Climate: LNG in B.C. vs Alberta tarsands

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On environment, Republicans closer to Independents than Tea Party
Date: December 2, 2014
Source: University of New Hampshire
Summary: Environmentalists dispirited by the Republicans’ dominance of the recent midterm elections can take heart: non-Tea Party Republicans’ views on science and environmental issues are closer to those of Independents than to Tea Party supporters.

Environmentalists dispirited by the Republicans' dominance of the recent midterm elections can take heart: non-Tea Party Republicans' views on science and environmental issues are closer to those of Independents than to Tea Party supporters. That's the primary finding of new research by University of New Hampshire sociologists, published this week in the journal Environmental Politics.

"Across a range of science and environmental issues, non-Tea Party Republicans are more similar to Independents than they are to Tea Party supporters, and those divisions are surprisingly stable over the last four years," says UNH professor of sociology Lawrence Hamilton, first author of the paper, titled "A four-party view of US environmental concern."

While researchers -- Hamilton a leader among them -- have examined the interplay between education, political party and environmental concerns in recent years, this is the first study to separate out Tea Party supporters as a fourth party. Hamilton was surprised to find more significant divisions between Tea Party supporters and Republicans, and fewer divisions between non-Tea Party Republicans and Independents, on a range of questions about science and the environment.

The study also finds that Tea Party supporters with higher levels of education are less likely to trust scientists or accept scientific consensus on topics like evolution or climate change, which runs opposite to the positive effect education has on trust in science among Independents and Democrats.

Hamilton suggests that's because well-educated individuals actively acquire information, but they also choose their sources. Those who trust scientists are more influenced by research findings or major science organizations, but those who don't trust scientists know where to find alternative sources that better fit their beliefs. "People with more education could have greater awareness of their political leaders' and parties' positions, or take more initiative themselves to acquire information that reinforces their worldview," Hamilton says. "When it comes to climate change, for example, there are many excellent real science sources, but also many political or pseudo-science sources that sound convincing to some people."

The implications of these findings on politics, particularly within the Republican Party, are those that some pundits have already noted: "If you want to win the center, you should be closer to them than to either extreme," Hamilton says.

For scientists, the finding that non-Tea Party Republicans are more receptive to scientific findings is encouraging. Regarding the rejection of scientific results by others, however, "Public understanding is stalled," Hamilton says. "It's a bafflement to scientists, who are speaking as clearly as they can. But they're seeing that science communication gets caught up in a political spin cycle that can counter years of data with a few days of blogging."

Hamilton and co-author Kei Saito (a Ph.D. student in sociology at UNH) used data from 12 science, environment or climate questions asked on the Granite State Poll, conducted by the UNH Survey Center. Responses on national polls asking some of these same questions have been similar to those from New Hampshire, suggesting the New Hampshire results could provide a rough proxy. However, because the Granite State is more secular, better educated and less racially diverse compared with some other regions, Hamilton notes that some party contrasts might even be stronger elsewhere.

Environmental questions on the Granite State Poll are supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, and by the Carsey School of Public Policy and Sustainability Institute at the University of New Hampshire. Sampling and interviews are conducted by the Survey Center at the University of New Hampshire.
Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by University of New Hampshire. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference: Lawrence C. Hamilton, Kei Saito. A four-party view of US environmental concern. Environmental Politics, 2014; 1 DOI: 10.1080/09644016.2014.976485 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2014.976485
 
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141128080654.htm

Emergence of modern sea ice in Arctic Ocean, 2.6 million years ago
Date: November 28, 2014
Source: University of Tromso (Universitetet i Tromsø - UiT)
Summary: The extent of sea ice cover in Arctic was much less than it is today between four and five million years ago. The maximum winter extent did not reaching its current location until around 2.6 million years ago. "We have not seen an ice free period in the Arctic Ocean for 2,6 million years. However, we may see it in our lifetime." says a marine geologist.

