Swiss Glaciers melting rapidly

BRUSSELS - Receding Alpine glaciers are appearing a sure telltale of
global warming. In Switzerland, 84 out of 85 glaciers under observation
became shorter in 2006.The hot summers and the lack of precipitation in
recent years will accelerate the melting process even more, scientists
say.

Glaciers are large masses of snow, ice and rock debris that
accumulate in great quantities and begin to flow downwards under
pressure of their own weight. They are formed when yearly snowfall in a
region far exceeds the amount of snow and ice that melts in a given
summer, like in the Swiss Alps.

The results published by the Swiss Academy of Sciences confirm
the measurements of previous campaigns, which clearly showed that Swiss
glaciers are shrinking. Approximately three-quarters of the observed
shrinkage in 2006 is between one and 30 metres.

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Landmark UN Study Backs Climate Theory

A major new
United Nations report shows global scientists are more convinced than
ever that human activity is causing climate change, the Toronto Star has learned.

The rate of warming between now and 2030 is likely to be twice that of the previous century, it says.

And it concludes that most of the global warming since the middle of
the last century has been caused by man-made greenhouse gases

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Warning from Stephen Hawking

A Warning from a very wise man

Published: January 2007

Climate change stands alongside the use of nuclear weapons as one ofthe greatest threats posed to the future of the world, the Cambridge cosmologist Stephen Hawking has said
Professor Hawking said that we stand on the precipice of a second nuclearage and a period of exceptional climate change, both of which could destroythe planet as we know it.

Sweden's Tree Line Moving at Fastest Rate for 7,000 Years

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0116-06.htm

Climate change
over the past two decades has caused Sweden's tree line to move north
at a faster rate than at any time in the past 7,000 years, Swedish
researchers have said.

Autumn-coloured trees are pictured in the Swedish county of Jaemtland. Climate change over the past two decades has caused Sweden's tree line to move north at a faster rate than at any time in the past 7,000 years, Swedish researchers have said.(AFP/File/Sven Nackstrand)

"The tree line has moved by up to 200 meters (656 feet) in some places.
Trees have not grown at such high levels for around 7,000 years," Leif
Kullman, a professor at Umeaa University's department of ecology and
environmental science, told AFP Tuesday.

The tree line represents a limit in mountainous, northern and southern latitudes beyond which trees do not grow.

"Recordings began in 1915 but the trend has intensified in the past 15 to 20 years," Kullman said.

Sweden's climate in the past 20 years was as mild as it had been some 7,000 years ago, he added.

While
some of the change could be explained by natural phenomena such as the
reduction in global volcanic activity -- allowing more sunlight to warm
the Earth -- the trend was clearly provoked for the most part by
man-made factors.

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Lloyd's boss demands action on climate change

Here's a link to the Lloyds report that goes with the announcement

http://www.lloyds.com/NR/rdonlyres/6498A184-F610-449F-9AA9-91C205622BC8/0/WhatNextforClimateChange.pdf

World faces hottest year ever, as El Niño combines with global warming

From the Independent



Looks like another record breaker

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