Glenn Williams

After a busy month of harvesting (Gareth) and breakfast broadcasting (Glenn), the Climate Show returns with all the latest climate news: from the thinning of Antarctic ice shelves and the intensification of hydrological cycle (floods and drought, that is) to satellites capturing solar energy and beaming it down to earth, we've got it all. And if that weren't enough, John Cook looks at a new paper that explains the apparent lag between warming and CO₂ increase at the end of the last ice age, and tips us off about an excellent outtake from ABC's recent I Can Change Your Mind about Climate documentary, featuring Naomi Oreskes.

Watch The Climate Show on our Youtube channel, subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, listen to us via Stitcher on your smartphone or listen direct/download from the link below the fold.

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The Climate Show audio.

News & commentary: [0:02:30]

WMO confirms 2011 as 11th warmest in long term record

“It was the warmest decade ever recorded for global land surface, sea surface and for every continent.”

Graphics.

Warm ocean currents cause majority of ice loss from Antarctica: Scripps, British Antarctic Survey.

"What's really interesting is just how sensitive these glaciers seem to be," added Pritchard. "Some ice shelves are thinning by a few metres a year and, in response, the glaciers drain billions of tons of ice into the sea. This supports the idea that ice shelves are important in slowing down the glaciers that feed them, controlling the loss of ice from the Antarctic ice sheet. It means that we can lose an awful lot of ice to the sea without ever having summers warm enough to make the snow on top of the glaciers melt - the oceans can do all the work from below."

Climate Progress coverage.

Dry parts of the planet to get drier, wet parts wetter: The Conversation, Science Magazine.

Kiribati as a refuge for corals: Pacific Islands May Become Refuge for Corals in a Warming Climate, Study Finds

World needs to stabilise population and cut consumption, says Royal Society

http://royalsociety.org/policy/projects/people-planet/

http://royalsociety.org/policy/projects/people-planet/report/

Key recommendations include:

• The international community must bring the 1.3 billion people living on less than $1.25 per day out of absolute poverty, and reduce the inequality that persists in the world today. This will require focused efforts in key policy areas including economic development, education, family planning and health.
• The most developed and the emerging economies must stabilise and then reduce material consumption levels through: dramatic improvements in resource use efficiency, including: reducing waste; investment in sustainable resources, technologies and infrastructures; and systematically decoupling economic activity from environmental impact.
• Reproductive health and voluntary family planning programmes urgently require political leadership and financial commitment, both nationally and internationally. This is needed to continue the downward trajectory of fertility rates, especially in countries where the unmet need for contraception is high.
• Population and the environment should not be considered as two separate issues. Demographic changes, and the influences on them, should be factored into economic and environmental debate and planning at international meetings, such as the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development and subsequent meetings.

Guardian coverage.

Debunking the sceptic [37:15]

John Cook from skepticalscience.com talks about I Can Change Your Mind About Climate.

The telling outtake: Naomi Oreskes with Nick Minchin:

Dealing with the "lag": http://sks.to/lag

http://sks.to/shakun

Solutions [1:00:00]

Tinted Windows that Generate Electricity: A German company borrows the materials and manufacturing process of OLED displays to make a new kind of solar panel.

NASA Funding Satellite That Would Beam Solar Power Down to Earth

Blimp with a blower:

Solar Thermal Heating Could Eliminate CO2 Emissions from Cement Production

Thanks to our media partners: Idealog Sustain, Sciblogs, Scoop and KiwiFM.

Theme music: A Drop In The Ocean by The Bads.

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As the northern hemisphere starts to warm (rather rapidly in the USA), climate watchers' thoughts turn to melting ice, and to tell us what happened last year and what might be in store this summer, Glenn and Gareth welcome back Greenland expert Jason Box from the Byrd Polar research Centre at Ohio State University. It's a wide ranging and fascinating discussion, not to be missed. John Cook looks at the differences between sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic, and we have news coverage of the new HadCRUT4 global temperature series, summertime in winter in the USA, worrying news about sea level from the Pliocene, a new report on climate change in the Pacific, and new developments in solar power and biofuels.

Watch The Climate Show on our Youtube channel, subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, listen to us via Stitcher on your smartphone or listen direct/download from the link below the fold.

Follow The Climate Show at The Climate Show web site, and on Facebook and Twitter.

