Climate Scientists Regain Access to CIA Imagery

Among the hundreds of anti-science actions the Bush “administration” took in the last decade was one to prevent climate scientists from accessing declassified data from the CIA and other federal intelligence sources.  There was no threat to our national security by the data sharing agreement.  There was, however, a threat to the Cons’ War on Science.  If U.S. climate scientists were denied access to data, especially satellite data, it would be much harder for them to gain the understanding of phenomena such as ice dynamics at the poles.  It has been well documented that the poles are experiencing more effects from climate change thus far than any other part of the globe.  Unfortunately, the poles are also the hardest for scientists to access.  There are no permanent surface stations on the Arctic ice, for instance.  Antarctica is very poorly sampled.  These facts lead to the situation where globally averaged temperatures over the past 30 years are likely too low because of the sub-sampling of regions which have experienced the most warming.

The Obama administration is demonstrating that it is more tuned into what science can offer society: the CIA is again sharing data with climate scientists.

The data not only helps out climate scientists, but their work in turn helps out the CIA and other agencies charged with protecting our national security.  As I’ve written before, only fools and ideologues believe that desertification of arable land, rapidly rising sea levels, ocean acidification and mass migration of climate refugees aren’t threats to nations across the globe.  By trying to bury the problem, the Bushies added additional threats to our country.  Cons such as Sens. Inhofe and Barrasso (from two of CO’s neighboring states) fear conspiracy theories more than the real events of our day.

The program resurrects a scientific group that from 1992 to 2001 advised the federal government on environmental surveillance. Known as Medea, for Measurements of Earth Data for Environmental Analysis, the group sought to discover if intelligence archives and assets could shed light on issues of environmental stewardship.

In a positive sign that scientists aren’t beholden to a rigid ideology, the resurrection of the program includes a review of past efforts in order to determine which ones should be expanded and what additional needs exist today that need filling.

Scientists and policy makers have a lot to do to make up for the time lost during the dark years under the Bushites.  This is another step in the correct direction.

Pollution in Parks, Governors & Global Warming, Arctic Sea Ice

An EPA plan would allow coal power plants and oil refineries to be built closer to National Parks.  The EPA is being run by pro-corporate hacks appointed by Bush.  The way in which pollution levels in the parks would change under the EPA plan.  Instead of monitoring three- and 24-hour results, pollution will be averaged over an entire year before action is taken to control it.  Republicans’ plans to foul our public lands comes closer every day.  How patriotic.

12 governors signed a pledge yesterday to work against global warming forcing.  The document was signed at the end of a two-day international conference hosted by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.  The meeting was held in advance of the U.N.-sponsored climate change treaty negotiations being held in Poland next month.  Among the realistic assessments, here is a quote from Sabine Miltner, a director at Deutsche Bank:

She said sufficiently reducing emissions will require capital investments of roughly $500 billion a year between 2010 and 2030. Miltner suggested the U.S. and other governments weighing economic stimulus packages invest some of the money in energy efficiency projects, transmission lines for renewable power sources and public transportation systems.

It’s always nice to see more realists address the environment and the economy at the same time.  My Governor, Bill Ritter, was among the signees.  His New Energy Economy plan is well under way.  Seeing as how it will end up costing more later if we do nothing now, I’m glad Ritter and others are taking action, despite the science-haters in Bush’s government.

Arctic sea ice reformed quickly during October, as expected.  It’s not hard for a small layer of ice to form with sub-freezing atmospheric temperatures and 24-hour darkness.  The areal extent at the end of the month was still well below the 1979-2000 climatological average.  It should be noted that the rate of ice formation slowed noticeably by the end of the month.  Also of note is the large anomaly of high atmospheric temperatures in a deep layer above the Arctic Ocean.  As the warm water gave off its heat once the Sun retreated from the sky and prior to ice formation, massive amounts of energy in the form of heat was transferred from the Ocean to the atmosphere above it.  The NSIDC notes:

In the past five years, the Arctic has shown a pattern of strong low-level atmospheric warming over the Arctic Ocean in autumn because of heat loss from the ocean back to the atmosphere. Climate models project that this atmospheric warming, known as Arctic amplification, will become more prominent in coming decades and extend into the winter season. As larger expanses of open water are left at the end of each melt season, the ocean will continue to hand off heat to the atmosphere.

As I’ve written before, the total area of ice that melted this year set a record: 10.58 million square kilometers (4.08 million square miles).