Tiempo Climate Newswatch

The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are losing mass at an ever-faster rate, according to a new analysis of satellite data and other observations by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The results suggest that ice sheets may become the major contributors to global sea-level rise, surpassing mountain glaciers and ice caps, much sooner than predicted. "That ice sheets will dominate future sea level rise is not surprising - they hold a lot more ice mass than mountain glaciers," said lead author Eric Rignot of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena and the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine). "What is surprising is this increased contribution by the ice sheets is already happening."

The study was based on analysis of almost 20 years' data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites, which can measure changes in local gravity caused by ice melt, and on mass balance estimates based on a combination of precipitation observations, modelling and satellite-based radar estimates of ice sheet shrinkage. "These are two totally independent techniques, so it is a major achievement that the results agree so well," said co-author Isabella Velicogna, also of JPL and UC Irvine. Rignot warned that "if present trends continue, sea level is likely to be significantly higher than levels projected by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007."

The Russian heatwave of summer 2010 was mainly due to natural internal atmospheric variability, report scientists from the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado in Boulder. The immediate cause of the heatwave and drought was a strong and persistent blocking pattern that kept weather systems away from the region. As storms were forced elsewhere, this may have contributed to flooding in Pakistan.

Like the United States Midwest, the region has not experienced summer-time warming in recent decades, ruling out human activity as a major contributor to the heatwave. "While the globe as a whole, on an annual basis, is warming, there can be important regional differences," NOAA scientist Martin Hoerling said. For the future, the researchers warn that "we may be on the cusp of a period in which the probability of such events increases rapidly, due primarily to the influence of projected increases in greenhouse gas concentrations."

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects increased in number in 2010, despite rising costs and slow progress in the climate negotiations. "The global commitment to carbon capture and storage remains strong," concludes the annual review from the Global CCS Institute in Australia.

"There is a shift in focus a little bit from Europe to the United States," said Bob Pegler of the Global CCS Institute. Local opposition forced the Dutch government to scrap a demonstration project planned for Barendrecht and Finnish company Fortnum has reported that a demonstration project planned for the Meri-Pori power plant will not go ahead due to technological and financial risks. China, the report says, remains focused on research and development for CCS.