news sciences

News digest – gut bacteria, aspirin, bowel cancer in women and… ‘wonky willy’ cancer risk?

Bacteria in cancer patients’ bowels may influence how well immunotherapy drugs work, according to two studies we, the BBC and STAT News covered. The studies also linked specific types of bacteria, as well as the overall diversity of bacteria in the gut, to the effectiveness of immunotherapy drugs.
Taking regular aspirin could reduce the risk of some digestive system cancers by up to 47%, report The Sun and Express. The unpublished results were presented at a conference, but taking aspirin regularly can cause harm , so speak to your doctor if you’re considering it.
This week was sugar awareness week and The Guardian and Telegraph report that ‘meal deals’ could have lots of hidden sugar – one combination found at a popular supermarket chain contained 30 teaspoons of sugar and more than 1,000 calories!
Slightly more women than men are diagnosed with bowel cancer as an emergency in England. This is despite women visiting their GP more with ‘red flag’ symptoms, reports the Mail Online. The findings will be presented at next week’s National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Liverpool – here’s the press release for more info.
Researchers in Japan say they’ve developed a computer programme that can tell the difference between harmless bowel growths and cancer. The Telegraph reports that the unpublished research showed a computer could correctly identify 94 out of 100 bowel cancers in endoscopy images . But much larger trials of the AI tech will be needed before we can understand its potential.
Smoking rates are falling but The Guardian reports that tobacco firms are using marketing tactics in an attempt to keep smoking cheap enough for people in poorer areas.
New research suggests that chemotherapy might have an impact on the fertility of female cancer patients’ children. The same effect wasn’t seen in the children of male patients, which the Telegraph suggests is because sperm are constantly regenerating.
Drugs used to treat acid reflux may double the risk of stomach cancer, according to The Guardian and Express. The researchers suggested that the longer you take the meds, called proton pump inhibitors, the greater your risk is of developing the disease. NHS Choices had this excellent in-depth piece on the study and the news reports.
Cancer death rates in poorer areas of Scotland are significantly higher compared to the least deprived, says BBC Scotland. People with lung cancer living in the most deprived areas were three times more likely to die than those living in the least deprived areas, according to the latest national figures.

And finally

The Sun’s ‘Wonky Willy Cancer Risk’ headline made light of a study linking a condition called Peyronie’s disease to a higher risk of developing certain cancers. The study, also featured in the Telegraph, is the first to suggest that those with the disease, where a build-up of scar tissue causes the penis to curve, may have a higher chance of developing stomach, skin and testicular cancer. But more work that takes into account other potential risk factors is needed before we can work out if there’s a link.

Gabi

from Cancer Research UK – Science blog http://ift.tt/2y0drFQ

Bacteria in cancer patients’ bowels may influence how well immunotherapy drugs work, according to two studies we, the BBC and STAT News covered. The studies also linked specific types of bacteria, as well as the overall diversity of bacteria in the gut, to the effectiveness of immunotherapy drugs.
Taking regular aspirin could reduce the risk of some digestive system cancers by up to 47%, report The Sun and Express. The unpublished results were presented at a conference, but taking aspirin regularly can cause harm , so speak to your doctor if you’re considering it.
This week was sugar awareness week and The Guardian and Telegraph report that ‘meal deals’ could have lots of hidden sugar – one combination found at a popular supermarket chain contained 30 teaspoons of sugar and more than 1,000 calories!
Slightly more women than men are diagnosed with bowel cancer as an emergency in England. This is despite women visiting their GP more with ‘red flag’ symptoms, reports the Mail Online. The findings will be presented at next week’s National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Liverpool – here’s the press release for more info.
Researchers in Japan say they’ve developed a computer programme that can tell the difference between harmless bowel growths and cancer. The Telegraph reports that the unpublished research showed a computer could correctly identify 94 out of 100 bowel cancers in endoscopy images . But much larger trials of the AI tech will be needed before we can understand its potential.
Smoking rates are falling but The Guardian reports that tobacco firms are using marketing tactics in an attempt to keep smoking cheap enough for people in poorer areas.
New research suggests that chemotherapy might have an impact on the fertility of female cancer patients’ children. The same effect wasn’t seen in the children of male patients, which the Telegraph suggests is because sperm are constantly regenerating.
Drugs used to treat acid reflux may double the risk of stomach cancer, according to The Guardian and Express. The researchers suggested that the longer you take the meds, called proton pump inhibitors, the greater your risk is of developing the disease. NHS Choices had this excellent in-depth piece on the study and the news reports.
Cancer death rates in poorer areas of Scotland are significantly higher compared to the least deprived, says BBC Scotland. People with lung cancer living in the most deprived areas were three times more likely to die than those living in the least deprived areas, according to the latest national figures.

