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Posted by Admin at 6:52 PM, Sunday, May 16, 2010
Gulf Leak Estimation: 56-84K Barrels Per Day
According to an academic from University of Purdue, the oil spill in Gulf region might have been underestimated. By his estimation, the actual rate of oil spilling from the gulf region could be anywhere between 56,000 and 84,000 barrels per day. His estimation was based on a technique, known as particle image velocimetry, which enables the flow rate to be computed from the videotape of the oil gushing out on the sea floor. With the flow rate available, he can then use the product between the flow rate and the cross sectional area of the pipe to estimate how much oil is spilling in the gulf region each day.
But hang on a minute. Do you know that Nigeria reportedly leaks nearly 11 million gallons of crude every year, with little news coverage? According to a news report published in AOL , Nigeria had more than 2,000 active spills just last year alone. Decades of oil exploration has transformed Nigeria into the world's most polluted ecosystem.
The US is currently the biggest consumer of oil in the world, with the miltrary sector being the world's biggest buyer of oil. The oil consumption rate is growing, while the oil price never appreciates to a level which reflects the reality of the actual market. Most of the oil which the US consumes comes from Kazakhstan, Angola and Nigeria -- places that are never (or very poorly) mentioned in the mainstream media.
Now, Back to the "Headline"
The so-called offshore drilling in the US has not been a concern until recently. Although the oil spill in Gulf region might have been underestimated, it is unclear whether the new estimation has factored in the wind and water current over the oil spill area. The drift of oil spill under the influence of wind and water current should in theory be taken into account. Check out this reference for further information. Please also take a look on the following live feed:
Categories: News Archives
Posted by Admin at 2:26 PM, Saturday, March 27, 2010
Victims Call China's Drought a Man-Made Disaster
South China is currently experinecing servere drought, with the official economic loss totalling 19 billion yuan in March 2010. Regarding the causes of the drought, many victims content that this disaster is man-made rather than the work of the Nature. Victims from different parts of China responded to an American newspaper with the following comments:
"“Some gold mine companies took over the mountains and emptied them inside out. Trees were uprooted, and there was nothing to hold the soil. “, said Mr. Mo from the city of Wuzhou in Guangxi Province.
According to Mr Mo, the water shortage is very serious in his area, and the amount of water delivered by the authorities was not even close to being enough. There has not been even enough water for showers and laundry, let alone for farming."
"“There is a shortage of drinking water now which the authorities have not been able to resolve. They delivered tap water from the city once every few days. We have to wait in line in order to get a very limited amount. Domestic water shortage is a problem now, let alone water for farming. I have never seen such a serious drought before.”, said Mr. Mo from the city of Wuzhou in Guangxi Province.
"“The authorities did not provide any compensation to the drought victims. The cracks in the field are huge—even wild herbs cannot survive.”, said a resident in Fuyuan County of Yunnan Province.
"“Farmers had to sell their cattle cheaply because they have no water to raise them.”, said another resident in Yunnan Province.
According to the residents in Fuyuan County, they have been without tap water supply since the end of 2009, that their rationed water supply has not been steady, and that they have had to fetch water themselves from a village three miles away.
"“Each family is given four water tickets every two weeks and each ticket entitles the bearer to 100 kg (about 26 gallons) of water, which is not enough for daily use at all, especially for a large family of six or seven. So we have to fetch water from somewhere else. I haven’t taken a shower for a few months.”, said a resident in Fuyuan Country.
According to Mr. Mu from Chongqing, the climate in Chongqing has been erratic for several years and this erratic weather pattern could be a direct consequence of the Three Gorges Dam Project.
"“We have drought every year. I live in an urban area and haven’t seen any measures being taken. The peasants are the most disadvantaged group of people.”, said Mr. Mu.
SOURCE:
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/32075/
Posted by Admin at 2:44 AM, Friday, August 28, 2009
Laughing gas is biggest threat to ozone
Nitrous oxide, also called llaughing gas, is now the biggest threat to the Earth's ozone layer, scientists have said. CFCs deplete ozone in the ozone layer, and so does nitrous oxide. According to a study in the US, man-made nitrous oxide is an ozone-depleting substance that replaces CFCs. Unlike CFCs, however, emissions of man-made nitrous oxide are not regulated by international agreement:
"Published: 7:00PM BST 27 Aug 2009
"Nitrous oxide, better known as the dental anaesthetic "laughing gas", has replaced CFCs as the most potent destroyer of ozone in the upper atmosphere, a study has shown.
