change) was predicting that "Global Warming" would cause widespread drought? (Perhaps you do not remember that widely disparaged "skeptics" like me pointed out that Europe had dried out during glacial maxima, and had become wetter as the ice retreated: data well known to climate scientists, if not to the UN IPCC.)

At last, we are getting a believable story: warmer weather generally increases precipitation, but also increases evaporation. Higher temperatures correspond to bigger floods, and bigger droughts.

Scientists 1, IPCC 0.

[jimfinster]

It''''s been shown repeatedly over the last six months that to use CO2 to control global temperature for even a few degrees we would have to remove ALL CO2 ending all life.

Posted by louiville2

Why do you keep posting this crapp? This statement is demonstrably false. No one has shown anything of the kind, except in your head of course.

[jimfinster]

jimfinster....HW Bush allowed Congress to place a moratorium on ALL energy resources..nuclear, drilling. refining..during his Presidency. Clinton re-affirmed the ban, as did W. We have had our energy throat cut for 30 years. And anytime someone talks about trying to drill, they get taken to court by Sierra Club, et al. Alternative energy is way in the future. Al Gore has started preaching again, while he scalps the public and tax payer with his rubbish and uses more energy per month in his "re-greened" mansion than 232 average Americans do. What a farce!! And, no, I''''m NOT a Repug and I don''''t work for any energy industry.

Posted by MommaKat64


You may not be a repub or work for an energy company, but you have been thoroughly deceived by both.


1) There is not "moratorium" on all new sources of energy. There is a hold on new drilling off the coasts, but this hold is both executive and legislative. The reason new refineries or nuclear plants have not been built is economics!

2) No drilling? Give me a break! Thousands of new oil and gas wells are drilled in the U.S. every year. The problem is that we peaked on our reserves 30 years ago, and are now chasing a diminishing resource.

[terrorislami]

30,000 SCIENTISTS SAYS BS TO GLOBAL WARMING GOREBAGE,,,


http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=30000+scientists sign petition global warming

30000 Scientists Sign Petition on Global Warming - by Diane Carol ...The claim that the debate about the severity and cause of global warming is.
www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId
=23387 - 28k - Cached - Similar pages

StreetInsider.com - ADVISORY: Dr. Arthur Robinson (OISM) to ...i think the whole global warming thing is a load of *** and people like al gore are ... Anyone who claims to have a science degree can sign this petition. ...
www.streetinsider.com/.../3654512.h
tml - 24k - Cached - Similar pages

30000 Scientists Sign Petition on Global Warming - Care2 News NetworkThe claim that the debate about the severity and cause of global warming is "settled science" has taken a beating with the release of the names of 31072 ...
www.care2.com/news/member/309734972
/783977 - 57k - Cached - Similar pages

Newsmax.com - 31000 Scientists Debunk Al Gore and Global WarmingMay 19, 2008 ... 31000 Scientists Debunk Al Gore and Global Warming ... (OISM) announced the results of a drive asking scientists to sign a petition stating: ...
www.newsmax.com/newsfront/al_gore_g
lobal_warming/2008/05/19/97307.html - 160k - Cached - Similar pages

[pianoman42]

Liouville. You have not answered Dr Oliver''s remarks. Please would you let us know your academic qualifications and give an accurate listing of any papers you cite. At present your arguments seem simplistic, like those of skeptics who say that GW theory is flawed because it predicts a hot Martian atmosphere.

[louiville2]

The only thing you have shown is your ability to throw out red herrings. That and a bad case of %u201CPhysician Heal Thyself%u201D hypocrisy. I%u2019ve read both side of this issue and the ones who are embellishing the most are the AGW proponents who are pushing hard to silence debate.

[louiville2]

You haven%u2019t read his paper have you? It''s only three not "many frequencies" in the IR band obviously we like to embellish don''t we? When you can''t attack the message attack the messenger. One other thing CO2 can only absorb availably energy most GW warm mongers show exponential heating curves it%u2019s actually natural log curve that%u2019s bounded to the available energy. So no runaway heat on of those DUH things.

[louiville2]

If ALL the greenhouse gases were stacked to the height of a ten story building, man''s contribution would be the height of the linoleum on the first floor. And you want to spend trillions of dollars when people are starving to try and cut that in half? Geniuses all!! It''s been shown repeatedly over the last six months that to use CO2 to control global temperature for even a few degrees we would have to remove ALL CO2 ending all life. H2O is the largest, Methane is more then 20 times the green house gas then CO2.

[louiville2]

The following is an excerpt from A Peer Reviewed paper by James A. Peden.

