Hasta La Gadget!

Sea levels across the Northeast coast of the United States rose nearly 3.9 inches between 2009 and 2010, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Arizona and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The waters near Portland, Maine, saw an even greater rise — 5 inches — over the two-year period.

While scientists have been observing higher sea levels across the globe in recent decades, the study found a much more extreme rise than previous averages. Such an event is unprecedented in the history of the tide gauge record, according to the researchers, and represents a 1-in-850 year event.

“Unlike storm surge, this event caused persistent and widespread coastal flooding even without apparent weather processes,” the study’s authors wrote. “In terms of beach erosion, the impact of the 2009-2010 [sea level rise] event is almost as significant as some hurricane events.”

The analysis relied on data from dozens of tide gauges along the eastern seaboard. The nearly 4-inch rise for the Northeast represents the average of 14 tide gauges located between New York and Canada. Tide gauges farther south in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast indicated a sea level rise far less extreme in 2009 and closer to average in some areas. The jump occurred most quickly between April 2009 and March 2010.

The study found that the increase in the Northeast was caused by a 30 percent slowdown in a major ocean current system known as the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) and a fluctuation in atmospheric pressure at sea level. The Gulf Steam is one component of the AMOC, which moves warm water northward in the upper levels of the Atlantic.

A 2014 study of the AMOC over that period found the slowdown also contributed to severe winter conditions in northwestern Europe and the intensity of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, which was the third-most active on record.

The U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate wrote in its latest report that AMOC currents are “very likely” to weaken in the 21st century. Models project that unusual rises in sea level, like that observed in the study, will be bigger and more frequent along the Northeastern seaboard this century, study coauthor Jianjun Yin told The Huffington Post.

And events like the one observed in the study, combined with ongoing global sea level rise, “will pose an even higher coastal flooding risk,” Yin told Mashable.

A 2012 study determined that sea levels between North Carolina and Boston are rising at a rate three to four times faster than the global average. Yet this only represents a rise of 2 to 3.7 millimeters per year since 1980, far less than the 100 millimeters observed in the Northeast between 2009 and 2010.

This week’s study, published in Nature Communications, follows a new report from the New York City Panel on Climate Change that warns of significant sea level rise and coastal flooding threats for the city in coming decades. Sea levels in New York City have already risen more than a foot since 1900, and the trend is very likely to accelerate: If greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are not curtailed, the panel projects seas to rise by an additional 11 to 21 inches by the middle of the century, by 18 to 39 inches by the 2080s, and by as much as 6 feet by the end of the century.

American Sniper tells the story of Chris Kyle, a Navy SEAL who completed four tours in Iraq from 1999-2009. The book describes Kyle’s upbringing and Navy SEAL training, but the heart of the text deals with his experiences in combat. America’s most prolific sniper, Kyle’s wartime experiences went well beyond shooting from afar. Chris Kyle is an unpolished writer, but he tells his story clearly and authentically.

The paperback version has nearly 400 pages of text, but can be read quickly. I got through the book in about a week. Retrospectively, I probably should have read it a bit more slowly. Being a dedicated solder is not easy, but being a Navy SEAL seems especially difficult. Kyle recounts numerous experiences in combat, but also does a nice job of explaining other aspects of life as a soldier, including how his work affects relationships with friends and family. I’ve always thought that some people were made to be soldiers, to see the brutalities of war firsthand; if that’s indeed true, Chris Kyle was definitely one of those people. He loved his job as a Navy SEAL.

At times politically incorrect or even crude, Kyle’s writing seems relentlessly honest. Kyle is not an intellectual, although the book will make readers think – about the enormous costs of war and what Iraq has meant for American soldiers and their families.

The Iraq war remains controversial and debate surrounding U.S. foreign policy and American’s role in the world will likely intensify in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. In that context, sometimes it’s helpful to set aside the complexities of geopolitics or grand strategy and examine Iraq through the lens of one soldier’s story.

Here in the States, the Middle East can seem far away, but – for most Americans – understanding what it means to serve one’s country in the U.S. military is something probably even more remote. For that very reason, American Sniper and other contemporary American war memoirs deserve to be read closely and reflected upon even more closely. There is wisdom in Kyle’s unvarnished, lean prose and we ignore it at our own peril.

Lenovo’s no good, very bad week of security may be getting worse — Lenovo.com appears to have been hacked, likely in response to the Superfish scandal. This afternoon some visitors trying to access the site instead get a slideshow of webcam pics of …

A new study has been published this week which suggests that artificial intelligence can now learn “human-level control.” The team of researchers come from Google’s DeepMind, where they’re using Space Invaders – the video game – to show how the search for truly human artificial intelligence isn’t too far off. The machine learns to play the video game, learns to … Continue reading

Forget your stick figure families and Baby on Board signs. FanWraps‘ Zombie on Board decals are way cooler. I’m not sure if this would help you get in the carpool lane, but at the very least it might scare some kids in another vehicle.

Just put these zombie decals on your vehicle and you are guaranteed to scare someone. Some of our less bright fellow motorists might actually believe that you have a zombie in your car. They come in Sick Suzy and Gory Gary versions for $29.99 (USD) each.

These will help you help your vehicle to stand out on the road. They should have a bit of blood swiped on the window though.

[via Nerd Approved]