And finally

The Sun’s ‘Wonky Willy Cancer Risk’ headline made light of a study linking a condition called Peyronie’s disease to a higher risk of developing certain cancers. The study, also featured in the Telegraph, is the first to suggest that those with the disease, where a build-up of scar tissue causes the penis to curve, may have a higher chance of developing stomach, skin and testicular cancer. But more work that takes into account other potential risk factors is needed before we can work out if there’s a link.

Gabi

from Cancer Research UK – Science blog http://ift.tt/2y0drFQ

Asteroids photobomb distant galaxies

This Hubble photo of a random patch of sky that contains thousands of galaxies, including massive yellowish ellipticals and majestic blue spirals. Much smaller, fragmentary blue galaxies are sprinkled throughout the field. The reddest objects are most likely the farthest galaxies. Asteroid trails appear as curved or S-shaped streaks. Asteroids appear in multiple Hubble exposures that have been combined into one image. Image via NASA, ESA, and B. Sunnquist and J. Mack (STScI)

Via NASA

Like rude relatives who jump in front of your vacation snapshots of landscapes, some of our solar system’s asteroids have photobombed deep images of the universe taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. These asteroids reside, on average, only about 160 million miles from Earth — right around the corner in astronomical terms. Yet they’ve horned their way into this picture of thousands of galaxies scattered across space and time at inconceivably farther distances.

Galaxy cluster Abell 370 contains several hundred galaxies tied together by the mutual pull of gravity. It is located approximately 4 billion light-years away in the constellation Cetus, the Sea Monster. The thin, white trails that look like curved or S-shaped streaks are from asteroids that reside, on average, only about 160 million miles from Earth. The trails appear in multiple Hubble exposures that have been combined into one image. Of the 22 total asteroid sightings for this field, five are unique objects. These asteroids are so faint that they were not previously identified. Image via NASA, ESA, and STScI.

The trails look curved due to an observational effect called parallax. As Hubble orbits around Earth, an asteroid will appear to move along an arc with respect to the vastly more distant background stars and galaxies.

This parallax effect is somewhat similar to the effect you see from a moving car, in which trees by the side of the road appear to be passing by much more rapidly than background objects at much larger distances. The motion of Earth around the sun, and the motion of the asteroids along their orbits, are other contributing factors to the apparent skewing of asteroid paths.

All the asteroids were found manually, the majority by “blinking” consecutive exposures to capture apparent asteroid motion. Astronomers found a unique asteroid for every 10 to 20 hours of exposure time.

Hunter’s Moon shines on

Tonight – November 4-5, 2017 – the drenching moonlight from the Hunter’s Moon will interfere with the expected peak night for the South Taurid meteor shower. Look for the bright full-looking moon, the 2nd-largest full moon of 2017, to rise in the east around dusk or early evening, and then to stay out all night long.

November 2017 full moon a supermoon?

Any full moon rises in the east at or near the time of sunset. On the average, the moon rises about 50 minutes later each following day.

For the Northern Hemisphere: It’s Hunter’s Moon time. That means there’s a somewhat shorter-than-usual time between successive moonrises for the next few nights.

For the Southern Hemisphere: This November full moon is a springtime full moon. For you, there’s a somewhat longer-than-usual time between successive moonrises for these next few nights.