"Unlike CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), once extensively used in refrigerators, emissions of the gas are not limited by any international agreement.
""The dramatic reduction in CFCs over the last 20 years is an environmental success story," said Dr Akkihebbal Ravishankara, who led the US research. "But man-made nitrous oxide is now the elephant in the room among ozone-depleting substances."......
Categories: Climate Change, For Scientists and Engineers, News Archives
Posted by Admin at 2:50 AM, Thursday, August 13, 2009
Dogs saved people during the recent disaster in Taiwan
During the recent disaster in the south of Taiwan, many people were buried by mudslides and many people were killed as a result of a delay in rescue operation. One eyewitness revealed that he and 40 of his neighbours were saved by his two dogs. The following is quoted from a BBC's news article :
.... One eyewitness described the devastation wrought on the village of Hsiaolin.
"I saw the mountain crumbling in seconds almost like an explosion and bury half of our neighbourhood," Huang Chin-bao, 56, told AFP news agency.
He said he and 40 neighbours were guided by his two dogs to higher ground.
"The dogs are our saviours," he said.
The typhoon struck Taiwan at the weekend, causing the worst flooding in 50 years. ....
Perhaps, this story is a wake-up call for us, the humans. Most of us tend to pay very little respect to the animals around us. Some of us even continue to deny their rights of existence in this world. Such a story proves the point that we are not almighty to the extent that we can fight the Nature. No matter how powerful they are, the so-called humans need to rely on a map, a compass, walki talki, GPS, etc, etc, in a situation as such, but even then, they fail. Dogs may not have human intelligence, but, like other wild animals, dogs act on on their environment merely with their inborn instincts and with their natural sense of direction. During the time of trouble, they can find the way out without a map. Amazing, isn't it?
OTHER SOURCES:
1/ AFP News
3/ Comments on Dogs from Yahoo Participants
Posted by Admin at 6:54 AM, Sunday, May 31, 2009
Gold Stained Glass Windows Purify the Air
Scientists from Queensland University of Technology have discovered that stained glass windows painted with gold paint purify the air when heated by the sun. Gold paint in the glass windows contain trace of gold nanoparticles. in the presence of sunlight, electrons in these gold nanoparticles become activated and oscillate. The magnetic field strength of the electrons is magnified by resonance with the electromagnetic field of sunlight by up to 100 times, which is enough to destroy molecules of some airborne pollutants.....
Categories: Climate Change, For Scientists and Engineers, Go Green, News Archives
Posted by Admin at 7:08 PM, Saturday, May 23, 2009
Belgian City Goes Meat-Free Every Thursday to help save the planet, May 22, 2009
"THE Belgian city of Ghent yesterday embarked on a radical experiment that seeks to make every Thursday a day free of meat and of the fish and shellfish for which the city is renowned .......... CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Posted by Admin at 11:26 PM, Saturday, April 18, 2009
Poor man Solar Cooker made with Cardboard Sheets wins a climate change award--助窮人太陽能煮食 「京都紙盒」奪環保大獎
Poor man Solar Cooker made with Cardboard Sheets known as "Kyoto Box" wins a $75,000 worth climate change award. The inventor of this inventiion was Jon Bohmer, a Norwegian-born entrepreneur based in Kenya. According to the inventor, this prize-winning invention can be used to cook food and bring water to the boil under a sunny sky.
(credit due to http://news.sky.com)
09 April 2009
Poor man solar-powered cardboard oven, also known as the Kyoto Box, has won a $75,000 climate change award. The inventor of this inventiion was Jon Bohmer, a Norwegian-born entrepreneur based in Kenya. According to the inventor, this prize-winning invention can be used to cook food and bring water to the boil under a sunny sky.
The Kyoto Box is a simple invention made from two cardboard boxes, one inside the other with a transparent acrylic cover to let in the sun's energy. Between the inner box and the outer box is straw or newspaper which serves as an insulation. The reflective foil on the outer box and black paint in the interior of the inner box ensure maximum absorption of solar energy.
Bohmer named his invention the Kyoto Box, after the international environmental treaty to reduce global warming.
The cooker costs around $5.00 to make and will be given away for free to the 3 billion poor people who currently rely on firewood to cook.
Introducing the Kyoto Box to such communities would cut carbon emissions from burning wood. In addition, there are also sanitary benefits from boiling water to drink.
The invention was pitted against nearly 300 other entries, including a machine that turns wood and other organic material into charcoal, wheel covers that make trucks more fuel efficient by reducing drag, and a garlic-based feed supplement for livestock that reduces the methane they emit by 15 percent.
