Climate change news - 05/27/2015

SLEEPING GIANT IN THE ARCTIC: Can Thawing Permafrost Cause Runaway Global Heating?

Is the Methane monster about to roar?

Cyrosat detects sudden ice loss in southern Antarctic peninsula

A recent acceleration in ice loss in a previously stable region of Antarctica has been detected by ESA’s ice mission.

The latest findings by a team of scientists from the UK’s University of Bristol show that with no sign of warning, multiple glaciers along the Southern Antarctic Peninsula suddenly started to shed ice into the ocean starting in 2009 at rate of about 60 cubic km each year.

This makes the region one of the largest contributors to sea-level rise in Antarctica, having added about 300 cubic km of water into the ocean in the past six years. Some glaciers along the coastal expanse are currently lowering by as much as four m each year.

GOCE detects gravity dip from ice loss

26 September 2014

Although not designed to map changes in Earth’s gravity over time, ESA’s extraordinary satellite has shown that the ice lost from West Antarctica over the last few years has left its signature.More than doubling its planned life in orbit, GOCE spent four years measuring Earth’s gravity in unprecedented detail.

Scientists are now armed with the most accurate gravity model ever produced. This is leading to a much better understanding of many facets of our planet – from the boundary between Earth’s crust and upper mantle to the density of the upper atmosphere.

The strength of gravity at Earth’s surface varies subtly from place to place owing to factors such as the planet’s rotation and the position of mountains and ocean trenches.

Changes in the mass of large ice sheets can also cause small local variations in gravity.

Will a 2015 Arctic sea ice melt season during an El Nino year shatter previous records?

Most glaciers in Mount Everest area will disappear with climate change – study

About 5,500 glaciers could disappear or drastically retreat by the end of the century with severe impacts on farming and hydropower, say scientists

Most of the glaciers in the Mount Everest region will disappear or drastically retreat as temperatures increase with climate change over the next century, according to a group of international researchers.

The estimated 5,500 glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region – site of Mount Everest and many of the world’s tallest peaks – could reduce their volume by 70%-99% by 2100, with dire consequences for farming and hydropower generation downstream, they said.

Climate change could shrink Mount Everest’s glaciers by 70 percent, study find

A file picture dated 14 September 2013 shows the 8,848 m (29,028 feet) high Mount Everest as seen from an aircraft over Nepal. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Exxon Shareholders to Vote on Climate Change, Fracking

Shareholders of big oil companies overwhelmingly rejected several environmental resolutions including proposals to put climate-change experts on their boards and set goals for greenhouse-gas emissions.

The votes at meetings of Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. shareholders on Wednesday were expected. Some of the ideas had lost badly at previous annual meetings.

Lower prices for crude have cut into the oil giants' profits. At the Exxon Mobil meeting in Dallas, CEO Rex Tillerson said the company is positioned to withstand ups and down in oil prices and give shareholders a good return on their money.

Russia: See EMERCOM chopper battle massive Siberian wildfire