From either the Northern or Southern Hemisphere, though, tonight’s full-looking moon will coincide with the peak night of the South Taurid shower. In general, the South Taurids offer about 5 meteors per hour at and near their peak. However, the North Taurid shower adds a few more meteors to the mix. Although a modest shower, we can always hope to see a Taurid fireball or two, even in the light of the full or almost-full moon. Plus the Taurids – both North and South – are a long-lasting shower. Watch for them throughout November.

And, if you’re game, try watching for some Taurid meteors or fireballs, despite tonight’s moonlit glare. The Taurid meteors tend to rain down most prolifically around the midnight hour, or possibly somewhat after, around which time the full-looking moon will be highest up for the night.

If you trace all the Taurid meteors backward, you’d see that these meteors appear to come from the constellation Taurus the Bull. Tonight’s brilliant moon will make it easy to locate the constellation Taurus, but difficult to see the South Taurid meteors on their peak night in 2017.

Normally, it’s difficult to know when the Hunter’s Moon – or any moon – turns precisely full, just by looking at it. Each month, the moon appears full to the eye for several nights in a row. The full moon actually falls on November 4 at 5:23 UTC; translate to your time zone here. For North American time zones, the moon turns precisely full on November 4 at 1:23 a.m. EDT, 12:23 a.m. CDT or on November 3 to the west of the Central Time zone, at 11:23 p.m. MDT and 10:23 p.m. PDT.

So the exact time of full moon might have passed, by the time you read this post.

But no matter where you live on Earth, look for a bright full-looking moon to rise in the east at dusk or early evening on November 4.

Hunter’s Moon collage – top of post – is by our friend Kausor Khan in India.

Bottom line: The Northern Hemisphere’s Hunter’s Moon is bright and in the sky all night, making it tough to see the peak of the South Taurid meteor shower. Never fear. It’s a wide peak, and the shower produces many fireballs!

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from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2dUJX52

November 2017 full moon a supermoon?

Any full moon rises in the east at or near the time of sunset. On the average, the moon rises about 50 minutes later each following day.

For the Northern Hemisphere: It’s Hunter’s Moon time. That means there’s a somewhat shorter-than-usual time between successive moonrises for the next few nights.

For the Southern Hemisphere: This November full moon is a springtime full moon. For you, there’s a somewhat longer-than-usual time between successive moonrises for these next few nights.

So the exact time of full moon might have passed, by the time you read this post.

But no matter where you live on Earth, look for a bright full-looking moon to rise in the east at dusk or early evening on November 4.

Hunter’s Moon collage – top of post – is by our friend Kausor Khan in India.

Donate: Your support means the world to us

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2dUJX52

Colorful Candy Science

Colorful candy science for students of all ages!

from Science Buddies Blog http://ift.tt/2lMsph6

Why people around the world fear climate change more than Americans do

Gregory J. Carbone, Professor of Geography, University of South Carolina

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

When asked about major threats to their country, Europeans are more likely than Americans to cite global climate change, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. Just 56 percent of Americans see climate change as a major threat, versus an average of 64 percent of Europeans surveyed.

Why the difference? Like climate data itself, data regarding public concern for climate change are “noisy.” Public response can vary depending on what’s going on in the news that week. Surveys of these types of surveys find no single explanation for how the public perceives the threat of climate change.

Of course, many explanations exist. As a climatologist who has taught university classes and given public lectures on global climate change for 30 years, I find it clear that public concern about climate change has evolved dramatically over the past three decades. In the U.S., now more than ever, it seems tied to ideology.

Knowing the facts

Does scientific literacy influence responses? Some psychologists think so. Indeed, some surveys show that Europeans have significantly greater scientific knowledge about the causes of climate change than Americans.

It’s possible that such knowledge translates into a sense of responsibility for mitigating climate change. But having more general scientific knowledge is not as relevant as knowing specifically about climate change.

A person’s outlook on the world can also complicate matters. Another recent Pew survey found that Americans are more likely to believe they control their own destiny and that they “tend to prioritize individual liberty, while Europeans tend to value the role of the state to ensure no one in society is in need.”