News & commentary: [0:03:30]

Hadley Centre publishes updated global temp series, includes Arctic for first time, shows 2010 was hottest year - formerly 1998.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17432194

Astounding US winter “heatwave” continues: Joe Romm at Climate Progress

From Jeff Masters on the day we were recording (21/3/12): http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2056

International Falls, Minnesota hit 78°F yesterday, 42° above average, and the 2nd hottest March temperature on record in the Nation's Icebox. The record of 79°F was set the previous day. Remarkably, the low temperature for International Falls bottomed out at 60°F yesterday, tying the previous record high for the date. I've never seen a station with a century-long data record have its low temperature for the date match the previous record high for the date. Yesterday was the seventh consecutive day that International Falls broke or tied a daily record. That is spectacularly hard to do for a station with a century-long weather record. The longest string of consecutive records being broken I'm aware of is nine days in a row, set June 2 - 10, 1911 in Tulsa, Oklahoma (with weather records going back to 1905.) International Falls has a good chance of surpassing nine consecutive records this week.

Fox News:

"6th, 7th Consecutive Days of Record-Warmth Likely Updated: Monday, 19 Mar 2012, 12:37 PM CDT Published : Monday, 19 Mar 2012, 7:38 AM CDT Sun-Times Media Wire Chicago - In what meteorologists are calling a “historic and unprecedented” streak, the Chicago area should hit the sixth day in a row of record warm temperatures on Monday, even on the last day of winter."

Global Sea Level Likely to Rise as Much as 70 Feet for Future Generations

Even if humankind manages to limit global warming to 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F), as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommends, future generations will have to deal with sea levels 12 to 22 meters (40 to 70 feet) higher than at present, according to research published in the journal Geology.

Climate change and the future of our Pacific neighbours

...until recently there has been limited reliable detailed scientific information available to [Pacific Island] countries. A major new report recently released by the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO is helping to fill this gap. It provides the most comprehensive scientific analysis to date of climate change in the Pacific region. The 530 page, two-volume scientific report called “Climate Change in the Pacific: Scientific Assessment and New Research” shows clear evidence of how the climate in the Pacific has changed and may change in the future.

Entire nation of Kiribati to be relocated over rising sea level threat

Interview [0:22:30]

Jason Box, Assoc. Professor in the Department of Geography, Byrd Polar Research Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.

NASA MODIS Arctic mosaic

Arctic Report Card, highlights

• Arctic average surface air temperature remained high in 2011, ~1.5 C above the 1981-2000 baseline
• shift in the Arctic [Ocean] system since 2006
• persistent decline in the thickness and extent of the summer sea ice cover, and a warmer, fresher upper ocean.
• As a result of increased open water area, biological productivity at the base of the marine food chain has increased
• sea ice-dependent marine mammals continue to lose habitat.
• increases in the greenness of tundra vegetation
• increases in permafrost temperature
• more downward sensible heat and positive albedo feedback, reduced sea ice
• loss of habit for walrus and polar bears.
• less duration of solid platform for seal to ‘pup’
• Possibly linked to recent changes in wind patterns, ozone concentrations in the Arctic stratosphere during March 2011 were the lowest ever recorded during the period beginning in 1979.
• Higher temperatures in the Arctic and unusually lower temperatures in some low latitude regions are linked to global shifts in atmospheric wind patterns.

Links to “Weird Weather”

• While oceanic and atmospheric patterns such as El Niño, La Niña, and the North Atlantic Oscillation have been blamed for the spate of unusual weather recently, there’s now a new culprit in the wind: Arctic amplification...
• new Arctic amplification (enhanced Arctic warming relative to that in mid-latitudes) news from: Francis and Vavrus (2012), Evidence linking Arctic amplification to extreme weather in mid-latitudes, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L06801, doi:10.1029/2012GL051000
• a slower eastward progression of Rossby waves in the upper-level flow 1) weakened zonal winds, 2) increased wave amplitude. may cause more persistent weather patterns in mid-latitude

Greenland

A persistent and strong negative North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index was responsible for southerly air flow along the west of Greenland, which caused anomalously warm weather in winter 2010-11 and summer 2011.

Albedo feedback...

