But this is a global average; and now a Dutch team has made what appears to be the first attempt to model all the factors leading to regional variations.

Other researchers say the IPCC’s figure is likely to be a huge under-estimate. Whatever the global figure turns out to be, there will be regional differences.

Ocean currents and differences in the temperature and salinity of seawater are among the factors that mean sea level currently varies by up a metre across the oceans – this does not include short-term changes due to tides or winds.

So if currents change with global warming, which is expected – and if regions such as the Arctic Ocean become less saline as ice sheets discharge their contents into the sea – the regional patterns of peaks and troughs will also change.

“Everybody will still have the impact, and in many places they will get the average rise,” said Roderik van der Wal from the University of Utrecht, one of the team presenting their regional projections at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) meeting in Vienna.

“But places like New York are going to have a larger contribution than the average – 20% more in this case – and Reykjavik will be better off.”

Apparently The Netherlands is not the only place to face problems with sea level rise in the near future.

Photo By joiseyshowaa

KNMI, with its international data center will coordinate a major research of extremes in weather and climate change in Europe. De Bilt launched the new European Program EURO4M – European Reanalysis and Observations for Monitoring.

The research combines an enormous amount of observations of weather stations and satellites from eight countries. The purpose of the study is to map climate change in Europe in more detail. “The European Union will need this information to make policy choices,” said KNMI.

EURO4M, a 4 year project, is the European contribution of a global initiative to improve monitoring weather and climate extremes. This program is aimed to meet the growing need for current information on the condition of the environment.

The KNMI has previously been in charge of European research and created detailed data about climatological time series of weather stations across Europe. The database is unique in the world. The data is freely accessible through http://eca.knmi.nl and can be used to determine changes in various weather and climate extremes.

The new program EURO4M is a follow-up that will monitor climate change in Europe better than ever. The program is coordinated by KNMI researcher Albert Klein Tank.

The city now looks as it would in the middle of winter with trees without a leaf on them in the streets of the Spui, Rotterdam.

When the tree has no leaves left, the caterpillars will search for new plants, and crawl with thousands on bikes or cars parked under the trees.

There are several hundred species of ermine moths, most of them in the tropics, and the larvae are known for forming communal webs.

The silk web cocoons that they make are designed to protect them from birds and parasitic wasps so they can eat leaves undisturbed. Some species of the moth are considered minor pests in farming, forestry and horticulture because of infestations.

Statistics show an increase in the number of caterpillar pests in the last twenty years. The eggs survive much better with the softer and wetter winters. Many people are disgusted with the creepy creatures.

It is an interesting natural phenomenon and possibly related to climate change.