U.S. Labs Study Abrupt Climate Change

onSep 23, 2008 @ 08:05 PDT

Four Horrifying Scenarios Under Consideration

Scientists from six national laboratories in the U.S. have been assigned to study the potential of sudden and potentially devastating climate change, driven by feedback mechanisms that could produce centuries of warming in only a few decades

Saying that a 10 degree Celsius rise in global temperatures is not unlikely, the scientists are looking at four global warming feedbacks that have the capacity to trigger abrupt climate change.

1. Instability among marine ice sheets, particularly the West Antarctic ice sheet (which have already started to peel off)

2. Positive feedback mechanisms in subarctic forests and arctic ecosystems, leading to rapid methane release or large-scale changes in the surface energy balance (See Ross’s story today)

3. Destabilization of methane hydrates – vast deposits of methane gas caged in water ice – particularly in the Arctic Ocean

4. Feedback between biosphere and atmosphere that could lead to megadroughts in North America

The research project is called IMPACTS, which stands for Investigation of the Magnitudes and Probabilities of Abrupt Climate Transitions.

By Richard Littlemore

Amsterdam Defies Last-Minute Lobbying to Become First Capital City to Ban Fossil Fuel Ads

ByEllen Ormesher

onJan 23, 2026 @ 09:43 PST

The world’s largest outdoor advertising company warned city councillors of “far-reaching consequences” hours before the landmark vote.

After Decades of Deflection, ExxonMobil Moves to Reshape Global Climate Accounting

BySharon Kelly

onJan 23, 2026 @ 09:12 PST

For decades, ExxonMobil argued consumers, not oil giants, should take responsibility for fossil fuel pollution. It’s now backing Carbon Measures’ accounting scheme, which moves pollution “liabilities” to buyers’ books.