Climate News Shorts

Public Release: 7-Apr-2008
Purdue University
‘Revolutionary’ CO2 maps zoom in on greenhouse gas sources

A new, high-resolution, interactive map of US carbon dioxide
emissions from fossil fuels has found that the emissions aren’t all
where we thought. The maps and system, called Vulcan, show CO2
emissions at more than 100 times more detail than was available
before. Until now, data on carbon dioxide emissions were reported
monthly at the level of an entire state. The Vulcan model examines
CO2 emissions at local levels on an hourly basis.
NASA

Contact: Steve Tally
tally@purdue.edu
765-494-9809
Purdue University
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Public Release: 7-Apr-2008
NOAA Headquarters
NOAA aircraft to probe arctic pollution

NOAA scientists are now flying through springtime Arctic pollution to
find out why the region is warming — and summertime sea ice is
melting — faster than predicted. Some 35 NOAA researchers are
gathering with government and university colleagues in Fairbanks,
Alaska, to conduct the study through April 23.

Contact: Anatta
anatta@noaa.gov
303-497-6288
NOAA Headquarters
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Public Release: 7-Apr-2008
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Regional nuclear conflict would create near-global ozone hole, says
CU-Boulder study

A limited nuclear weapons exchange between Pakistan and India using
their current arsenals could create a near-global ozone hole,
triggering human health problems and wreaking environmental havoc for
at least a decade, according to a study led by the University of
Colorado at Boulder.
University of Colorado

Contact: Michael Mills
mills@colorado.edu
303-492-7767
University of Colorado at Boulder

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U.S. Plans Major Study of Water Resources

Tucson Citizen

U.S. plans big study of water resources
Gannett News Service
Published: 04.04.2008

WASHINGTON – For the first time in 30 years, the U.S. Geological Survey will conduct a census of the nation’s water resources to give federal, state and tribal officials information on water usage.
The 10-year, $95 million study would divide the country into 21 major river basins and look at stream flows, ground water levels and recharge, water pollution, population trends and water use.

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Oil Politics Alleged in Polar Bear Decision

Published on Thursday, April 3, 2008 by The San Francisco Chronicle

Oil Politics Alleged in Polar Bear Decision
by Zachary Coile

Washington – California Sen. Barbara Boxer accused the Bush administration Wednesday of delaying a decision on whether to list the polar bear as an endangered species so it could finish its oil lease sales in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea, where one-fifth of the world’s polar bears live.0403 03 1

“The administration went ahead and accepted bids, even though oil and gas activities may disturb polar bears making a den, and even though an oil spill could pose big risks to the polar bear population,” said Boxer, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

The Interior Department has been under fire from environmentalists and lawmakers for missing a deadline under federal law to decide whether to list the polar bear as endangered.

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Global Warming ‘Dips This Year’

Global warming ‘dips this year’

By Roger Harrabin
BBC News environment analyst

Villager walks through the snow in Nanjing, China (February 2008)
La Nina caused some of the coldest temperatures in memory in China

Global temperatures will drop slightly this year as a result of the cooling effect of the La Nina current in the Pacific, UN meteorologists have said.

The World Meteorological Organization’s secretary-general, Michel Jarraud, told the BBC it was likely that La Nina would continue into the summer.

This would mean global temperatures have not risen since 1998, prompting some to question climate change theory.

But experts say we are still clearly in a long-term warming trend – and they forecast a new record high temperature within five years.

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