Field Work in the Arctic sea ice.
Credit: Thomas A. Brown and Simon T. Belt

"We have not seen an ice free period in the Arctic Ocean for 2,6 million years. However, we may see it in our lifetime." says marine geologist Jochen Knies. In an international collaborative project, Knies has studied the historic emergence of the ice in the Arctic Ocean. The results are published in Nature Communications.

The extent of sea ice cover in Arctic was much less than it is today between four and five million years ago. The maximum winter extent did not reaching its current location until around 2.6 million years ago. This new knowledge can now be used to improve future climate models.

"We have not seen an ice free period in the Arctic Ocean for 2,6 million years. However, we may see it in our lifetime. The new IPCC report shows that the expanse of the Arctic ice cover has been quickly shrinking since the 70-ies, with 2012 being the year of the sea ice minimum," Jochen Knies.

He is marine geologist at the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU) and Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Climate and Environment, UiT The Arctic Univeristy of Norway.

In an international collaborative project, Jochen Knies has studied the trend in the sea ice extent in the Arctic Ocean from 5.3 to 2.6 million years ago. That was the last time Earth experienced a long period with a climate that, on average, was warm before cold ice ages began to alternate with mild interglacials.

Fossils reveal past sea ice extent

"When we studied molecules from certain plant fossils preserved in sediments at the bottom of the ocean, we found that large expanses of the Arctic Ocean were free of sea ice until four million years ago," Knies tells us.

"Later, the sea ice gradually expanded from the very high Arctic before reaching, for the first time, what we now see as the boundary of the winter ice around 2.6 million years ago ," says Jochen Knies, who is also attached to CAGE, the Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate at the University of Tromsø, the Arctic University of Norway.

Arctic Ocean likely to be completely free of sea ice

The research is of great interest on the international stage because present-day global warming is strongly tied to a shrinking ice cover in the Arctic Ocean. By the end of the present century, the Arctic Ocean seems likely to be completely free of sea ice, especially in summer.

This may have major significance for the entire planet 's climate system. Polar oceans , their temperature and salinity, are important drivers for world ocean circulation that distributes heat in the oceans. It also affects the heat distribution in the atmosphere. Trying to anticipate future changes in this finely tuned system, is a priority for climate researchers. For that they use climate modeling , which relies on good data.

"Our results can be used as a tool in climate modelling to show us what kind of climate we can expect at the turn of the next century. There is no doubt that this will be one of many tools the UN Climate Panel will make use of, too. The extent of the ice in the Arctic has always been very uncertain but, through this work, we show how the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean developed before all the land-based ice masses in the Northern Hemisphere were established," Jochen Knies explains.

Seabed samples from Spitsbergen

A deep well into the ocean floor northwest of Spitsbergen was the basis for this research. It was drilled as part of the International Ocean Drilling Programme, (IODP), to determine the age of the ocean-floor sediments in the area. Then, by analysing the sediments for chemical fossils made by certain microscopic plants that live in sea ice and the surrounding oceans, Knies and his co-workers were able to fingerprint the environmental conditions as they changed through time.

"One thing these layers of sediment enable us to do is to "read" when the sea ice reached that precise point," Jochen Knies tells us.

The scientists believe that the growth of sea ice until 2.6 million years ago was partly due to the considerable exhumation of the land masses in the circum-Arctic that occurred during this period. "Significant changes in altitudes above sea level in several parts of the Arctic, including Svalbard and Greenland, with build-up of ice on land, stimulated the distribution of the sea ice," Jochen Knies says.

"In addition, the opening of the Bering Strait between America and Russia and the closure of the Panama Cannel in central America at the same time resulted in a huge supply of fresh water to the Arctic, which also led to the formation of more sea ice in the Arctic Ocean," Jochen Knies adds.

All the large ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere existed around 2.6 million years ago.

Scientists at Norwegian Geological Survey (NGU), CAGE, UiT The Arctic University of Norway,University of Plymouth, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Stellenbosch University in South Africa and Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats in Barcelona have collaborated in this work.

Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by University of Tromso (Universitetet i Tromsø - UiT). Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Journal Reference: Jochen Knies, Patricia Cabedo-Sanz, Simon T. Belt, Soma Baranwal, Susanne Fietz, Antoni Rosell-Mel. The emergence of modern sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean. Nature Communications, 2014; 5: 5608 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6608 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms6608
 
Petronas puts B.C. LNG plant on hold
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/petronas-puts-b-c-lng-plant-on-hold-1.2859551
Oil prices below $70 US a barrel create poor conditions for project

Petronas says it's delaying its proposed liquefied natural gas terminal near Prince Rupert, B.C.
The Malaysian energy giant says although it has resolved its concerns with the B.C. government, the conditions aren't right to proceed. (what free gas and no taxes was not enough?)
Petronas says the economics of the project don't work as costs remain high and oil prices have dropped below $70 US a barrel.
The total investment of $36 billion covers the LNG plant, shale fields in northeastern B.C. and a pipeline to connect the two. (paid by the taxpayers from the royalties that they would have owed)
Despite the delay, both the company and the B.C. government struck a positive tone, expressing optimism the project will eventually proceed. (not the way you want it to happen)
Premier Christy Clark says the province's plans to build an LNG industry are still on schedule. ( LOL, what... hold is the new proceed?)
 
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“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”
― Albert Einstein

So, got them from the same place. Googled them up .
Your right this one is better.




seadna said:
OBD - as for the two references in your sig line to Einstein - you might want to see what he actually said. The second "quote" has no verifiable attribution to Einstein whatsoever. The first statement is also taken way out of context. In fact, scientific matters are generally settled by consensus - consensus agreement between the best theory and the available data and a consensus of scientist believing that they have general agreement about the science and how it explains the data. The IPCC reports, the AAAS reports the numerous other reports by scientific bodies and governmental agencies due their best to represent that consensus and to display the estimated degree of uncertainty in the various models and projections. Spending time trying to defend each and every statement (or trying to shoot down each and every statement) is a fools errand.
Click to expand...
 
RESPONSE OF FISH TO OCEAN WARMING
Citation: Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change. "Response of Fish to Ocean Warming.” Last modified October 31, 2014. http://www.co2science.org/subject/m/summaries/fish.php.
According to the IPCC, CO2-induced global warming will be net harmful to the world's marine species. This summary examines this hypothesis for various fish species, presenting evidence in
opposition to the IPCC's point of view.


http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/i...iginals/response_of_fish_to_ocean_warming.pdf.

Commenting on their
findings, Kovach et al. say
"these results demonstrate
that there has been rapid
microevolution for earlier
migration timing in this
population," which has
allowed both the odd- and
even-year groups of salmon
"to remain resilient to
environmental change.
 
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Because you might forget.
New day, same tricks.

