CLIMATE-CHANGE LINK TO SEVERE STORMS

A NASA-funded study of five years of data from its Aqua spacecraft shows that the frequency of extremely high clouds in the tropics--the type associated with severe storms, torrential rain and hail--has been increasing as a result of global overheating.

For every 1-degree Celsius rise in average sea-surface temperature the team saw a 45% increase in the frequency of such clouds. At the present rate of global overheating that would mean that the frequency of storms will increase 6% per decade.

The results are consistent with another NASA-funded study done in 2005, which found an increase of 1.5% in the global rain-rate per decade--five times higher than the value estimated by the models used in the 2007 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

See ScienceDaily.

GLOBAL OVERHEATING WILL AFFECT USA SOONER

A report to the American Geophysical Union predicts a significant risk of abrupt climate-change due to global overheating affecting the US, says

Sea-level rises are expected to 'substantially exceed' the 600mm now projected for 2100, but how much is not yet known. This blog has previously predicted 1.5 metres. We shall see.

GREENLAND's 2008 ICE-LOSS TRIPLE 2007'S

The ice-loss from Greenland in the summer of 2008 is three times the record-breaking loss seen a year ago, reports
ScienceDaily.