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In this Earth Observatory blog the authors explore the cause for the recent (Jan 24. 2014) enormous avalanche that blocked the Richardson Highway (Alaska Route 4), the only land link between the ice-free oil port of Valdez and the rest of Alaska. What does this have to do with the rest of us, you may wonder. In essence, Alaska’s warmth is the “flip side of the coin” to the Midwest and Northeast’s frigidity, and the drought in the Southwest. Read about it and see some impressive images of the avalanche, here.
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Watch the amazing video. In case you missed it, on January 21, 2014 NASA released its most recent analysis of global temperatures. NASA scientists say 2013 tied with 2009 and 2006 for the seventh warmest year since 1880, continuing a long-term trend of rising global temperatures. With the exception of 1998, the 10 warmest years in the 134-year record all have occurred since 2000, with 2010 and 2005 ranking as the warmest years on record. You can read more and watch the 15 second movie, depicting 60 years of warming here
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The Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) and Earth to Sky are excited to announce five projects have been selected to receive a mini-grant. ETS community members at National Park and U.S. Fish & Wildlife sites will be developing materials, activities, programs or displays during the summer of 2013, and will test these materials throughout the upcoming visitor seasons. They will also be communicating with the GPM team as well as each other to get new ideas and learn more about GPM and NASA education activities.
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President Barack Obama annouced his administration's plans for reducing carbon emissions and addressing climate change on June 25, 2013.
The plans are comprised of a series of executive orders, that do not require congressional approval. Agencies affected include EPA, Department of Interior, NOAA and NASA. These documents were released on the day of his speech on climate at Georgetown University. View the President's speech.
You may download the plans here.
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There have been a series of news articles lately, with headlines similar to this, that may be misleading the public or at a minimum confusing the issue. Knowing that those of you in the field may be getting questions, here is a little info, and some links for those who would like to explore more.
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A new draft of the National Climate Assessment (NCA) is available for reading and for public comment (until April 12, 2013) at http://ncadac.globalchange.gov/
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In a Science magazine article released March 8, 2013, researchers provide a more detailed and accurate look at climate change from the most recent ice age to the present. The authors claim that today’s global temperature is warmer than 90% of the time since the last ice age, and that it is warming at a rate that is unprecedented for at least the past 11,000 years. This is essentially a new, longer and more detailed hockey stick diagram, and it is generating a lot of interest.
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The Smokies are known for their amazing biodiversity, lush forests and unique high elevation ecosystem. Watch this video to find out how a changing climate may impact the resources that make the Smokies so special.