SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
No Reprieve From the Heat: China High Temps Tied to Greenhouse Gases
China, a perfect example of human-caused global warming
Apr 12, 2013
Greenhouse gases are undeniably making the world's biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, China, a much hotter place to live, according to a new study released Friday-- providing a microcosm of the effects of fossil fuels on climate around the world.
According to the study, published in late March in the peer-reviewed journal Geophysical Research Letters, China's daily highs have consistently risen, making both days and nights far hotter, with little to no cool-down periods or reprieve.
The unnatural warming, the scientists say, is directly related to the country's record breaking output of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.
Associate Press reports:
The study by Chinese and Canadian researchers found that just because of greenhouse gases, daytime highs rose 0.9 degree Celsius (1.7 degrees Fahrenheit) in the 46 years up to 2007. At night it was even worse: Because of greenhouse gases, the daily lows went up about 1.7 degrees Celsius (3 degrees Fahrenheit).
"It is way above what you would expect from normal fluctuations of climate," study author Xuebin Zhang of the climate research division of Canada's environmental agency told AP in a telephone interview. "It is quite clear and can be attributed to greenhouse gases."
"The study is important because it formalizes what many scientists have been sensing as a gut instinct: that the increase in extreme heat that we've witnessed in recent decades, and especially in recent years, really cannot be dismissed as the vagaries of weather," said Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann.
China, the world's biggest producer and consumer of coal, emits more carbon dioxide than the U.S. and India combined, with emissions spiking 10 percent per year.
About 90 percent of the temperature rise seen by the researchers could be traced directly to human-made greenhouse gases, the study said.
_______________________
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Jacob Chamberlain
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. He is the author of Migrant Justice in the Age of Removal. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.
Greenhouse gases are undeniably making the world's biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, China, a much hotter place to live, according to a new study released Friday-- providing a microcosm of the effects of fossil fuels on climate around the world.
According to the study, published in late March in the peer-reviewed journal Geophysical Research Letters, China's daily highs have consistently risen, making both days and nights far hotter, with little to no cool-down periods or reprieve.
The unnatural warming, the scientists say, is directly related to the country's record breaking output of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.
Associate Press reports:
The study by Chinese and Canadian researchers found that just because of greenhouse gases, daytime highs rose 0.9 degree Celsius (1.7 degrees Fahrenheit) in the 46 years up to 2007. At night it was even worse: Because of greenhouse gases, the daily lows went up about 1.7 degrees Celsius (3 degrees Fahrenheit).
"It is way above what you would expect from normal fluctuations of climate," study author Xuebin Zhang of the climate research division of Canada's environmental agency told AP in a telephone interview. "It is quite clear and can be attributed to greenhouse gases."
"The study is important because it formalizes what many scientists have been sensing as a gut instinct: that the increase in extreme heat that we've witnessed in recent decades, and especially in recent years, really cannot be dismissed as the vagaries of weather," said Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann.
China, the world's biggest producer and consumer of coal, emits more carbon dioxide than the U.S. and India combined, with emissions spiking 10 percent per year.
About 90 percent of the temperature rise seen by the researchers could be traced directly to human-made greenhouse gases, the study said.
_______________________
Jacob Chamberlain
Jacob Chamberlain is a former staff writer for Common Dreams. He is the author of Migrant Justice in the Age of Removal. His website is www.jacobpchamberlain.com.
Greenhouse gases are undeniably making the world's biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, China, a much hotter place to live, according to a new study released Friday-- providing a microcosm of the effects of fossil fuels on climate around the world.
According to the study, published in late March in the peer-reviewed journal Geophysical Research Letters, China's daily highs have consistently risen, making both days and nights far hotter, with little to no cool-down periods or reprieve.
The unnatural warming, the scientists say, is directly related to the country's record breaking output of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.
Associate Press reports:
The study by Chinese and Canadian researchers found that just because of greenhouse gases, daytime highs rose 0.9 degree Celsius (1.7 degrees Fahrenheit) in the 46 years up to 2007. At night it was even worse: Because of greenhouse gases, the daily lows went up about 1.7 degrees Celsius (3 degrees Fahrenheit).
"It is way above what you would expect from normal fluctuations of climate," study author Xuebin Zhang of the climate research division of Canada's environmental agency told AP in a telephone interview. "It is quite clear and can be attributed to greenhouse gases."
"The study is important because it formalizes what many scientists have been sensing as a gut instinct: that the increase in extreme heat that we've witnessed in recent decades, and especially in recent years, really cannot be dismissed as the vagaries of weather," said Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann.
China, the world's biggest producer and consumer of coal, emits more carbon dioxide than the U.S. and India combined, with emissions spiking 10 percent per year.
About 90 percent of the temperature rise seen by the researchers could be traced directly to human-made greenhouse gases, the study said.
_______________________
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.