Washington Examiner (February 28, 2007) circ. 260,188 Los Angeles Times (February 27, 2007) circ. 851,832 Washington Post (February 27, 2007) circ. 724,242 San Francisco Chronicle (February 27, 2007) circ. 398,246 Baltimore Examiner (February 27, 2007) circ. 250,000 plus Seattle Post-Intelligencer, San Francisco Examiner, Anchorage Daily News, Herald-Sun, Times-Picayune and 26 other publications
By Seth Borenstein (Associated Press)
Forecasters warned Tuesday that a La Nina weather pattern -- the nasty flip side of El Nino -- is brewing, bringing with it the threat of more hurricanes for the Atlantic. . . . Historically, El Ninos and La Ninas are difficult to forecast, said National Center for Atmospheric Research senior scientist Michael Glantz, who studies how they effect sic humans. "I don't see it as a useful forecast," Glantz said. "Every event since they've been looking at El Nino ... surprised scientists."
. . . Using a Piper Cheyenne 2 airplane complete with flares and probes on the wings, pilot Jody Fischer and co-pilot Herridge fly over the Wind River Mountains and run cloud-seeding missions with hope of producing additional snowfall, which would increase the winter snowpack and improve the runoff in the spring. . . . The collected data is sent to NCAR, or the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., where it is checked and evaluated. "They help us build a complete picture of what's happening," Boe said. "They analyze the data and compare it to data previously collected. They make sure everything is going how it is supposed to."
Boulder Daily Camera (February 25, 2007) circ. 33,000
By Stacey Edwards
. . . The workshop is designed to encourage sixth- through eighth-grade girls to study math and science; to increase their awareness of non-traditional jobs for women; and to introduce them to women who work with math and science every day. "Research shows that it is in middle school where girls lose interest in math and science," said Rita Johnson, co-chair for the event. "The idea is to provide them with role models and to give them an incentive." This year's workshop brought female presenters from Seagate Technology, Ball Aerospace, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and more.
National Public Radio (February 24, 2007) DMA: 0 06:00 AM - 07:00 AM
By Sadie Babtis
00:45:51 Plant Migration: Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research tell us that the western part of the United States is feeling the effects of climate change more than the East right now. And certainly one part of the West where changes are becoming more tangible is the state of Arizona. As Sadie Babits reports researchers are looking at the region's archeological past to help understand the new present and the likely future. 00:54:38
FOXNews.com (February 20, 2007) CNN.com (Atlanta, Georgia) (February 16, 2007) MSNBC.com (Redmond, Washington) (February 15, 2007) circ. 2,400,000 Detroit Free Press (February 15, 2007) circ. 345,861 San Jose Mercury News (February 15, 2007) circ. 274,382 plus Seattle Times, KOMOTV.com (Seattle), Arizona Daily Star, and several other publications
Seth Borenstein (Associated Press)
It may be cold comfort during a frigid February, but last month was by far the hottest January ever. The broken record was fueled by a waning El Niño and a gradually warming world, according to U.S. scientists who reported the data Thursday. . . . Temperature records break regularly with global warming, [Kevin] Trenberth said, but “with a little bit of El Niño thrown in, you don’t just break records, you smash records.”
The board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the nation's leading general science organization, yesterday issued a consensus statement declaring global climate change "a growing threat to society." . . . Susanne Moser, a research scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said the statement by the society reflected scientists' increasing focus on the question of global warming. "In some sense, it's a continuation of the confirming and reaffirming and underlining of the consensus of mainstream science on climate change," Moser said. "It's really strengthening the case and political momentum" for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
By Kevin Trenberth (National Center for Atmospheric Research)
The work of science is sometimes done late at night in crowded conference rooms. But the last step leading up to the recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was just that sort of conference-room science. "Warming of the climate system is unequivocal" and is "very likely" due to human activities - the key conclusions of the Summary for Policy Makers - were approved by the 300-some representatives from 113 nations in Working Group I, which studies the science of climate change and the role of humans in it. The summary was approved in the early-morning hours of Feb. 2 after four days of intense negotiations in Paris. A full report that's the basis for the summary was drafted by 154 lead authors and more than 450 contributing authors and runs to about 900 pages. As one of about 30 lead authors attending the meeting, I found the experience both exhilarating and grueling.
San Francisco Chronicle (February 18, 2007) circ. 398,246
By Jane Kay
New maps show that neighborhoods and roads in many cities near the San Francisco Bay shoreline would be under water if global warming causes tides to rise as much as 3 feet in the coming decades, and officials say regions face key decisions about where people will be able to live and build. . . . But few of California's coastal cities and counties have taken action to prepare for rising tides, said Susanne Moser, a research scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., who surveyed 300 planners, public works engineers and other officials from city and county governments last year.
Boulder Daily Camera (February 18, 2007) circ. 33,000
By Jennifer Platte
Timothy Killeen, director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, for his contributions to interferometer design, and for measurement and modeling of the properties and dynamics of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere.
