All efforts to save the Mississippi river delta and the bayous, barrier islands and near-sea-level marshes of the Gulf of Mexico coastline will fail if sea level rise caused by warming oceans doesn't stop. Katrina and the BP oil spill are the first 2 catastrophes of many that can be expected as the delta drowns by 2100.
Above, modified satellite images show the river's delta plain as it appears today (top) compared with how much of the region might be submerged by 2100 due to a combination of trapped sediment and rising seas.
Channelization of the Mississippi starved the delta of sediment, allowing large areas to slowly sink into the Gulf. Now, sea level rise caused by glacial melting and thermal expansion of sea water is rapidly removing large areas of coastline.
The hottest January through July on record has been accompanied by non-stop catastrophes, but the House and the Senate have done absolutely nothing to slow or stop greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change. The White House staff, living in an air conditioned bubble, has been oblivious to the catastrophes but exquisitely sensitive to every pin prick of criticism from "the professional left".
The delta, doesn't stand a chance. It's drowning. Good natured people may try to save the delta from BP's oil, but the water continues to rise as the oceans warm. By the time senators, congressmen, presidential advisers and DC pundits notice the rising waters and rising temperatures it will be too late. Four degrees Fahrenheit global temperature increase will happen if we begin cutting greenhouse gas emissions tomorrow. Despite catastrophes across the globe this summer, there has been no discussion in "the village" of the need to pass climate legislation. What will it take for them to take climate change seriously?
The highest temperatures ever measured in Moscow were associated with devastating fires across much of Russia.
Dr Jeff Masters estimates conservatively that 15,000 people have died from the effects of the heat and pollution.
The Great Russian Heat Wave of 2010 brought temperatures of 37°C (99°F) to Moscow today, and smog and smoke from wildfires blanketed the city for a sixth straight day. Air pollution levels were 2 - 3 times the maximum safe level today, and peaked on Saturday, when when carbon monoxide hit 6.5 times the safe level. The death toll from heat and air pollution increased to approximately 330 people per day in Moscow in recent days, according to the head of the Moscow health department. Yevgenia Smirnova, an official from the Moscow registry office, said excess deaths in Moscow in July averaged 155 per day, compared to 2009. The heat wave began on June 27. These grim statistics suggest that in Moscow alone, the Great Russian Heat Wave of 2010 has likely killed at least 7,000 people so far. A plot of the departure of July 2010 temperatures from average (Figure 1) shows that the area of Russia experiencing incredible heat is vast, and that regions southeast of Moscow have the hottest, relative to average. Moscow is the largest city in Russia, with a population just over ten million, but there are several other major cities in the heat wave region. These include Saint Petersburg, Russia's 2nd most populous city (4.6 million), and Nizhny Novgorod, Russia's 5th most populous city (1.3 million people.) Thus, the Russian population affected by extreme heat is at least double the population of Moscow, and the death toll in Russia from the 2010 heat wave is probably at least 15,000, and may be much higher.
Moscow recorded multiple record high temperatures in a heat wave unprecedented in 1000 years
NASA Imagery shows fires around Moscow.
Figure 3 shows that through the first seven months 2010 is warmer than prior warm years. 2010 is +0.08°C (0.15°F) warmer than 2005, the prior warmest year.
Global temperatures have been rising rapidly since the late 1970s.
Most of the heating caused by greenhouse gases has been gone into warming the oceans. Warmer oceans provide more water vapor to the atmosphere.
This summer's weather catastrophes are the result of much warmer than normal sea surface temperatures in the Indian and Atlantic oceans, combined with the cooling in the eastern Pacific caused by La Nina, a cyclical cooling along the equator from the coast of South America to the central Pacific ocean.
Exceptionally hot water in the Indian ocean has evaporated extra amounts of water vapor into the atmosphere that has been blown by prevailing winds over south Asia. That hot, wet atmosphere has caused a catastrophic monsoon.
Pakistan flooding destroys villages, Pamir Times.
Troops in China trying to rescue landslide victims.
Catastrophic landslide in China.
The intense monsoon has led to a record slow start to the northern hemisphere hurricane season. La Nina strongly depresses hurricanes in the Pacific because it brings cool equatorial water and dry subsiding air to the tropical Pacific. La Nina events and strong monsoons can also lead to late starts to the Atlantic hurricane season because strong uplift over south Asia can lead to dry subsiding air over the Atlantic. However, the last strong La Nina year, 1998, the Atlantic hurricane season became very active in September and October. That pattern will likely be repeated this year.
Record warm temperatures continue in the main development region for hurricanes in the Atlantic ocean. The Gulf of Mexico is hot. Conditions in the Gulf are ripe for very destructive hurricanes in September and October.
And in the Arctic, ice, approaching record low volumes, is shattering like a dropped mirror, while Washington goes on vacation.