Earlier this week, The Hot Zone spoke with Dr. Rasmus Benestad of the Norwegian Meterological Institute about the need for precise local measurements of climate phenomena.  We need local measurement, he pointed out, in order to tell what the real impact of climate change is on humans – as well as on other species.  How are weather patterns changing, for instance?  What effect does this have on agriculture and fisheries at the local level? I asked Dr. Anastasia Romanou, Associate Research Scientist... [Read more]

Despite its great potential for remedying the climate crisis, once put into practice, geoengineering may turn out the way of many panaceas. A great idea in theory, and an expensive disaster in practice. In the 21 August 2009 issue of the journal Science, scientists Gabriele C. Hegerl of the Grant Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Susan Solomon of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, Colorado, point out some of the downsides. They write: “ [By] focusing on limiting... [Read more]

Question: since we’re the ones responsible for breaking the climate, shouldn’t we be the ones to fix it? This is exactly the question posed by climate scientists at the The Royal Society, a hallowed UK institution whose past members include such luminaries as Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. Last week, the society issued a study called “Geoengineering the Climate: science, governance and uncertainty.” The study points out that it is likely the Earth will warm two degrees this century,... [Read more]

Welcome to The Hot Zone, a climate change and global warming blog sponsored by the Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Astrobiology Magazine. Last year, James Hansen, director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Adjunct Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, wrote these words: “Our home planet is dangerously near a tipping point at which human-made greenhouse gases reach a level where... [Read more]