Replies to post #339374 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

Impact of Coronavirus Is Felt on an Arctic Science Expedition

"Warming at the poles will soon be felt globally in rising seas, extreme weather
F6 2010 - "Massive chunk of ice breaks off Greenland glacier"
Ice loss, permafrost thaw, fires: Trouble in the Arctic and Antarctic could cause shocks
to the world’s weather and sea levels sooner than thought, says a new study."


Crew members and scientists aboard the German research vessel Polarstern in the Arctic Ocean in December. Esther Horvath/EPA,
via Shutterstock

By Henry Fountain

March 11, 2020

The coronavirus outbreak has now had an impact on a large climate research expedition in the frozen Arctic Ocean.

While the scientists and crew aboard a German ship that is near the North Pole after drifting with the ice since October are unaffected, one member of a team scheduled to fly research missions as part of the expedition has tested positive for the virus in Germany.

As a result, the flights, which were set to begin from Longyearbyen in northern Norway this month, have been delayed, said Matthew Shupe, a research scientist at the University of Colorado who is a co-coordinator of the expedition, known as Mosaic.

“There was one person who tested positive” from a team of about 20 people, Dr. Shupe said, and that person had been interacting with the others. “Those people are all being quarantined to see how that evolves.”

The positive test and the decision to quarantine team members in their homes in Germany were first reported by Nature.com .. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00724-y .

Assuming the people clear quarantine and do not test positive themselves, “then the plan is to carry forward with the activities,” Dr. Shupe said, although final decisions will be made by the medical staff of the Alfred Wegener Institute .. https://www.awi.de/en.html , the German research organization that is the organizer of the international expedition.

Mosaic, shorthand for Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate, uses the German ship, the 400-foot icebreaker Polarstern, as its base as teams of researchers and technicians study conditions in the remote Central Arctic .. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00724-y . The teams are replaced every two months. Dr. Shupe was on the first leg of the expedition in the fall.


Polarstern, left, and the Russian icebreaker Kapitan Dranitsyn during a resupply rendezvous in December. Esther Horvath and
Jakob Stark/EPA, via Shutterstock

The airborne missions are intended to complement the on-the-ice research. They involve flying across stretches of the Arctic in the institute’s planes, which carry instruments for measuring ice thickness, clouds and other characteristics of the atmosphere.

Some of the flights are scheduled to land on an ice runway built near the ship. Dr. Shupe said “there are some decisions yet to be made” as to whether the landings will occur. “We don’t want any exposure out there at the Polarstern,” he said. A viral disease like Covid-19 could quickly spread through the confined quarters of the ship, which has about 100 people on board at a time.

A second separate airborne component of the expedition, the transfer of supplies and new researchers to the ship beginning in April, is being provided by a Russian company, Utair. “That part, so far, is on target,” Dr. Shupe said.

Dr. Shupe said his days recently have been consumed by the coronavirus outbreak and the need to get tests for anyone who will be taking part in the expedition in the coming months. The expedition requires that people be tested two weeks before leaving and again immediately before departing as well.

But that has caused problems for researchers in the United States, Dr. Shupe said, because of the testing rules set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“You can’t get a test unless you have symptoms,” he said, referring to American participants. There is no indication that most of those taking part in Mosaic have even been exposed to the virus.

Dr. Shupe said he has had to obtain testing kits from Germany, which will be analyzed in Germany as well. He is among those being tested, he said, because although he is not scheduled to be back on the Polarstern until the last leg of the expedition this summer, he is an alternate for the preceding legs. So he has to be ready to go if anyone tests positive for the virus.

Read More About the Mosaic Mission

Scientists to Drift With Arctic Ice to Study Climate Change Sept. 19, 2019
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/19/climate/mosaic-expedition-arctic.html

Stuck in Arctic Ice, Dodging Polar Bears. All for Science. Nov. 22, 2019
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/22/climate/arctic-mosaic-polar-bears.html

Endless Night at -50 Degrees: A Look at Life on an Icebreaker Feb. 7, 2020
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/climate/mosiac-mission-arctic-climate-change-photos.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/climate/coronavirus-arctic-mosaic-mission.html

[fuagf]

Combos of heat, humidity at edge of human tolerance hitting globe decades earlier than expected

"Warming at the poles will soon be felt globally in rising seas, extreme weather
F6 2010 - "Massive chunk of ice breaks off Greenland glacier""

Researchers found that temperature extremes previously thought to be rare have been recorded more than 1,000 times in 40 years.


