Monthly Archives: January 2019

A landmark study, published in The Lancet, calls for radical changes in human diet.  Current practices are shown to have catastrophic consequences of many kinds for both the planet and human populations.  “Currently, nearly a billion people are hungry and … Continue reading →

Evidence of extreme vulnerability of insect populations to climate change (The Guardian).  The number of studies assessing this vital issue is not large, “but those that do exist are deeply worrying…..We are essentially destroying the very life support systems that … Continue reading →

A major new study has details of the rising rate of ice loss from Antarctica (Washington Post).  The author of this study, Eric Rignot, is a veteran researcher in this specialty, whose views command the highest level of respect.  There … Continue reading →

East Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf is found to be at risk of melting.  The Ross is the largest of all shelves, buttressing glaciers that hold enough ice to raise sea level by 38 feet in the event of complete collapse.  … Continue reading →

There is an important new story in the news today, based on a short article written for the journal Science by four scientists who have pulled together all of the best available information about how the oceans have been warming … Continue reading →

Today, a change of pace.  There just isn’t much fresh material these days of the kind I like to pick stories from, which are preferably short and to the point with possibly wide interest.  Following are some longer things I … Continue reading →

US carbon emissions moved up sharply in 2018 for the second worst performance of the past twenty years.  This post has a chart of the four major contributing factors since 1990, each of which has had its own unique story … Continue reading →

New research improves our understanding of how heat is stored and transported within ocean basins.  One big takeaway is simply a confirmation of the fact that when we talk about how the planet is warming due to the greenhouse effect, … Continue reading →

Antarctic sea ice suffered a massive decline in December, leading to a record low on January 1.  Unlike the Arctic, a high melt-rate for sea ice has been unusual for Antarctic summers until just the last several years.  “Although it … Continue reading →

More of East Antarctica’s glaciers in the Totten area are found to be losing ice.  All of the melting comes from below, causing their surfaces to lose altitude year by year, as disclosed by satellite readings.  These losses were not … Continue reading →