00:11:49 By the light of day, it seems unbelievable that 135 people actually survived the disaster. Tragically, ten people did not, including the pilot. Accidents like this are studied at NCAR. Scientists routinely fly planes into thunderstorms to find and define the breaking point -- the moment when a routine storm becomes a potential killer. Tenny Lindholm hopes a new system that displays real-time weather images in the cockpit may help prevent disasters like flight 1420. 00:14:49
National Public Radio (February 17, 2007) DMA: 0 06:00 AM - 07:00 AM
00:11:06 Climate contest: Richard Branson, head of Virgin Records and Virgin Atlantic Airways, is offering a contest called the Virgin Earth Challenge to fix global warming. I; J. Craig Venter, geneticist, discusses the challenge. I; John Latham, National Center for Atmospheric Research, talks about global warming and his potential plan. I; Klaus Lackner, Columbia University, speaks about carbon dioxide emissions. Emily Taylor reporting. 00:16:46
Boulder Daily Camera (February 16, 2007) circ. 33,000
By Todd Neff
Average temperatures in the western United States have risen 2 degrees since the mid-1970s — twice as fast as the average global rate of warming, according to work by Boulder scientist Henry Diaz. . . . Kevin Trenberth, head of the climate-analysis section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, said in an e-mail that Diaz's results are not surprising . . . . NCAR scientist Claudia Tebaldi, who works with climate models to predict regional temperature variation, said Diaz's findings are consistent with her research on projections of future heat waves. "The western part of the United States is always warming much more than the rest," she said.
Some experts are proposing radical ideas to save us from disastrous climate change. But would they work? Professors John Latham and Stephen Salter have designed a fleet of yachts that would pump fine particles of sea-water into clouds, thickening them to reflect more of the Sun's rays. Here, Professor Latham talks about the proposal. . . . Professor John Latham is an atmospheric physicist at the University of Manchester & NCAR, Colorado . . .
Orlando Sentinel (February 14, 2007) circ. 391,100 Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) (February 14, 2007) circ. 250,782 The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, California) (February 14, 2007) circ. 39,880
By Michael Cabbage
There's little doubt in Kevin Trenberth's mind that Earth's rising temperatures are causing more intense Atlantic hurricane seasons. . . .Trenberth, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, was the lead author of a chapter in the new report dealing with hurricane activity. His position is based on weather observations from recent years and simple logic.
Star-Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota) (February 13, 2007) circ. 330,000 Union Leader (Manchester, New Hampshire) (February 13, 2007) circ. 84,855 Los Angeles Times (February 8, 2007) circ. 851,832
By Jonah Goldberg
Public policy is all about trade-offs. Economists understand this better than politicians because voters want to have their cake and eat it too, and politicians think whatever is popular must also be true. Economists understand that if we put a chicken in every pot, it might cost us an aircraft carrier or a hospital. We can build a hospital, but it might come at the expense of a little patch of forest. We can protect a wetland, but that will make a new school more expensive. . . . Jerry Mahlman of the National Center for Atmospheric Research speculated in Science magazine that "it might take another 30 Kyotos over the next century" to beat back global warming.
Snow - if you can still call this hard and dirty stuff snow - has covered many of Denver's streets, yards and sidewalks for 55 days as of today, the third-longest period on record, according to the National Weather Service. . . . The city's second-longest record for snow cover, 60 consecutive days, was set in the winter of 1913-14, said Matt Kelsch, a meteorologist with the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. . . . Denver's longest stretch of snow cover was 63 days in 1983-1984, Kelsch said.
Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey) (February 12, 2007) circ. 398,329 Jersey Journal (Jersey City, New Jersey) (February 12, 2007) circ. 26,667
By Kitta MacPherson
A Columbia University geoscientist who is working on a secretive, controversial energy project in the Arizona desert may be a front-runner in a new scientific race that will bestow $25million on the person who finds a way to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. . . . No such carbon-capturing technology yet exists. . . . "I see no evidence that a quantifiably acceptable solution or pathway has been identified," said Jerry Mahlman, the former director of the federally funded Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at Princeton University. "It's not what you say, it's what you can do. And at the moment, you can't do a lot."
Washington Times (February 12, 2007) circ. 100,603 Chicago Sun-Times (February 11, 2007) circ. 432,230
By Mark Steyn
. . . And now Jerry Mahlman of the National Center for Atmospheric Research says "it might take another 30 Kyotos" to halt global warming: 30 x $397 billion is . . . er, too many zeroes for my calculator.
So, faced with a degree rise in temperature, we could destroy the planet's economy, technology, communications and prosperity. And ruin the lives of millions of people.
. . . Ms. Pelosi spoke along with four climate scientists who worked for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United Nations-sponsored group that issued its latest report last week. The witnesses were Susan Soloman, a senior scientist at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration; Richard Alley, a professor of geosciences at Pennsylvania State University; and Kevin Trenberth and Gerald Meehl, both of the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
Wall Street Journal (February 9, 2007) circ. 2,049,786
By Sharon Begley
. . . Starting with the first report of the U.N.-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 1990, critics have called its projections foolishly apocalyptic. Some earlier reports did miss the mark on a few counts, but not in the way the "realists" contend. In some cases, the reality of climate change has been even worse than the alarming forecasts. . . . The models fall short in their representation of ice streams, rivers of ice that (despite being solid) flow from ice sheets out to sea. The streams have been speeding up, carrying ice to the ocean more quickly than expected. "There has been a revolution in our knowledge of how major ice sheets respond to climate change," says Kevin Trenberth of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colo. "This isn't incorporated fully into the models, but observations show [the response is] happening, and faster than expected."
