Climate Change Weekly #75
Global warming will benefit most Arctic and sub-Arctic species, a team of scientists report in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One. The scientists found global warming will allow most Arctic and sub-Arctic species to expand their ranges, and no species are expected to go extinct. The study delivers a sharp blow to global warming activists who have been arguing Arctic warming justifies costly government-imposed economic restrictions.
Ecological and environmental scientists at Sweden’s Umea University began their study assuming Arctic and sub-Arctic species (which the scientists refer to collectively as “(sub)arctic” species) would be particularly susceptible to current and future global warming. The scientists noted global warming activists have raised particular concern about species in Arctic and sub-Arctic Europe. A review of the evidence, however, led them to a different conclusion.
“Contrary to these expectations, our modeling of species distributions suggests that predicted climate change up to 2080 will favor most mammals presently inhabiting (sub)arctic Europe,” the scientists reported.
According to the scientists, “most species will benefit from climate change, except for a few cold-climate specialists.” Of the relatively few Arctic and sub-Arctic species that will not benefit from global warming, most are alpine species.
Importantly, no species will go extinct due to warming, the scientists conclude.
SOURCES: Forbes.com and PLOS One
IN THIS ISSUE
December 2012 sets record for Northern Hemisphere snow cover … Satellite data contradict claims of record warmth in 2012 … Peer-reviewed study concludes little or no human signal in climate… String of cold years has Alaskans talking ice age … Charlie Daniels weighs in on global warming
DECEMBER 2012 SETS RECORD FOR NORTHERN HEMISPHERE SNOW COVER
The Northern Hemisphere experienced its greatest extent of December snow cover on record, scientists at the Rutgers University Global Snow Lab report. The record December snow cover continues a 20-year trend of snowier-than-average Decembers. Northern Hemisphere snow cover has been above average during January and February over the past 10 years, also.
SOURCES: No Tricks Zone and Rutgers University Global Snow Lab
SATELLITE DATA CONTRADICT CLAIMS OF RECORD WARMTH IN 2012
Global temperatures in 2012 were merely the ninth warmest during the past 34 years, extending a 15-year period with no global warming. The global data show that even if the alarmists are correct in their questionable assertion that the United States experienced its warmest year “on record” (i.e., during the past 100 years or so) during 2012, such U.S. warmth does not reflect exceptionally warm global temperatures.
SOURCE: Watts Up With That?
PEER-REVIEWED STUDY CONCLUDES LITTLE OR NO HUMAN SIGNAL IN CLIMATE
Anthropogenic forcing is likely not causing any statistically significant global warming, scientists at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem report in a new peer-reviewed study. A review of statistical data show any asserted links between anthropogenic forcings and global temperature are spurious.
SOURCES: Watts Up With That? and Earth System Dynamics
STING OF COLD YEARS HAS ALASKANS TALKING ICE AGE
Remember Al Gore’s assertions that global warming is rapidly melting Alaskan permafrost? Temperatures in Alaska declined by 2.4 degrees Fahrenheit during the past decade, the Alaska Dispatch reports, calling to mind a return to ice age conditions. The sharp cooling was “a large value for a decade,” the Alaska Climate Research Center reported.
SOURCE: Alaska Dispatch
CHARLIE DANIELS WEIGHS IN ON GLOBAL WARMING
Iconic country music star Charlie Daniels weighed in on global warming this week on his Twitter account. “I will take Global Warming seriously when Al Gore flies commercial, rides a bicycle and moves into a one bedroom condo,” tweeted Daniels.
SOURCE: Twitter