• Greenland ice sheet mass loss has accelerated in the past decade responding to combined glacier discharge and surface melt water runoff increases.
• During summer, absorbed solar energy, modulated at the surface primarily by albedo, is the dominant factor governing surface melt variability in the ablation area.
• Using satellite observations of albedo and melt extent with calibrated regional climate model output, we determine the spatial dependence and quantitative impact of the ice sheet albedo feedback in twelve summer periods beginning in 2000.
• We find that while the albedo feedback is negative over 70 % of the ice sheet, concentrated in the accumulation area above 1500 m, positive feedback prevailing over the ablation area accounts for more than half of the overall increase in melting.
• Over the ablation area, year 2010 and 2011 absorbed solar energy was more than twice as large as in years 2000–2004.
• Anomalous anticyclonic circulation, associated with a persistent summer North Atlantic Oscillation extreme since 2007 enabled three amplifying mechanisms to maximize the albedo feedback:
• (1) increased warm (south) air advection along the western ice sheet increased surface sensible heating that in turn enhanced snow grain metamorphic rates, further reducing albedo;
• (2) increased surface downward solar irradiance, leading to more surface heating and further albedo reduction; and
• (3) reduced snowfall rates sustained low albedo, maximizing surface solar heating, progressively lowering albedo over multiple years.
• The summer net radiation for the high elevation accumulation area approached positive values during this period.
• while negative feedback has been reducing impact of warming, the surface radiation budget has gotten more positive, seems a threshold is about to be crossed! All what is needed more is another decadal trend increase like the last decade, THIS IS LIKELY! It is reasonable to predict that we will observe mid summer (mid July) melting over 100% of the ice sheet surface. Max melt extent was ~65% in 2010.
• The area and duration of melting at the surface of the ice sheet in summer 2011 were the third highest since 1979.
• The area of marine-terminating glaciers continued to decrease, though at less than half the rate of the previous 10 years.
• In situ measurements revealed near record-setting mass losses concentrated at higher elevations on the western slope of the ice sheet, and at an isolated glacier in southeastern Greenland.
• Total ice sheet mass loss in 2011 was 70% larger than the 2003-09 average annual loss rate of -250 Gt y-1. According to satellite gravity data obtained since 2002, ice sheet mass loss is accelerating.

Summer plans

• “holistic” glacier study, Store Glacier, 70 N W Greenland...the idea is to observe the system not just make and analyze this or that measurement
• in-situ crevasse widening measurements x 2
• water filled crevasse depth measurements x 2
• continuous GPS x 3
• seismometers x 3
• time lapse cameras
• tide gauge
• tidal modulation of flow dynamics
• calving tsunamis
• hydrophones
• multi-beam swath sonar repeat survey of sub marine glacier front
• hydrographic surveying (temperature, salinity, current; vs depth)
• heat and water mass budget
• acoustic doppler current profiler
• aircraft and satellite remote sensing data

Debunking the sceptic [1:01:50]

John Cook from skepticalscience.com talks about Antarctic sea ice:

http://sks.to/antarctica

Solutions [1:17:00]

Waikato's plan to harvest sunlight

Pretty pictures from National Geographic: solar thermal stations in Spain.

Electric Jeepneys to reduce pollution in Philippines.

NZ’s LanzaTech picked as one of world’s leading energy innovators

http://www.lanzatech.co.nz/content/lanzatech-process

Thanks to our media partners: Idealog Sustain, Sciblogs, Scoop and KiwiFM.

Theme music: A Drop In The Ocean by The Bads.

This edition of The Climate Show is our entry in TckTckTck's Rio Blogger competition. Wish us luck!

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It's been a long summer (not a hot one) for the The Climate Show, but Glenn, Gareth and John are back with a good show for the new year. Feature interview -- and it's a cracker -- is with Californian computer scientist John Mashey, who has been digging deep into the networks of organised denial, tracking the flows of money and malpractice from plagiarism to zombie chairmen. Plus John Cook introduces his Debunking Handbook, a look at Arctic ice and its impact on European weather and a report calling for "dramatic action to avert a collapse of civilisation".

Watch The Climate Show on our Youtube channel, subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, listen to us via Stitcher on your smartphone or listen direct/download from the link below the fold.

Follow The Climate Show at The Climate Show web site, and on Facebook and Twitter.

The Climate Show

News & commentary: [0:02:00]

2011 was a cool hot year: 2011: a hot cold year ...but La Niña is on its way out (NIWA seasonal forecast).

Warm winter in most of the US, but very cold snap in Europe: third paper published confirming link between Arctic sea ice loss and synoptic change: BBC, Climate Progress.

New report prepared by “Blue Planet” prizewinners for Rio+20 finds civilisation faces unprecedented “perfect storm of ecological and social problems":

In the face of an "absolutely unprecedented emergency", say the 18 past winners of the Blue Planet prize – the unofficial Nobel for the environment – society has "no choice but to take dramatic action to avert a collapse of civilisation. Either we will change our ways and build an entirely new kind of global society, or they will be changed for us".

Download report.

Rio+20.

No-waste circular economy is good business – ask China: New Scientist

Heartland document leak and repercussions:

NZ sceptics funded by Heartland

Mashey report

Documents leaked:What becomes of the broken Heartland?

Peter Gleick confesses: (Not So Simple) Twist Of Fate

Education as propaganda: Heartland on education: they’d like to teach the world to lie

Interview [0:25:50]

John Mashey, digging into: the Wegman report, Heartland, Singer et al. For reports check DeSmogBlog and Deep Climate.

Debunking the sceptic [1:04:00]

John Cook from skepticalscience.com rejoins the show to tell us all about The Debunking Handbook and backfire effects.

http://sks.to/debunk

Solutions [1:16:30]

Liquid flow battery could recharge in three minutes.