Not enough evidence exists that humans are responsible for global warming, so current laws should not be changed to limit greenhouse gas emissions, critics of a global climate change report told a House panel Thursday.
. . . Rohrabacher said another scientist testifying at the hearing, Kevin E. Trenberth of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, acknowledged that a graph he used in his testimony demonstrates an upward trend in temperature, but does not make clear that the starting point of 1850 was at the very end of a 500-year cooling period, a fact Trenberth readily admitted.
USA Today (February 9, 2007) circ. 2,272,815 BBCNews.com (February 9, 2007) The Hindu (Chennai, India) (February 9, 2007) circ. 900,000 Washington Post (Feburary 9, 2007) circ. 724,242 Toronto (Canada) Star (February 9, 2007) circ. 464,838 plus Baltimore Sun, China Daily (Bejing), International Herald Tribune (Neuilly, France), CBSNews.com, ABCNews.com and 133 other publications
By Tariq Panja (Associated Press)
. . . Experts agreed the challenge is difficult, saying no carbon capturing technology exists. Scientists in Scandinavia have started to safely bury CO2 emissions before they reach the atmosphere, but no one has captured them after they are released. "I see no evidence that a quantifiably acceptable solution or pathway has been identified," said Jerry Mahlman, the former head of the United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. "It's not what you say, it's what you can do and at the moment you can't do a lot."
Boulder researcher Susan Solomon defended her stance on human-caused climate change amid challenges - including a question about her scientific credibility - from House Republicans at a hearing Thursday. . . . Two other Boulder scientists also testified. Gerald A. Meehl and Kevin E. Trenberth, both of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, helped write the climate report.
San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, California) (February 9, 2007) circ. 398,246
By Zachary Coile
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi used the bully pulpit of her new position Thursday to pressure fellow lawmakers to get legislation to combat global warming ready for a vote this summer. In a highly unusual move for a speaker, the San Francisco Democrat appeared as a witness before the House Science and Technology Committee along with scientists who co-wrote the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, which warns of dire consequences if the world does not rein in greenhouse gases. . . . Kevin Trenberth, head of climate analysis at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, called the assessment a "diagnosis of the vital signs of the Earth."
"What we have found is that the planet is running a fever, so to speak, and the prognosis is that it's apt to become much worse," Trenberth said.
New Scientist (London, UK) (February 9, 2007) circ. 147,278
. . . Londoners, for example, care less about average sea levels than whether a storm surge in the North Sea will one day flood their homes. The French want credible forecasts of how often to expect more heat waves like the one that killed 20,000 people in 2003. Americans want the low-down on future hurricanes. Half the world needs a prognosis for El Niño. "We want seamless predictions that can go from weather forecasts, through predicting the ocean processes behind variables like El Niño and Atlantic hurricanes, right up to the big climate picture," says Kevin Trenberth of the US National Center for Atmospheric Research. Five years ago, that would have been a pipe dream, but the pace of advance in computing power is making such forecasts possible.
. . . Political and economic factors have also helped fuel the fire. Many alternatives to expensive oil, for example, would also ease greenhouse warming. But to the extent that dramatic climate events have heightened interest, global warming activists have a sometimes unreliable helper, researchers note. The climate system swings from warm to cool and back, from wet to dry. . . . Other worrying climate trends could pause or moderate as well. Part of the surge in powerful Atlantic hurricanes since 1995 is attributable to a natural cycle in the proportion of major storms, according to meteorologist Gregory Holland of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado (Science, 10 November 2006, p. 910).
. . . Energy policy is important long-term, to cut down the levels of greenhouse warming gases in the atmosphere, Pielke said. "But we should be able to do those things - adaptation and mitigation - at the same time, without forcing them to be trade-offs," Pielke said. . . . Michael Glantz, a social scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, said that while Pielke is right about adaptation, "it's not rocket science. I've been saying this for 35 years." It makes little sense, for example, to rebuild in the same spots following a major flood, Glantz said.
. . . Testifying at a House Committee on Science and Technology hearing that also featured three Boulder-based scientists, Pelosi sent an incontrovertible message that she considers the issue a top priority. A House Speaker has never testified at a committee hearing before, lawmakers said. . . . The committee then heard from Kevin Trenberth; and Gerald Meehl, both senior scientists at National Center for Atmospheric Research, and Susan Solomon, senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. . . . "The planet is running a fever and the prognosis is it's apt to become much worse," Trenberth told members of the House Science Committee, including Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs. "Though the picture of a warming world appears bleak, it is not yet hopeless," Meehl then told the panel. "What we do now can make a difference for the future."
