As reported by New York Times “Wildfires, Once Confined to a Season, Burn Earlier and Longer”, wildfires began to break out this year in late February. Like Alaska, many states have had an increase of wildfire during this year. This year alone, New Mexico has had 140 fires, doubling last year’s number. The fires have affected many areas; near the Colorado River, two recreational vehicle parks had to be evacuated from the area. Today’s wildfire season has become longer over the past years, not only in the United States but all over the world.

Many blame climate change for the events due to drier winters and warmer springs. As reported by Matt Jolly, an ecologist for the United States Forest Service, there are locations where the fire seasons last for the whole year. Alone in the United States, there were over 10 million acres that were burned, the highest ever recorded.

There are several wildfire academies around the country. At the Arizona Wildfire and Incident Management Academy, there are three separate types of training for firefighters. The academy prepares firefighters for today’s growing fires through a strategy called “indirect attack.” Unfortunately, the majority of environmentalists agree that the effects of global warming will only deteriorate, therefore assuming that the fires will also increase.

As reported by the New York Times in the article “Climate Change Hits Hard in Zambia, an African Success Story”, the country has been affected by climate change due to droughts but environmentalists report that the Kariba Dam remains steady. The dam is known to be of the world’s largest hydroelectric dams that provide the country with electricity.

The Kariba Dam has contributed to the country’s economy and political stability becoming as they continue to be one of the fastest growing economies in the continent. Unfortunately, due to droughts, the water levels have hit record lows. In the past, the Kariba even provided electricity to neighbor countries but the reserves are not enough for Zambia. This has affected the stability of the country and they are now struggling to pay their civil servants.

Due to power cuts, companies such as Good Time Steel, the biggest steel maker in the country, lost a third of its production capacity. Jacky Huang, a manager at the company, explains that the company has recently abandoned new projects due to the conditions of the country.

Zambia is only of the many countries in Africa whose economic stability is being affected by climate change. Many say the continent is not ready for the climate changes and Africa is expected to warm up faster than the rest of the world. Zambia is starting to see the economic damage as small and large business are being affected due to the Kariba Dam shortages.

As explain in the New York Article, “Climate-Related Death of Coral Around World Alarms Scientists”, researchers have found devastation in coral around the world, specifically in the Kiritimati Island. As Kim Cobb, a marine scientists, reports there is substantial devastation even 30 feet underwater with “red-brown fuzz” covering the entire reef.

Scientists believe that the heat stress created by weather events have affected the coral reefs. While some may not know the importance of the reefs, coral provide food and shelter to many marine species. Consequently, this affects the human population as many marine species feed over a billion people. Also, millions of people depend on fishing as their main income around the world; In the Philippines alone, more than a million people are in the fishing industry.

Bleaching is a consequence of high heat and bright sunshine which recently has been out of control. Bleaching refers to the acceleration of the algae metabolism which can create toxins. Scientists explain that even if temperatures to drop and the corals recover, many will remain vulnerable to disease and if the temperatures continue to rise, the corals will starve to death.

Scientists recently found the largest bleaching at the Australia’s Great Barrier Reef with only four sectiong of of 520 individual reefs with no signs of bleaching. Australia is not the only region affected, other dying reefs include Réunion, East Flores, Guam, and many more. As temperatures continue to increase, Kobb worries about the future of corals. Most recently, water temperatures were reported to be 10 degrees warmer than average which does not allow coral to recover.

Innis, Michelle. “Climate-Related Death of Coral Around World Alarms Scientists.” Http://www.nytimes.com/. N.p., 9 Apr. 2016. Web.

As reported by the New York Times, China’s Carbon Emission May Have Peaked, but It’s Hazy. It’s been a year since the U.S. negotiated a commitment with the Chinese government to comprise themselves to a deadline for reversing the rapid growth of greenhouse gas emission from the country,

China is known to be most contaminating country to global warming, a quarter of the total, and the negotiation set a deadline for 2030. Although it may seem far away, most environmentalists say the agreement will have a big impact in the environment. Surprinsingly, researchers have found that due to the slowing Chinese economy and energy data, it is likely that the emissions of carbon dioxide have fallen. These results will contribute to the worldwide effort to limit global warming to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. It also pressures other countries to meet their goals.

Nevertheless, the results are not certain and researchers admit that calculations that are definitive are only in hindsight. There are many problems regarding the accuracy of the results therefore making the situation more complicated. A paper published by the journal Nature Climate Change explains that the predictions through the energy statistics are unreliable.

Other scientists believe that carbon emission may be falling, after climbing rapidly since 2001. Another paper published by researchers, Fergus Green and Nicholas Stern, believe this is the case. The paper explains that 2014 may have been the peak of the country’s emissions and it may be declining today.