Improved lithium ion battery could double current storage.

Thanks to our media partners: Idealog Sustain, Sciblogs, Scoop and KiwiFM.

Theme music: A Drop In The Ocean by The Bads.

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Grab some holly, deck your halls, heat up some mince pies, and then settle down to the last Climate Show of 2011. We look at the outcome of the Durban conference, discuss heavy rain in New Zealand and record-breaking weather extremes in the USA, and ponder the implications of news of more methane erupting from the seabed off Siberia. Glenn interviews Chris Paine, director of EV documentary Revenge of the Electric Car, and we round off the show with some optimistic news on possible energy solutions.

Watch The Climate Show on our Youtube channel, subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, listen to us via Stitcher on your smartphone or listen direct/download from the link below the fold...

Follow The Climate Show at The Climate Show web site, and on Facebook and Twitter.

News & commentary: [0:02:00]

Durban - the deal, and what it means

Mark Lynas at Hot Topic: http://hot-topic.co.nz/the-verdict-on-durban/

Gareth's take: http://hot-topic.co.nz/a-mad-deal-in-durban/

Climate Action Tracker

Flooding in Nelson: Stuff.co.nz

Philippines: 400+ killed in flash floods yesterday: BBC

Record year for extremes in US: NOAA, Jeff Masters.

WMO on 2011: world’s 10th warmest year, warmest year with La Niña on record, second-lowest Arctic sea ice extent: release.

Methane in the Arctic: Independent.

[Background] http://hot-topic.co.nz/siberian-seabed-methane-first-numbers/ and the links therein.

Interview [0:34:30]

Chris Paine: Revenge of the Electric Car

Solutions [0:54:00]

Game Changing Technologies Promise Climate Change Optimism: Celsias NZ

U.S. Geothermal Resources Could Replace Coal 10 Times Over: Ecogeek

Solar Power Much Cheaper to Produce Than Most Analysts Realize, Study Finds: Science Daily

Solution Fail: Congress spared the 100-watt incandescent light bulb from a government-enforced phaseout in a win for Tea Party activists over manufacturers who said they are already switching to more energy-efficient products: Business Week

Thanks to our media partners: Idealog Sustain, Sciblogs, Scoop and KiwiFM.

Theme music: A Drop In The Ocean by The Bads.

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A crisp and crunchy show this week, as Gareth and Glenn interview Dr James Renwick about the IPCC's cautious new report on extreme weather and the riskier future we all face. With added ruminations on the potential slowdown in international action at the Durban conference, record greenhouse gas levels reached in 2010, the prospect of "hyper warming" and the release of some lightly warmed over stolen emails. No debunking a la Cook this week, but he'll be back soon, and we have news of the world's first hybrid jet aircraft.

Watch The Climate Show on our Youtube channel, subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, listen to us via Stitcher on your smartphone or listen direct/download from the link below the fold...

Follow The Climate Show at The Climate Show web site, and on Facebook and Twitter.

The Climate Show

News & commentary: [0:04:30]

Rich nations 'give up' on new climate treaty until 2020 -- Ahead of critical talks and despite pledge for new treaty by 2012, biggest economies privately admit likelihood of long delay: Fiona Harvey in the Guardian

But Chris Huhne disagrees.

And Gummer, Prescott and Jay are more upbeat, as is Mark Lynas, adviser to the Maldives.

And just to underline how stupid that all is, the WMO reports record GHG levels in 2010 Reuters, WMO Bulletin.

Which might mean we're on the way to “hyperwarming”.

Fresh round of hacked climate science emails leaked online: A file containing 5,000 emails has been made available in an apparent attempt to repeat the impact of 2009's similar release.

Two year old turkey for Thanksgiving: CRU emails part deux, and Stephan Lewandowsky at The Conversation.

Interview [0:27:00]

Dr James Renwick, principal scientist, climate, at NIWA talks to us about the IPCC’s latest report - the SREX, or Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation.

See also: http://www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2011/11/21/nz-faces-moral-obligations-as-climate-changes-hit-scientist/, and all links to report here: Stormy weather: we’re making it worse, and there’s more on the way.

Solutions [0:54:00]

California hits 1GW of rooftop solar.

Turning Commercial Jets into Hybrids.

Google drops some projects... A "Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal" initiative launched to drive down the cost of generating solar power was listed among the Google undertakings being nixed. "At this point, other institutions are better positioned than Google to take this research to the next level," he added.

Thanks to our media partners: Idealog Sustain, Sciblogs, Scoop and KiwiFM.

Theme music: A Drop In The Ocean by The Bads.

