Government drug trafficking whistleblower Cele Castillo sentenced to 37 months in prison
Iran’s Ayatollah Khomenei says Iran has deep hatred toward US over CIA conspiracies – Pot calling kettle black. He’s CIA too! His own internal security agency was formed out of the old SAVAK with all the CIA assets still in it.
Blackwater announces plans to send their own navy in to get in on the Somali pirate action
Starvation during pregnancy can effect not only the baby’s genes, but descendents’ as well
5.7.08 / University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
BOULDER— Computer analyses of global climate have consistently overstated warming in Antarctica, concludes new research by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and Ohio State University. The study can help scientists improve computer models and determine if Earth’s southernmost continent will warm significantly this century, a major research question because of Antarctica’s potential impact on global sea-level rise.
Andrew Monaghan. [ENLARGE] (Photo by Carlye Calvin, ©UCAR.) News media terms of use* |
“We can now compare computer simulations with observations of actual climate trends in Antarctica,” says NCAR scientist Andrew Monaghan, the lead author of the study. “This is showing us that, over the past century, most of Antarctica has not undergone the fairly dramatic warming that has affected the rest of the globe. The challenges of studying climate in this remote environment make it difficult to say what the future holds for Antarctica’s climate.”
The study marks the first time that scientists have been able to compare records of the past 50 to 100 years of Antarctic climate with simulations run on computer models. Researchers have used atmospheric observations to confirm that computer models are accurately simulating climate for the other six continents. The models, which are mathematical representations of Earth’s climate system, are a primary method for scientists to project future climate.
Antarctica’s climate is of worldwide interest, in part because of the enormous water locked up in its ice sheets. If those vast ice sheets were to begin to melt, sea level could rise across the globe and inundate low-lying coastal areas. Yet, whereas climate models accurately simulate the last century of warming for the rest of the world, they have unique challenges simulating Antarctic climate because of limited information about the continent’s harsh weather patterns.
The study was published on April 5 in Geophysical Research Letters. It was funded by the National Science Foundation, NCAR’s primary sponsor, and the Department of Energy.
The authors compared recently constructed temperature data sets from Antarctica, based on data from ice cores and ground weather stations, to 20th century simulations from computer models used by scientists to simulate global climate. While the observed Antarctic temperatures rose by about 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.2 degrees Celsius) over the past century, the climate models simulated increases in Antarctic temperatures during the same period of 1.4 degrees F (0.75 degrees C).
The error appeared to be caused by models overestimating the amount of water vapor in the Antarctic atmosphere, the new study concludes. The reason may have to do with the cold Antarctic atmosphere handling moisture differently than the atmosphere over warmer regions.
This map of Antarctica shows the approximate boundaries of areas that have warmed or cooled over the past 35 years. The map is based on temperatures in a recently-constructed data set by NCAR scientist Andrew Monaghan and colleagues. The data combines observations from ground-based weather stations, which are few and far between, with analysis of ice cores used to reveal past temperatures. (Illustration by Steve Deyo, UCAR.) News media terms of use* |
Part of the reason that Antarctica has barely warmed has to do with the ozone hole over the continent. The lack of ozone is chilling the middle and upper atmosphere, altering wind patterns in a way that keeps comparatively warm air from reaching the surface. Unlike the rest of the continent, the Antarctic Peninsula has warmed by several degrees, in part because the winds there are drawing in warmer air from the north. The models generally capture these wind changes, although sometimes incompletely.
The study delivered a mixed verdict on Antarctica’s potential impact on sea-level rise. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which operates under the auspices of the United Nations, has estimated that sea-level rise could amount to 7 to 23 inches (18-59 centimeters) this century, in part because of melting glaciers worldwide. The Geophysical Research Letters paper suggests that warming in Antarctica over the next century could offset that by about 2 inches if the continent warms by 5.4 degrees F (3 degrees C), as computer models have indicated. The reason is that the warmer air over Antarctica would hold more moisture and generate more snowfall, thereby locking up additional water in the continent’s ice sheets.
But the authors caution that model projections of future Antarctic climate may be unreliable.
“The research clearly shows that you can actually slow down sea-level rise when you increase temperatures over Antarctica because snowfall increases, but warmer temperatures also have the potential to speed up sea-level rise due to enhanced melting along the edges of Antarctica,” says Monaghan, who did some of his research at Ohio State University before coming to NCAR. “Over the next century, whether the ice sheet grows from increased snowfall or shrinks due to more melt will depend on how much temperatures increase in Antarctica, and potentially on erosion at the ice sheet edge by the warmer ocean and rising sea level.”
