Depopulation of the Americas by European colonization may have initiated the Little Ice Age

In a new study the removal by 1600 due to European introduced epidemics of 90% of the estimated pre-1492 population of 60.5 million in the Americas resulted in widespread landuse change which may have been the primary cause of lowered atmospheric CO2 decline which initiated the Little Ice Age.

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Europe’s Sentinel-3 global ocean-monitoring constellation in orbit

Sentinel-3B joins Sentinel-3A in Earth orbit. This constellation of satellites carry instruments to measure the temperature, colour and height of the sea surface as well as the thickness of sea ice.

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Rising seas will inundate coastal internet as soon as 2033

A recent analysis suggests that by the year 2033 more than 4,000 miles of buried fiber optic conduit will be underwater and more than 1,100 internet hubs will be surrounded by water.

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Latest research confirms methane leakages erase natural gas carbon advantage

Latest research supports the work many years ago of Robert Howarth at Cornell who argued that leakages and other abnormal emissions of methane during fracking and other oil and gas operations erased the carbon advantage of natural gas over coal.

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Major North Atlantic current is weakest in 1500 years

The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is an ocean current that redistributes heat globally and is the source of much of the ocean’s deep water. A recent study provides palaeo-oceanographic evidence that the AMOC has been anomalously weak since approximately 1850 CE compared with the preceding 1,500 years.

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Evidence for a slow down in the major North Atlantic current since 1950

The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) has a major impact on climate, yet its evolution during the industrial era is poorly known owing to a lack of direct current measurements. A recent article provides evidence for a weakening of the AMOC by around 15 per cent since the mid-twentieth century.

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Fungicides implicated in declining bumble bee populations

For much of the past 10 years beekeepers have been reporting annual hive losses of 30 percent or higher. Most research has focussed on pesticides, but a recent study of bumble bees in the U.S. has identified fungicides as a possible cause of bee decline.

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Frequency of lightning doubled over major shipping lanes

Lightning is an indicator of storm intensity. In a recent study 12 years of high-resolution global lightning stroke data from the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) was used to show that lightning density is doubled directly over major shipping lanes.

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Automated deforestation alerts using Landsat satellite imagery

The University of Maryland prepares a weekly set of deforestation alerts, called GLAD alerts, using Landsat imagery which identify 30-meter pixels that have recently been cleared. GLAD alerts are currently available for the 16 tropical countries including Brazil, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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First data available from new European climate-monitoring satellite

The first satellite images from the Sentinel-5 precursor (Senital-5P) were presented publicly December 1, 2017. The atmospheric concentration of sulphur dioxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane satellite captured by this satellite are freely accessible so that the data will aid not only researchers but also citizens via smartphone apps and internet services.

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Evidence for sea level rise of 17 meters in less than 350 years

During the last deglaciation there was several episodes of rapid and substantial sea level rise. A recent study has found that during one of these, sea level rose by about 17 meters over a period that does not exceed 350 years, but could be as low as a century.

Low cost sensor enables citizen scientists to measure and share urban air pollution data over the web

Based on the latest results from WHO air pollution is now the world’s largest single environmental health risk, linked to 12% of all global deaths. Citizen scientists can contribute to measuring air pollution using a low cost sensor measuring atmospheric particulate matter and share the measurements via open source geospatial web mapping software.

Correlation of temperature and CO2 for last 420,000 years from Vostok

EC Perspective: Accounting for 800,000 years of climate change

Approximately 800,000 years ago something changed in the Earth’s climate system that led to the climate then following a series of approximately 100,000 year cycles. Small, predictable changes in the Earth’s orbit about the Sun act as triggers for the glacial and interglacial periods, but other factors such as ice sheet volume, CO2 concentration, and biological feedback mechanisms are also involved.

US projected and actual CO2 emissions 2005 to 2017

Emissions from electric power generation decoupled from economic growth in US

Between 2005 and 2017 the U.S. economy as measured by real GDP expanded by about 20 %. Over this same period, emissions from power generation dropped which is evidence of a decoupling between economic growth and power generation.

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