Scientists from the University of Stockholm have detected gigantic methane plumes escaping from the sea floor of the Laptev continental slope. It is believed that this is due to the melting of methane hydrates that have been frozen on the floor of the ocean. They are now melting and releasing the gas because the Arctic Ocean, along with the rest of the arctic, is warming rapidly.
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The "Dust Bowl" era was a devastating period of exceptional droughts and dust storms that had a profound effect on the ecology and agriculture of the U.S. and Canadian prairies in the 1930s. Some regions of the High Plains experienced drought conditions for up to eight years, and tens of thousands of families were forced to abandon their farms. Some people are now beginning to see a similar pattern beginning to emerge as a result of climate change, and these results could potentially be very long-lasting, ultimately reducing the population density in affected areas and increasing it in other, more climactically hospitable regions.
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Mass extinctions have happened periodically throughout Earth’s history for a variety of different reasons, with the usual culprits being either asteroid hits or climate change. The Eocene extinction was originally thought to have been caused by climate induced issues, but recent evidence has suggested that the changes in the weather occurred due to a meteor strike, now believed to be the one that created the Popigai crater in Siberia. The resulting "impact winter" was caused by tiny particles blanketing the Earth and reflecting the sun’s heat, creating a global temperature drop that wiped out most of the Earth’s species.
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As already predicted in Unknown Country’s Climate Watch, it appears that westerly winds sweeping across the Pacific ocean could produce the first El Niño weather system since 2009-2010. Forecasters warn that it could be one of the most dramatic on record.
The predicted El Niño is attracting attention from experts around the globe, who are monitoring its progress with increasing interest:
“Basically it is primed for a strong El Niño, but it needs the final push,” commented Axel Timmermann, Professor of Oceanography at the International Pacific Research Centre, University of Hawaii. “This is perhaps the most-watched El Niño of all time.”
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