It has been years since our population has been studying global warming and how it affects and deteriorates the earth. Nations have agreed upon limiting global warming to a tolerable level but new studies show the efforts may not be enough. As reported by the New York Times, the article “Scientists Warn of Perilous Climate Shift Within Decades, Not Centuries,” explains the effects the world would suffer as a result of global warming. From big storms to the disintegration of polar ice sheets, the effects would be very dangerous.

An article was published this past week by a European science journal explaining the effects of burning fossil fuels and how it has provoked a climate shift over the years.As James Hansen, the leader of the research and retired NASA climate scientist, has explained if we do not make a change now, the effects may not be reversible.

The paper has been controversial amongst the environmental community as some say the findings explain past puzzling episodes in the earth while others disagree and are unconvinced by the findings. As Michael Mann, a climate scientist at Penn State University, explains “They conflict with the mainstream understanding of climate change to the point where the standard of proof is quite high.”

Nevertheless, most scientists agree that society is not making enough changes to prevent a disaster for future generations. Even with the agreement sign last year at the Paris convention, it is not enough to limit global warming to the degree most scientists see necessary. As the evidence shows, even though nations agreed in 2009 to limit planetary warming to 2 degrees Celsius, the earth has already warmed almost 1 degree Celsius. Overall, the research explains that many of the predictions previously made are not accurate as the effects may be worse and occur much more rapidly than predicted.

Gillis, Justin. “Scientists Warn of Perilous Climate Shift Within Decades, Not Centuries.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 22 Mar. 2016. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.

This past March 18th, a new study was published by the Carnegie Institute concerning ocean acidification and how it affects marine organisms overnight.  Acidification refers to the effects from carbon dioxide emissions created by cars and power plants that is absorbed by the ocean. As a result, organisms are affected by the change of acidic balance which have the capacity to dissolve several organisms.

Researchers used measurements made in tide pools which are set off from the open ocean in low periods that are separated from larger wave action. Acidification happens during the night as plants use a photosynthesis-like method during the day that acts as a counteraction to the process.

During nights is when the process begins as organisms respire and with the excess of CO2 the risk of calcification creatures increases. One of the many pools where the research was conducted was the UCDavis Bodega Marine Laboratory located in California. Discoveries showed the results of the difference between acidification during the day versus the night. Acidification grew tremendously during the night time to the point of dissolving outer layers on organisms. As explained by Lester Kwiatkowski, the study’s lead author, “This work highlights that even in today’s temperate coastal oceans, calcifying species, such as mussels and coralline algae, can dissolve during the night due to the more-acidic conditions caused by community respiration.”

Unfortunately, the situation is likely to progress as researchers predict that by 2050 dissolution will increase by double during nighttime.

Arnold, Catherine. “Ocean Acidification Affects Marine Creatures At Night, Study Says.” Headlines Global News RSS. N.p., 19 Mar. 2016. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.

As reported by Robert Moore, according to an international research team, the global sea level rise has accelerated in the 20th century compared to the past 2,800 years; Along with earth & planetary professor Bob Koop, many scientist attribute the rise to global warming.

The results used to the researched were collected from two dozen location over the world. They showed that sea level rose an average of 1.5 inches per century until the 1880s, but soon after the rise of industrialization, global sea level rose 5.5 inches. In the year 1993, the level sea reached it’s highest, around one foot per century.

Researchers predict that by the year 2100, sea levels could potentially rise between 11 to 52 inches depending on the trapping or removing of greenhouse gas emissions. In the data collected, researchers looked for salt marshes, single cell organism, mangroves, sediments, corals, lead levels, and other factors that could affect the rise of sea levels.

Contrary to today’s trends, before the 1880s, the sea level rise followed a downward trend. Soon, if the trends continue as predicted, the sea level rise will follow an upward curve due to greenhouse gas emissions addition to the earth. As a result, many coastal communities will face a real threat as sea levels may rise 22 inches. Others study predict a 52 inches sea level rise by 2100. However, many scientists hope sea level rise between 11 and 22 inches by the end of the century with the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

Moore, Robert. “The Global Sea Level Rise Accelerated in the 20th Century • The Monitor Daily.” The Monitor Daily. N.p., 28 Feb. 2016. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

As we have learned about the effects of climate change, Kiera Mulvaney reports for the Discovery news concerning the Arctic sea ice extent hitting new lows this past January as a consequence of warmer temperatures. On the article “Arctic Warms, Antarctic Ice Shelves Weaken” its reported a lost of 402,000 square miles of the Arctic sea ice extent compared to the average for the month (1981-2010) and a 35,000 square miles loss compared to the last recorded satellite era in January 2011. The temperature change in the Arctic, a shocking increase of 13 degrees F, is mainly attributed to Arctic Oscillation which allowed warmer air to the North.

Although the Arctic Oscillation was a natural phenomenon, researchers say that there is an average decline of 3.2% per decade of the ice extent in the Arctic. Just like the Arctic ice extent, the Antarctic sea ice extent has been also below average. A rare occurrence for the Antarctic sea as it tends to increase it’s ice extent.

