Without Adaption Comes Extinction

TIME magazine's article from 2008 still holds a lot of truth about animals being impacted by climate change. The article discusses how while humans are being intensely affected, we can more easily adapt. Animals, though, cannot so easily adapt quickly. If an animals habitat is changed as rapidly as we're seeing they do not have time to adapt themselves and may not be able to migrate, instead they become extinct. Now when protecting animal's habitats, conservationists need to be sure that their habitat stays in the condition that is best for those animals.
To read to full article here!

Denmark hopes to abandon coal, oil, and gas by 2050!

Denmark is currently using renewable sources for about 23% of the countries energy consumption. Ambitiously, it hopes to be 100% reliant on renewable energy by 2050. The country has excellent conditions for wind farms, and is in the process of setting up a 600-megawatt wind farm between themselves, Germany, and Sweden. They are confident that they will be able to reach their goal, saying the only difficulty will be in regards to transportation, but are currently working on means of electric storage from wind turbines. To read more about Denmark's goal's and their process towards that goal, click here!

Federal Report on Climate Change

A report that scientists and government officials have been collaborating on since 2012 was rereleased having been further reviewed since January. The report discusses the impacts that the United States will feel as a result of climate change regionally and at the state level. This report was written in simple language so that it was more accessible to people without scientific background. While I do not have the report, I have linked here an article from the Boston Globe that discussed more about this report and what people are saying about it.

What is American in for?

Today The Guardian opened up a feed for comments after the US government released a report that says we are already feeling the effects of climate change (polar vortex anyone?). They've asked people to tweet, email, or post right on the feed to "join the debate". If we're already experiencing the effects, how can it be called a debate? There is nothing more to debate, we know that climate change is happening and we know that it's already having impacts on the world. It's interesting and a bit frustrating that people keep using the word debate when they talk about climate change. The debate is no longer if it is happening or not, rather what we should be doing about it.
If you'd like to read the comments and perhaps send your own it, you can see the feed here!

Unplug Unused Appliances

I'm all about finding ways we, the little people, can do things to help fight climate change! We know it's happening but until the government asks us to vote on something, all we can do is take small steps and advocate for change. I grew up being told to always unplug my fans and other appliances after I'm finished using them. Here is a link to a list of appliances YOU can unplug when you're not using them! Basically anything that doesn't need to be running, like your fridge or freezer! This not only reduces the amount of energy you're using, helping the environment (every little bits counts) as well as can help reduce your electric bill, even just a bit (once again, every little bit counts). So check it out, and see what you can start unplugging to help the Earth and your wallet!

Frozen Niagara Falls

As you might imagine, the freezing of this massive amount of water doesn't happen often! With that much force, it would take a lot of cold. Since we've been experiencing a polar vortex, cold is not something the Northeast is lacking. To see more photos and a video about the more current freezing click here!

Figure 1: Niagara Falls in 1911
Image Source: http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/45313585.jpg
This image shows Niagara Falls in 1911, when it became partially frozen due to the extreme cold temperatures.

Figure 2: Niagara Falls in 2014

Image Source: http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/v2_article_large/public/2014/01/09/niagara-falls_3.jpg

This image shows the Falls, this past January, 2014, when it partially froze. 

Scientific Poster Presentation Checklist

"Assess Your Poster." Assess Your Poster. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. <http://www.tc.umn.edu/~schne006/tutorials/poster_design/assess_01.htm>

Here is a checklist that was created to help you evaluate your poster. It is set up in the form of questions, asking if your poster visually appealing, delivers the message efficiently, and will attract people to want to see it. By going through the 18 points you should be able to see if your poster is lacking in any area, or if it has too much and needs to be toned down. By asking questions it's forcing you to take on a different perspective and evaluate your poster as if it were someone else's poster that you were looking at.

Could Climate Change Bring More Malaria?

In an article from FoxNews, it's speculated that with the increase in temperature at high altitudes in parts of Africa and South America, malaria cases could increase. Because the mosquitos and parasites that carry and spread the disease thrive in warm, wet places, there is potential for an increased affected area. With temperatures rising and the infectious insects spreading out, the death toll related to malaria could double.
To read the entire article click here!

Tipping Points

Tipping points sorted by their likelihood of occurring within the next few decades.

Very Likely:

Increased production and emission of carbon dioxide will continue to be a major cause in the increase of the Earth’s temperature and climate changes. If we don’t start cutting emissions now, the effects could become more devastating.

Somewhat Likely:

Having ice-free Arctic summers could start a waterfall effect as higher temperatures could melt permafrost, releasing carbon dioxide and causing further warming and melting.

Not Very Likely:

The runaway greenhouse effect.

One version of the feedback is described as water vapor accumulating in the atmosphere as it warms. The warmer the atmosphere, the more water vapor. The more water vapor that accumulates, the more heat gets trapped, and the temperature continues to rise. This feedback would continue uncontrollably until the oceans have evaporated.

