clair031

Summary .   Two extreme rainfall events with catastrophic flooding occurred in the U. S. recently.   The first was in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, area in August 2016, and the second is ongoing at this writing in August 2017 in southeastern Texas including Houston. Attribution of extreme events to global warming has become more reliable as a result of increased capabilities built into the statistical procedures employed in such analyses.   Global warming likely contributed about 20% to the rainfall experienced in the Baton Rouge flooding event of 2016.   Global warming is now recognized to be due largely to emissions of greenhouse gases by humans.   It is projected to grow worse in coming decades if stringent efforts are not made to reduce these emissions.   In that case it is foreseen that extreme weather events may become more frequent and more severe.   Introduction .   The southern United States has suffered two episodes of unprecedented ra...

Summary A draft of the Fourth National Climate Assessment reports that the global average temperature for the 30-year period from 1986 to 2016 rose by 1.2 ° F (0.7 ° C). It is extremely likely that activities by humans have been the principal cause of this warming. Extreme temperature and rainfall events have increased over this time, as have forest wildfires.   Arctic land-based ice has been lost to melting, and the extent and thickness of sea ice has decreased.   The mean sea level has risen about 7-8 in (about 26-21 cm) since 1900.   Ocean waters have taken up 93% of the excess heat of the Earth system due to global warming since the 1950s.   Global greenhouse gas emissions are projected to continue and consequently global temperatures will continue increasing and related trends will continue.   Limits to the intended increase require that humanity reduce annual emissions to zero by 2100.     The draft states “Choices made today will determine the m...

Summary .   Scientific research is pursued as an unbiased, objective inquiry into the properties of the natural world.   The foundations of climate science were laid over the last two hundred years, establishing that man-made production of carbon dioxide induces an atmospheric greenhouse effect.   Current political influence seeks wrongly to raise doubts about these immutable facts.   Introduction: The Pursuit of Science .   In the last four posts ( Our Life in a Technology-Driven World , Science and Technology in Modern Life , Scientific Underpinnings of Modern Medicine – DNA, Cancer and Immunotherapy , and   Scientific Underpinnings of Modern Medicine – Vaccination ) this blog has presented anecdotal selections of ways in which the pursuit of science and the creation of new technologies have vastly improved our lives and helped maintain our good health.   These advances are all based on a common set of principles that underlie scientific investiga...