Gore says that a sea-level rise of up to 6 m (20 ft) will be caused by melting of either West Antarctica or Greenland.1 Though Gore does not say that the sea-level rise will occur in the near future, the judge found that, in the context, it was clear that this is what he had meant, since he showed expensive graphical representations of the effect of his imagined 6 m (20 ft) sea-level rise on existing populations, and he quantified the numbers who would be displaced by the sea-level rise.
The IPCC says sea-level increases up to 7 m (23 ft) above today’s levels have happened naturally in the past climate, and would only be likely to happen again after several millennia. In the next 100 years, according to calculations based on figures in the IPCC’s 2007 report, these two ice sheets between them will add a little over 6 cm (2.5 inches) to sea level, not 6 m (this figure of 6 cm is 15% of the IPCC’s total central estimate of a 43 cm or 1 ft 5 in sea-level rise over the next century). Gore has accordingly exaggerated the official sea-level estimate by approaching 10,000 per cent.
Ms. Kreider says the IPCC estimates a sea-level rise of “59 cm” by 2100. She fails to point out that this amounts to less than 2 ft, not the 20 ft imagined by Gore. She also fails to point out that this is the IPCC’s upper estimate, on its most extreme scenario. And she fails to state that the IPCC, faced with a stream of peer-reviewed articles stating that sea- level rise is not a threat, has reduced this upper estimate from 3 ft in 2001 to less than 2 ft (i.e. half the mean centennial sea-level rise that has occurred since the end of the last Ice Age 10,000 years ago) in 2007.
Ms. Kreider says the IPCC’s 2007 sea-level calculations excluded contributions from Greenland and West Antarctica because they could not be quantified. However, Table SPM1 of the 2007 report quantifies the contributions of these two ice-sheets to sea-level rise as representing about 15% of the
total change.
The report also mentions the
possibility that there may be an
unquantified further contribution in
future from these two ice sheets
arising from “dynamical ice flow.”
However, the Greenland ice sheet
rests in a depression in the bedrock
created by its own weight, wherefore
“dynamical ice flow” is impossible,
and the IPCC says that temperature
would have to be sustained at more than 5.5 degrees C above its present level for several millennia before half the Greenland ice sheet could melt, causing sea level to rise by some 3 m (10 ft).
Finally, the IPCC’s 2007 report estimates that the likelihood that humankind is having any influence on sea level at all is little better than 50:50.
The judge was accordingly correct in finding that Gore’s presentation of the imagined imminent threat of a 6 m (20 ft) sea-level rise, with his account of the supposed impact on the present-day populations of Manhattan, the Netherlands, Bangladesh, etc., etc, was not a correct statement of the mainstream science on this question.

http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/images/stories/press_releases/monckton-response-to-gore-errors.pdf
 
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Seadna, you said:
The IPCC reports, the AAAS reports the numerous other reports by scientific bodies and governmental agencies due their best to represent that consensus and to display the estimated degree of uncertainty in the various models and projections. Spending time trying to defend each and every statement (or trying to shoot down each and every statement) is a fools errand.

So what you are saying is do not question anything, no matter how stupid or much a lie it might be, because we know better and you do not?

This really what you mean?
 
OldBlackDog said:
RESPONSE OF FISH TO OCEAN WARMING
Citation: Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change. "Response of Fish to Ocean Warming.” Last modified October 31, 2014. http://www.co2science.org/subject/m/summaries/fish.php.
According to the IPCC, CO2-induced global warming will be net harmful to the world's marine species. This summary examines this hypothesis for various fish species, presenting evidence in
opposition to the IPCC's point of view.


http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/i...iginals/response_of_fish_to_ocean_warming.pdf.

Commenting on their
findings, Kovach et al. say
"these results demonstrate
that there has been rapid
microevolution for earlier
migration timing in this
population," which has
allowed both the odd- and
even-year groups of salmon
"to remain resilient to
environmental change.
Click to expand...

Nice job if you can get it.....
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/feb/17/heartland-institute-fresh-scrutiny-tax
Mashey said in a telephone interview that the complaint looked at the activities of Heartland and two other organisations that have been prominent in misinforming the public about climate change, the Science and Environmental Policy Project, run by Fred Singer, and the Centre for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, run by Craig Idso. Both men were funded by Heartland, with Idso receiving $11,600 per month and Singer $5,500 a month, according to the 2012 budget.
Heartland is also funding contrarians in Canada and other countries, the documents show.
Click to expand...

Don't have time to get into this but will look at it when I do.
 
2014 a Record Warm Year? Probably Not.
December 4th, 2014
As continual fiddling with the global surface thermometer data leads to an ever-warmer present and an ever-cooler past, many of us are increasingly skeptical that beating a previous “warmest” year by hundredths of a degree has any real-world meaning. Yet, the current UN climate meeting in Lima, Peru, is setting the stage for some very real changes in energy policy that will inevitably make energy more expensive for everyone, no matter their economic status.