Research on the respective roles of scientific literacy and worldview reaches different conclusions. Psychologist Sophie Guy and colleagues argue that knowing the causes of climate change makes people more willing to accept the reality of climate change or to moderate their ideological opposition to it.

Nuisance flooding – flooding from ordinary high tides exacerbated by sea level rise and accompanying land subsidence – has increased 400 percent in Charleston, South Carolina since 1960. Stephen B. Morton/AP Photo

By contrast, Yale scholar Dan Kahan and colleagues find that people with the highest level of scientific literacy often use that literacy to retain and justify prior beliefs – what they call the “polarizing impact of science literacy.” In other words: “I’m smart, I’ve read the evidence and it confirms my prior understanding.” Climate change reflects a threat not only to one’s local environment, but also to one’s worldview.

Political affiliation

When you look more closely at recent survey responses in the U.S., the most striking and consistent finding is that political affiliation influences perceptions of climate change.

In the U.S., Democrats report, at consistently higher rates than Republicans, that climate change exists. Merely substituting the term “global warming” – now a politically charged catchword – for “climate change” makes the differences larger.

The divide between parties within the U.S. far exceeds the divide found between the U.S. as a whole and Europe. Political divisions also exist in Europe, and public opinion polls in the U.K. and Norway show that party similarly influences the perceived threat of climate change. However, there’s some evidence that the U.S. Republican Party is anomalous among conservative parties internationally. In other words, U.S. Republicans are more starkly anti-climate change than other conservative parties internationally.

It’s possible that the strong two-party system in the U.S. leads to a more binary mode of thinking on this issue that does not accurately represent that of the scientific community. Sociologist Aaron McCright and his colleagues argue that the high number of Americans identifying with the political right explains why the U.S., unlike other wealthy countries, is less concerned about climate change.

Closing the gap

Some suggest that the political divide has fueled an industry of climate change deniers and skeptics, distorting public perception about climate change science. Science historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway argue in their book “Merchants of Doubt” that denial is about more than the science. It’s about political and economic systems that individuals hold dear. It also can result from differences in professional culture or personal values.

In the U.S., many of the most vocal skeptics and deniers of climate change emerge from conservative think tanks that revere the industrial capitalist system.

In Europe, differences between countries can also be explained by the voices of conservative think tanks and the media, but these voices are more influential in the U.S. than anywhere else because of the two-party system. Partisan clashes about climate change emerge from influential, well-funded sources that wield great influence on Congress, the media and ultimately the public. By contrast, most European countries have more than two parties, and arguably the political influence of corporations is lower.

Given the political divide on climate change in the U.S., addressing this 21st-century threat will require creative thinking that recognizes different worldviews and “beliefs” in climate change. The U.S. House Climate Solutions Caucus is a step in the right direction.

from Skeptical Science http://ift.tt/2AfJd3b

Gregory J. Carbone, Professor of Geography, University of South Carolina

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Knowing the facts

Political affiliation

When you look more closely at recent survey responses in the U.S., the most striking and consistent finding is that political affiliation influences perceptions of climate change.

Closing the gap

In the U.S., many of the most vocal skeptics and deniers of climate change emerge from conservative think tanks that revere the industrial capitalist system.

from Skeptical Science http://ift.tt/2AfJd3b

Greenhouse gas concentrations surge to new record

via the WMO

Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere surged at a record-breaking speed in 2016 to the highest level in 800 000 years, according to the World Meteorological Organization's Greenhouse Gas Bulletin. The abrupt changes in the atmosphere witnessed in the past 70 years are without precedent.

Globally averaged concentrations of CO2 reached 403.3 parts per million in 2016, up from 400.00 ppm in 2015 because of a combination of human activities and a strong El Niño event. Concentrations of CO2 are now 145% of pre-industrial (before 1750) levels, according to the Greenhouse Gas Bulletin.

Rapidly increasing atmospheric levels of CO2 and other greenhouse gases have the potential to initiate unprecedented changes in climate systems, leading to “severe ecological and economic disruptions,” said the report.

The annual bulletin is based on observations from the WMO Global Atmosphere Watch Programme. These observations help to track the changing levels of greenhouse gases and serve as an early warning system for changes in these key atmospheric drivers of climate change.

