Methane breakdown in Gulf suddenly 3,000 times slower

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

Despite a bloom in methane-consuming bacteria – and despite us saying last month all BP methane had been eaten – in fact the spilled gas is still present in large quantities, underwater.

Climate trend: weaker Atlantic trade winds?

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

Over the past 60 years the easterly trade winds over the tropical Atlantic Ocean have decreased in strength, say Hiroki Tokinaga and Shang-Ping Xie of the University of Hawai. The pattern suggests a permanent ‘Atlantic El Niño’, changed precipitation over … Continue reading →

Saudi Arabia may have 40 percent less oil

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

Hansen: paleoclimate shows 2 degrees climate target leads to multiple meters of SLR

Posted on February 7, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

Comparing previous interglacial periods, like the Eemian, to the present geological epoch, the Holocene, shows slight average temperature rises are strongly magnified around the poles. Even under the 450 Scenario 21st century sea level rise could reach multiple meters. “Current … Continue reading →

2010 Amazon drought record: 8 Gt extra CO2

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

The 2005 Amazon drought was unprecedented. It was thought to occur just once in a century. But last year was even worse, leading to massive biomass degradation and CO2 emissions. And yet another 2010 climate record.

Arctic sea ice attacked from two sides

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

Climate change is not only causing the Arctic sea ice to melt because it heats the atmosphere above it, but also through heat advection, by warming ocean currents that make contact with the ice.

Geoengineering La Niña

Posted on January 30, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

According to the WMO the current La Niña episode will continue to exist for at least another 2-4 months. Other sources state it may last until 2012. This La Niña could be the strongest in decades and is likely to … Continue reading →

Greenland lost record-breaking 0.5 trillion tons of ice in 2010 – to surface melting only

Posted on January 23, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

In 2010 Greenland lost more surface ice mass than in any other year since modern observations began, researchers of City College New York reported on Friday.

NASA GISS leading dataset shows 2010 temperature record

Posted on January 22, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

With all 2010 data collected and analysed, research groups are bombarding reports about climate record breaking year 2010.

WMO confirms 2010 hottest year

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

2010 was 0.01 degrees Celsius hotter than the number two hottest year 2005 and 0.02 degrees Celsius hotter than the third hottest year, 1998. Having combined the datasets of Met Office’s Hadley Centre/Climatic Research Unit (HadCRU), NOAA’s National Climatic Data … Continue reading →

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Author Archives: Rolf Schuttenhelm