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Climate change has saved hundreds of thousands of Africans from extreme poverty, starvation and premature death, a study from Arizona State University has confirmed.
The study shows that the West African Sahel – part of the semiarid strip just south of the Sahara desert, which spans the African continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea – has been steadily “regreening” since the severe droughts of the 1970s and 1980s which killed more than 100,000 people.
Among the reasons for the “regreening” are increased rainfall, the beneficial effects of increased atmospheric CO2 on plant growth and the ingenuity of farmers (“community-led conservation efforts) in this harsh, marginal region.
Tourism prefers to keep Africa the way it was for the entertainment of wealthy visitors. Guess the new greenery will help to absorb all the CO2.
How is this bad news? It was expected and was first noticed in photos taken between 1982 and 2002. It was predicted by climate models long ago.....Heat causes more evaporation and warmer air holds more moisture causing more rain.....Basic climate science.
While some regions are likely to get wetter as the world warms, other regions that are already on the dry side are likely to get drier.
Increased drought in dry areas. In drier regions, evapotranspiration may produce periods of drought—defined as below-normal levels of rivers, lakes, and groundwater, and lack of enough soil moisture in agricultural areas. Precipitation has declined in the tropics and subtropics since 1970. Southern Africa, the Sahel region of Africa, southern Asia, the Mediterranean, and the U.S. Southwest, for example, are getting drier. Even areas that remain relatively wet can experience long, dry conditions between extreme precipitation events.
Like I said, I don't get it. Maybe you can help.
Dry places will get drier while wet places will get wetter but basic climate science says "Heat causes more evaporation and warmer air holds more moisture causing more rain...."?
The whole climate change debate is a hierarchical series of questions:
1) Is global warming a reality?
2) Is it caused by human activity?
3) Will it have negative consequences?
4) Can we stop or reverse it?
I'm glad to see that we have moved beyond question 1, which is a simple matter of data, and question 2, for which we have a scientific consensus. Now that that's settled, we can debate whether stopping climate change is worth the economic costs.
Moving away from a carbon-based economy would certainly have its costs. What I haven't heard discussed is what impact that would have on the rate of climate change. On the other hand, as this thread points ut, some areas of the world might find warming to be beneficial. Perhaps it would be better to adjust to the changing climate, which will also have significant costs - moving cities away from the coastline, for example.
The whole climate change debate is a hierarchical series of questions:
1) Is global warming a reality?
2) Is it caused by human activity?
3) Will it have negative consequences?
4) Can we stop or reverse it?
I'm glad to see that we have moved beyond question 1, which is a simple matter of data, and question 2, for which we have a scientific consensus. Now that that's settled, we can debate whether stopping climate change is worth the economic costs.
Moving away from a carbon-based economy would certainly have its costs. What I haven't heard discussed is what impact that would have on the rate of climate change. On the other hand, as this thread points ut, some areas of the world might find warming to be beneficial. Perhaps it would be better to adjust to the changing climate, which will also have significant costs - moving cities away from the coastline, for example.
1. You've done no such thing. CO2 levels were 14x what they are today during late Ordovician glaciation, (incidentally when crustaceans like the horseshoe crab thrived in its oceans).
Moreover: "As ice extent approaches its summer minimum in the Arctic, the winter maximum is near for Antarctica. This year, as was the case in 2012, Antarctic sea ice extent is very high. As of September 16, the current extent is 19.45 million square kilometers (7.51 million square miles), a record for this date with respect to the 1979 to 2012 satellite era."
In other words, since NOAA first operated weather satellites.
Step gingerly over that carbon, Leo. Even though it was released in untold trillions of pounds of uncontrolled, lightning sparked wildfires for eons before the mid-century invention of the municiapl fire dept.
Ask why New Yorkers have experienced such mild summers over the last few years.
Here is something else you deniers will ignore.... A rise of 2C is considered the most the Earth could tolerate without risking catastrophic changes to food production, sea levels, fishing, wildlife, deserts and water reserves. Even if rises are pegged at 2C, scientists say this will still destroy most coral reefs and glaciers and melt significant parts of the Greenland ice cap, bringing major rises in sea levels.
At the opposite pole.... In a new study on the future of sea level rise, researchers looked specifically at the mechanisms that control surface melting on Antarctica’s ice shelves. Their analysis suggests ice shelves will double their melting rate by 2050. By 2100, surface melting may precipitate ice shelf collapse, leading to a dramatic rise in sea level. Study: Melting of Antarctica’s ice shelves to intensify - Updated News
That's pretty funny considering the warmers are also claiming global warming will lead to more and bigger droughts.
So let's see. Those who don't believe in massive climate change are using an example of climate change to prove their point. Hmmmmm.
No one ever said that everyone's climate would be worse. Some climates will improve. Of course desert conditions in Africa aren't going to help the United States much.
At the opposite pole.... In a new study on the future of sea level rise, researchers looked specifically at the mechanisms that control surface melting on Antarctica’s ice shelves. Their analysis suggests ice shelves will double their melting rate by 2050. By 2100, surface melting may precipitate ice shelf collapse, leading to a dramatic rise in sea level. Study: Melting of Antarctica’s ice shelves to intensify - Updated News
It's supposed to be dry there. It used to be a barren desert.
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