that would be Climate Progress, because you get headlines like this -
Arctic Assessment bombshell: “Global sea level is projected to rise by 0.9–1.6 meter by 2100″
Quite regularly Climate Progress blogs about the really, civilization ending bad news. While we rage about what the crazy fucking Republicans are doing in WI or MI, Climate Progress reports that the global ecosystem is not waiting for us. Reading Climate Progress indicates to me that we are way beyond the climate tipping point:
Today's story continues:
A major new multi-country scientific assessment of the Arctic has concluded that on our current greenhouse gas emissions path, we face 3 to 5 feet of sea level rise — far greater than the 2007 IPCC warned of. This is fully consistent with several recent study (see “Sea levels may rise 3 times faster than IPCC estimated, could hit 6 feet by 2100“).
The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme — formed in 1991 to advise the eight Arctic countries on threats to the Arctic from pollution — has released the Executive Summary of their Snow, Water, Ice and Permaforst in the Arctic (SWIPA) assessment on their website [big PDF here]. SWIPA “brings together the latest scientific knowledge about the changing state of each component of the Arctic cryosphere.”
I've read these kind of projections in earlier stories. Here CP presents another major study adding more validity to the idea that we face bleak future before the end of the century.
Here are the “key findings” of this must-read warning to humanity:
The past six years (2005–2010 have been the warmest perio ever recorded in the Arctic Higher surface air temperature are driving changes in the cryosphere.
There is evidence that two components of the Arctic cryosphere – snow and sea ice are interacting with the climate system to accelerate warming.
These are the first two of fifteen bullet points.
The conclusions are most likely conservative:
How do we know the findings are conservative — underestimates of what is likely to happen? Consider this line from the report:
The climate models used for SWIPA do not include possible feedback effects within the cryosphere system that may release additional stores of greenhouse gases from Arctic environments.
You know all that methane stored in the permafrost and off the coast of Siberia.
And the American Republic can't get out of first gear when it comes to developing a significant program to halt green house gas emissions in large part because the Republican Party is dominated by climate change deniers.
Mother Earth is not going to wait for righty fools.
Link to the website I dread clicking on:
http://climateprogress.org/...