"A lot of scientists are working on ways to send people to Mars. I was looking for something a little more grassroots, a little simpler," Jon Bohmer said Thursday.
"In the West, we cook with electricity, so it's easy to ignore this problem," he said. "But half the world's population is still living in a stone age. The only way for them to cook is to make a fire.
"I don't want to see another 80-year-old woman carrying 20 kilos of firewood on her back. Maybe we don't have to."
.... CLICK HERE FOR TECHNICAL DETAILS OF ANOTHER VERSION OF SOLAR BOX COOKER
Chinese version of the news:
"助窮人太陽能煮食 「京都紙盒」奪環保大獎
http://hk.news.yahoo.com/article/090410/4/bmei.html
"助窮人太陽能煮食 「京都紙盒」奪環保大獎
"(明報)4月11日 星期六 05:05
"【明報專訊】想以廉價及環保方式煮食？只需買一個紙盒就可以。非洲肯尼亞一名發明家把常見紙盒改裝成太陽能煮食爐，可助全球數以億計窮人減少燒柴煮食，以減少排放溫室氣體。這項成本僅6美元（46.8港元）的發明，在環保大賽中贏得7.5萬美元（約58萬港元）獎金。
"兩紙盒製成 成本僅HK$46。
"這一設計獨特的煮食爐名為「京都紙盒」（取名源自規範溫室氣體排放的《京都議定書》）。它由兩個紙盒製成，盒蓋包上錫紙集中熱力，盒身塗上黑油吸熱，紙盒內有一個煮食用黑煲，透明煲蓋可助保存熱力及水分。
"在肯尼亞開設能源公司的發明家博默（Jon Bohmer）表示，他希望「京都紙盒」能把太陽能煮食推廣至發展中國家，取代燒柴，「發展中國家人口眾多，他們不可只靠木材及山火煮食，這會摧毁所有樹」。
"評審：有望改善數十億人生活
"在環保組織Forum for the Future舉辦的環保大賽上，評審對「京都紙盒」能在發展中國家立即大量生產，都感到印象深刻。評審馬登說﹕「紙盒有改善數十億人生活的潛力，是一項可大量生產的革新發明。」
(Note: Chinese version of this news is by no mean the exact translation of the English version.)
Keywords: be veg, go green, save the planet, vegan/vegetarian, vegan, vegetarian, ahimsa, vegan meat, vegan t-shirt, vegetarian-restaurant, vegan-restaurant, meat-free, non-dairy, dairy-free, egg-free, no-smoking, no-drinking
Categories: Climate Change, For Scientists and Engineers, News Archives
Posted by Admin at 2:14 PM, Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Arctic sea ice melting away faster than before
Apr 6 - A new survey indicates Arctic ice is thinner and melting away faster than ever before, while in the Antarctic, the Wilkins ice shelf is on the brink of collapse.
A six-year NASA report concludes Arctic ice is thinner and melting away faster than previously thought due to global warming.
The report was released as news that the Wilkins ice shelf in Antarctica was a on brink of disintegrating.
Satellite photos taken by the European Space Agency confirm that the thread of ice connecting the ice shelf to land had shattered leading scientists to warn that the entire ice shelf could soon break up and disappear.....
(VIDEO: Ice shelf brink of collapse included)
Keywords: be veg, go green, save the planet, vegan/vegetarian, vegan, vegetarian, ahimsa, vegan meat, vegan t-shirt, vegetarian-restaurant, vegan-restaurant, meat-free, non-dairy, dairy-free, egg-free, no-smoking, no-drinking
Posted by Admin at 6:28 AM, Monday, March 09, 2009
PETA killed 95% of the animals it rescued in 2008
I don't know whether posting this news is counter-productive. But sometime, it is simply too difficult to be silent.
Keywords: be veg, go green, save the planet, vegan/vegetarian, vegan, vegetarian, ahimsa, vegan meat, vegan t-shirt, vegetarian-restaurant, vegan-restaurant, meat-free, non-dairy, dairy-free, egg-free, no-smoking, no-drinking
Categories: News Archives
Posted by Admin at 1:25 AM, Friday, February 13, 2009
Global Warming Forecast to Delay Ozone Layer Recovery
Since the launch of this blog, I have quoted a lot of literatures on the link between climate change and the ozone layer. This one is another example. The reason is because, I believe, the unprecedented coolness in many places is probably due to leakage of heat on earth through the broken ozone layer. (EDIT: Since the recent volcano eruption in Iceland, I discovered the ambient temperature is more stable than before. It is unclear whether or not this is due to the fact that the sulphur dioxide is shielding the earth surface from the solar UV radiations.