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Bad news on carbon emissions balanced by good news on solar photovoltaics, a Medicane bringing dramatic flash flooding to Italy and France, a scientist who thinks the Arctic could be effectively ice free in late summer in only four years, and the inside story on what the New Zealand election might mean for climate policy down under. John Cook joins us to talk about the new BEST temperature record (great gifs, Dana!), and in the solutions section Gareth and Glenn talk about solar powered airships, China's plans to ban incandescent light bulbs, and a continent spanning €400bn solar thermal power plan for North Africa, Europe and the Middle East. All this and more as The Climate Show comes of age with its 21st show…

Watch The Climate Show on our Youtube channel, subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, listen to us via Stitcher on your smartphone or listen direct/download from the link below the fold...

Follow The Climate Show at The Climate Show web site, and on Facebook and Twitter.

News & commentary: [0:04:50]

Record carbon emissions

Levels of greenhouse gases are higher than the worst case scenario outlined by climate experts just four years ago: The Guardian.

Chinese economic miracle fuels surge in carbon emissions - greenhouse gas output hits record high as China overtakes US to become world's biggest polluter: The Independent.

Global carbon intensity on the rise for first time in a decade, and PwC Report here.

The Triumph of King Coal: Hardening Our Coal Addiction by Fred Pearce.

Still raining...

More on floods in Italy and France (not forgetting Thailand and Cambodia).

Six killed in Genoa: 356 mm of rain in 12 hours -- Daily Telegraph, and photos from the Telegraph and the BBC.

Rare storm with tropical features forms in Mediterranean: Jeff Masters

Bering Sea storm, aka the snowicane: Jeff Masters and the Alaska Daily News.

Arctic forecast: Peter Wadhams thinks there’s a good chance the Arctic will be ice-free in summer by 2015:

"It is really showing the fall-off in ice volume is so fast that it is going to bring us to zero very quickly. 2015 is a very serious prediction and I think I am pretty much persuaded that that's when it will happen."

[0:24:00]It’s election time in New Zealand:

Three years of "very serious" climate policy failure.

NATIONAL: From The Listener's excellent election blog:

The National party’s climate change policy, which is being released today in Nelson by the prime minister, has appeared. The important bit is this, from Key’s statement: “We intend to slow the phasing in of the emissions trading scheme from 2013 to 2015, at which point we will look to align our scheme with that adopted by Australia. Any change to our emissions trading scheme will be fiscally neutral.” Fiscally neutral, maybe, but not environmentally neutral. The door to a teal deal creaks closer to shutting.

Policy PDF.

LABOUR TV 3 News: The Labour Party will not allow Solid Energy to mine for liquid fuels in Southland because of the increase to greenhouse gas emissions, it has been announced today. Full Labour climate policy here.

GREEN PARTY climate policy here.

Debunking the skeptic, John Cook from skepticalscience.com [0:38:40]

The BEST (Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature) of times...

"I’m prepared to accept whatever result they produce, even if it proves my premise wrong” Anthony Watts, March 2011

DENIAL STAGE 1: “IT’S NOT HAPPENING”

“I consider the paper fatally flawed as it now stands, and thus I recommend it be removed from publication consideration by JGR until such time that it can be reworked....it appears they have circumvented the scientific process in favor of PR.” Anthony Watts, October 2011

DENIAL STAGE 2: “IT’S HAPPENING BUT IT’S NOT US”

"All sceptics believe in "global warming" (depending on what time scale you use); what they doubt to various degrees is the "man made" element." James Delingpole

DENIAL STAGE 3: BACK TO “IT’S NOT HAPPENING”

Daily Mail showed cooling from BEST data (animated GIF):

Animated GIF of cooling trends throughout warming period:

http://sks.to/best

Australia joins the grown-ups.

Solutions [00:58:30]

China phasing out incandescent light bulbs

Paul Krugman in the NY Times: Here comes the sun. See also Bryan Walker's post at Hot Topic: Let The Sun Shine In.

Desertec: how green energy could power Europe, north Africa and the Middle East - The Guardian, and Ecogeek.

Solar Ship Is Half Airship and Half Flying Wing.

Cloud computing can cut corporate carbon emissions.

Thanks to our media partners: Idealog Sustain, Sciblogs, Scoop and KiwiFM.

Theme music: A Drop In The Ocean by The Bads.

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Battling against rural broadband that resembled digital molasses or the bunker oil being pumped out of the Rena), Gareth returns to NZ and joins Glenn Williams and John Cook to discuss drought in Tuvalu, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), floods and sea level falls, ocean cooling (that isn't), solar towers of power and much, much more…

Watch The Climate Show on our Youtube channel, subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, listen to us via Stitcher on your smartphone or listen direct/download from the link below the fold...

