The hockey-stick curve

There has been a rapid increase of co2 concentrations in the atmosphere over the past 250 years: from 280 parts per million (ppm) to 379 ppm. All greenhouse gases add up to the equivalent of 430 ppm of co2. That this increase has had a warming effect because of heat energy trapped in the atmosphere is clear when one compares the well known hockey-stick graph of emissions with corresponding global temperature change.

Himalayan glaciers are thinning

SEVENTY-five per cent of the Himalayan glaciers are thinning, states a recent analysis of satellite pictures taken by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). But before the alarm button is pressed, more detailed studies must be conducted, say scientists.

Look what’s swelling the sea

GROUNDWATER is becoming important to sustain agriculture, industry and drinking water. But as we exploit aquifers, more water becomes part of the hydrological cycle. A recent study shows evaporation and precipitation of groundwater is responsible for a fourth of the annual sea level rise of 3.1 mm.

IPCC in for change of climate

IN ALL probability, the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s 32nd plenary between October 11 and 14 in Busan, South Korea, will be overshadowed by a 100-page report on its workings. The InterAcademy Council (IAC), a multinational organisation of science academies that reviewed the workings, has asked IPCC to bring method to its climate change research and assessment. The council reviewed the processes and procedures IPCC adopted at the behest of the UN and the global body on climate change. IAC submitted its report in end August.

Glacial melt? Need more studies

himalayan glaciers have not in any way exhibited, especially in recent years, an abnormal annual retreat of the order that some glaciers in Alaska and Greenland have, said a study on glaciers, co-sponsored by the Union environment ministry, in the second week of November.

Kyoto diary

December 11, 1997: Kyoto Protocol adopted with legally binding emission reduction targets for developed countries. November 1998: The Byrd-Hagel resolution unanimously passed by the US Senate rejecting Kyoto 2001: The Third IPCC report presented the worst case scenario with the average global temperatures rising by 6 degrees Celsius within a century

Whose view of climate equity?

Civil coalition promotes Northern view of post-2012 climate pact

Breach of protocol

12-day climate meet only assured another meeting AT THE end of 12 days of negotiation, the chairperson of the working group on Kyoto Protocol locked up all negotiators for two hours at night.

Noah's ark redux

New science predicts climate is changing faster than estimated

Continuity at IPCC

R K Pachauri re-elected head R K Pachauri was re-elected as chairman of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on September 2. He has served as chairman of the organization since 2002. During his tenure, the IPCC released its fourth assessment report on climate change last year and was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007. The election was held during the organization's 29th plenary session in Geneva. The new IPCC team will prepare the fifth assessment report, expected to be out in 2014.