"BALTIMORE, Maryland, February 6, 2009 (ENS) - Increasing greenhouse gases could stall the recovery of stratospheric ozone in some regions of the Earth, according to new research by a team from Johns Hopkins University. The scientists warn that increased rates of skin cancer in those regions might result.
"Darryn Waugh, a professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, and his colleagues reported Thursday that climate change could provoke variations in the circulation of air in the lower stratosphere in tropical and southern mid-latitudes, including Australia and South America.
"The circulation changes would cause ozone levels in these areas never to return to levels that were present before decline began, even after ozone-depleting substances have been wiped out from the atmosphere.
"In tropical and southern mid-latitudes, Waugh says, "Global warming causes changes in the speed that the air is transported into and through the lower stratosphere. You're moving the air through it quicker, so less ozone gets formed."
CLICK HERE FOR THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE
CLICK HERE FOR THE LEAD RESEARCHER'S WEBSITE
Categories: Be Veg, Climate Change, For Economists and Investors, For Scientists and Engineers, Go Green, News Archives, Save the Planet
Posted by Admin at 1:31 AM, Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Index of Happiness
The following is so-called the Index of Workplace Happiness done in 2004 by a British organization called City and Guilds. According to the index, care assistants, hairdressers, plumbers and chefs are in general the happiest people at work. No matter why those engaged in care profession always smile. The index also suggests that the most miserable workers in the workplace are those estate agents, media workers, pharmacists and accountants. This is something hard to understand.
1. Care assistants 40% (very happy)
2. Hairdressers 32%
3. Plumbers 32%
4. Chefs 30%
5. Florists 20%
6. Chartered engineers 18%
7. Lawyers 16%
8. Mechanics 14%
9. IT specialists 14%
10. R&D scientists 14%
11. Architects 8%
12. Electricians 6%
13. Accountants 4%
14. Pharmacists - 4%
15. Media workers - 4%
16. Estate agents - 4%
Categories: News Archives
Posted by Admin at 8:44 AM, Monday, December 29, 2008
Huge Losses Found in Arctic Ozone Layer -- old news, published in April 6, 2000
As pointed out by the following news article, the loss of ozone over the Arctic region is not new. The recent volcano eruption in Iceland releases about 400 tones of sulphur dioxide. Sulphur dioxide can also shield the earth surface from harmful solar radiations. Hopefully, the presence of sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere would alleviate the negative impacts due to the damage on the ozone layer:
"Huge Losses Found in Arctic Ozone Layer
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2000/2000-04-06-06.asp
"By Cat Lazaroff
"WASHINGTON, DC, April 6, 2000 (ENS) - More than 60 percent of the ozone layer blanketing the Arctic Circle was lost this past winter, due to record cold and continued pollution by humans, scientists from the United States and the European Union said Wednesday. The researchers also warned that global warming may speed up ozone loss and slow the recovery of the ozone layer.
"arctic
"A computer generated image of the thinning ozone layer, with the thinnest areas shown in dark blue (All photos courtesy NASA)
"The ozone losses are likely to affect the ozone levels over Europe during spring, the scientists said.
"Studies by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Union have revealed ozone losses of over 60 percent in the Arctic stratosphere around 18 kilometers (11 miles) above the Earth, during one of the coldest stratospheric winters on record. This is one of the most substantial ozone losses at this altitude ever recorded in the Arctic.
""Last winter's results have heightened concerns that ozone levels over the north polar region may continue to decline despite the benefits of international agreements to stop production and release of ozone-destroying chemicals," said Dr. Hanjürg Jost of NASA's Ames Research Center, located in California's Silicon Valley.
"More than a decade ago scientists determined that ozone depletion is caused mostly by man-made chlorine and bromine compounds. Manufacturers made the chlorine compounds, chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs, for use as refrigerants, aerosol sprays, solvents and foam-blowing agents. Fire fighters used bromine-containing halons to put out fires. Manufacture of chlorofluorocarbons ceased in 1996 in developed countries under the terms of the Montreal Protocol and its amendments.
"But climate change in the stratosphere will likely result in increased ozone losses in the Arctic winter in the coming decades, even as the amount of chlorine and bromine introduced into the atmosphere is decreased, the researchers said. The buildup of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, tends to trap more heat near the Earth's surface, while at the same time colder than normal temperatures are experienced in the stratosphere, where the ozone breakdown occurs, scientists explained.