Special Report With Brit Hume
Fox News Channel (February 8, 2007) DMA: 0
00:23:58 TZ; Global warming: The House Committee on Science and Technology held hearings on the cause of global warming today with some scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. V; House Committee on Science and Technology meeting scenes. V; global warming scenes. SB; Richard Alley, IPCC report author, describes the issues. SB; Gerald Meehl, IPCC report author, describes the issues. SB; Dana Rohrabacher, CA Representative, describes the issues. SB; Susan Solomon, IPCC Co-Chairman, describes the issues. V; cars. V; pollution scenes. SB; James Sensenbrenner, WI Representative, describes the issues. SB; Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker, describes the issues. I; Chris Landsea, National Hurricane Center, describes the problems in the IPCC report and why he quit the panel. Molly Henneberg reporting. 00:26:45
00:34:10 Global warming hearing. The House Science Committee heard testimony from top scientists involved in last week’s international report on global warming. SB; Kevin Trenberth says the planet is running a fever, and it’s apt to become much worse. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared before the committee to say congress is going to act on the issue. SB; Pelosi says the long rejection of reality is over. 00:34:50
Christian Science Monitor (Boston, Massachusetts) (February 6, 2007) circ. 60,723
By Peter N. Spotts
When Rep. Bart Gordon gavels the House Science and Technology Committee to order Thursday morning, it will mark Congress's first hearings on the latest United Nations-sponsored report on global warming.
But even before several authors of the prestigious report discuss its findings, other authors say the process is too slow.
. . . "Some of us believe that going to some updates, especially as the science is changing very rapidly, might be a very good tack to take," says Linda Mearns, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., and one of 15 lead authors on the chapter dealing with projections of global warming's regional effects.
. . . The last seven El Niños brought winters that were warmer and drier than usual in Colorado, with a few heavier snowstorms in the fall and spring. This time, January was the eighth-coldest on record in Denver, and the monthly snowfall was twice the normal tally - nearly 16 inches instead of about 8, said Matt Kelsch, a meteorologist with the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder.
All the world's a crime scene, and the burgeoning catalog of historical clues has helped researchers zero in on humans as the "very likely" suspects behind global warming. . . . In the new report, released Friday, researchers used nearly two dozen models to produce projections of temperature and sea-level rises, all anchored with multiple lines of evidence. . . . "Of course, it has been warmer and colder, but that doesn't mean anything unless you know why," said Reto Knutti, a visiting climate modeler at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. Bette Otto-Bliesner, another climatologist at the Boulder center, said researchers have attributed the warming 125,000 years ago to changes in the Earth's orbit that altered the globe's natural insulation. Relying on one source of data or on one region of the world would be foolhardy, she and other researchers agree.
Taipei (Taiwan) Times (February 5, 2007) circ. 300,000
By Lance Wu
. . . Taiwan won international recognition by its successful deployment of the FORMOSAT-3 satellite last year. This satellite follows a low orbit at the same altitude as the one knocked down by China. China's threat to Taiwan's space assets is therefore abundantly clear.
Friday's release of a much-anticipated report on global warming from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in effect asks a profound question of humanity: What do you want your climate to look like over the next several centuries – and probably longer? . . . "When people think about climate impacts, they think about something very narrow: What icky things are going to happen where I live?" says Jerry Mahlman, a senior research associate at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. "They don't say: What's going to happen to the poor Bangladeshi farmers who get hit with a triple whammy" – rising sea levels, more intense tropical cyclones, and reduced supplies of fresh water. "Everyone wants to talk about their particular piece of turf. But this is a problem that is intrinsically and fundamentally global."
USA Today (February 4, 2007) circ. 2,272,815 Time Magazine's Time.com (February 3, 2007) circ. 4,034,061 Forbes.com (February 3, 2007) circ. 900,000 Los Angeles Times (February 3, 2007) circ. 851,832 New York Post (February 3, 2007) circ. 673,379 Houston Chronicle (February 3, 2007) circ. 513,387 plus San Francisco Chronicle, Kansas City Star, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, ABCNews.com, FOXNews.com, CBSNews.com and 110 other publications
By Angela Charlton and Seth Borenstein (Associated Press)
. . . For now, scientists are energized that the world is finally listening to them. Kevin Trenberth, an American co-author of the new climate report, marveled at the overflow crowd of more than 400 reporters on hand for the document's release on Friday. It was more reporters than he'd seen in decades of climate conferences. He took out a small camera, smiled and took a picture of the media.
Chicago Tribune (February 4, 2007) circ. 547,257 Kansas City Star (February 4, 2007) circ. 270,335
Charlotte (North Carolina) Observer (February 4, 2007) circ. 226,082 plus Columbus (Georgia) Ledger-Enquirer, The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, South Carolina) and 10 other publications
By David Greising
. . . "The fact that the evidence keeps mounting has an effect on people's perceptions," said Linda Mearns, a lead author of the report who heads the study of society and the environment for the National Center for Atmospheric Research. "In the U.S., at least, since we haven't had a lot of clear leadership from the top, it has created more opportunity for grass-roots efforts."
. . . Seventeen years and a zillion computer hours after the world's climate scientists first ran the big calculation, they came up with the same estimate of the warming the planet will see by the end of the century if we go on pouring out greenhouse gases: 3C. . . . The predicament we face if emissions go on rising along the "high" scenario envisaged by IPCC was put colourfully by one of its authors, Kevin Trenberth, of the National Centre for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. "If you come back in 100 years, it will be like Star Trek. You could be on a different planet," he said. "You can move from Miami to New York, but polar bears and trees don't have anywhere to go to."
