Believe it or not, the Sky is Falling

A new paper just published in Geophysical Research Letters by Roger Davies and Mathew Molloy of the University of Auckland finds that over the past decade the global average effective cloud height has declined and that “If sustained, such a decrease would indicate a significant measure of negative cloud feedback to global warming.”
Davies and Molloy are quick to point out that part of the decline from 2000 to 2010 in cloud height is due to the timing and variability of El Niño/La Niña events over the same period, however, there still seems to be evidence that at least part of the decline may remain even when El Niño/La Niña variability is accounted for.

Arctic Is Already Suffering the Effects of a Dangerous Climate Change

Two decades after the United Nations established the Framework Convention on Climate Change in order to “prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system,” the Arctic shows the first signs of a dangerous climate change. (Credit: Image courtesy of CSIC, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas)

ScienceDaily (Jan. 30, 2012) — Two decades after the United Nations established the Framework Convention on Climate Change in order to "prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system," the Arctic shows the first signs of a dangerous climate change. A team of researchers led by CSIC assures so in an article recently published in Nature Climate Change 
These researchers assert that the Arctic is already suffering some of the effects that, according to The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), correspond with a "dangerous climate change." 

Breathtaking Cloud Formation Shines Over Rockies

RIchard H. Hahn snapped this stunning picture of a lenticular cloud over Rocky Mountain National Park just after sunset on Jan. 5, 2012.
Credit: Richard H. Hahn

This spectacular, multi-hued formation of lenticular clouds was observed soon after the sun set over Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park, Colo., on Jan. 5. 
Professional photographer Richard H. Hahn was on the south side of the park's Deer Mountain when he noticed the unique cloud formation in the dusk sky. He rushed to find a shooting angle that would place the colorful clouds in the context of the valley and mountains, and he snapped the magnificent view at 5:02 p.m. MST (7:02 EST).
"The great colors lasted only a few minutes, so it was a lucky observation," Hahn told OurAmazingPlanet. "I felt very grateful to be in a high-enough elevation with a favorable shooting angle to capture this scene with perspective."

Arctic Ocean freshwater bulge detected

UK scientists have detected a huge dome of fresh water that is developing in the western Arctic Ocean.

The bulge is some 8,000 cubic km in size and has risen by about 15cm since 2002.
The team thinks it may be the result of strong winds whipping up a great clockwise current in the northern polar region called the Beaufort Gyre.
This would force the water together, raising sea surface height, the group tells the journal Nature Geoscience.
"In the western Arctic, the Beaufort Gyre is driven by a permanent anti-cyclonic wind circulation. It drives the water, forcing it to pile up in the centre of gyre, and this domes the sea surface," explained lead author Dr Katharine Giles from the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (CPOM) at University College London.