Population growth, intensified agricultural practices, increases in land use and deforestation, industrialization and associated energy use from fossil fuel sources have all contributed to increases in concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere since the industrial era, beginning in 1750.

Since 1990, there has been a 40% increase in total radiative forcing – the warming effect on our climate - by all long-lived greenhouse gases, and a 2.5% increase from 2015 to 2016 alone, according to figures from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration quoted in the bulletin.

“Without rapid cuts in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, we will be heading for dangerous temperature increases by the end of this century, well above the target set by the Paris climate change agreement,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas. “Future generations will inherit a much more inhospitable planet, “ he said.

“CO2 remains in the atmosphere for hundreds of years and in the oceans for even longer. The laws of physics mean that we face a much hotter, more extreme climate in the future. There is currently no magic wand to remove this CO2 from the atmosphere,”said Mr Taalas.

The last time the Earth experienced a comparable concentration of CO2 was 3-5 million years ago, the temperature was 2-3°C warmer and sea level was 10-20 meters higher than now.

The WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin reports on atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. Emissions represent what goes into the atmosphere. Concentrations represent what remains in the atmosphere after the complex system of interactions between the atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere and the oceans. About a quarter of the total emissions is taken up by the oceans and another quarter by the biosphere, reducing in this way the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

A separate Emissions Gap Report by UN Environment, to be released on 31 October, tracks the policy commitments made by countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and analyses how these policies will translate into emissions reductions through 2030, clearly outlining the emissions gap and what it would take to bridge it.

"The numbers don't lie. We are still emitting far too much and this needs to be reversed. The last few years have seen enormous uptake of renewable energy, but we must now redouble our efforts to ensure these new low-carbon technologies are able to thrive. We have many of the solutions already to address this challenge. What we need now is global political will and a new sense of urgency," said Erik Solheim, head of UN Environment.

Together, the Greenhouse Gas Bulletin and Emissions Gap Report provide a scientific base for decision-making at the UN climate change negotiations, which will be held from 7-17 November in Bonn, Germany.

WMO, UN Environment and other partners are working towards an Integrated Global Greenhouse Gas Information System to provide information that can help nations to track the progress toward implementation of their national emission pledges, improve national emission reporting and inform additional mitigation actions. This system builds on the long-term experience of WMO in greenhouse gas instrumental measurements and atmospheric modelling.

WMO is also striving to improve weather and climate services for the renewable energy sector and to support the Green Economy and sustainable development. To optimize the use of solar, wind and hydropower production, new types of weather, climate and hydrological services are needed.

Key findings of the Greenhouse Gas Bulletin

Carbon dioxide

CO2 is by far the most important anthropogenic long-lived greenhouse gas. Globally averaged concentrations for CO2 reached 403.3 parts per million in 2016, up from 400.00 ppm in 2015. This record annual increase of 3.3 ppm was partly due to the strong 2015/2016 El Niño, which triggered droughts in tropical regions and reduced the capacity of “sinks” like forests, vegetation and the oceans to absorb CO2. Concentrations of CO2 are now 145% of pre-industrial (before 1750) levels.

The rate of increase of atmospheric CO2 over the past 70 years is nearly 100 times larger than that at the end of the last ice age. As far as direct and proxy observations can tell, such abrupt changes in the atmospheric levels of CO2 have never before been seen.

Over the last 800 000 years, pre-industrial atmospheric CO2 content remained below 280 ppm, but it has now risen to the 2016 global average of 403.3 ppm.

From the most-recent high-resolution reconstructions from ice cores, it is possible to observe that changes in CO2 have never been as fast as in the past 150 years. The natural ice-age changes in CO2 have always preceded corresponding temperature changes. Geological records show that the current levels of CO2correspond to an “equilibrium” climate last observed in the mid-Pliocene (3–5 million years ago), a climate that was 2–3 °C warmer, where the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets melted and even some of the East Antarctic ice was lost, leading to sea levels that were 10–20 m higher than those today.