“The current generation of climate models has improved over previous generations, but still leaves Antarctic surface temperature projections for the 21st century with a high degree of uncertainty,” adds co-author and NCAR scientist David Schneider. “On a positive note, this study points out that water vapor appears to be the key cause of the problematic Antarctic temperature trends in the models, which will guide scientists as they work to improve the climate simulations.”
The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research under primary sponsorship by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this document are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation, NASA, or other funding agencies.
US says bombing blitz was a warning to Syria – Total mob mentality. I get the sense the US is trying to prod the Arab nations into banding together for some reason.
Four Suspects ID’d in University of Central Arkansas Campus Shooting
Scientists develop artificial heart that beats
US Judge defines enemy combatant status as anyone who has offered assistance to Al-Qaeda-
State unemployment funds running dry
Former SEC Chairman: Globally uniform financial institution regulations needed
Fuel costs dJetown but airlines are still keeping those surcharges right on up
North Korea threatens to turn South Korea into debris
Thailand, still holding MILLIONS of tons of rice in its stockpiles, plans to barter some for oil with Iran – The problem is not a food shortage, it is a world where fear and greed holds sway and lack of efficient trading procedures. Even their own people are starving. Food crisis my ass.
BP profits soar 148% – Yeah. Same old thing as every year.
Scientists try to stop hunger with digestion slowing, appetite suppressing foods
Island paradise with a dark history – Anyone that is surprised at all to see in the news, stories about rural, suburban, wealthy and/or, close knit communities having histories of child sex abuse or Satanic rings should not be. These all are people who are very secretive, at least among themselves, and these areas are fertile grounds for this sort of activity because of their very social nature.
What’s new? FEMA slow to hand out aid to those living in path of Hurricane Ike
An Iraq vet’s shocking PTSD recollections
Bad Times for Banks Means Boom Times for Credit Unions
How offshore garbage dumping contributes to ocean dead zones
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suffering from exhaustion – What is it, Asix of Evil take out month or something?
Thailand to propose creating an Asian IMF
ACLU: 2/3 of US population lives in Constitution-free zone
George Osborne warned: ’stop rubbishing’ Rothschild or you’re finished
CFR report: Washington must take the lead in preventing space warfare
Google pulls “anti Israel propaganda” from its Google Earth engine
Canadian man paralyzed for 5 months after contracting rare disease from flu shot
NATO fleet sets off to Somalia to fight the pirates – This has been a key topic of many of my articles. More and more, events will occur that will be publicized in the mainstream that will provide justification for interventions in Africa, to prevent China from gaining any more ground in the continent, as prep for the engineered, deliberately, WW3.
Chinese PM Hu Jintao urges Europe, Asia leaders to coordinate efforts during financial crisis
10.22.08 / Jenny Hope / Mail Online
Slow down: People who wolf down their food treble their risk of being overweight

If you’re wondering why your waistline is expanding, don’t watch what you eat. Watch how you eat. Those who wolf down dinner apparently treble their risk of being overweight.
Scientists suggest the modern manner of eating too quickly – and until absolutely full – is a significant factor in the obesity epidemic.
Such eating habits pile on the pounds much more than expected, even taking into account the amount of calories consumed, the scientists found.
They suspect the joint impact of eating fast and until full overrides signals in the brain which would normally encourage a little more self control.
A study published today in the British Medical Journal Online First blames the couch potato lifestyles of fast food, larger portions, TV dinners and the demise of family mealtimes for contributing to the problem.
Professor Hiroyasu Iso and colleagues from Osaka University, Japan, carried out a study involving 3,200 Japanese men and women aged 30-69 years between 2003 and 2006.
Those participating were sent a diet history questionnaire. Half of the men and 58 per cent of the women said they normally ate until they were full.
Just under half of men and a third of women said they ate quickly.
The group of participants who said they ate ‘until full and ate quickly’ had a higher body mass index or BMI, the scoring system that measures obesity levels.
They also had a higher total energy intake than those who did not ‘eat until full and did not eat quickly’.

Both men and women in this group were three times more likely to be overweight than those who said this was not the way they ate.
Professor Iso said the combination had a ’supra-additive’ effect on the risk of being overweight – more than would be expected if each eating habit was examined in isolation.
‘If you eat slowly then there is some feedback from the brain that this is enough, and this helps stop you eating before you are full,’ he said.
‘It’s speculation at the moment but it is worth pursuing and fits with modern lifestyles.’
Dr David Haslam, GP and clinical director for the National Obesity Forum, said: ‘These kind of studies are very helpful because they’re not about genetic causes of obesity, which people feel they can’t do anything about, but human behaviour.
‘The great dietary gurus of a century ago stressed the importance of chewing food for a long time and eating slowly, and those messages are even more important today.’