NASA study links Earth impacts to human-caused climate change

May 14, 2008

A new NASA-led study shows human-caused climate change has made an impact on a wide range of Earth's natural systems, including permafrost thawing, plants blooming earlier across Europe, and lakes declining in productivity in Africa.

Cynthia Rosenzweig of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Science in New York and scientists at 10 other institutions have linked physical and biological impacts since 1970 with rises in temperatures during that period. The study, to be published May 15 in the journal Nature, concludes human-caused warming is resulting in a broad range of impacts across the globe.

"This is the first study to link global temperature data sets, climate model results, and observed changes in a broad range of physical and biological systems to show the link between humans, climate, and impacts," said Rosenzweig, lead author of the study.

Rosenzweig and colleagues also found the link between human-caused climate change and observed impacts on Earth holds true at the scale of individual continents, particularly in North America, Europe, and Asia.

To arrive at the link, the authors built and analyzed a database of more than 29,000 data series pertaining to observed impacts on Earth's natural systems. The data were collected from about 80 studies, each with at least 20 years of records between 1970 and 2004.

Observed impacts included changes to physical systems, such as glaciers shrinking, permafrost melting, and lakes and rivers warming. Biological systems also were impacted in a variety of ways, such as leaves unfolding and flowers blooming earlier in the spring, birds arriving earlier during migration periods, and plant and animal species moving toward Earth's poles and higher in elevation. In aquatic environments such as oceans, lakes, and rivers, plankton and fish are shifting from cold-adapted to warm-adapted communities.

The team conducted a "joint attribution" study. They showed that at the global scale, about 90 percent of observed changes in diverse physical and biological systems are consistent with warming. Other driving forces, such as land use change from forest to agriculture, were ruled out as having significant influence on the observed impacts.

Next, the scientists conducted statistical tests and found the spatial patterns of observed impacts closely match temperature trends across the globe, to a degree beyond what can be attributed to natural variability. The team concluded observed global-scale impacts are very likely because of human-caused warming.

"Humans are influencing climate through increasing greenhouse gas emissions," Rosenzweig said. "The warming is causing impacts on physical and biological systems that are now attributable at the global scale and in North America, Europe, and Asia."

On some continents, including Africa, South America, and Australia, documentation of observed changes in physical and biological systems is still sparse despite warming trends attributable to human causes. The authors concluded environmental systems on these continents need additional research, especially in tropical and subtropical areas where there is a lack of impact data and published studies.

Source: Goddard Space Flight Center

3.2 /5 (27 votes)  

Filter


Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

yogited
May 15, 2008

Rank: 3.7 / 5 (3)

This paragraph has no meaning whatsoever. And, the paragraph that follows is pure opinion, not based on data. This propaganda makes a mockery of the scientific method.

"Next, the scientists conducted statistical tests and found the spatial patterns of observed impacts closely match temperature trends across the globe, to a degree beyond what can be attributed to natural variability. The team concluded observed global-scale impacts are very likely because of human-caused warming."
DrPhysics
May 18, 2008

Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
Jeez ........... can it get worse. This is cause for investigation of where grants and tax-dollars are going. What scientific method?
jyro
May 25, 2008

Rank: not rated yet
"The team concluded observed global-scale impacts are very likely because of human-caused warming. "
Exactly how was this done? Could it have been their preconcieved notion.

jeffsaunders
Aug 04, 2008

Rank: not rated yet
Another case of twist observation to fit preconceived idea.

Lets do research by all means.
Lets say that temperatures are rising (if they are)
Lets correlate different measuring methods
Lets stick to scientific method while we are at it.

BTW when I see NASA and Earth Impacts in the headings I am looking for craters not droughts and fires.
Rank 3.2 /5 (27 votes)
Tags

Relevant PhysicsForums posts
  • Discrepancy between oxygen and carbon-dioxide levels
    created9 hours ago
  • where gems are found in the world
    created12 hours ago
  • Wind Waves in Reservoir ~ Wind run-up and Wind set-up
    createdFeb 08, 2012
  • Balance of oxygen in the atmosphere
    createdFeb 01, 2012
  • The case for a methanol-based economy
    createdJan 30, 2012
  • Weather in a rotating cylinder
    createdJan 25, 2012
  • More from Physics Forums - Earth

More news stories

Humans may have helped the decline of African rainforests 3000 years ago

(PhysOrg.com) -- Large areas of rainforests in Central Africa mysteriously disappeared over three thousand years ago, to be replaced by savannas. The prevailing theory has been that the cause was a change ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created 1 hour ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

NASA budget will axe Mars deal with Europe: scientists

US President Barack Obama's budget proposal to be submitted next week for 2013 will cut NASA's budget by 20 percent and eliminate a major partnership with Europe on Mars exploration, scientists said Thursday.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created 27 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

New views show old NASA Mars landers

(PhysOrg.com) -- The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter recorded a scene on Jan. 29, 2012, that includes the first color image from orbit showing ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created 22 hours ago | popularity 4.9 / 5 (7) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

Black holes and star formation

(PhysOrg.com) -- It has long been recognized that galaxy mergers or even close interactions can play a vital role in shaping the morphology of galaxies. One way they can do so, it is thought, is by triggering ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created 21 hours ago | popularity 4.1 / 5 (7) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

Deconstructing a mystery: What caused Snowmaggedon?

In the quiet after the storms, streets and cars had all but disappeared under piles of snow. The U.S. Postal Service suspended service for the first time in 30 years. Snow plows struggled to push the evidence ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created 14 hours ago | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast


Protein libraries in a snap

(PhysOrg.com) -- A Rice University undergraduate will depart with not only a degree but also a possible patent for his invention of an efficient way to create protein libraries, an important component of biomolecular ...

Sleep breathing machine shows clear benefits in children with sleep apnea

Children and adolescents with obstructive sleep apnea had substantial improvements in attention, anxiety and quality of life after treatment with positive airway pressure (PAP)—a nighttime therapy in which a machine ...

Neurologic improvement detected in rats receiving stem cell transplant

In a study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting, in Dallas, Texas, researchers will report that early transplantation of human placenta-derived mesenchymal ...

Miami battling invasion of giant African snails

No one knows how they got there. But an invasion of African giant snails has southern Florida in a panic over potential crop damage, disease and general yuckiness surrounding the slimy gastropods.

Researchers show benefits of local anesthesia after knee replacement surgery

Researchers at the Rothman Institute at Jefferson have shown that local anesthesia delivered through a catheter in the joint, intraarticularly, may be more beneficial than traditional opioids such as morphine and Oxycontin ...

Study finds massively parallel sequencing can detect fetal aneuploidies, including Down syndrome

In a study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting, in Dallas, Texas, researchers will report findings that indicate that massively parallel sequencing can ...