. . . Before the report’s arrival on Friday, the consequences of global warming had been epically imagined. . . . As it turned out, the panel’s scientific projections deflated some of the more dramatic possibilities. The report includes the biblical risk of the world’s seas rising — everywhere — a dozen feet or more. Such a view renders a highly charged recent debate over whether seas would rise a few inches or a few feet in this century “lampoonable,” in the words of Jerry Mahlman, a veteran climate expert.
Warming is already whittling away at Colorado's snowpack vital for both the state's $2 billion ski industry and water supply across the West. Seas could rise up to 23 inches by 2100, as heat waves scorch more people and hurricanes likely get stronger. . . . "As we move into this warmer world we've created, we're starting to see things we've never seen before," said Gerald Meehl, a climate scientist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. "Earth is already locked into a hotter future because carbon dioxide mainly from burning coal, oil and gas remains in the atmosphere for a century," NCAR scientist Jerry Mahlman said. To stabilize the climate, Mahlman said, we have to reduce our fossil fuel emission by about 70, 75 percent. "This is not a recycle-your-garbage- on-the-street kind of thing," he said. . . . Colorado's average temperature could heat up by 7 or 8 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century, according to a U.N. climate change report released in part last week. "That's considerable warming, and it could conceivably be quite a bit greater than that," said Linda Mearns, a climate researcher with the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder.
Boulder Daily Camera (February 4, 2007) circ. 33,000
By Ted Balaker and Sam Staley
. . . We can't deal with global warming unless we stop driving. . . . Tom M.L. Wigley, chief scientist at the U.S. [National] Center for Atmospheric Research, calculates that even if every nation met its obligation to reduce greenhouse gas, the Earth would be only .07 degrees centigrade cooler by 2050.
Detroit Free Press (February 3, 2007) circ. 345,861 Forbes.com (February 2, 2007) circ. 900,000 Los Angeles Times (February 2, 2007) circ. 851,832 New York Post (February 2, 2007) circ. 673,379 Houston Chronicle (February 2, 2007) circ. 513,387 Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada) (February 2, 2007) circ. 316,644 plus China Daily (Beijing), Sacramento Bee, Kansas City Star, ABCNews.com, CBSNews.com and 40 other publications
By Seth Borenstein (Associated Press)
. . . The 21-page summary of the panel's findings released Friday represents the most authoritative science on global warming. The panel comprises hundreds of scientists and representatives of 113 governments. . . . The report said no matter how much civilization slows or reduces its greenhouse gas emissions, global warming and sea level rise will continue on for centuries. "This is just not something you can stop. We're just going to have to live with it," co-author Kevin Trenberth, director of climate analysis for the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., told The Associated Press in an interview. "We're creating a different planet. If you were to come up back in 100 years time, we'll have a different climate." . . . Trenberth said scientists do worry that world leaders will take the message in the wrong way and throw up their hands. Instead, the scientists urged leaders to reduce emissions and also adapt to a warmer world with wilder weather.
One of the most scrutinized scientific documents in history was released yesterday and said the climate changes brought about by humans will cause devastating problems worldwide. . . . "Over Canada and the eastern U.S., precipitation will increase," said Linda Mearns, a climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. . . . "Your area is right on the edge of more precipitation to the north and more droughts to the south," said Claudia Tebaldi, another National Center for Atmospheric Research scientist who worked on the report.
Los Angeles Times (February 3, 2007) circ. 851,832 St. Paul Pioneer Press (February 3, 2007) circ. 191,264 Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, California) (February 3, 2007) circ. 185,036
By Thomas H. Maugh II and Karen Kaplan
. . . "The world's scientists have spoken," said Timothy E. Wirth, president of the United Nations Foundation. "It is time now to hear from the world's policymakers. The so-called and long-overstated 'debate' about global warming is now over." . . . Though global warming cannot be reversed, it can be mitigated, said climatologist Gerald Meehl of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. If emissions are reduced, "we'll have fewer climate changes and less warming. If they are higher, we'll have much greater changes. The longer you wait to begin reducing emissions, the worse the problem gets and the more you have to do to do something about it." . . . And since the last report was issued, "we have six years of new data, and they are among the seven warmest years on record," said climatologist Kevin Trenberth of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. . . . The average temperature in the Southland will probably increase by about 8 degrees by the end of the century and rainfall will decrease, according to climatologist Linda Mearns of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. What rain does fall will evaporate more quickly because of higher temperatures, accentuating the dryness of the climate.
Atlanta (Georgia) Journal-Constitution (Feburary 3, 2007) circ. 365,011
By Mike Toner
For a century, the Earth has been warming —- and the world's top climate scientists agreed Friday that it will continue to do so for at least another century, regardless of what is done to halt it.
But doing nothing, they warned, will only make it worse. "The longer we wait to do something, the worse the problem will get," said Gerald Meehl, of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, one of the lead authors of the report issued in Paris by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "And the longer we wait, the longer it will take to correct it." . . . Many of the effects, they noted, are already apparent. All 10 of the warmest years on record occurring since 1990. "Around the world, glaciers are retreating, snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere is shrinking, winters are getting shorter, and sea level is rising at a significantly faster rate," says Kevin Trenberth of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. "Mother Nature keeps telling us what is going on."
