There are two posts I’ve been wanting to write about.

The incredible dust storm in Sydney, and the upcoming LCROSS mission that will slam into the South Pole of the Moon on live TV in October. (Who says science is boring!)

Those will have to wait until Sunday because of a slew of climate change news today that I want to share.

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) released a climate report today. It’s based on dozens of very recent peer reviewed papers. Most published since the last IPCC report in 2007.

Many of the posts about climate change here have talked about how the real science being published is evermore worrisome. Almost every prediction made by the IPCC has turned out to be too conservative. Sea level rise and the rate of the melt in the cryosphere are two prime examples.

Th most alarming news, is that even if all of the targets set by the nations of the world are met, we will see a warming of around 3.5C (6F) by the end of this century. This means we are on the way to a different planet. The next IPCC report will have a much higher forecast of sea level rise than the 2007 report.

Read the report by clicking on the hour glass image to the left.

Last but certainly not least is an excellent video. Teachers, this would be a great Lab/ homework in an Environmental Science class. (I teach a college course on Env. Sci. and I smell extra credit here…)

Later,
Dan