"clouds
"Opalescent polar stratospheric clouds help turn chlorine into the ozone destroyer chlorine monoxide
"The cold air helps form high altitude clouds (at about 18 kilometers or 60,000 feet), called "polar stratospheric clouds" or PSCs, which play a unique role in atmospheric ozone loss. The opalescent clouds form only in the cold temperatures found at the poles. These clouds help trigger the conversion of chlorine from relatively non-reactive forms to a form (chlorine monoxide, or ClO) that, in combination with sunlight, destroys ozone.
"PSCs were observed to extend widely over the Arctic region from early December to early March. "We were somewhat surprised to see PSCs so early in December," said Dr. Mark Schoeberl, who was the SOLVE co-project scientist for observations made from NASA's DC-8 aircraft. "Some of the PSC types and their locations which we observed in December did not fit within our current understanding."
"The last PSCs were observed on March 8 by instruments aboard the DC-8, and on March 15 by satellite.
"The polar stratosphere temperatures were extremely low over the course of this last winter. At 20 kilometers (66,000 feet) on January 28, the area covered by temperatures low enough to form PSCs was 14.8 million square kilometers (5.7 million square miles), which is larger than the continental United States. This is the largest area coverage recorded in more than 40 years of Northern Hemisphere stratospheric analyses.
""The polar stratospheric clouds covered a larger area, and persisted for a longer period of time, than for any other Arctic winter during the past 20 years. These conditions heighten our concern regarding possible couplings between climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion," said ozone researcher Dr. Ross Salawitch of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.
"DC-8
"One of NASA's DC-8 aircraft prepares for a data gathering flight
"The mixing of polar air into middle latitudes, both during the winter and as the polar circulation broke down in late March, influences ozone levels over the populated middle regions, particularly in Europe.
"In March, the World Meteorological Organisation Mapping Centre at the University of Thessaloniki reported that the average ozone amounts over Europe were 15 percent below the pre-1976 average, lending credence to concerns that thinning ozone will significantly impact species living outside the Arctic Circle.
"More than 350 researchers from the United States, Europe, Canada, Russia and Japan took part in the combined NASA/European Union-sponsored field campaign, said project manager Mike Craig of NASA Ames. Researchers measured ozone, other atmospheric gases, particle amounts and air motions in the Arctic stratosphere, the atmospheric layer between roughly eight and 50 kilometers (five to 31 miles) altitude.
"From November 1999 to March 2000, investigators used spacecraft, aircraft, large, small and long-duration balloons, and ground-based instruments to gather data. The aircraft and large balloon launch teams were based in Kiruna, Sweden.
"A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ozone instrument aboard NASA's high altitude ER-2 aircraft was used to measure ozone losses in the lower stratosphere. Data from the ER-2 show ozone in the Arctic decreasing by about 60 percent between January and mid-March, said ER-2 co-project scientist Paul Newman of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
"balloon
"Researchers prepare to send an instrument package up on a weather balloon
"These measurements are comparable to the large ozone losses in the lower stratosphere observed during several winters in the mid-1990s. Total ozone losses throughout the depth of the atmosphere were slightly reduced because ozone losses were smaller above 66,000 feet (20 kilometers). Spacecraft observations by NASA's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer-Earth Probe clearly showed an area of low ozone over the polar region during February and March.
"The average total polar ozone for the first two weeks of March was 16 percent lower than scientists observed during the same time period in the early 1980s.
"The campaign - the biggest field measurement campaign yet undertaken - included the NASA-sponsored Stratospheric Aerosols and Gas Experiment (SAGE III) Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE), and European Union-sponsored Third European Stratospheric Experiment on Ozone (THESEO-2000).
"balloon
"A weather balloon heads for the Arctic stratosphere
"The joint investigations into the Arctic stratosphere have provided better insights into the processes that control polar ozone. These insights considerably add to scientists' ability to predict ozone levels in the future as chlorine levels decline and as greenhouse gases increase.
""European cooperation within an international team has made it possible to achieve these research results," said Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin. "They will provide the best possible scientific advice to the regulatory process concerning ozone depleting substances in the framework of the Montreal Protocol and, equally important, to the citizens."
Categories: Climate Change, For Scientists and Engineers, News Archives
Posted by Admin at 3:25 PM, Thursday, October 30, 2008
Dramatic Decline in the Population of Honeybees
According to the following articles, we are seeing a rapid decline in population of honey bees. Like many other research reports, these articles suggest that the mysterious disappearance of honey bees is due to sprayed pesticides, disease and/or poor weather conditions. But according to my source, their disappearance is mainly due to the increase in concentration of methane. My source warns that honey bees will go extinct.:
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2008/10/26/news/top/93278a954cfce2e6862574eb006ecd03.txt
Any thought?