But there are some very good reasons to be skeptical of the claim that 2014 will be the “hottest year ever”…at the very least from the standpoint of it having any real impact on peoples’ lives.

No One Has Ever Felt “Global Warming”
If you turn up your thermostat by 1 deg. F, you might feel slightly warmer in the few minutes it takes for the warming to occur. But no one has felt the 1 deg. F rise in global average temperature in the last 50 to 100 years. It is too small to notice, when we are routinely experiencing day-night, day-to-day, and seasonal swings of tens of degrees.

The Urban Heat Island Effect Has Hopelessly Corrupted the Land Thermometer Data
Most thermometers measure temperature where people live, and people tend to build stuff that warms the local environment around the thermometer.

Called the urban heat island (UHI) effect, most of the warming occurs long before the thermometer site actually becomes “urban”. For instance, if you compare neighboring thermometers around the world, and also compare their population densities (as a rough indication of UHI influence), it can be easily demonstrated that substantial average UHI warming occurs even at low population densities, about ~1 deg. F at only 10 persons per sq. km!

This effect, which has been studied and published for many decades, has not been adequately addressed in the global temperature datasets, partly because there is no good way to apply it to individual thermometer sites.

2014 Won’t Be Statistically Different from 2010
For a “record” temperature to be statistically significant, it has to rise above its level of measurement error, of which there are many for thermometers: relating to changes in location, instrumentation, measurement times of day, inadequate coverage of the Earth, etc. Oh…and that pesky urban heat island effect.

A couple hundredths of a degree warmer than a previous year (which 2014 will likely be) should be considered a “tie”, not a record.

Our Best Technology, Satellites, Say 2014 Will Not be the Warmest
Our satellite estimates of global temperature, which have much more complete geographic coverage than thermometers, reveal that 2014 won’t be even close to a record warm year.

In fact, the satellite and thermometer technologies seem to be diverging in what they are telling us in recent years, with the thermometers continuing to warm, and the satellite temperatures essentially flat-lining.

So, why have world governments chosen to rely on surface thermometers, which were never designed for high accuracy, and yet ignore their own high-tech satellite network of calibrated sensors, especially when the satellites also agree with weather balloon data?

I will leave it to the reader to answer that one.
 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ca-river-spill-document-says/article20711550/

No charges laid against Suncor over Athabasca River spill, document says
JOSH WINGROVE
OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Sep. 19 2014, 8:02 PM EDT
Last updated Friday, Sep. 19 2014, 8:05 PM EDT

The federal government investigated an oil sands company that reported releasing water that had failed toxicity tests into a major river, but closed the file without charges or penalty, a newly released document shows.

The problems at Suncor Energy Inc.’s facility persisted and led to at least 39 more failed tests and a reprimand from the Alberta government, raising questions about why the federal government backed away.

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A Chinese government anti-corruption investigation and a resulting shake-up at state-run China National Petroleum is now affecting Canadian operations, putting a billion-dollar oil-sands project now in limbo. BNN discusses further implications for Canada's oil sands patch with Wall Street Journal reporter Alistair MacDonald.
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Suncor’s permits allowed it to release processed wastewater into the Athabasca River, over which the federal government has some jurisdiction, as long as it met a quality threshold. A routine company test on March 21, 2011, revealed a failure to meet “acute lethality” standards, according to a provincial enforcement order. Suncor reported the problem and shut down the flow on March 24.

Environment Canada was notified that day and began an investigation, which it closed in November, according to a government document released this week in response to a question from Liberal MP Francis Scarpaleggia.

“Information gathered during this investigation has determined that Suncor has been operating their wastewater system diligently and that the March 21, 2011, incident could not have been reasonably foreseen. Consequently, no charges were laid against Suncor,” said the document, a statement from Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq.

It is unclear how much wastewater went in the river. Suncor spokeswoman Sneh Seetal said an external review found the “likelihood of the effect to the river was limited.”