Follow The Climate Show at The Climate Show web site, and on Facebook and Twitter.

The Climate Show

News & commentary: [0:05:54]

Tuvalu, La Nina/ENSO and water

http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/desperate-tuvalu-receives-more-aid-4470389

Tuvalu drought could be dry run for dealing with climate change

http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/enso/mei/mei.html: “I believe the odds for a La Niña winter have indeed risen to near 100%, with the 'fall window' of disrupting this evolution closing rapidly. However, it does not appear likely that we will see as strong an event as in 2010-11.”

https://www2.ucar.edu/staffnotes/research/5566/el-nino-climate-change-coming-century

The research team, which was led by Samantha Stevenson (University of Colorado Boulder) and includes NCAR scientists Markus Jochum, Richard Neale, Clara Deser, and Gerald Meehl, used the NCAR-based Community Climate System Model (CCSM) to simulate the effects of climate change on ENSO over the 21st century. They found no significant changes in its extent or frequency. However, the warmer and moister atmosphere of the future could make ENSO events more extreme. For example, the model predicts the blocking high pressure south of Alaska that often occurs during La Niña winters to strengthen under future atmospheric conditions, meaning that intrusions of Arctic air into North America typical of La Niña winters could be stronger in the future.

http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00252.1

And while we’re talking about ENSO...

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-262

The strong La Nina caused intense rainfall in Australia and Brazil - enough to cause a downward blip in sea level rise... confirmed by GRACE satellite measurements.

Meanwhile, on sea level:

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2011/10/17/sea.levels.will.continue.rise.500.years

“For the two more realistic scenarios, calculated based on the emissions and pollution stabilizing, the results show that there will be a sea level rise of about 75 cm by the year 2100 and that by the year 2500 the sea will have risen by 2 meters.” Worst case: “sea levels will rise 1.1 meters by the year 2100 and will have risen 5.5 meters by the year 2500.”

Starbucks concerned world coffee supply is threatened by climate change.

New climate science roundup

http://hot-topic.co.nz/not-a-pretty-picture-recent-science-summarised/

http://pdf.wri.org/climate_science_2009-2010.pdf#

NIWA's new Climate Change Atlas: http://www.niwa.co.nz/node/102850

Debunking the skeptic, John Cook from skepticalscience.com [0:35:50]

Ocean Cooling? (No it's not).

Model-based evidence of deep-ocean heat uptake during surface-temperature hiatus periods (Meehl et al 2011)

http://sks.to/oceanheat

Solutions [00:45:45] Solar Decathlon results:

NZ team finished third: http://www.solardecathlon.gov/, http://firstlighthouse.ac.nz/.

The Kiwi bach of tomorrow: http://firstlighthouse.ac.nz/the-house/design-features/

Sky-scraping Tower Will Power 100,000 Homes with Hot Air

A 2,600-foot tower planned for the Arizona desert will be the world's second tallest structure and will be able to power 100,000 homes through hot air alone.

NASA issues award in green aviation competition

On Monday, the space agency issued the award to team Pipistrel-USA.com of State College, Pa., as part of the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency, or CAFE, Green Flight Challenge. The competition, sponsored by Google, was created to inspire the development of more fuel-efficient aircraft and spark the start of a new electric airplane industry, NASA said. The winning aircraft had to fly 200 miles in less than two hours and use less than one gallon of fuel per occupant, or the equivalent in electricity.

Electric car infrastructure begins to roll out across the UK

Thanks to our media partners: Idealog Sustain, Sciblogs, Scoop and KiwiFM.

Theme music: A Drop In The Ocean by The Bads.

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La Nina makes a return, Times Atlas Gate (or something like that), the Petermann Glacier break-up, Pirates cause global warming (not really) and Ice adventurer Rob Swan pushes for Green Growth. Gareth is still away but John and Glenn will play, The Climate Show is back for another spin. Watch The Climate Show on our Youtube channel, subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, listen to us via Stitcher on your smartphone or listen direct/download from the link below the fold... Follow The Climate Show on Facebook and Twitter.

The Climate Show

News & commentary: [0:05:54]

More than a million people in central Japan were urged to evacuate as a powerful typhoon approached. Meanwhile the hurricane season in the Atlantic is simmering away. La Nina is back for the southern summer. Times Atlas is 'wrong on Greenland climate change'. 'Gob-smacking' scale of Petermann Glacier break-up Climate change driving species migration 2 to 3 times faster than previously thought Pirates are preventing climate research

Feature interview - Robert Swan, Ice Adventurer. [0:25:45]

He discusses the Pure Antarctica Competition and how young leaders can make a difference in championing Green Growth in New Zealand and the world. Also take a look at 2041. Debunking the skeptic, John Cook from skepticalscience.com [0:48:08] The CERN experiment and cosmic rays

Solutions [00:55:58]

At the recent Pacific Forum New Zealand announced that it will invest $7.9 million to fund the construction of a photovoltaic solar plant in Tonga. Make your own solar iPhone charger. Thanks to our media partners: Idealog Sustain, Sciblogs, Scoop and KiwiFM. Theme music: A Drop In The Ocean by The Bads.

