Siberian wetlands may be releasing more methane due to prolonged above normal temperatures. Photo: Weiting Liu.
After almost a decade of close to zero growth in atmospheric contcentration, methane (a gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide, and responsible for about 20% of global warming since the industrial revolution) levels have begun to rise again, scientists are reporting.
photo: fruchtzwerg’s world
Now that Arctic sea ice has begun its annual winter freeze, you might think that climate change gloom and doom coming from the northern climes might take a seasonal hiatus, but you’d be wrong. According to new data regarding the thickness of Arctic sea ice from last winter, the thickness of ice in some regions of the Arctic declined by as much as 19% , compared to the previous five years.
Published in Geophysical Research Letters, the results of research conducted at University College London found that:
...
Photo via jo.in.pink
Experimenting with Mother Nature is one way to figure out how climate change will look in 90 years. And with increased cues that climate change is imminent, we're starting to get curious about what changes are going to occur so that we can either plan for what will happen or figure out what changes can be made now.
Climate Time Machine
Because everybody is affected by the weather, it seems like everybody likes to improvise themselves a climate scientist. Amateur theories about global warming are a dime a dozen and, unfortunately, that can make it hard for the general public and policy makers to figure out what's based on sound science and what has just been made up in 5 minutes by someone who doesn't know anything about climate science.
That's the problem that NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is trying to help fix with Climate Time Machine. Read on for more details....
Whaaaa?
After having a pretty good week (which hasn't been every week lately) with the unveiling of the production Chevy Volt, GM is now making us scratch our heads once again.
GM vice-chairman Bob Lutz was on the Colbert Report to talk about the
photo: Cleaves
In the close but no cigar category, scientists are saying that the extent of summer melt-off of Arctic sea ice appears to have passed its minimum extent this year without setting a record. According to the US National Snow and Ice Data Center, Arctic sea ice covered 4.5 million square kilometers at its lowest point on September 12. Last year’s record melting left 4.1 million square kilometers of ice still intact.
While you might be inclined to see this as good news, Dr Walt Meier of the NSIDC doesn't think so:...
photo: kaet44
Recently there’s been a whole bucket full of Arctic climate change bad news, including the news that 83 square miles of Ellesmere Island’s ice shelf has been lost this summer alone due to warming temperatures.
Suzhou, China photo: damnblast via flickr
We knew that mercury from Chinese power plants was finding its way into US rivers, but this adds a new twist to the issue:
In the past couple of weeks I’ve felt a bit like the bringer of climate change doom here at TreeHugger. Well, here’s something to balance all that out, at least slightly. From Yahoo News/Reuters:
Worst Case: 6.6 Feet Sea Level Rise by 2100
image: NSIDC
After yesterday’s ominous news that North American permafrost (and presumably European and Asian, as well) stores 60% more greenhouse gases than we thought, here’s another siren announcing that we are rushing full speed ahead towards a climatic tipping point:
photo: ADM via flickr
In the spirit of an ongoing series of new discoveries which could be titled “whoops, things are a lot worse than we thought" Yahoo News/AFP is reporting that according to new research coming out to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and published in Nature Geoscience, the stock of organic carbon stored in Arctic permafrost is 60% higher than previous estimates.
One-Sixth of Carbon Currently in Atmosphere Stored in N. American Permafrost
photo: ADM via flickr
In the spirit of an ongoing series of new discoveries which could be titled “whoops, things are a lot worse than we thought" Yahoo News/AFP is reporting that according to new research coming out to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and published in Nature Geoscience, the stock of organic carbon stored in Arctic permafrost is 60% higher than previous estimates.
One-Sixth of Carbon Currently in Atmosphere Stored in N. American Permafrost
Cross Between Skidoo & Ultralight Plane
Researchers taking part in the Moon-Regan expedition have a new very cool toy. The biofuel-powered Concept Ice Vehicle (CIV), made by Lotus, will be used to cross the coldest contintent, Antarctica, to raise awareness about "how Antarctica’s fate affects the whole environment." Live feeds and results from scientific experiments will be available on the web and used in classrooms around the world.
Moon-Regan Trans Antarctic Expedition
Scientist Ian Bell measures a Hawksbill Turtle off the Great Barrier Reef. Photo credit: Ian Bell.
This is the first post from guest contributor and Planet Green NGO partner EarthWatch Institute.
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Technorati