Arctic permafrost leaking methane at record levels
Experts say methane emissions from the Arctic have risen by almost one-third in just five years, and that sharply rising temperatures are to blame
Scientists have recorded a massive spike in the amount of a powerful greenhouse gas seeping from Arctic permafrost, in a discovery that highlights the risks of a dangerous climate tipping point.
…The discovery follows a string of reports from the region in recent years that previously frozen boggy soils are melting and releasing methane in greater quantities. Such Arctic soils currently lock away billions of tonnes of methane, a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, leading some scientists to describe melting permafrost as a ticking time bomb that could overwhelm efforts to tackle climate change.
They fear the warming caused by increased methane emissions will itself release yet more methane and lock the region into a destructive cycle that forces temperatures to rise faster than predicted.
Global warming is occurring twice as fast in the Arctic than anywhere else on Earth. Some regions have already warmed by 2.5C…
The new study, published in the journal Science, shows that methane emissions from the Arctic increased by 31% from 2003-07…The 31% rise in methane emissions there from 2003-07 was enough to help lift the global average increase to 7%.
The new study follows repeated warnings that even modest levels of global warming could trigger huge increases in methane release from permafrost. Phillipe Ciais, a researcher with the Laboratory for Climate Sciences and the Environment in Gif-sur-Yvette, France, told a scientific meeting in Copenhagen last March that billions of tonnes could be released by just a 2C average global rise.
…methane is pound-for-pound a more potent greenhouse gas, capable of trapping some 20 times more heat than CO2.
David Adam
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 14 January
1/15/10
More Falsified Climate Propaganda by Lying Evil Scientists
1/3/10
Satanic Climate Change Propaganda by Evil Lying Scientists
Climate change far worse than thought before
…Over the past 25 years temperatures have increased at a rate of 0.19 degree Celsius per decade. The trend has continued over the last 10 years despite a decrease in radiation from the sun.
* The studies show extreme hot temperature events have increased, extreme cold temperature events have decreased, heavy rain or snow has become heavier, while there has been increase in drought as well.
They also show that the intensity of cyclones has increased in the past three decades in line with rising tropical ocean temperatures.
* Satellites show recent global average sea level rise (3.4 mm/year over the past 15 years) to be about 80 percent above IPCC predictions. This acceleration is consistent with a doubling in contribution from melting of glaciers, ice caps, and the Greenland and West-Antarctic ice sheets.
New estimates of ocean heat uptake are 50 percent higher than previous calculations. Global ocean surface temperature reached the warmest ever recorded in June, July and August 2009.
…* A wide array of satellite and ice measurements demonstrate that both the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are melting at an increasing rate. Melting of glaciers and ice-caps in other parts of the world has also accelerated since 1990.
The contribution of glaciers and ice-caps to global sea level rise has increased from 0.8 mm per year in the 1990s to 1.2 mm per year today.
…The net loss of ice from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated since the mid-1990s and is now contributing 0.7 mm per year to sea level rise due to both increased melting and accelerated ice flow. Antarctica is also losing ice mass at an increasing rate, mostly from the West Antarctic ice sheet due to increased ice flow. Antarctica is currently contributing to sea level rise at a rate nearly equal to Greenland.
* Summer-time melting of Arctic sea-ice has accelerated far beyond the expectations of climate models. The area of summertime sea-ice 2007-09 was about 40 percent less than the average prediction from IPCC climate models in the 2007 report.
…* New ice-core records...show that carbon dioxide levels are higher now than they have been during the last 800,000 years.
The Times of India, January 3, 2010
12/16/09
Can some believe what isn't or refuse to believe what is?
Not to transmit an experience is to betray it.
Elie Wiesel
With the merits of the debate for or against climate change set aside,
is it plausible that some who believe Earth isn’t warming are subconsciously in denial that their actions may have contributed to the potential extinction of our species, while some who think the world is warming feel culpable and want to rescue their offspring or legacies, as most are apathetic either way?
What if what you think isn’t?
A myth is a fixed way of looking at the world which cannot be destroyed
because, looked at through the myth
all evidence supports that myth
Edward de Bono
Can expectation effect perception?