. . . Some of the world's most advanced climate models suggest that Colorado precipitation levels will remain roughly constant as temperatures climb. If that happens, the state will get drier, with less mountain snow in the winter, lower stream flows in the summer, and an increased threat of wildfires. . . . For the first time - because of increased confidence in the more than 20 computerized climate models used in the latest assessment - IPCC included regional projections in its report, said Linda Mearns of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. The models show that the West will warm more than the global average. Winter warming will be 5.6 to 7.9 degrees, and summer temperatures will rise 5.7 to 8.5 degrees, Mearns said. Average year-round increase is about 7 degrees, said Mearns, one of the study authors. . . . A shrinking snowpack and earlier runoff leads to lower summer river flows, along with drier soils and forests, said Kevin Trenberth of NCAR, an author of the new climate report. Dry, stressed trees are more susceptible to wildfires, insects and diseases. Persistently dry soils can succumb to drought.
Boulder Daily Camera (February 3, 2007) circ. 33,000
By Todd Neff
. . . Scientists ran climate models that assumed humanity managed to cut back carbon emissions more than 80 percent, stabilizing them at 2000 levels, said Gerald Meehl, co-leader of a team of 14 authors on the report's chapter on climate-change predictions. They found warming of about 0.2 degrees per decade to continue for 20 years. . . . Linda Mearns, a National Center for Atmospheric Research scientist who was a lead author on the chapter on regional climate change, said the tropics could become drier and the Rocky Mountain region might expect shorter snow seasons and temperatures on average 7 degrees warmer. The drying heat would offset any precipitation increase, she said. . . . Estimates of future sea-level rise — the worst case modeled being about 2 feet by 2100 — continue to be a big question, said Reto Knutti, an NCAR visiting scientist who worked on the climate modeling results. He said scientists still don't understand exactly how to connect temperature with melting of the sort happening in Greenland, which lost 220 cubic kilometers in 2005, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
. . . Unlike the global-warming fable the Bush administration has generated in the past six years (with considerable help from Exxon Mobil), the IPCC report is not a political document. It is the consensus interpretation of sophisticated data collected by hundreds of scientists from all over the world. Several of the report's authors are from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, but representatives from 113 countries participated in the research.
Boulder Daily Camera (February 3, 2007) circ. 33,000
By Dan Ray
. . . The Rocky Mountains will probably see less snow and a shorter snow season as the century wears on, and although precipitation could increase with the additional water vapor, higher temperatures — perhaps an average of 7 degrees warmer, says Linda Mearns, a National Center for Atmospheric Research senior scientist — will probably make for a drier climate.
San Francisco Chronicle (February 3, 2007) circ. 398,246
By Jane Kay
. . . This new assessment will attract more attention than the previous three released over the past decades because fresh evidence has enabled the scientists to make stronger statements and projections than ever before, said Linda Mearns, senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder and lead author of a section on future regional climate. . . . "In the U.S., we're choosing a business-as-usual scenario. But we could make some choices: No, we don't want to live in a world with a 10-degree Fahrenheit increase,'' said Mearns.
. . . Declaring that "warming of the climate system is unequivocal," the authors said in their "Summary for Policymakers" that even in the best-case scenario, temperatures are on track to cross a threshold to an unsustainable level. . . . Gerald Meehl, a senior scientist at the Boulder, Colo.-based National Center for Atmospheric Research, who helped oversee the chapter on climate projections, said that in the next two decades alone, global temperatures will rise by 0.7 degrees Fahrenheit. "We're committed to a certain amount of warming," said Meehl, who worked with 16 computer-modeling teams from 11 countries. "A lot of these changes continue through the 21st century and become more severe as time goes on." Meehl added, however, that a sharp cut in greenhouse gas emissions could still keep catastrophic consequences from occurring: "The message is, it does make a difference what we do." . . . For the first time, IPCC scientists also looked at regional climate shifts in detail . . . . Linda Mearns -- another NCAR senior scientist who was also one of the lead authors -- said these changes could cause water shortages and affect recreational activities in the Southwest.
. . . Many Boulder scientists contributed to the report. Some of them talked about how global warming is affecting Colorado, and their assessment is chilling. . . . "I'd say goodbye to skiing on Thanksgiving," said Linda Mearns, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Mearns said that's just the beginning of what climate change will cost Colorado. "I think Colorado is one of the states that will feel a lot of different impacts, and feel them soonest," Mearns said. Mearns said hotter, drier weather will mean more major wildfires, and mega droughts affecting everything from agriculture to tourism. The ski season could shrink by weeks if not months. Less runoff would mean less rafting and kayaking, and campfires could be entirely banned.
The world’s governments must dramatically cut emissions of heat-trapping gases or learn to live with more droughts, heat waves, powerful rainstorms and rising sea levels that will affect millions, leading climate scientists said after the release of a landmark global warming report today.
. . . "We are in reality therapy," said Jerry Mahlman, a leading climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado. "Now … it is how does the world get energized? We are up against it."
. . . “The IPCC is approaching the scale where people actually live,’’ said Linda Mearns of the National Center for Atmospheric Research and a lead author of the report's regional climate predictions.
