http://nas-sites.org/americasclimatechoices/events/a-discussion-on-climate-change-evidence-and-causes/ Source:   U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society (U. K.) For Investigation:   10.3 Excerpt: The leadership of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the U.K.’s Royal Society convened a UK-US team of leading climate scientists to produce this brief, readable reference document for decision makers, policy makers, educators, and other individuals seeking authoritative information on the some of the questions that continue to be asked. The publication makes clear what is well-established and where understanding is still developing. It echoes and builds upon the long history of climate-related work from both national academies, as well as on the newest climate-change assessment from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It touches on current areas of active debate and ongoing research, such as the link between ocean heat content and...

http://news.sciencemag.org/sifter/2015/02/vanishing-ice-could-wipe-out-alaskan-village Source:  Science For Investigation:   10.3 Excerpt: Say goodbye to the tiny Inupiaq village of Kivalina, one of dozens of villages in Alaska that may soon be abandoned due to climate change. For years, thick fringes of sea ice protected Kivalina, a town of 85 homes perched on a barrier island at the edge of the Chukchi Sea, from being washed away by powerful waves and winter storms—but the ice is vanishing. The village needs to be relocated, and stat, but who’s going to dole out the more than $100 million that it would cost is an open question, .... ... Kivalina is becoming a poster child for Alaskan villages in peril....

http://news.sciencemag.org/climate/2015/02/cold-pacific-ocean-offsetting-global-warming Source:   By Carolyn Gramling, Science For Investigation:   10.3 Excerpt: ...Greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, continue to be pumped into the atmosphere, but sometime around 1998, the rise in Earth’s average temperatures slowed, deviating from the rates predicted by models. ...a new study suggests that natural cycles in the Pacific Ocean are the culprit. Since the end of last El Niño warming event of 1997 to 1998, the tropical Pacific Ocean has been in a relatively cool phase—strong enough to offset the warming created by greenhouse gas emissions. But, this is just a temporary balm: When the switch flips and the waters turn warm again, the researchers say, Earth will likely continue warming. “What this study addresses is what’s better described as a false pause, or slowdown,” rather than a hiatus in warming, says climate scientist Michael Mann of Pennsylvania S...

http://www.sciencefriday.com/segment/02/20/2015/habitats-shift-as-arctic-temps-creep-above-freezing.html Source:   Produced by Christopher Intagliata, Senior Producer, Science Friday For Investigation:   10.3 [Podcast] In 1975 ornithologist George Divoky began his study of black guillemots on Cooper Island, on the Alaskan shore of the Arctic Ocean. Back then ice used to be onshore for much of the summer, he says. But in the past decade, ice has disappeared to as far as 500 miles offshore. And as the ice retreats, habitats shift, and certain food chains have begun to crumble. Divoky and wildlife biologist Cheryl Rosa of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission take stock of how climate change is reshaping the flora and fauna of the Arctic.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/13/world/asia/pakistan-braces-for-major-water-shortages.html Source:   Salman Masood, The New York Times. For Investigation:   10.3 Excerpt: ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Energy-starved Pakistanis, their economy battered by chronic fuel and electricity shortages, may soon have to contend with a new resource crisis: major water shortages, the Pakistani government warned this week. A combination of global climate change and local waste and mismanagement have led to an alarmingly rapid depletion of Pakistan’s water supply, said the minister for water and energy, Khawaja Muhammad Asif....  .

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/13/science/earth/plastic-ocean-waste-levels-going-up-study-says.html Source:   John Schwartz, The New York Times. For Investigation:   9.2 Excerpt: Some eight million metric tons of plastic waste makes its way into the world’s oceans each year, and the amount of the debris is likely to increase greatly over the next decade unless nations take strong measures to dispose of their trash responsibly, new research suggests. The report, which appeared in the journal Science on Thursday, is the most ambitious effort yet to estimate how much plastic debris ends up in the sea. Jenna Jambeck, an assistant professor of environmental engineering at the University of Georgia and lead author of the study, said the amount of plastic that entered the oceans in the year measured, 2010, might be as little as 4.8 million metric tons or as much as 12.7 million....

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2015/february/nasa-study-finds-carbon-emissions-could-dramatically-increase-risk-of-us/ Source:   NASA RELEASE 15-020 For Investigation:   10.3 Excerpt: ...Droughts in the U.S. Southwest and Central Plains during the last half of this century could be drier and longer than drought conditions seen in those regions in the last 1,000 years, according to a new NASA study...published Thursday in the journal Science Advances.... "Natural droughts like the 1930s Dust Bowl and the current drought in the Southwest have historically lasted maybe a decade or a little less," said Ben Cook, climate scientist at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University in New York City, and lead author of the study. "What these results are saying is we're going to get a drought similar to those events, but it is probably going to last at least 30 to 35 years." ...the current likelihood of a me...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/11/science/panel-urges-more-research-on-geoengineering-as-a-tool-against-climate-change.html Source:   Henry Fountain, The New York Times. For Investigation:   10.3 Excerpt: With the planet facing potentially severe impacts from global warming in coming decades, a government-sponsored scientific panel on Tuesday called for more research on geoengineering — technologies to deliberately intervene in nature to counter climate change. ....  .

  http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2015/02/09/electricity-from-biomass-with-carbon-capture-could-make-western-u-s-carbon-negative/ Source:   By Robert Sanders, UC Berkeley News Center. For Investigation:   10.3 For GSS Climate chapter 10. Excerpt: Generating electricity from biomass, such as urban waste and sustainably-sourced forest and crop residues, is one strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, because it is carbon-neutral: it produces as much carbon as the plants suck out of the atmosphere. ...A new UC Berkeley study shows that if biomass electricity production is combined with carbon capture and sequestration in the western United States, power generators could actually store more carbon than they emit and make a critical contribution to an overall zero-carbon future by the second half of the 21st century.... .