6/18/09
3/26/09
Do some interest groups exaggeratewhile business interests belittlethe threat of climate change?
¶
Can we ever know, on any contentious or politicized topic
how to recognize the real conclusions of science
and how to distinguish them
from scientific-sounding spin or misinformation?
Partisans of this issue often wield vastly different facts
and sometimes seem to even live in different realities
Perhaps the only hope involves taking a stand
for a breed of journalism and commentary
that is not permitted to simply say anything
that is constrained by standards of evidence, rigor and reproducibility
that are similar to the canons of modern science itself
Climate Change Myths and Facts
Washington Post, March 21, 2009
Does thinking you understand what another says
mean you hear what they mean?
Is an untruth disseminated as true a lie
if the truth remains unfound through incuriosity?
The partisan
when engaged in a dispute
cares nothing about the rights of the question
but is anxious only to convince his hearers of his own assertions
Plato
Why would some mainstream media personalities
criticize policy positions of some
while receiving undisclosed, indirect compensation from others
interested in non-attributed dissention?
Do some interest groups exaggeratewhile business interests belittlethe threat of climate change?
¶
Can we ever know, on any contentious or politicized topic
how to recognize the real conclusions of science
and how to distinguish them
from scientific-sounding spin or misinformation?
Partisans of this issue often wield vastly different facts
and sometimes seem to even live in different realities
Perhaps the only hope involves taking a stand
for a breed of journalism and commentary
that is not permitted to simply say anything
that is constrained by standards of evidence, rigor and reproducibility
that are similar to the canons of modern science itself
Climate Change Myths and Facts
Washington Post, March 21, 2009
Does thinking you understand what another says
mean you hear what they mean?
Is an untruth disseminated as true a lie
if the truth remains unfound through incuriosity?
The partisan
when engaged in a dispute
cares nothing about the rights of the question
but is anxious only to convince his hearers of his own assertions
Plato
Why would some mainstream media personalities
criticize policy positions of some
while receiving undisclosed, indirect compensation from others
interested in non-attributed dissention?
2/25/09
Do most climate scientists agree that the earth is warming or is there is a lot of disagreement?
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Via Talking Points Memo
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/02/study_antarctic_glaciers_slipping_swiftly_seaward.php?ref=fp6
Hurt not the earth, neither the sea nor the trees
Revelation 7:3
Study: Antarctic glaciers slipping swiftly seaward
Antarctic warming worse than thought, melting glaciers could raise sea levels over 3 feet
ELIANE ENGELER, AP News, Feb 25, 2009 08:42 EST
Antarctic glaciers are melting faster across a much wider area than previously thought, scientists said Wednesday — a development that could lead to an unprecedented rise in sea levels.
A report by thousands of scientists for the 2007-2008 International Polar Year concluded that the western part of the continent is warming up, not just the Antarctic Peninsula.
Previously most of the warming was thought to occur on the narrow stretch pointing toward South America, said Colin Summerhayes, executive director of the Britain-based Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research and a member of International Polar Year's steering committee.
But satellite data and automated weather stations indicate otherwise.
…For the International Polar Year, scientists from more than 60 countries have been conducting intense Arctic and Antarctic research over the past two southern summer seasons — on the ice, at sea, and via icebreaker, submarine and surveillance satellite.
The biggest west Antarctic glacier, the Pine Island Glacier, is moving 40 percent faster than it was in the 1970s, discharging water and ice more rapidly into the ocean, Summerhayes said.
The Smith Glacier, also in west Antarctica, is moving 83 percent faster than it did in 1992, he said.
All the glaciers in the area together are losing a total of around 103 billion tons (114 billion U.S. tons) per year because the discharge is much greater than the new snowfall, he said.
"That's equivalent to the current mass loss from the whole of the Greenland ice sheet," Summerhayes said, adding that the glaciers' discharge was making a significant contribution to the rise in sea levels. "We didn't realize it was moving that fast."
The glaciers are slipping into the sea faster because the floating ice shelf that would normally stop them — usually 650 to 980 feet (200 to 300 meters) thick — is melting.
The warming of western Antarctica is a real concern.
Summerhayes said sea levels will rise faster than predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group set up by the United Nations.