Methane

Methane (CH4) is the second most important long-lived greenhouse gas and contributes about 17% of radiative forcing. Approximately 40% of methane is emitted into the atmosphere by natural sources (e.g., wetlands and termites), and about 60% comes from human activities like cattle breeding, rice agriculture, fossil fuel exploitation, landfills and biomass burning.

Atmospheric methane reached a new high of about 1 853 parts per billion (ppb) in 2016 and is now 257% of the pre-industrial level.

Nitrous Oxide

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is emitted into the atmosphere from both natural (about 60%) and anthropogenic sources (approximately 40%), including oceans, soil, biomass burning, fertilizer use, and various industrial processes.

Its atmospheric concentration in 2016 was 328.9 parts per billion. This is 122% of pre-industrial levels. It also plays an important role in the destruction of the stratospheric ozone layer which protects us from the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun. It accounts for about 6% of radiative forcing by long-lived greenhouse gases.

from Skeptical Science http://ift.tt/2iXmu81

via the WMO

The last time the Earth experienced a comparable concentration of CO2 was 3-5 million years ago, the temperature was 2-3°C warmer and sea level was 10-20 meters higher than now.

Key findings of the Greenhouse Gas Bulletin

Carbon dioxide

Over the last 800 000 years, pre-industrial atmospheric CO2 content remained below 280 ppm, but it has now risen to the 2016 global average of 403.3 ppm.

Methane

Atmospheric methane reached a new high of about 1 853 parts per billion (ppb) in 2016 and is now 257% of the pre-industrial level.

Nitrous Oxide

from Skeptical Science http://ift.tt/2iXmu81

New research, October 23-29, 2017

A selection of new climate related research articles is shown below.

(Figure is from paper #16.)

Climate change mitigation

1. Geophysical potential for wind energy over the open oceans

"Wind speeds over open ocean areas are often higher than those in the windiest areas over land, which has motivated a quest to develop technologies that could harvest wind energy in deep water environments. However, it remains unclear whether these open ocean wind speeds are higher because of lack of surface drag or whether a greater downward transport of kinetic energy may be sustained in open ocean environments. Focusing on the North Atlantic region, we provide evidence that there is potential for greater downward transport of kinetic energy in the overlying atmosphere. As a result, wind power generation over some ocean areas can exceed power generation on land by a factor of three or more."

2. Public receptiveness of vertical axis wind turbines

"We find that the visual differences between the vertical and conventional wind turbines did not matter very much in any of the hypothetical settings in which we placed them. However, the prospect of killing fewer birds registered strongly with our survey respondents, though it could be outweighed by concern for cost. We also show that certain segments of the population, particularly those who are more educated, may be open to a more extensive deployment of vertical axis turbines in urban communities."

3. Getting the numbers right: revisiting woodfuel sustainability in the developing world

"The existing projects expect to produce offsets equivalent to ~138 MtCO₂e. However, when we apply NRB values derived from spatially explicit woodfuel demand and supply imbalances in the region of each offset project, we find that emission reductions are between 57 and 81 MtCO₂e: 41%–59% lower than expected."

4. Why people want to buy electric vehicle: An empirical study in first-tier cities of China

5. The Importance of Place in Communicating Climate Change to Different Facets of the American Public

6. Non-renewable and intermittent renewable energy sources: Friends and foes?

7. How do sectoral policies support climate compatible development? An empirical analysis focusing on southern Africa

8. Reflecting on a multidisciplinary collaboration to design a general education climate change course

9. Expansion of oil palm and other cash crops causes an increase of the land surface temperature in the Jambi province in Indonesia

10. Global Expansion of Renewable Energy Generation: An Analysis of Policy Instruments

11. What drives the GHG emission changes of the electric power industry in China? An empirical analysis using the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index method

12. The comparative importance for optimal climate policy of discounting, inequalities and catastrophes

Climate change

13. Attributing changing rates of temperature record-breaking to anthropogenic influences

"The frequency of hot and cold record-breaking temperature occurrences is shown to be changing due to the anthropogenic influence on the climate. Using ensembles of model simulations with and without human-induced forcings, it is demonstrated that the effect of climate change on global record-breaking temperatures can be detected as far back as the 1930s. On local scales, a climate change signal is detected more recently at most locations. The anthropogenic influence on the increased occurrence of hot record-breaking temperatures is clearer than it is for the decreased occurrence of cold records."

