Danny Jensen
December 22, 2008 | 9:51 pm EST
Now that the ball has dropped on 2008, it’s time we turn to face the harsh realities of climate change, and according to three independent studies, last year’s trends are not encouraging. Reports from the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization, NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies, and the U.S. National Climatic Data Center show that last year was a relatively cool year, but chaotic weather patterns and a general warming trend in recent decades are cause for concern. Retreating arctic ice, warmer winters, and “exceptionally unusual” weather patterns have come to be disturbingly normal for our planet. The Wall Street Journal reports:
“I wouldn’t run for the hills,” says glacier analyst Eric Rignot at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “But it might be time to start walking.”
As the evidence mounts for human influenced climate change, skeptics need to open their eyes or step out of the way. We should all make a New Year’s resolution to do what we can to reduce our impact on the planet and drastically reduce carbon emissions.
takepart by learning what you can do to help solve the climate crisis in 2009.
Related: Inconvenient Truth of the Day
Graph: Wall Street Journal
Who knew that a favorite bathtub toy could be used to help monitor the effects of climate change? It seems NASA is searching far and wide for 90 rubber duckies dropped through holes in Greenland’s ice to monitor how the Arctic ice cap is melting. According to the Guardian:
Scientists threw the ducks into tubular holes known as “moulins” in the Jakobshavn glacier on Greenland’s west coast, hoping they would find their way into channels beneath the hard-packed surface, to track the flow of melt water into the ocean.
The clever experiment can help determine the source of melting water, which can increase the speed of sliding glaciers. So, keep your eyes peeled, as the person who locates the first duck receives a reward of $100 (and a years supply of bubble bath).
takepart by helping to get our ducks in order to solve the climate crisis.
Related: Inconvenient Truth of the Day
Photo: Felix63’s Flickr Photostream (Creative Commons)
NASA has announced plans to try and reboot the Hubble Space Telescope. The Hubble experienced an equipment failure nearly two weeks ago which has left the famed space observatory idle. NASA plans to send a signal early tomorrow to switch on a back up computer aboard the space telescope which will enable the satellite to resume scientific work. The Hubble is then scheduled for a service call in February - which was in fact pushed back due to the technical problems over the past weeks - that will fit the floating observatory with updated equipment.
The Hubble Space Telescope is one of the most important sources for astronomical data in the entire history of the science. Observatories on Earth are hindered by light pollution and atmospheric conditions which prevent them from capturing anywhere near the amount of data that a space telescope, located hundreds of miles above such worldly concerns, can record.
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A study published yesterday by Science Express finds a statistical link between warming weathers and extreme tropical downpours. 20 years of data from NASA satellites images found a rise in the heaviest tropical rains and is about double what computer simulations estimated.
Such changes in extreme rainfall are quite important in my view, as flash flooding is produced by the extreme rain events, said Anthony J. Broccoli, the director of the Center for Environmental Prediction at Rutgers University. In the U.S., flooding is a greater cause of death than lightning or tornadoes, and presumably poses similar risks elsewhere.
And it is worse for developing countries. Poor drainage can shut down a city and cause outbreaks of waterborne disease. And the World Bank estimates that heavy rains can stunt economic grown by 7%. And if countries can’t handle extreme weather now, who’s to say what will happen as the earth gets warmer.
Today there will be a solar eclipse! Well if you live in in parts of Canada, northern Greenland, the Arctic, central Russia, Mongolia, and China there will be. The rest of us will just have to make due with listening to Bonnie Tyler’s “total eclipse of the heart…”
Or you can watch the clip below, which I featured on the Top 10 Space Movies list, but is absolutely perfect for today. It is from the Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr’s Werckmeister Harmonies and is one of my all time favorite movie scenes. So I recommend as the sky darkens across the Northern Hemisphere of our world, watch the clip below and remember that there is:
“no need to fear. It’s not over. For across the sun’s glowing sphere, slowly, the Moon swims away. And the sun once again bursts forth, and to the Earth slowly there comes again light, and warmth again floods the Earth. Deep emotion pierces everyone. They have escaped the weight of darkness…”
And because it’s also awesome, go after the jump for some Bonnie Tyler!
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NASA’s Phoenix spacecraft has confirmed (for the first time ever) the presence of water on Mars.
The Phoenix found the water in the form of ice at the Martian north pole.
I wonder if we can use any of it to replace the Texas-sized ice sheets melting away from Earth’s polar ice caps every 30 seconds or so?
takepart by joining the fight against global warming so we won’t have to go hat in hand to Marvin the Martian…
In honor of the 50th Anniversary of NASA I give you the Top 10 Space Movies. Also, in support of NASA, takepart to learn more about the global warming work their Goddard Center for Space Studies is working on.
And of course, let me know what space movies I missed and why you love them - I know there are tons - 
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10) In the Shadow of the Moon - A meditation on being an astronaut and the time surrounding the first visit to the moon, this is a documentary not to be missed for any space lover.
“Space, The Final Frontier” - Jean-Luc Picard
Dwight D. Eisenhower may not have been around to hear Picard enter those famous words on Star Trek the Next Generation, but he was obviously thinking about them 50 years ago when he signed NASA -the National Aeronautics and Space Administration - into being.
That’s right, today, back in 1958, Eisenhower passed legislation called the National Aeronautics and Space Act and thus we entered a lifetime where space travel would become a reality!
And even with the first moon mission some ten years later still being discussed in some circles as a hoax, I can’t imagine the awesomeness of watching something like that on television - esp at a time when as a culture we weren’t used to images bombarding us all the time (like we are now).
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It’s June 27th, I’m Gina Telaroli and this is TakePart.com’s look at the week in social action
Climatologist James Hansen spoke to the House committee on Global Warming yesterday. His testimony is chilling and his message is clear: This is our last chance. If we don’t take drastic measures now,we wont be able to “defuse the global warming time bomb.”
The full report is a call to action- individuals can take great steps to lower our carbon footprint. But what we need now is action from our leaders:
Changes needed to preserve creation, the planet on which civilization developed, are clear. But the changes have been blocked by special interests, focused on short-term profits, who hold sway in Washington and other capitals….I argue that a path yielding energy independence and a healthier environment is, barely, still possible. It requires a transformative change of direction in Washington in the next year… CEOs of fossil energy companies know what they are doing and are aware of long-term consequences of continued business as usual. In my opinion, these CEOs should be tried for high crimes against humanity and nature...Democracy works, but sometimes churns slowly. Time is short. The 2008 election is critical for the planet. If Americans turn out to pasture the most brontosaurian congressmen, if Washington adapts to address climate change, our children and grandchildren can still hold great expectations.
