Tiempo Climate Newswatch

The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached a record 381 parts per million by volume during 2005, according to preliminary figures from the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research at the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). David Hofmann from NOAA said that levels rose by 2.6 parts per million from the previous year.

Pieter Tans, a carbon dioxide analyst for NOAA, reckons the latest figures confirm a worrying trend. "We don't see any sign of a decrease; in fact, we're seeing the opposite, the rate of increase is accelerating," he said.

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• Sify
• Scotsman

• Recent carbon dioxide concentrations, NOAA ESRL

Over the past 40 years, there have been fewer rain- and snow-producing storms in middle latitudes, but the storms that have occurred have been stronger, each storm generating more precipitation. A new study by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), based on global satellite data from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project and the Global Precipitation Climatology Project, has examined the implications of this trend. The results show conflicting warming and cooling effects and an overall increase in precipitation amounts.

NASA scientist George Tselioudis notes that "there are consequences of having fewer but stronger storms in the middle latitudes both on the radiation and on the precipitation fields." The net effect on the radiation balance should lead to cooling, it is calculated, with the cooling effect of the thicker clouds in the more intense storms outweighing the warming effect as global cloud cover is reduced. Overall, precipitation levels have increased, despite the drop in the number of storms.

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• Science Daily

• Research paper (0.2Mb download), NASA GISS

Keeping carbon dioxide levels from reaching potentially dangerous levels could cost less than 1 per cent of gross world product as of 2050, according to Klaus Laukner and Jeffrey Sachs of The Earth Institute in New York in the United States. They consider that this cost is well within the reach of both developed and developing nations.

They warn, however, that there must be simultaneous progress in the way energy is found, transformed, transported and used. "Today's technology base is insufficient to provide clean and plentiful energy for 9 billion people," the authors conclude. "To satisfy tomorrow's energy needs, it will not be enough simply to apply current best practices. Instead, new technologies, especially carbon capture and sequestration at large industrial plants, will need to be brought to maturity."

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• Science Daily
• Mongabay

• Research paper (0.4Mb download), The Earth Institute