The undiluted wastewater failed the tests because too many fish died when put in it, the provincial document said. Aboriginal communities fish in the Athabasca. The federal Fisheries Act prohibits depositing a “deleterious substance of any type in water frequented by fish.” In a statement Friday, Environment Canada said Suncor discharged “deleterious effluent” in the March, 2011, incident.

The Alberta government in March, 2013, issued its enforcement order against Suncor. It indefinitely barred release of the wastewater into the river, a ban that remains in effect. The order also noted “the source of the toxicity is still unknown.”

Ms. Seetal said the company, once it found the problem, “immediately took steps to close the outfall, shut in the treated wastewater plant and re-route the water to a tailings pond on site ... nevertheless, any release of water that does not meet the regulated requirements is unacceptable to us.”

An Environment Canada statement to The Globe confirmed an investigator visited the Suncor site before the file was closed. “Environment Canada worked co-operatively with its provincial partners on this case. However, each government is responsible for administering its own acts and regulations,” it said.

The wastewater would pass “acute lethality testing” if more than half the fish exposed to it survive. Suncor failed 39 such tests during the provincial investigation, the enforcement order said. Despite testing being done at “100 per cent wastewater concentration,” there was “chronic toxicity” noted at just 2.5 per cent concentration, the provincial enforcement order says.
 
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north...te-the-rules-for-oil-spill-cleanups-1.2860098

Bill C-22 would rewrite the rules for oil spill cleanups
New rules would expedite approval for cleanups
CBC News Posted: Dec 04, 2014 7:31 AM CT Last Updated: Dec 04, 2014 7:32 AM CT

A Statoil drilling rig in the Skaanevik fjord in western Norway. Nunavut's oil and gas reserves - with an estimated value of upwards of $2 trillion dollars - remain largely untapped but few expect them to remain that way. (Associated Press)


Bill C-22 was introduced by the Federal Minister of Natural Resources earlier this year.

It would pre-approve emergency plans for oil and gas companies to deal with oil spills, such as the speedy use of dispersants, or chemicals used to break oil into smaller particles in the event of an oil spill at sea.

Nunavut's oil and gas reserves — with an estimated value of upwards of $2 trillion dollars — remain largely untapped but few expect them to remain that way.

"I’m not going to say it’s going to happen," says Bernie MacIsaac, assistant deputy minister of Economic Development and Transportation. "But it’s on the horizon that there will be stronger interest in oil and gas in Nunavut."

Michelle Leslie
Michelle Leslie is a fellow at the Munk School of Global Journalism who says Bill C-22 has gone largely unreported. (submitted by Michelle Leslie)

Current law requires oil companies to contact the Minister of Environment before beginning an oil spill cleanup. It's a delay that backers of the bill say is impractical and puts the environment at risk.

But speeding up the cleanup process worries Michelle Leslie, a fellow at the Munk School of Global Journalism who says Bill C-22 has gone largely unreported.

She says oil spill cleanups can be just as detrimental for the environment as the spills themselves.

"If an oil spill happens under ice, you’re not getting to it, even with a dispersant," she says. "They might have to think of something like in situ burning, which is lighting it on fire. There are huge environmental repercussions to that."

The dispersant Corexit was used in both the 1989 Alaska Exxon Valdez and 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico spills.

In the Gulf of Mexico, nearly seven-million litres was poured onto the spill.

"If a spill of that same magnitude happened in colder Canadian waters, we would have to use that much more dispersant," says Leslie.

An Environment Canada study states the dispersant is 27 times safer than common dish soap, but some say that figure is dangerously misleading. They say that five of Corexit's 57 ingredients are linked to cancer and can pose "high and immediate human health hazards."

Fisheries and Oceans says it’s partnered on a number of ongoing studies aiming to improve its knowledge of potential impacts of chemically-dispersed oil in a range of freshwater and marine fish species from other geographic areas.

In an email, the department said the outcomes of this work will assist in assessing possible effects in Arctic environments.