Several theories have been studied to explain the phenomenon, from arguments attributing the changes in wind or water circulation patterns, to theory explaining the freshening of sea surface due to the melting glaciers and ice shelves around the Antarctic. Most importantly, researchers have found that a loss of about 13% of the total ice shelf area would be the maximum safe loss that would not affect the dynamics of the ice sheet behind them. As explained by Dr Johannes Fürst, co-author of the study, a higher loss of the ice shelf area will result in elevated sea-level rise.

Mulvaney, Kieran. “Arctic Warms, Antarctic Ice Shelves Weaken.” Discovery News. N.p., 09 Feb. 2016. Web. 14 Feb. 2016.

The article “Are drought conditions in the American Southwest here to stay?” by Ben Thompson reports yet another disaster caused by climate change. Based on the study Running dry: The U.S. Southwest’s drift into a drier climate state published in Geophysical Research Letters, research shows that the American Southwest is now a much drier climate system compared to the decades before.

Andreas Prein, the leader of the study and a research fellow at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), explains how the research data taken from 1979 to 2014 shows decreasing trends of precipitations in most of the western regions of the country, while the Atlantic coast and Northeast shows increasing precipitations and intensity.The study collected data of daily sea pressure, atmospheric water depth, and wind speeds for over 35 years predict the trends to worsen over the next few decades. Environmentalist  fear that even with stronger storms in some regions of the country, there will not be enough water to provide to the western regions.

Contrary to popular belief, the drought that certain regions are currently facing in central and western states of the United States are not temporary but the new standards. Results showed an ongoing trend of temperatures increasing and grounds become drier which only will only accelerate the drought conditions.

Over the past week, we have been able to understand how climate change continuous to affect our earth. While it was very interesting to see our own temperature record here at State College, it is also intriguing to learn how the climate change is affecting other parts of the world. In the article “Argentina Scrambles to Fight Biggest Plague of Locusts in 60 Years” by Jonathan Gilbert, it is explained how climate change has reached the country and has affected the farmers.

While there is little research on the topic, Diego Quiroga, the agriculture agency’s chief of vegetative protection, has warned his country about climate change effects and spoke the United Nations agency about the disaster. Mr. Quiroga warned the UN that climate change would affect Argentina, as well as other countries in Africa, as it will worsen the locust plagues. On the other hand, Paola Carrizo, a professor of agronomy at the University of Buenos Aires, argues that there is no prove that climate change is directly connected to the plague. Ms. Carrizo believes the plague has been caused due to the insufficient pest control by Senasa (the government’s agricultural inspection agency).

Similarly to my blog post last week, when Bolivians blame their government for the evaporation of their second largest lake, the citizens of Argentina have blame the former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Many argue that Fernández continued to disregard the warnings and as a consequence Argentina faces the worst plague explosion in the last 60 years that Mr. Quiroga deems impossible to eradicate. It is very disappointing to see that there seems to be a theme of governments around the world disregarding environmental issues.

Gilbert, Jonathan. “Argentina Scrambles to Fight Biggest Plague of Locusts in 60 Years.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 Jan. 2016. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.

As we have learned over the past week and have heard in the news, climate changes have  hit new records that are and will continue to be catastrophic for our earth. As reported by the Associated Press in the article “A lake in Bolivia Evaporates, and With It a Way of Life”, climate change has once again deeply affected yet another country.  One of Bolivia’s lake has evaporated and it has been reported that the capital, La Paz, could face dreadful drought conditions in the upcoming years.

As we learned about the “hockey stick”, a graph where the dramatic climate change is shown beginning in the 1900s due to industrialization, we continue to see the effects today. Bolivia’s lake Poopó, the country’s second largest, has evaporated as a result of the increasing temperatures (about 1 degree Celsius). Many attribute the evaporation to several causes including the burning of fossil fuels, El Niño, and mining.

As a result of the evaporation, the majority of the population surrounding the lake has moved away from the area, leaving a small elderly community left. Along with the people, the fauna of Poopó has either died or left. In 2014, thousands of fish died as lake Poopó  was found to have unsafe levels of heavy metal and recently biologists say that around 75 species of birds have left the area.

Unfortunately, even with researchers and environmentalists, Bolivia’s government and President Evo Morales have disregarded the issue for several years and continue to believe that lake Poopó could come back.

Associated Press. “A Lake in Bolivia Evaporates, and With It a Way of Life.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 23 Jan. 2016. Web. 24 Jan. 2016.

Hello everyone! My name is Sofia Vera. I’m a senior majoring in LER (labor studies and employment relations) and minoring in Business. I’m currently involved in two groups USAS (united students against sweatshops) and SHRM (society of human resource management). Over the past year I have become an organizer/activist for several social justice causes and this past semester attended Onward on Climate, an environmental and social justice rally at Old Main that called for an end to injustices caused by climate change and environmental degradation. After the rally, I became interested in the topic as it overlaps with many of my current interest.