From left, Jodi Tollleson and Patti Newsome of Mineral Wells, Texas, cool down at Burger's Lake in Fort Worth in August 2011.Ron Jenkins / The Fort Worth Star-Telegram via AP file

May 9, 2020, 4:02 AM AEST
By Kaitlin Sullivan

Dangerous levels of heat and humidity have been recorded around the globe 50 years earlier than expected, according to a study published Friday that was led by Columbia University researchers.

The findings add to growing concerns that climate change will make certain parts of the Earth uninhabitable, spurring a drastic increase in climate refugees and threatening to create international strife and economic damage.

In the study, published in the journal Science Advances .. https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/19/eaaw1838 , climate scientists analyzed four decades of hourly data from nearly 8,000 weather stations across the globe using so-called wet bulb [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet-bulb_temperature] readings to document potentially fatal bouts of hot, wet air. The analysis provides a far-more detailed picture of how dangerously warm weather has spiked in certain areas than previous research that looked at broader regions.

VIDEO - Fmr. EPA administrator: Climate change
risks our health when we can least afford it
April 6, 202006:25

Wet bulb temperature is similar to heat index in that it takes both heat and humidity into account to calculate how hot the air feels — and the effect it can have on the human body. Scientists widely accept 95 degrees as the highest wet bulb temperature the human body can withstand, though this depends on many factors and may be lower for people who work outside, the elderly and people on certain medications or who have pre-existing conditions.

“The wet bulb temperatures tell us if the weather conditions around us allow the body to cool itself down and stay safe,” said Rachel Licker, a senior climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, who was not involved in the study.

Previous research .. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aaa00e/meta .. had looked at wet bulb temperatures taken from multiple points over large geographical areas across the globe. By looking at hyper-local weather data points, the new research more accurately reflects localized spikes in heat and humidity, finding extremes that researchers didn’t expect to occur until at least 2070.

Related Science Floods and fires show 'time is fast running out' to address climate change
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/time-fast-running-out-world-meteorological-organization-warns-climate-efforts-n1154701?icid=related

The study found that local instances of extreme humid heat — a wet-bulb temperature of 80.6 degrees or above — doubled from 1979 to 2017.

Scientists previously believed that wet bulb temperatures rarely reached 87.8 degrees, but the new study found recordings of that temperature 1,000 times. Readings of 91.4 degrees — thought to almost never occur — were recorded almost 80 times. And the readings exceeded the theoretical human survivability limit of 95 degrees more than a dozen times.

These extreme spikes in hot, wet air were brief, only occurring for an hour or two at a time, and were confined to hyper-local areas. But the researchers expect these instances to become more frequent as global temperatures continue to rise .. https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/earth-s-oceans-are-hotter-ever-getting-warmer-faster-n1114811 .

“We’re seeing really strong upward trends and already, places are crossing this dangerous threshold. It’s not something that will just happen at the end of the century. It has already been happening,” said Radley Horton, Lamont associate research professor at the Columbia University Earth Institute, who co-wrote the study.

The Southeastern United States was a hotspot for these temperature spikes, especially near the areas of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida that lie along the Gulf Coast. New Orleans and Biloxi, Mississippi, were the epicenters and the heat stretched inland as far as Arkansas.

Coastal regions of the Middle East, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, northwestern Australia and the regions bordering the Red Sea and the Gulf of California are also already seeing the extreme temperatures thought to be reserved for 50 years from now.

“Even a small amount of warming .. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/world-must-take-unprecedented-steps-avert-worst-effects-global-warming-n917656 .. can mean a lot more 100-degree days than we had before,” Horton said. “Humans are very sensitive to small changes in temperatures, and we’re starting to push up against the brink of what we have evolved to be able to handle.”

Heat alone does not pose as big a threat to human health as the combination of hot and humid air does. That’s because the combination essentially blocks the body’s ability to cool itself.

Related Health 3 stages of heat stroke you need to know
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/don-t-fry-3-stages-heat-stroke-you-need-know-n774651?icid=related

“As humidity increases and approaches 95 percent, sweating becomes ineffective because the air is already saturated with water vapor and can’t hold any more,” said Dr. Robert Dubrow, faculty director of the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health.

Without access to a cooler spot, such as an air-conditioned room or cool water, the body quickly overheats. Overheating exasperates underlying conditions and puts stress on elderly people who are often also taking several types of medications that could hinder their ability to withstand the stress, Dubrow said.

Extreme heat and humidity can also trigger heat stroke, a medical emergency that is often fatal for even healthy people. Even the fittest athletes are not immune. Former New York Giants offensive lineman Mitch Petrus died of heat stroke last year .. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/former-n-y-giants-player-mitch-petrus-dies-heat-stroke-n1031801 .. when the heat index in Arkansas, where he was working for his family’s towing business, hit 103 degrees.

