Hot enough for you? A new NASA study has found that global temperatures are nearing their hottest level in more than 12,000 years – since the last glaciers covered large portions of the planet. In fact, global temperatures have been going up approximately 0.2° Celsius (.36° Fahrenheit) per decade for the past 30 years. In fact, global temperatures are now within one degree Celsius of the hottest temperatures measured in the last million years.
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Polar Ice is Melting Fast
New data gathered by NASA’s QuikScat satellite has found that ice at the Arctic polar ice cap is disappearing rapidly. Just between 2004 and 2005, the spacecraft measured a loss of 14% of the perennial sea ice; ice that normally lasts all year round. This is an amount of ice measuring 720,000 square kilometers (280,000 square miles), an area the size of Texas. Scientists expect that the coverage of perennial sea ice will continue to decrease this year as well.
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Human Influences Will Generate More Hurricanes
Climate scientists have uncovered more evidence that human activities are raising ocean temperatures, spawning more powerful hurricanes. The researchers used 22 different climate models to reproduce ocean temperatures over the last 100 years. They found that human-caused greenhouse gases, ozone and aerosol particles are raising ocean temperatures, which provide energy to the strongest hurricanes.
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Ancient Ocean Released a Torrent of Methane
New research indicates that periods of global warming in the past triggered the release of vast quantities of methane stored beneath the oceans. These reserves are generated over long periods of time by bacteria and other organisms, but is chemically frozen into the sea floor. Methane is powerful greenhouse gas, and contributes to the general effect of global warming. The emissions peaked 16,000-14,000 years ago, and then again 11,000-10,000 years ago, and could happen again if ocean temperatures rise above some unknown level.
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Satellites Measure Melting Greenland Ice
NASA’s GRACE satellites have measured an increasing rate of ice melt in Greenland. According to new analysis by researchers at the University of Arizona at Austin, the loss of ice from Greenland’s southeastern region has sped up between 2002 and 2005. Approximately 239 cubic kilometers (57 cubic miles) is now lost each year. Greenland contains 10% of the Earth’s fresh water, and this melting ice is contributing 0.56 mm (.02 inches) to globally rising sea levels.
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