Greenbang’s weekly Climate Change Index tracks research findings and events directly attributable to global warming. Our aim is to provide a numerical, week-to-week indicator of climate change developments.

Items that qualify for listing in each week’s index include new climate data published in peer-reviewed academic journals and extreme weather incidents or other natural events that are likely directly linked to the global warming trend.

The Climate Change Index for this week, ending 6 Dec. 2009 (details below): 5

6 December: Over long time scales, the Earth’s temperature could be 30 to 50 per cent more sensitive to atmospheric carbon dioxide than has previously been estimated, according to a new study published in Nature Geoscience.

6 December: This year’s harvest of British wine grapes is expected to be one of the largest yet, and vineyard owners are thanking climate change.

4 December: Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have fuelled a 50 per cent boost in growth rates among North American quaking aspens, researchers have found.

2 December: Sea levels along the Atlantic coast of the US are rising faster than at any time in the past 4,000 years, an international team of scientists has found.

1 December: More plants and animals are showing up on the western Antarctic Peninsula as the planet warms and summer snows turn to rain, according to a newly released comprehensive review of the state of the polar continent’s climate.

Tags: global warming