A 2007 IPCC report predicted a sea level rise of 7 to 23 inches (18 to 58 centimeters) by the end of the century, which could flood low-lying areas and force millions to flee. The group said an additional 3.9 to 7.8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) rise was possible if the recent, surprising melting of polar ice sheets continues.
Summerhayes said the rise could be much higher.
Ian Allison, co-chair of the International Polar Year's steering committee, said many scientists now say the upper limit for sea level rise should be higher than predicted by IPCC.
"That has a very large impact," Allison said, adding that extremely large storms which might previously have occurred once in a year would start to occur on a weekly basis.
The IPY researchers found the southern ocean around Antarctica has warmed about 0.2 degrees Celsius (0.36 degrees Fahrenheit) in the past decade, double the average warming of the rest of the Earth's oceans over the past 30 years.
If we’re relatively stuck on Earth for the moment
should we try to make what is last as long as possible?
The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe
is that none of it has tried to contact us
Bill Watterson
Is it too late to fix?
Do most climate scientists agree that the earth is warming or is there is a lot of disagreement?
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Via Talking Points Memo
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/02/study_antarctic_glaciers_slipping_swiftly_seaward.php?ref=fp6
Hurt not the earth, neither the sea nor the trees
Revelation 7:3
Study: Antarctic glaciers slipping swiftly seaward
Antarctic warming worse than thought, melting glaciers could raise sea levels over 3 feet
ELIANE ENGELER, AP News, Feb 25, 2009 08:42 EST
Antarctic glaciers are melting faster across a much wider area than previously thought, scientists said Wednesday — a development that could lead to an unprecedented rise in sea levels.
A report by thousands of scientists for the 2007-2008 International Polar Year concluded that the western part of the continent is warming up, not just the Antarctic Peninsula.
Previously most of the warming was thought to occur on the narrow stretch pointing toward South America, said Colin Summerhayes, executive director of the Britain-based Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research and a member of International Polar Year's steering committee.
But satellite data and automated weather stations indicate otherwise.
…For the International Polar Year, scientists from more than 60 countries have been conducting intense Arctic and Antarctic research over the past two southern summer seasons — on the ice, at sea, and via icebreaker, submarine and surveillance satellite.
The biggest west Antarctic glacier, the Pine Island Glacier, is moving 40 percent faster than it was in the 1970s, discharging water and ice more rapidly into the ocean, Summerhayes said.
The Smith Glacier, also in west Antarctica, is moving 83 percent faster than it did in 1992, he said.
All the glaciers in the area together are losing a total of around 103 billion tons (114 billion U.S. tons) per year because the discharge is much greater than the new snowfall, he said.
"That's equivalent to the current mass loss from the whole of the Greenland ice sheet," Summerhayes said, adding that the glaciers' discharge was making a significant contribution to the rise in sea levels. "We didn't realize it was moving that fast."
The glaciers are slipping into the sea faster because the floating ice shelf that would normally stop them — usually 650 to 980 feet (200 to 300 meters) thick — is melting.
The warming of western Antarctica is a real concern.
Summerhayes said sea levels will rise faster than predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group set up by the United Nations.
A 2007 IPCC report predicted a sea level rise of 7 to 23 inches (18 to 58 centimeters) by the end of the century, which could flood low-lying areas and force millions to flee. The group said an additional 3.9 to 7.8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) rise was possible if the recent, surprising melting of polar ice sheets continues.
Summerhayes said the rise could be much higher.
Ian Allison, co-chair of the International Polar Year's steering committee, said many scientists now say the upper limit for sea level rise should be higher than predicted by IPCC.
"That has a very large impact," Allison said, adding that extremely large storms which might previously have occurred once in a year would start to occur on a weekly basis.
The IPY researchers found the southern ocean around Antarctica has warmed about 0.2 degrees Celsius (0.36 degrees Fahrenheit) in the past decade, double the average warming of the rest of the Earth's oceans over the past 30 years.
If we’re relatively stuck on Earth for the moment
should we try to make what is last as long as possible?
The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe
is that none of it has tried to contact us
Bill Watterson
Is it too late to fix?