14. Thirty-Three Years of Marine Benthic Warming Along the US Northeast Continental Shelf and Slope: Patterns, Drivers, and Ecological Consequences

"Benthic temperatures increased throughout the domain, including in the Gulf of Maine. Rates of benthic warming ranged from 0.1 to 0.4 °C per decade, with fastest rates occurring in shallow, nearshore regions and on Georges Bank, the latter exceeding rates observed in the surface. Rates of benthic warming were up to 1.6 times faster in winter than the rest of the year in many regions, with important implications for disease occurrence and energetics of overwintering species."

15. Trends in Extreme Rainfall Frequency in the Contiguous United States: Attribution to Climate Change and Climate Variability Modes

16. Investigating the local-scale influence of sea ice on Greenland surface melt

17. Modeling the response of Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden and Zachariae Isstrøm glaciers, Greenland, to ocean forcing over the next century

18. Influence of complex terrain and anthropogenic emissions on atmospheric CO₂ patterns – a high-resolution numerical analysis

19. Future land use and land cover in Southern Amazonia and resulting greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural soils

20. Seasonal and diurnal variations in methane and carbon dioxide in the Kathmandu Valley in the foothills of the central Himalayas

21. Spatial and temporal variation in methane concentrations, fluxes, and sources in lakes in Arctic Alaska

22. Estimating solar radiation using NOAA/AVHRR and ground measurement data

23. Climate variability of heat wave and projection of warming scenario in Taiwan

24. Worsening of heat stress due to global warming in South Korea based on multi-RCM ensemble projections

25. Ensemble evaluation and projection of climate extremes in China using RMIP models

26. Regional Sea Level Variability and Trends, 1960–2007: A Comparison of Sea Level Reconstructions and Ocean Syntheses

27. Biogeochemical Impact of Snow Cover and Cyclonic Intrusions on the Winter Weddell Sea Ice Pack

28. Winter sea ice export from the Laptev Sea preconditions the local summer sea ice cover and fast ice decay

29. Glacier Calving in Greenland

30. Importance of positive cloud feedback for tropical Atlantic interhemispheric climate variability

31. The midsummer drought in Mexico: perspectives on duration and intensity from the CHIRPS precipitation database

32. Linking sea level rise and socioeconomic indicators under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways

33. Predicting the patterns of change in spring onset and false springs in China during the twenty-first century

34. A 65-yr Climatology of Unusual Tracks of Tropical Cyclones in the Vicinity of China's Coastal Waters During 1949-2013

35. Atmospheric aerosol variability above the Paris Area during the 2015 heat wave - Comparison with the 2003 and 2006 heat waves

36. Climatic characteristics of heat waves under climate change: a case study of mid-latitudes, Iran

37. Definition of extreme El Niño and its impact on projected increase in extreme El Niño frequency

38. Using space lidar observations to decompose Longwave Cloud Radiative Effect variations over the last decade

Climate change impacts

39. The Future of Giant Clam-Dominated Lagoon Ecosystems Facing Climate Change

"The various documented cases support the hypothesis that mass mortalities of giant clams are triggered by climate variability, enhanced by the geomorphological specificities of these atolls. The exact mechanisms leading to mortalities and consequences for the whole ecosystem remain unknown and are probably case-dependent. These collapsing ecosystems represent well the fast impact that climate change can have on reef ecosystems."

40. Implications of Future Northwest Atlantic Bottom Temperatures on the American Lobster (Homarus Americanus) Fishery

"H. americanus experiences thermal stress at temperatures above 20°C, and projected increases in temperature is likely to result in changes in the distribution of optimal thermal egg hatching and settlement indicators. Inshore regions of southern New England, where H. americanus biomass and catch have been declining historically, will likely become inhospitable under either future scenario, while thermal egg hatching and settlement indicators will expand offshore and in the Gulf of Maine. These changes imply that members of the fishery based in southern New England may need to recapitalize to larger vessels to prepare for potential changes brought on by future climate warming."

