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Post Info TOPIC: Greenhouse Gases
Blobrana


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Study identifies Arctic lakes as a major source of prehistoric methane
Researchers from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and the University of Southampton have identified Arctic lakes as a likely source of increased levels of atmospheric methane as temperatures rose towards the end of the last ice age.
Previous studies of ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica have shown that when global climates warmed between 14,000 and 11,500 years ago, levels of methane in the atmosphere increased significantly. There was also an unidentified northern source of the gas at that time.
According to new research published in the latest edition of the journal Science (26 October), methane bubbling from Arctic lakes could have been responsible for up to 87 per cent of this northern source. The findings could help climate modellers to assess how warming affects atmospheric levels of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Previous hypotheses suggested that the increase came from gas hydrates or wetlands. The new studys findings indicate that methane bubbling from thermokarst lakes, which are formed when permafrost thaws rapidly, is likely to be a third and major source.

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Blobrana


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A team of scientists led by a researcher at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has identified a new likely source of a spike in atmospheric methane coming out of the North during the end of the last ice age.
Methane bubbling from arctic lakes could have been responsible for up to 87 percent of that methane spike, said UAF researcher Katey Walter, lead author of a report printed in the Oct. 26 issue of Science magazine. The findings could help scientists understand how current warming might affect atmospheric levels of methane, a gas that is thought to contribute to climate change.

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Blobrana


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Just days after the Nobel prize was awarded for global warming work, an alarming new study finds that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing faster than expected.
Carbon dioxide emissions were 35 percent higher in 2006 than in 1990, a much faster growth rate than anticipated, researchers led by Josep G. Canadell, of Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Blobrana


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Greenhouse gas burial
Deep coal seams that are not commercially viable for coal production could be used for permanent underground storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) generated by human activities, thus avoiding atmospheric release, according to two studies published in Inderscience's International Journal of Environment and Pollution. An added benefit of storing CO2 in this way is that additional useful methane will be displaced from the coal beds.

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Blobrana


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UK Government Launches Open Source CO2 Calculator
If you want to find out how you can tackle climate change then you can try out the new online calculator.
It should be noted that it doesn't include all forms of public transport and the accent is towards what the individual can do, rather than what the government is going to do.

(3-4 tones of carbon emissions per year seems to be the typical numbers just now)

The UK government has releasing the code behind its new carbon footprint calculator under the general public license...

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Blobrana


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Icebergs
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Global climate change is causing Antarctic ice shelves to shrink and split apart, yielding thousands of free-drifting icebergs in the nearby Weddell Sea. According to a new study in this weeks journal Science these floating islands of ice some as large as a dozen miles across are having a major impact on the ecology of the ocean around them, serving as hotspots for ocean life, with thriving communities of seabirds above and a web of phytoplankton, krill, and fish below.
The icebergs hold trapped terrestrial material, which they release far out at sea as they melt. The researchers discovered that this process produces a halo effect with significantly increased phytoplankton, krill and seabirds out to a radius of more than two miles around the icebergs. They may also play a surprising role in global climate change.

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Blobrana


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A US company plans to dump iron filings into the sea off the Galapagos Islands in an experiment to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
But the plans have alarmed the US government and conservationists.
The firm Planktos intends to sell carbon credits to individuals who want to offset their personal CO2 emissions

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Blobrana


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Pollution
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Colorado State University scientists are studying the reduction of solar ultraviolet radiation by atmospheric particles to learn how the various sources of pollution - biomass burning, auto exhaust and oil refining - affect the atmospheric chemistry and air quality of Mexico City. This particular technique will be used along with data retrieval from satellites around the world to study the influence of pollution on global warming and climate change.
This research allows Colorado State scientists to trace the location of where the air people breathe originally came from by studying the optical properties of aerosols along with computer forecast models.

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Blobrana


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Satellite data confirms glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula are flowing faster.
British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists used Europe's ERS-1 and -2 spacecraft to track the flow rate of over 300 "ice rivers".
They found a 12% increase in the speed of the glaciers over the period from 1993 to 2003.
The team, which reports its work in the Journal of Geophysical Research, says the study will inform estimates of future sea level rise.
The BAS scientists calculate this group of glaciers alone is currently contributing about 0.047mm a year to global ocean height.

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Blobrana


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Research Finds That Earth's Climate is Approaching 'Dangerous' Point
NASA and Columbia University Earth Institute research finds that human-made greenhouse gases have brought the Earths climate close to critical tipping points, with potentially dangerous consequences for the planet.
From a combination of climate models, satellite data, and paleoclimate records the scientists conclude that the West Antarctic ice sheet, Arctic ice cover, and regions providing fresh water sources and species habitat are under threat from continued global warming. The research appears in the current issue of Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.
Tipping points can occur during climate change when the climate reaches a state such that strong amplifying feedbacks are activated by only moderate additional warming. This study finds that global warming of 0.6ēC in the past 30 years has been driven mainly by increasing greenhouse gases, and only moderate additional climate forcing is likely to set in motion disintegration of the West Antarctic ice sheet and Arctic sea ice. Amplifying feedbacks include increased absorption of sunlight as melting exposes darker surfaces and speedup of iceberg discharge as the warming ocean melts ice shelves that otherwise inhibit ice flow.

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