Climate change makes the NZ mainstream - sort of

This morning the 5 am news carried a major item saying that John Kerry has given a major speech on climate change in Indonesia. By the time the main 6-9 am news program (when most peope are listening), came on this was dropped from the news broadcast (and we were back to parochial news). They did carry one item along the lines of the article below.

My partner's reaction was that it was like 'hearing that the world is at war'

Jet stream shift 'may change weather'

Research suggests the jet stream in the upper atmosphere which helps determine the weather over Northern Europe and North America may be changing.

Radio NZ,

16 February, 2014

The study shows the so-called jet stream has increasingly taken a longer, meandering path, possibly as a result of the recent warming of the Arctic, the BBC reports.

Scientists say the new has resulted in weather patterns remaining the same for more prolonged periods.

The work was presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Chicago.

The meandering jet stream has accounted for the recent stormy weather over the UK and the bitter winter storm in the US Mid-West remaining longer than it otherwise would have.

The jet stream is a high-speed air current in the atmosphere fuelled partly by the temperature differential between the Arctic and the mid-latitudes.

If the differential is large, the jet stream speeds up and ploughs through obstacles such as areas of high pressure that might be in its way. But if the temperature differential reduces because of a warming Arctic, the jet stream weakens and meanders every time it comes across an obstacle.

This results in weather patterns tending to becoming stuck over areas for weeks on end, and drives cold weather further south and warm weather further north.

Examples of the latter are Alaska and parts of Scandinavia, which have had exceptionally warm conditions this winter.

Professor Jennifer Francis of Rutgers University in New Jersey said it was too soon to tell whether recent patterns are due to natural variations or the result of man-made climate change.

She said the Arctic had been warming rapidly only for the past 15 years, so it is hard to get a clear signal from data over such a short time. "But as we have more data I do think we will start to see the influence of climate change," Prof Francis said.

This is the item that Radio New Zealand failed to carry on its main news program.

For all that it's not going to change a thing and words are chaep

Kerry: Climate change as dangerous as WMDs

US Secretary of State says scientific evidence of global warming due to greenhouse gas emissions is beyond doubt.

Al Jazeera

15 February, 2014

John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, has stressed the importance of tackling climate change in a speech in Indonesia, saying that it may be the world's "most fearsome" weapon of mass destruction.

Kerry, who delivered the speech on Sunday in the capital, Jakarta, spoke critically about climate change sceptics adding that everyone and every country must take responsibility and act immediately.

"We simply don't have time to let a few loud interest groups hijack the climate conversation," he said, referring to what he called "big companies" that "don't want to change and spend a lot of money" to act to reduce the risks.

He later singled out big oil and coal concerns as the primary offenders.

"The science is unequivocal, and those who refuse to believe it are simply burying their heads in the sand,'' Kerry said.

He added that 97 percent of scientists who weighed in on the issue agree that the phenomenon is real, and argued that the cost of inaction to environments and economies will far outweigh the expense of reducing greenhouse gasses.

The solution, Kerry said, was a new global energy policy that shifts reliance from fossil fuels to cleaner technologies.

He said that the US president, Barack Obama, was championing such a shift and encouraged others to appeal to their leaders to join.

He spoke in at the American Centre in Jakarta a day after winning an agreement with China to co-operate more closely in reducing the effects of climate change.

'Overwhelming scientific consensus'

Kerry arrived in Indonesia shortly after the US and China issued a joint statement on Saturday saying they had agreed on steps to carry out commitments to curb greenhouse gases that trap solar heat in the atmosphere.

The steps include reducing vehicle emissions, improving the energy efficiency of buildings and other measures, AP reported.

China and the US are the biggest sources carbon dioxide emissions and other gases that cause the atmosphere to trap solar heat and alter the climate.

Scientists warn such changes are already leading to drought, wildfires, rising sea levels, melting polar ice, animal extinctions and other extreme conditions.

The two governments will "contribute significantly to successful 2015 global efforts to meet this challenge," the statement said.

It cited the "overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change and its worsening impacts, and the related issue of air pollution from burning fossil fuels," and said the two countries recognise the urgent need for action.

Beijing and Washington launched the US-China Climate Change Working Group last year.

They promised progress in five areas - reducing vehicle emissions, advanced electric power grids, capturing and storing carbon emissions, gathering greenhouse gas data and building efficiency