The World at One
BBC Radio 4 FM (London, UK) (February 2, 2007) 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
UN Climate Report - The IPCC say man is causing climate change. . . . Interview: Dr Kevin Trenberth, National Centre for Atmospheric Research - the tendencies are in the right direction. Al Gore’s movie has changed the public’s view, and Hurricane Katrina woke up a lot of people.
00:45:57 TZ; Warming: Continued warming story. I; Jerry Mahlman, National Center for Atmospheric Research, says it’s a wake up call. GR; Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. I; Robert Corell, author, Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, says fossil fuels are to blame. I; James Hansen, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, says the changes of a few degrees are important. 00:49:27
. . . Today's report, from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, finds more scientific certainty compared with a 2001 document from the panel, which said the probability of a link was in a range of 66 percent to 90 percent. ``The message is that it does make a difference what we do,'' Gerald Meehl, who contributed to the report, said in a conference call with reporters. ``The longer you wait, the worse the problem gets, and the longer you wait, the more you have to do to do something about it,'' said Meehl, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.
. . . For more now on these findings, we turn to Kevin Trenberth, one of the draft contributing authors of the report. He is the director of climate analysis at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado. And he joins us from Paris. . . . Mr. Trenberth, beginning with you, the finding that's attracted the most attention today is the one saying that there is really 90-percent certainty now that the climate warming that's already occurred since the middle of the last century is due to human activity. How much warming has there been? And what lead you to that kind of certainty that mankind is at the root of it?
KEVIN TRENBERTH, National Center for Atmospheric Research: Well, there's two-steps to this. The first one is what has happened, the observations of what has happened. And I thought a very important statement in the report, you know, to quote, is that, "Warming of the climate is unequivocal." And then it goes on to qualify that, and say that, you know, it's not just the global mean temperatures which, you know, the six years since the last report are in the top warmest seven years on record, but also a whole host of other variables, from snow cover and sea ice, rising sea levels, melting glaciers, drought around the world, changes in hurricanes, all of these kinds of things come together to provide really compelling evidence from many different lines of evidence to suggest that, indeed, warming is happening.
Newsdrive
BBC Radio Scotland (Scotland/UK) (February 2, 2007) 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
16:12:01 Global warming - leading scientists are warning that the threat from global warming is much more serious than previously thought. Caroline Hawley reported from the UN announcement. Interview: Kevin Trenberth, National Center for Atmospheric Research - warming is unequivocal. Interview: Alex Singleton, Director General, Globalisation Institute - climate change will not be an issue in 50 years, new technologies can solve the problem. 16:13:02
The Newshour with Jim Lehrer (February 2, 2007) DMA: 0 07:00 PM - 08:00 PM
00:11:17 TZ; Global warming: Update on story. V; pollution, flooding, glaciers. GR; climate projections. SB; Yvo de Boer, UN Climate Secretariat, talks about accepting the conclusions. SI; Kevin Trenberth, director of climate analysis at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, Michael Oppenheimer, Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson school, talk about the report on global warming. Margaret Warner reporting. GR; visit PBS.org. 00:22:30
Global warming likely will shrink the snow season in the Rockies, affecting the ski industry as well as the region's water supply, according to an authoritative international climate report to be released today in Paris. The report will state that "there will be shortening of the snow season in the Rockies within the U.S., particularly the southern Rockies - this also means earlier runoff," said Linda Mearns of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. Mearns helped write a chapter on regional changes in the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. More than a dozen Boulder scientists played key roles in writing the document. . . . Boulder scientists from NCAR, the National Snow and Ice Data Center, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the University of Colorado contributed to the latest report. NCAR also created two of the climate models used to project future warming.
. . . Other report authors noted that the "very likely" link between warming and human activity indicates a more than 90 percent probability that our actions are to blame, whereas the 2001 report had placed the same odds at only 66 percent.
"This is really the fundamental smoking gun in the report," said Gerald Meehl, a co-author and a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, in a conference call with reporters. Although the document's authors stressed that their mandate precluded them from including any policy recommendations, their conclusions were quickly seized upon by a host of politicians and environmentalists calling for action. . . . Reflecting a marriage of better observations and modeling, report co-author Linda Mearns, also of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said the report is particularly noteworthy for its regional projections. In the U.S., for example, the report suggest that precipitation will decline in the Southwest and the snow pack will drop in the Rockies while the Northeast will become wetter.
National Public Radio (February 2, 2007) DMA: 0 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
00:06:28 TZ; Global warming: An international team of scientists released it’s report on global warming and climate change, saying it is very likely that humans have caused global warming and that the trend will continue for the next few centuries. I; Kevin Trenberth, National Center for Atmospheric Research, describes this week’s meeting of scientists and the conclusions they have drawn about global warming. The evidence shows that the planet is warming, which is causing sea level rising, the melting of polar ice caps, which contributes to the risk of flooding and drought in other areas, and increased hurricanes and heat waves. He describes what can be done to affect the rate of change in the climate and how long it would take to work. 00:18:54
Boulder Daily Camera (February 2, 2007) circ. 33,000
What it is: Created by the United Nations in 1988, the IPCC issues comprehensive climate-change reports every five to six years. Widely cited by scientists, policy makers and media, they are considered definitive assessments, based on the best available science, on the state of the global climate as well as computer-model predictions regarding future climate. Two thousand scientists from 154 countries participated in the Fourth Assessment Report, whose initial findings are being released today. It will be the first official release of an IPCC report since 2001. . . . The Boulder connection: Dozens of scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and University of Colorado served as authors and reviewers.
