It’s official: global warming could get worse – almost unimaginably worse. Conditions on planet Earth mean that in theory, at least, there could be a runaway greenhouse effect. There is already a runaway greenhouse effect on the planet Venus
There have been dire warnings about melting glaciers in the Himalayas leading to falling flows in some of Asia’s major’s rivers. Now scientists are turning some of their original research on its head. The river systems fed by the glaciers of the Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau are a vital source of water, food and energy for hundreds of millions of people downstream.
The Arctic permafrost thaws each year, but – to the surprise of scientists from Denmark – in some areas it is not releasing the carbon dioxide it contains nearly as fast as they had expected.
Australia has been warned of the rising threat of dengue fever and heat stroke deaths in the wake of a study that found climate change is aiding the spread of infectious diseases around the world. The report, partly-funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and published in Science, found that climate change is already abetting diseases in wildlife and agriculture, with humans at heightened risk from dengue fever, malaria and cholera.
Consider it a taste of the future: the fire, smoke, drought, dust, and heat that have made life unpleasant, if not dangerous, from Louisiana to Los Angeles. New records tell the tale: biggest wildfire ever recorded in Arizona (538,049 acres), biggest fire ever in New Mexico (156,600 acres), all-time worst fire year in Texas history (3,697,000 acres).
- By Tim Radford
Some recent fires in the forests of Alaska have been the worst for 10,000 years, researchers say – and they could happen elsewhere in this warming world.
- By Kieran Cooke
A warming climate will play havoc with energy supplies and food for millions of people in West Africa, as well as putting industrial growth in doubt.
- By Paul Brown
Atmospheric rivers, airborne corridors of concentrated moisture which carry huge volumes of water, are set to get wider and longer, causing more frequent and catastrophic floods as the atmosphere warms.
- By Tim Radford
Scientists have identified the problem that commercial hatcheries must overcome to keep baby oysters alive in increasingly acid seas ? but wild oysters are still under threat
- By Tim Radford
Clear and compelling evidence shows that winter snows vital for tourism and agriculture are in rapid decline in Southern California.
- By Alex Kirby
Sea-level rise may be slow to show its hand but once it really starts, researchers say, it will keep going for centuries, with baleful effects. For each degree by which the Earth warms, they believe, sea levels will probably rise by over two metres.
- By Tim Radford
Ocean acidification will make coral skeletons more feeble and coral reefs more vulnerable to battering by the seas – but it may not kill the corals, according to new research from the University of California, Santa Cruz.Two important habitats for marine life, coral reefs and eelgrass meadows, will survive climate change but it will make them vulnerable.
- By Tim Radford
The bad habits of the locals have been blamed for the decline of Lake Chad in Africa but it was pollution from people far away that caused rain patterns to shift.
- By Tim Radford
Some parts of the world face frequent catastrophic floods by the end of this century while other regions could get less hazardous.
- By Tim Radford
Work by 100 scientists over five years reveal that more than half the species studied are in danger because of a warming planet.
- By Paul Brown
Over 40 years cloud cover has been steadily falling in Spain providing more sunshine but that is a threat as well as a bonus.
- By Paul Brown
A vast area of Canada, from southern forests to the Arctic Sea is administered by a weak government, but is threatened by warming and a rush to exploit precious minerals.
- By Kieran Cooke
There’s strong evidence that with rising temperatures and reductions in ice cover, the Arctic is seeing a spike in the rate of various diseases.
- By Tim Radford
Estimating how alterations in rainfall patterns will affect tree growth in different regions is a puzzling business. Nobody knows for certain what climate change will bring but on the basis of the latest research by plant ecologists, one thing has been established: there will be surprises.
- By Paul Brown
Forecasting is still difficult but it looks like the world will become a more stormy place in the years ahead. More intense thunderstorms combined with damaging winds are expected to occur because of climate change, according to speakers at the seventh European Conference on Severe Storms being held in Helsinki, Finland.
- By Tim Radford
That jet-propelled cephalopod of the seas, the squid, could be in for a hard time. As atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rise, so the oceans become more acid, and this is not good news for one of the most important animals of the ocean ecosystem.
- By Alex Kirby
Leading climate scientist highlights the importance of regional data in understanding the effects of global climate change.
The majority of the 9 billion people on Earth will live with severe pressure on fresh water within the space of two generations as climate change, pollution and over-use of resources take their toll, 500 scientists have warned.