Greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere hit new record highs in 2022, with no end in sight to the rising trend, according to this new report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). This Bulletin represents the latest analysis of observations from the WMO GAW Programme. It shows globally averaged surface …
Major atmospheric-driven catastrophes, such as hurricanes and floods, may appear to be independent events when looked at historically. Yet it is well established in climate science that regional weather and climate conditions in one part of the world can have impacts on other parts. It is important for insurers and …
Terrestrial ecosystems play a significant role in the global carbon cycle and offset a large fraction of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. The terrestrial carbon sink is increasing, yet the mechanisms responsible for its enhancement, and implications for the growth rate of atmospheric CO2, remain unclear. Here using global carbon budget estimates, …
This paper provides an overview of the recent 2015-16 El Niño climate-related events and the subsequent lack of adequate response to the global drought. It proposes a fair shares approach to climate justice, thereby providing guidance for appropriate levels of humanitarian aid and boosting support for the most vulnerable. The …
Globally averaged concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached the symbolic and significant milestone of 400 parts per million for the first time in 2015 and surged again to new records in 2016 on the back of the very powerful El Niño event, according to the World Meteorological Organization's …
Airborne observations of greenhouse gases are a very useful reference for validation of satellite-based column-averaged dry air mole fraction data. However, since the aircraft data are available only up to about 9–13 km altitude, these profiles do not fully represent the depth of the atmosphere observed by satellites and therefore …
Anthropogenic aerosols are a key factor governing Earth’s climate, and play a central role in human-caused climate change. However, because of aerosols’ complex physical, optical, and dynamical properties, aerosols are one of the most uncertain aspects of climate modeling. Fortunately, aerosol measurement networks over the past few decades have led …
This paper estimates the causal eff ect of increased ambient air pollution on the frequency of road traffic accidents in the United Kingdom between 2009 and 2014. An instrumental variable approach is applied, exploiting atmospheric temperature inversions as a source of plausibly exogenous variation in daily air pollution levels. The …
It’s that time of year when Britons are used to unpacking their winter wardrobes. But don’t disturb the moths just yet: forecasters say Tuesday could be the warmest September day in more than 40 years. The UK’s Indian summer is set to continue, with the mercury predicted to climb to …
Much of the influence on climate from air pollution in East Asia is driven by consumption in the developed countries of Western Europe and North America, according to research co-led by McGill University atmospheric scientist Yi Huang. In a paper published online this week in Nature Geoscience, Huang and colleagues …
China's Qinghai province reported the hottest month in 55 years, 3.4 degrees Celsius above the average August temperature. Data provided by the local climate centre on Saturday showed the average temperature in Qinghai last month was 16.4 degrees Celsius, the highest since records began in 1961, Xinhua news agency reported. …
The year 1980 has often been used as a benchmark for the return of Antarctic ozone to conditions assumed to be unaffected by emissions of ozone depleting substances (ODSs), implying that anthropogenic ozone depletion in Antarctica started around 1980. Here, the extent of anthropogenically-driven Antarctic ozone depletion prior to 1980 …
There is an ongoing debate on whether the observed decadal variations in surface solar radiation, known as "dimming and brightening", are a global or just local phenomenon. We investigated this issue using a comprehensive set of long-term sunshine duration records from China, which experienced a rapid growth in urbanization during …
Soil moisture supply and atmospheric demand for water independently limit—and profoundly affect—vegetation productivity and water use during periods of hydrologic stress. Disentangling the impact of these two drivers on ecosystem carbon and water cycling is difficult because they are often correlated, and experimental tools for manipulating atmospheric demand in the …
NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The La Nina weather phenomenon is likely to worsen drought and hunger in Somalia, especially in the north where many people and their animals are migrating in search of water after four failed rainy seasons, the United Nations said on Thursday. La Nina, characterized by …
The ability of seven state-of-the-art chemistry–aerosol models to reproduce distributions of tropospheric ozone and its precursors, as well as aerosols over eastern Asia in summer 2008, is evaluated. The study focuses on the performance of models used to assess impacts of pollutants on climate and air quality as part of …
Many forest ecosystems have experienced recent declines in productivity; however, in some alpine regions, tree growth and forest expansion are increasing at marked rates. Dendrochronological analyses at the upper limit of alpine forests in the Tibetan Plateau show a steady increase in tree growth since the early 1900s, which intensified …
It is said to be the world's first weather station, to date back more than 2,000 years, and to have been used by merchants to tell the time - even in darkness. The Tower of the Winds, still standing on a slope on Athens's ancient Acropolis hill despite attempts by …
Britons sweltering on the hottest day of the year have been warned by health officials to take extra care of themselves and vulnerable friends and relatives, as the nation basks in a mini-heatwave. Temperatures hit 33.8C (92.8F) in the village of Cavendish in Suffolk on Wednesday, topping the 33.5C recorded …
Given that the population of the Sahel depends largely on rain-fed agriculture and transhumant livestock rearing, there is a growing concern about the future climate of the region as global warming may alter the availability of water resources. The lack of consensus on climate projections for West Africa results partly …
July was hotter than any month globally since records began – but some areas, such as the Middle East, suffer more than others In Siberia, melting permafrost released anthrax that had been frozen in a reindeer carcass for decades, starting a deadly outbreak. In Baghdad, soaring temperatures forced the government …