00:34:33 TZ; Global Warming: An international panel of scientists are almost positively sure global warming can be linked to human behavior. V; Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis Summary. V; traffic footage. SB; Achim Steiner, United Nations Environment Program, says fossil fuel use and agricultural land change are affecting the systems on the plant. V; arctic footage. V; South Glass Gate Glacier. V; UN conference in Paris, France. I; Richard Somerville, Climate Control Panel, says there is a greater danger of water shortage. V; Okanogan National Forest. V; fire scene. I; Kevin Trenberth, Climate Control Panel, describes the areas affected most by global warming. I; Jonathon Overpeck, Climate Control Panel, says global warming is affecting the stream flow. V; storm damages. V; drought footage. SB; Philip Mote, WA State Climatologist, discusses environmental immigrants. Gary Chittim reporting from Seattle. 00:37:34
Boulder Daily Camera (February 2, 2007) circ. 33,000
By Todd Neff
Ten Boulder scientists served as lead authors on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report to be released today in Paris, volunteering hundreds of hours each over at least two years in an effort they view as both honor and duty. . . . "I think the scientific community as well as the political community are going to be stunned by the body of evidence and how convincing it is," said Elisabeth Holland, a National Center for Atmospheric Research senior scientist and one of the lead authors. "The evidence is compelling in a way that it never has been before because we just simply didn't have all the pieces." . . . NCAR visiting scientist Reto Knutti worked on results related to climate modeling. He said he spent roughly half his time working on the IPCC report for the past two years. The modeling work for the report, such as that done by NCAR in 2004, constituted a "simply amazing" effort, he said. NCAR scientists worked for years on improving their Community Climate System Model 3 — one of the world's top climate models — and then ran the model on supercomputers during most of 2004 to generate results for the report. . . . NCAR scientist Bette Otto-Bliesner, who studies paleoclimate, said she volunteered to be a lead author because she felt strongly that understanding past climate is relevant to present-day and future climate scenarios. "So to be able to contribute to a chapter in as important a report as this is — telling the community, telling the public what happened in the past, how well we understand it and how well we can model it — is important," Otto-Bliesner said. Lead authors are hand-picked and recognized leaders in their respective fields. Participating is also an honor, said Linda Mearns, an NCAR senior scientist specializing in regional manifestations and impacts of climate change. "For people in climate-change research, I think it's an obligation to contribute one's experience and intelligence to this kind of an international effort," Mearns said.
Scientific American (New York, New York) (February 2, 2007) circ. 589,232
By David Biello
. . . "Some of the models show an ice-free Arctic. We see more severe extremes, heat waves. We see a lot of heavier precipitation, drought increases in a lot of regions. Tropical cyclones are projected to become more intense in a lot of areas with ongoing increases in sea surface temperatures," says Gerald Meehl, an atmospheric scientist at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and a contributing author. "We see what we've already seen but everything becoming a lot more extreme."
Kansas City Star (February 2, 2007) circ. 270,335 Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, California) (February 2, 2007) circ. 185,036
By Mike Taugher
. . . Although the rise in sea level has tapered off somewhat since the 1980s, models suggest sea level rise of 4 to 36 inches by 2100. No one knows how far or how fast that will happen. The change is likely to be gradual and could be modest, especially if emissions are curtailed. But scientists are still deeply concerned because of the possibility of a catastrophic surprise, such as huge ice sheets sliding into the oceans. . . . With a sea wall, however, the back of the beach is fixed in place. There is nowhere for new beaches or wetlands to become established. Eventually, the rising sea will come up against the wall, typically a concrete or steel structure meant to harden the cliffs to erosion. . . . Susanne Moser, a geographer at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., put it this way: "Do we really want an America behind sea walls?"
Boulder Daily Camera (February 2, 2007) circ. 33,000
NCAR . . . Guy Brasseur, coordinating lead author, Chapter 7, "Couplings Between Changes in the Climate System and Biogeochemistry. . . . William Collins, lead author, Chapter 10, "Global Climate Projections." . . . Elisabeth Holland, lead author, Chapter 7, "Couplings Between Changes in the Climate System and Biogeochemistry." . . . Reto Knutti, lead author, Chapter 10, "Global Climate Projections." . . . Linda Mearns, lead author, Chapter 11, "Regional Climate Projections." . . . Gerald Meehl, coordinating lead author, Chapter 10, "Global Climate Projections." . . . Bette Otto-Bliesner, lead author, Chapter 6, "Paleoclimate," . . . Kevin Trenberth, coordinating lead author, Chapter 3, "Observations: Surface and Atmospheric Climate Change."
Time Magazine's Time.com (February 2, 2007) circ. 4,034,061 USA Today (February 2, 2007) circ. 2,272,815 Los Angeles Times (February 2, 2007) circ. 851,832 New York Times (February 2, 200