Another version would be that as snow and ice accumulate over the Earth, more and more sunlight is being reflected back into space. This causes a cooling, resulting in more snow and ice, until the entire Earth is covered and becomes frozen.

To read more check out these articles:

• Tipping Points Within Our Lifetime
• Do Global Climate Tipping Points Exist?

New York Begins to Prep for Future

In this Huffington Post article, we learn that New York's largest utility company, Consolidated Edison, is now taking steps to prepare for years more of the crazy weather we've experienced the past few years. It seems that the damage sustained from Hurricane Sandy was the last straw, and the company is taking steps to prepare to extreme weather and the possibility of a rise in sea levels. They plan to collaborate with other companies to create long-term solutions, and believe that more companies will join them in their shift.
Ready the article here!

Antartica's Ross Sea could soon be ICE FREE!

In an article in Science Daily Professor Walker Smith of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science is suggesting that from evidence in a current study, the Ross Sea in Antarctica will lose a significant amount of ice by 2050. Smith explains that this not only has implications for the animals that live on that ice and in the water, but for the entire food chain and ecosystem, all the way down to the phytoplankton. 
Read the story here!

Dendroclimatology

Dendroclimatology is the process of using tree rings to determine the past climate of the Earth. Scientists look at width to determine if the climate then fostered favorable conditions for growth. Scientists also looked at density, which can give better data than ring width. Tree rings have many advantages as climate proxies. Because tree’s have rings that are consistent markers of time, it is fairly easy to get precise dates. Furthermore, because tree rings respond to more than just temperature, they can be used to determine other aspects of past climate as well. Scientists collect tree rings, often using a handheld device, before bringing it into a lab to study and test. Scientists are able to determine things such as droughts, volcanic eruptions, and of course temperature.

To read more check out the wikipedia page here or this interesting case study!

What is Paleoclimatology?

Paleoclimatology is the study of the Earth’s past climates. While we have temperature records for several decades into the past, the Earth has been around and thriving for millions of years. Before we had thermometers and other measures to collect data about our climate, there was no way of recording temperature, weather, or climate. Thankfully, scientists have been able to obtain proxy records (approximate records of climate) from the Earth itself. By examining tree rings, ice cores, coral reefs, and the sediment at the bottom of bodies of water scientists can find out a lot about what was happening on the Earth thousands of years ago. Holli riebeek related paleoclimatology to a crime scene and how detectives put clues and pieces of evidence together (Paleoclimatology: Introduction, 2005). Scientists take clues from what they discover about the past and piece together the Earth’s past climate.

Why would we want to know about the Earth’s climate thousands of years ago? Knowing about the past and how the Earth has experienced climate previously is instrumental in figuring out where our Earth is headed in the future. Climate change is happening, fast, and by looking into the past scientists are able to see if there are trends, or patterns that we may be falling into. It can also help us estimate how much of human activity is effecting climate change, and how much could be just natural.

To read all of Holli Riebeek’s Paleoclimatology: Introduction click here!

Fixing the Communications Failure

These questions address the topics discussed in D. Kahan's Fixing the Communications Failure article.

• What is cultural cognition?
• Cultural cognition is the term for influence of an individual’s or group’s values on risk perception. For example, a person’s perception may be swayed in their favor regardless of validity. Image two people watching their favorite teams in an important game. Each might “see” more violations being done to their group/by their opposing group, even though they are watching the same game.
• How does protective cognition manifest itself in the context of climate change science?
• In regards to climate change, cultural cognition and protective cognition can cause people to manipulate information in support of their own previous beliefs as well as altogether dismiss ideas because they would hinder or negatively affect something that they enjoy. People put up blocks to what they don’t want to hear, and weigh information that supports their ideas more heavily.
• Explain the two specific techniques suggested for improving scientific communication.
• Two methods of improving scientific communication are to present information that affirms beliefs rather than threaten them, and to present that, correct, information in a variety of ways from a diverse set of experts. This means that information should be presented by experts from all fields, so that people can relate and trust them, as well as see that there are many people who are all on the same page. The information they present should be presented in a way that people can have relevancy too and in a way that people do not feel threatened. When people’s ways of life are threatened they reject those notions, but if they feel that the information can enhance or fit into their current ways/beliefs they are more likely to accept it.
• What, unfortunately, is the reality of most scientific communication.
• What usually has and does happen is that when information is given, it is given in full force out to the public. This means that regardless of validity, it has the potential to go against someones current views, hinder their current ways, and people will reject the information.

Seen Something, Saying Something

Micheal Mann, who wrote the article If You See Something, Say Something is a scientist whose work has been sucked into the current “climate wars”, as he put it. James Hansen is another scientist who has protested and become an activist for reducing our carbon emissions. Stephen Schneider, now passed, had quite a different than Hansen. He believed that scientists should not be compromising their objectivity by becoming involved in the political aspects of climate change.

Though these three scientists have different ways of getting their knowledge about climate change out, they have all “seen something” and have or are “saying something”. They are all on the same page about the urgency of climate change and the need to do something before it’s too late.