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The big chill freezes New Zealand, Arctic sea ice in the balance, the US has a warm July, the world is getting mad about fracking and some more unusual uses for solar energy. While Gareth is lost in fields of sunflowers, The Climate Show returns with Glenn and John at the helm.

Watch The Climate Show on our Youtube channel, subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, listen to us via Stitcher on your smartphone or listen direct/download

Follow The Climate Show on Facebook and Twitter. The Climate Show News & commentary: [0:04:02]

A massive storm in New Zealand breaks more records & the NZ MetService blog coverage.

Snow in Auckland? A lot of debate about what people actually saw.

The weather system that caused all the fuss.

A pretty picture of the snow from space.

Meanwhile... Arctic sea ice extent is tracking down to 2007 or below levels

The stats are in for the July summer heatwave in the US.

Feature interview - Josh Fox, writer/director of Gasland [0:23:12]

Gasland focuses on communities in the United States impacted by natural gas drilling and, specifically, a stimulation method known as hydraulic fracturing. The issue is heating up in New Zealand with plans to open up shale gas fields in Southland.

Debunking the skeptic, John Cook from skepticalscience.com [0:51:03]

Latest denier fad: “humans aren’t causing the rise in CO2 levels”

http://sks.to/salby

And a new section to SKS http://sks.to/salby

Solutions [01:07:36]

The Strawberry Tree is the public solar charger for mobile phones invented by a group of students from the University of Belgrade.

Solar Roadways received a $750,000 grant from the Federal Highway Administration to build a parking lot paved with solar panels.

To make way for two solar car ports, the University of California at Davis first needs to remove the 38 pear trees already planted in the parking lot.

Thanks to our media partners: Idealog Sustain, Sciblogs, Scoop and KiwiFM.

Theme music: A Drop In The Ocean by The Bads.

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Nano electric cars from India, 100 year old electric vehicles, the Petermann ice island floating down towards the Atlantic, heatwaves in the USA and snow in North Canterbury, and a bit of peerless chat about a larrikin Lord on his way to New Zealand. With added vegan cheese and the BFC (big fat cat). Yes Glenn and John Cook wax lyrical, while Gareth's mind wanders off on his EU and US trip -- The Climate Show is back with another rambling but perfectly essential distillation of climate and related news and commentary.

Watch The Climate Show on our Youtube channel, subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, listen to us via Stitcher on your smartphone or listen direct/download from the link below the fold...

Follow The Climate Show on Facebook and Twitter.

The Climate Show

News & commentary: [0:01:20]

Our own cold snap & the NZ MetService blog coverage.

Looking chilly at Gareth’s house

Petermann ice island off Labrador.

Meanwhile... US East Coast heat wave -- humidity was the stunning hallmark plus Climate Central & Jeff Masters.

Europe's melting glaciers and summer river flows.

Lamb worst offender at generating greenhouse gases in US? “A report by the US Environmental Working Group suggests lamb, beef and pork generate the most greenhouse gases, use the most fertiliser, water and feed in the production process, and also tend to be higher in fat.”

“Green” and “Sustainable” coming back into fashion?

Climate Change and the media -- BBC about to bite bullet on climate BS.

Debunking the sceptic, with John Cook of Skeptical Science [0:35:00]

The Breivik manifesto and the Monckton connection, & Norway terrorist is a climate change denier.

Monckton's curriculum vitae at the UK Independence Party.

Monckton refuses to accept challenge from Barry Bickmore to debate in written form.

http://sks.to/sensitivity

http://sks.to/inertia

http://sks.to/royalsoc

http://sks.to/moncktonsources

Solutions [01:10:00]

A Marlborough wine producer has slashed its annual heating bill by choosing to burn its own vine prunings to produce heat.

India is making electric cars... who knew?

A century of electric vehicles...

New documentary: Revenge of the electric car.

Japanese home fuel cell.

Thanks to our media partners: Celsias.co.nz, Scoop and KiwiFM.

Theme music: A Drop In The Ocean by The Bads.

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We learned a lot this week, as Professor Keith Hunter of the University of Otago, one of the world's leading ocean chemists, gave us a masterclass on ocean acidification and what it means for the future of the oceans. Plus we discuss Australia's new carbon tax, green growth campaigns in New Zealand, why China's aerosols may have been doing us a favour and why cleaning them up might unleash more warming, and climate models having trouble with rapid climate events. On the solutions front we look at a tiny electric aeroplane setting a new speed record and a solar initiative in NZ. No John Cook in this show, but he'll be back soon.