The new bill and the issue of cleanups are expected to be discussed at an oil and gas summit in Nunavut's capital in January.
 
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/2014-on-track-to-be-hottest-year-on-record-un-agency-1.2859485

2014 on track to be hottest year on record: UN agency
By Karl Ritter, The Associated Press Posted: Dec 03, 2014 6:46 PM ET Last Updated: Dec 04, 2014 11:58 AM ET

'The provisional information for 2014 means that 14 of the 15 warmest years on record have all occurred in the 21st century,' WMO secretary general Michel Jarraud said in a statement. (Martial Trezzini/The Associated Press)

World Meteorological Organization
(Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external links.)
With temperature data showing 2014 currently tied for the hottest year on record, the UN weather agency on Wednesday rejected claims that global warming has paused.

The World Meteorological Organization said the global average temperature in January-October was 0.57 C above average, the same as in record hot year 2010.

'There is no standstill in global warming'
- WMO secretary general Michel Jarraudenter
The ocean temperature set a new record in the nine-month period, while land temperatures were the fourth or fifth highest since record-keeping began in the 19th century, the WMO said in a report released at UN climate talks in Lima and at its headquarters in Geneva.

"The provisional information for 2014 means that 14 of the 15 warmest years on record have all occurred in the 21st century," WMO secretary general Michel Jarraud said in a statement. "There is no standstill in global warming."

Climate change impacts heat up UN talks in Lima

Canada's climate inaction leaves it 'increasingly isolated' ahead of COP 20
Climate skeptics point to a perceived hiatus in the temperature rise since 1998, an exceptionally hot year, to support their claims that man-made warming is not a big problem. Most climate scientists reject that idea. Michael Oppenheimer of Princeton University said the long-term warming trend is combined with natural variations that tend to be cyclical, with a period of lower-than-average warming followed by a period of rapid warming.

CENTRALAMERICA-DROUGHT/
A severe drought ravaged crops in Central America last summer. Delegates from 190 countries are in Lima to try to lay the groundwork for a global emissions pact that's planned for adoption next year. (REUTERS)

"Whether such a period is about to begin, we cannot say but the warm 2014 is a reminder that the warming never stopped and the long term trend is up, up, up," Oppenheimer said.

Parts of the planet were cooler than average, including large areas of the U.S., Canada and central Russia. But most of the world experienced temperatures above average, with heat waves in South Africa, Australia and Argentina in January and in large parts of South America in October, according to the WMO assessment, which was based on two global data sets from the U.S. and one from Europe.

Ocean temperatures were particularly high in the northern hemisphere from June to October.

"Around 93 per cent of the excess energy trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases from fossil fuels and other human activities ends up in the oceans. Therefore, the heat content of the oceans is key to understanding the climate system," the WMO said.

LISTEN: Is the China-US emissions deal a game changer?
While scientists are now 95 percent certain that the temperature rise since the middle of the 20th century is mostly man-made, they can't say with the same confidence how the warming affects different parts of the climate system, including the frequency of tropical storms or hurricanes.

By Nov. 13 there had been 72 tropical storms, well below the average of 89.

Arctic sea ice shrunk to the sixth lowest level on record in September, while Antarctic sea ice grew to a record extent for the third straight year.

The concentration in the atmosphere of carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas, rose to a new high of 396 parts per million last year, the WMO said, 142 percent above the level before the industrial revolution, when people started burning fossil fuels for energy.

In Lima, delegates from more than 190 countries are trying to lay the groundwork for a global emissions pact that's planned to be adopted next year. Divisions between rich and poor countries have slowed the negotiations over the years, but a U.S.-China emissions deal last month has injected new hope into the talks.

"The fact that we're tracking towards the hottest year on record should send chills through anyone who says they care about climate change — and especially negotiators at the UN climate talks here in Lima," said Samantha Smith of the environmental group WWF.

© The Associated Press, 2014
 
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