41. Temporal changes in bird functional diversity across the United States

"We found increases in local bird species richness and taxonomic equitability that plateaued in the early 2000’s while total abundance declined over the whole period. Functional richness, the total range of traits in an assemblage, increased due to the rising prevalence of species with atypical life-history strategies and under-represented habitat or trophic preferences. However, these species did not trigger major changes in the functional composition of bird assemblages. Inter-annual variations in climate and primary productivity explained the richness of bird life-history traits in local assemblages, suggesting that these traits are influenced by broad-scale environmental factors, while others respond more to more local drivers."

42. Climate Change, the Economy, and Conflict

43. Understanding the Connections Between Climate Change and Conflict: Contributions From Geography and Political Ecology

44. Climate Change and Violence: Insights from Political Science

45. Environmental humanities and climate change: understanding humans geologically and other life forms ethically

46. Impact of climate change and seasonal trends on the fate of Arctic oil spills

47. Will Fluctuations in Salt Marsh - Mangrove Dominance Alter Vulnerability of a Subtropical Wetland to Sea-Level Rise?

48. Global-scale impacts of nitrogen deposition on tree carbon sequestration in tropical, temperate, and boreal forests: A meta-analysis

49. Growing at the Margins: Adaptation to Severe Weather in the Marginal Lands of the British Isles

50. Climate adaptation approaches and key policy characteristics: Cases from South Asia

51. Too weak to lead: motivation, agenda setting and constraints of local government to implement decentralized climate change adaptation policy in Ghana

52. Fail-safe and safe-to-fail adaptation: decision-making for urban flooding under climate change

53. Recent warming across the North Atlantic region may be contributing to an expansion in barley cultivation

54. Greater temperature and precipitation extremes intensify Western US droughts, wildfire severity, and Sierra Nevada tree mortality

55. What Is Currently Known About the Effects of Climate Change on the Coral Immune Response

56. Stand-level drivers most important in determining boreal forest response to climate change

57. Evidence for a climate-induced ecohydrological state shift in wetland ecosystems of the southern Prairie Pothole Region

58. Bird specimens track 135 years of atmospheric black carbon and environmental policy

59. Warming-induced upward migration of the alpine treeline in the Changbai Mountains, northeast China

60. Floating algae blooms in the East China Sea

61. Ambio special issue: Facets of Arctic Change

62. Future sea ice conditions and weather forecasts in the Arctic: Implications for Arctic shipping

63. Seafood from a changing Arctic

64. Animal responses to disturbance and climate extremes: Coping mechanisms in the new millennium

65. Is adaptation reducing vulnerability or redistributing it?

66. Quantifying the indirect impacts of climate on agriculture: an inter-method comparison

67. Climate change, fisheries management and fishing aptitude affecting spatial and temporal distributions of the Barents Sea cod fishery

68. Opposite effects of daytime and nighttime warming on top-down control of plant diversity

Other papers

69. Quantifying the influence of the terrestrial biosphere on glacial–interglacial climate dynamics

"On average across the period, the terrestrial biosphere has a −0.26 °C effect on temperature, with −0.58 °C at the Last Glacial Maximum. Depending on assumptions made about the destination of terrestrial carbon under ice sheets and where sea level has changed, the average terrestrial biosphere contribution over the last 120 kyr could be as much as −50 °C and −0.83 °C at the Last Glacial Maximum."

70. Holocene permafrost history and cryostratigraphy in the High-Arctic Adventdalen Valley, central Svalbard

71. Warming and Cooling: The Medieval Climate Anomaly in Africa and Arabia

72. Orbital signals in carbon isotopes: phase distortion as a signature of the carbon cycle

73. Predictability and non-Gaussian Characteristics of the North Atlantic Oscillation

from Skeptical Science http://ift.tt/2AgRMuE

A selection of new climate related research articles is shown below.

(Figure is from paper #16.)