Summer is coming

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts above-average summer temperatures and rainfall .. https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/seasonal.php?lead=1 .. will affect most of the U.S. this summer, a recipe for hot and humid weather. The forecast has experts worried that the current coronavirus pandemic will either force people to stay in unair-conditioned homes rather than seek out cooling stations, or force them into overcrowded public spaces, as was the case during a recent heat wave in Orange County .. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-heat-wave-draws-large-crowds-beaches-despite-stay-home-n1192766 , California.

“In cities, people without air-conditioning are going to want to get out of their houses, and if they are crowded into public spaces, there will be the same issue with social distancing,” Dubrow said.

The new research provides clearer insight into how extreme weather driven by climate change is already affecting human life, with or without a global pandemic.

“Climate change is here and now," Licker said. "We often talk about it being something that is going to happen in the future, but this is showing that the heat that we thought was not going to happen for decades is already happening and has been increasing for the past 40 years."

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/extreme-combos-heat-humidity-hitting-globe-decades-sooner-expected-threatening-n1203026

This post was prompted by Dale C's

Slowly we enter into the Age of the Morlocks.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=155535933

I didn't post it to Dale's as i think it's more useful for all when more posts are linked to more others, so
as to add further context. Otherwise the board is, in part at least, a mass of individual jigsaw pieces.

Thank you all for any added consideration of that thought in future, whenever you have an extra one minute to spare. ;-)

Please be careful of the virus. And of the upcoming hot and humid weather.

[fuagf]

Siberian heat streak and Arctic temperature record virtually ‘impossible’ without global warming, study says

"Warming at the poles will soon be felt globally in rising seas, extreme weather
F6 2010 - "Massive chunk of ice breaks off Greenland glacier""

Research shows one the strongest links to global warming of any extreme event yet investigated


A video image shows a Russian aircraft releasing water to extinguish the fire in the Trans-Baikal National Park in Buryatia, Russia, on July 9. (Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service/AP)

By Andrew Freedman
July 15 at 5:00 PM

In a stark new finding, a study shows that six straight months of anomalously mild conditions .. https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/06/15/siberia-record-warmth/ .. in large parts of northern Siberia so far this year, along with an Arctic temperature record .. https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/06/21/arctic-temperature-record-siberia/ .. of 100.4 degrees (38 Celsius) that occurred in June, would have been virtually impossible without human-induced global warming.

The study, released Wednesday .. https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/siberian-heatwave-of-2020-almost-impossible-without-climate-change/ .. by the World Weather Attribution project, was produced through a collaboration between climate researchers from multiple institutions in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

The researchers found that the prolonged January-to-June heat, which has led to a record spike in wildfires .. https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/05/28/zombie-fires-burning-arctic-siberia/ .. across the Siberian Arctic, was made at least 600 times as likely by human-caused climate change. This led them to conclude such an event would be nearly impossible in the absence of global warming.

[...]



[... to end ...]

Siberian heat impacts are widespread and ongoing

The prolonged, unusually mild temperatures in Siberia are having clear impacts on ecosystems, human settlements and even the climate itself. Arctic wildfires sparked unusually early this year because of hot, dry conditions in Siberia, with particularly fierce blazes ..

Unprecedented #wildfire activity in the #Arctic Circle in June 2019, with notable widespread fires in Sakha Republic, Russia for much of the last 3 weeks, as estimated with #Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service GFAS data based on MODIS 🛰️obs https://t.co/Q4YBntiQxU pic.twitter.com/6BYHyrpxx3

— Mark Parrington (@m_parrington) July 2, 2019

.. occurring in Russia’s Sakha Republic. Such fires add to global warming by emitting carbon dioxide and soot, and they can also destabilize permafrost, releasing ancient stores of carbon dioxide and methane.

Arctic infrastructure is also threatened by warming temperatures, as was demonstrated by the damaging oil spill in Norilsk, which authorities have blamed on melting permafrost. While Siberia is not heavily populated, heat waves are among the deadliest weather events in much of the world, and they can exacerbate preexisting conditions while affecting people both mentally and physically.

“As emissions continue to rise we need to think about building resilience to extreme heat all over the world, even in Arctic communities — which would have seemed nonsensical not very long ago,” Otto said in a statement.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/07/15/siberian-heat-streak-arctic-temperature-record-virtually-impossible-without-global-warming-study-says/

See also:

Scientists have recorded the first-ever heatwave in Antarctica
"Iceberg the size of Sydney breaks off Amery ice shelf in Antarctica
"Antarctic ice melting faster than ever, studies show""
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=154706155