Watch The Climate Show on our Youtube channel, subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, listen to us via Stitcher on your smartphone or listen direct/download from the link below the fold...

Follow The Climate Show on Facebook and Twitter.

The Climate Show

News & commentary: [0:03:25]

Australia bites the carbon bullet.

Going for Green Growth in NZ

Pure Advantage campaign launched

Green Growth Advisory Group launches discussion document

China’s power stations generate ‘future spike’ in global warming The paper referred to is Reconciling anthropogenic climate change with observed temperature 1998–2008 by Robert K. Kaufmann et al, pdf here.

State-of-the-art climate models are largely untested against actual occurrences of abrupt change. It is a huge leap of faith to assume that simulations of the coming century with these models will provide reliable warning of sudden, catastrophic events.

http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v4/n7/full/ngeo1200.html

Al Gore is back: Gore's Climate Reality project announced it would kick off with a 24-hour live streamed event on 14 September. The day's events will include a new multimedia presentation by Gore that will "connect the dots" between extreme weather events and climate change, a statement said.

http://climaterealityproject.org/

Interview: Professor Keith Hunter of the University of Otago. [0:30:00]

Professor Keith Hunter is New Zealand's leading scientist in the field of marine and freshwater chemistry. His research interests include the effects of trace metals, both essential and toxic, on the growth of phytoplankton; the marine chemistry of the major greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide and marine surfaces (air-water, sediment-water). He directs the joint NIWA-University of Otago Centre of Excellence for Chemical and Physical Oceanography based in the Department of Chemistry, and is involved in several PGSF-funded research programmes.

Skeptical Science series on ocean acidification: http://www.skepticalscience.com/Mackie_OA_not_OK_post_0.html

Solutions [01:10:30]

Councils asked to go solar in 'The Solar Promise’ nationwide campaign launched this week:

http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/your-council/latest-news/july-2011/councils-asked-to-go-solar-in-the-solar-promise-nationwide-campaign-launched-today

http://www.solarpromise.org.nz/

Tiny electric airplane sets speed record

http://www.ecogeek.org/ecogeeks/3550-tiny-electric-airplane-sets-speed-record

Thanks to our media partners: Celsias.co.nz, Scoop and KiwiFM.

Theme music: A Drop In The Ocean by The Bads.

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We thought we'd try for a record short show -- and failed, because once again there was just to much to talk about. We have more on Eritrean volcanoes, extreme weather over the last 18 months, a new report on the dire state of the oceans, and Stoat's big bet. Special guest is Professor Michael Ashley from the University of New South Wales, discussing the state of play in Australia, John Cook does a rapid debunk of Bob Carter, and we have electric cars, more flow batteries and the gas we do not want to smell.

Watch The Climate Show on our Youtube channel, subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, listen to us via Stitcher on your smartphone or listen direct/download here:

The Climate Show

Follow The Climate Show on Facebook and Twitter.

News & commentary: [0:05:00]

The eruption of Nabro in Eritrea: Earth Observatory image.

Follow the action at Dr Erik Klemmeti’s Eruptions blog, watching Nabro from space.

Extreme weather - Jeff Masters chips in: Hot Topic post, Jeff Masters post, Neville Nichols on Aussie heatwaves.

State of the oceans report - not a good read:

http://www.stateoftheocean.org/ipso-2011-workshop-summary.cfm

http://hot-topic.co.nz/the-state-of-the-ocean-dire/

Sea ice bets: $10,000 on the line at Stoat.

Interview: Professor Michael Ashley of the Department of Astrophysics at the University of New South Wales [0:19:50]

Journey into the weird and wacky world of climate change denial at The Conversation.

Monckton calls Garnaut a Nazi.

Debunking the sceptic, with John Cook of Skeptical Science [0:44:50]

Bob Carter op ed, and...

...John Cook riposte.

Bob Carter: “Between 2001 and 2010 global average temperature decreased by 0.05 degrees” “...slight global cooling over the past 10 years”

The PIG is flying: Pine Island Glacier melt rate doubles.

http://sks.to/1998

Solutions [00:58:20]

ReFuel - An electric car-fest

More on flow batteries - this one’s grid scale

Shale gas/fracking and why it isn’t any kind of solution to anything http://hot-topic.co.nz/the-gas-dont-work/

Trailer for Gasland.

The outrageous British chat show host whose name completely escapes me.

Thanks to our media partners: Celsias.co.nz, Scoop and KiwiFM.

Theme music: A Drop In The Ocean by The Bads.

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