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by Andrew Glikson Figure 1. Comparison of atmospheric samples contained in ice cores and more recent direct measurements, provides evidence that atmospheric CO₂ has increased since the Industrial Revolution. (Credit: NASA , data: Luthi, D., et al. 2008; Etheridge, D.M., et al. 2010; Vostok ice core data/J.R. Petit et al.; NOAA Mauna Loa CO2 record.) [ Figure 2. from earlier post ] While the world, for very good reasons, is relying on medical research in order to save the lives of millions, the “powers to be” are hardly listening to what climate science is saying about the existential threat to billions posed by global heating. Since 1751 the world has emitted over 1.5 trillion tonnes of CO₂ . The atmospheric level of CO₂ was 413.2 parts per million (ppm) in 2020, growing at peak rates of 2.5-3.0 ppm/year , representing the greatest acceleration since the dinosaur mass extinction of 66 million years ago. “ The last time the Earth experienced a comparable concentration of CO₂ was 3-5 m...

September 2021 was the second warmest September on record, after September 2020, according to NASA, Copernicus and James Hansen , despite the cooling effect of the current La Niña. Above NASA map shows that the Arctic Ocean was hit severely by high temperatures. The NASA map shows an anomaly of 0.96°C compared to 1951-1980. With COP26 to be held in Glasgow, from October 31 to November 12, 2021, it's important to realize that using the period from 1951 to 1980 as a base is not the same as pre-industrial. So, how much has the temperature risen from pre-industrial and what are the prospects? Will COP26 deliver? [ from earlier post ] Let's do the calculations once more. The trend in the image below indicates that the NASA data need to be adjusted by 0.29°C to change the base from 1951-1980 to 1900.  Of course, 1900 is still not pre-industrial. The chart below shows three trends: The green trend is based on unadjusted NASA data (1951-1980 base).  The lilac...

Novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first black African to win the prize for almost two decades.   He was born in Zanzibar (Tanzania) but he migrated as a teenager to the UK, escaping from ethnic persecution and eventually became a professor of Post-colonial Literatures at the University of Kent in Canterbury. His novels talk about the experience of colonialism, refugees, migration and individual dignity.  In this three minute interview NPR's culture reporter Neda Ulabyis talks about his life and works.  You will come across interesting words like: shortlisted, fate, to flee, civil unrest, scholarly work, to be batted around, to track, marquee names, overdue, sprawling, to reconcile cultural chasms with their dreams, a clip, linen, a chubby face, uprooted [people]. Below, you can also watch a 6 minute BBC interview to Mr. Gurnah himself after he learnt he had won the Nobel Prize, which can be heard with subtitles. Both reco...

by Andrew Glikson “Burning all fossil fuels would create a different planet” (Hansen, 2016) While at present the world is necessarily investing in medical research in order to save the lives of millions, global heating is threatening the lives of billions over the century, yet authorities are hardly listening to what climate science is projecting as the Earth is heating. Since the Paris climate conference in April 2016, when the mean atmospheric carbon dioxide level reached 403.3 ppm, induced by annual emissions of some 400 billion tons of CO₂, the atmospheric level has risen to near 420 ppm, growing at peak rates of 2.5-3.0 ppm/year , the highest recorded since the dinosaur mass extinction of 66 million years ago. Although the target of the Glasgow meeting is to reach agreement for limiting mean global temperature to 1.5⁰C, due to the short-term mitigating effect of ~0.5–1.0⁰C by aerosols on global temperatures mean global warming is already tracking toward 2⁰C (Figure 1). Figure 1...