It sums up approximately how much CO2 GW forcing we can expect from CO2.

"the entire atmosphere isn''t composed of CO2. In fact the current concentration in the atmosphere is only about 380 parts per million. It''s what we call a "trace gas". So how much heat can our trace amounts of CO2 actually absorb? The math is simple: 8% ( or .08 ) x 380 PPM ( .000380 ) = .0000304, or about thirty millionths of the radiated heat.

Bear in mind, that''s the maximum permissible absorption by all of the CO2 presently in our atmosphere. Man''s percentage contribution is currently at about 3% of that. Now, let''s see what the "man-made" contribution ( 3% of the total ) is. Again, multiply .0000304 x .03 = .000000912 . Let''s round that up to the nearest single number and just say,

Man-made CO2 cannot physically absorb more than one-millionth
of the radiated heat (IR) passing upward through the atmosphere.%u201D

[terrorislami]

Posted by mh4cbs1 at 08:19 AM : Jun 20, 2008

30,000 scientists nancy,,,

[mh4cbs1]

terrorislami is a complete fool. An example of what happens when you become brain-dead from too much FOX News and zero real, factual information.

[hypnotoad72]

Back to exterminating humans, would you be willing to jump in the pod yourself so that others could enjoy more resources? Just a thought.

Posted by Wineberry
--------------------

I agree with your post; limiting children by law is not an unreasonable law, regardless of what crackpots will otherwise claim. They are indeed the same sorts of crackpots that say "Everyone else: die." Your response is very apt.

[hypnotoad72]

Last I heard on the radio, yesterday morning, Al Gore''s personal energy bills have risen 10%. Given that he can spend more in a month than most of us spend in ONE YEAR, never mind his apparent slowness on Apple''s board, maybe he thinks it''s not really a problem at all? Seems to be quite a hypocrite at this point that nobody should be taking him seriously anymore.

http://news.google.com/news?q=gore%2010%25&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wn

Maybe it IS a concern, but he''s one of the biggest blabbers but with his wealth, his inability to follow through is pretty obvious. Sorry.

[wineberry]

Extermination of massive numbers of humans will alleviate the shortages and maybe even lead tp a good - if lonely - life for a few elites. Do you think you will be one of them?

Posted by CBS_Oliver at 06:45 AM : Jun 20, 2008
_____________________________________________________
And how would you go about exterminating a massive number of humans? Put them all in a tank, close the doors and fill it with gas so that they all suffocated? How would you decide who lived and who got gased? Pretty heil er, um, well what''s his face attitude I think. How about instead of exterminating all these humans we do what China did and limit the number of children per family? I think for a long time that has been pretty effective for them, even though they are still one of the most populous countries in the world. Back to exterminating humans, would you be willing to jump in the pod yourself so that others could enjoy more resources? Just a thought.

[terrorislami]

more global warming gorebage,,,
Posted by terrorislami

It''s amazing how many qualified scientists are here on this blog. Can I please see your credentials?
Posted by o_nolan1 at 05:55 AM : Jun 20, 2008

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=30000+scientists sign petition global warming

30000 Scientists Sign Petition on Global Warming - by Diane Carol ...The claim that the debate about the severity and cause of global warming is.
www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=23387 - 28k - Cached - Similar pages

StreetInsider.com - ADVISORY: Dr. Arthur Robinson (OISM) to ...i think the whole global warming thing is a load of *** and people like al gore are ... Anyone who claims to have a science degree can sign this petition. ...
www.streetinsider.com/.../3654512.html - 24k - Cached - Similar pages

30000 Scientists Sign Petition on Global Warming - Care2 News NetworkThe claim that the debate about the severity and cause of global warming is "settled science" has taken a beating with the release of the names of 31072 ...
www.care2.com/news/member/309734972/783977 - 57k - Cached - Similar pages

Newsmax.com - 31000 Scientists Debunk Al Gore and Global WarmingMay 19, 2008 ... 31000 Scientists Debunk Al Gore and Global Warming ... (OISM) announced the results of a drive asking scientists to sign a petition stating: ...
www.newsmax.com/newsfront/al_gore_global_warming/2008/05/19/97307.html - 160k - Cached - Similar pages

[juwboy]

o_nolan1:

I''ve often wondered if any of the contributors with strong views on global warming could explain the mechanism for the absorption of heat by carbon dioxide.

[o_nolan1]

more global warming gorebage,,,

Posted by terrorislami

It''s amazing how many qualified scientists are here on this blog. Can I please see your credentials?