* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Greenhouse Gases

Blobrana · L

Greenhouse gas levels hit record in 2010

The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a record level in 2010 and rose faster last year than the average over the past decade, the annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin published by the World Meteorological Organization on Monday said.
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"Missing" Global Heat May Hide in Deep Oceans

The mystery of Earth's missing heat may have been solved: it could lurk deep in oceans, temporarily masking the climate-warming effects of greenhouse gas emissions, researchers reported on Sunday.
Climate scientists have long wondered where this so-called missing heat was going, especially over the last decade, when greenhouse emissions kept increasing but world air temperatures did not rise correspondingly.
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New theories over methane puzzle

Scientists say that there has been a mysterious decline in the growth of methane in the atmosphere in the last decades of the 20th century.
Researchers writing in the journal Nature have come up with two widely differing theories as to the cause.
One suggests the decline was caused by greater commercial use of natural gas, the other that increased use in Asia of artificial fertiliser was responsible.
Both studies agree that human activities are the key element.
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Largest recorded tundra fire yields scientific surprises

In 2007, the largest recorded tundra fire in the Arctic released approximately as much carbon into the atmosphere as the tundra has stored in the previous 50 years.
A study of the Anaktuvuk River fire on Alaska's North Slope revealed how rapidly a single tundra fire can offset or reverse a half-century worth of soil-stored carbon. The study's results are published in the July 28 issue of the journal Nature.
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Research at Antarctica's 'Mars on Earth' reveals non-organic mechanism for production of important greenhouse gas

In so many ways, Don Juan Pond in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica is one of the most unearthly places on the planet. An ankle-deep mirror between mountain peaks and rubbled moraine, the pond is an astonishing 18 times saltier than the Earths oceans and virtually never freezes, even in temperatures of more than 40 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.
Now, a research team led by biogeochemists from the University of Georgia has discovered at the site a previously unreported chemical mechanism for the production of nitrous oxide, an important greenhouse gas. Possibly even more important, the discovery could help space scientists understand the meaning of similar brine pools in a place whose ecosystem most closely resembles that of Don Juan Pond: Mars.
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Blobrana · L

Man is responsible for global warming, according to a new report that hits back at the growing scepticism around climate change.

The Met Office-led report looked at the latest figures on global temperatures, melting sea ice and humidity. It also considered new evidence on the extent of warming in the Antarctic, rainfall patterns and salinity of the oceans.
It concluded that is was "human influence" that is changing the climate.
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Blobrana · L

Methane

Blobrana · L

RE: Greenhouse Gases

Blobrana · L

Scientists have uncovered what appears to be a further dramatic increase in the leakage of methane gas that is seeping from the Arctic seabed.
Methane is about 20 times more potent than CO2 in trapping solar heat.
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