World is facing a natural resources crisis worse than financial crunch
The Living Planet has in October, 2008 published a report suggesting that the world is heading for an "ecological credit crunch" far worse than the current financial crisis because humans are over-using the natural resources of the planet. According to the following news article from Guardian, the report warns that humans are using 30% more resources than sustainable, and, at this consumption rate, two planets will be needed by 2010. The report is here:
"* Juliette Jowit
"* The Guardian,
"* Wednesday October 29 2008
"The world is heading for an "ecological credit crunch" far worse than the current financial crisis because humans are over-using the natural resources of the planet, an international study warns today.
"The Living Planet report calculates that humans are using 30% more resources than the Earth can replenish each year, which is leading to deforestation, degraded soils, polluted air and water, and dramatic declines in numbers of fish and other species. As a result, we are running up an ecological debt of $4tr (£2.5tr) to $4.5tr every year - double the estimated losses made by the world's financial institutions as a result of the credit crisis - say the report's authors, led by the conservation group WWF, formerly the World Wildlife Fund. The figure is based on a UN report which calculated the economic value of services provided by ecosystems destroyed annually, such as diminished rainfall for crops or reduced flood protection.
"The problem is also getting worse as populations and consumption keep growing faster than technology finds new ways of expanding what can be produced from the natural world. This had led the report to predict that by 2030, if nothing changes, mankind would need two planets to sustain its lifestyle. "The recent downturn in the global economy is a stark reminder of the consequences of living beyond our means," says James Leape, WWF International's director general. "But the possibility of financial recession pales in comparison to the looming ecological credit crunch."
"The report continues: "We have only one planet. Its capacity to support a thriving diversity of species, humans included, is large but fundamentally limited. When human demand on this capacity exceeds what is available - when we surpass ecological limits - we erode the health of the Earth's living systems. Ultimately this loss threatens human well-being." Speaking yesterday in London, the report's authors also called for politicians to mount a huge international response in line with the multibillion-dollar rescue plan for the economy. "They now need to turn their collective action to a far more pressing concern and that's the survival of all life on planet Earth," said Chief Emeka Anyaoku, the president of WWF International.
"Sir David King, the British government's former chief scientific adviser, said: "We all need to agree that there's a crisis of understanding, that we're removing the planet's biodiverse resources at a rate which is as fast if not faster than the world's last great extinction."
"At the heart of the Living Planet report is an index of the health of the world's natural systems, produced by the Zoological Society of London and based on 5,000 populations of more than 1,600 species, and on an "ecological footprint" of human demands for goods and services.
"For the first time the report also contains detailed information on the "water footprint" of every country, and claims 50 countries are already experiencing "moderate to severe water stress on a year-round basis". It also shows that 27 countries are "importing" more than half the water they consume - in the form of water used to produce goods from wheat to cotton - including the UK, Switzerland, Austria, Norway and the Netherlands.
"Based on figures from 2005, the index indicates global biodiversity has declined by nearly a third since 1970. Breakdowns of the overall figure show the tropical species index fell by half and the temperate index remained stable but at historically low levels. Divided up another way, indices for terrestrial, freshwater and marine species, and for tropical forests, drylands and grasslands all showed significant declines. Of the main geographic regions, only the Nearctic zone around the Arctic sea and covering much of North America showed no overall change.....
TO VIEW THE WHOLE ARTICLE, CLICK HERE
Categories: Climate Change, For Economists and Investors, For Scientists and Engineers, News Archives
Posted by Admin at 11:13 AM, Thursday, October 23, 2008
Sun's protective 'bubble' is shrinking
This entry is about Sun's protective 'bubble' is shrinking detected by Nasa scientists. What follows are paragraphs extracted from the article entiled "Sun's protective 'bubble' is shrinking" by Richard Gray, Science Correspondent, Telegraph
"The protective bubble around the sun that helps to shield the Earth from harmful interstellar radiation is shrinking and getting weaker, Nasa scientists have warned.
"New data has revealed that the heliosphere, the protective shield of energy that surrounds our solar system, has weakened by 25 per cent over the past decade and is now at it lowest level since the space race began 50 years ago.
"Around 90 per cent of the galactic cosmic radiation is deflected by our heliosphere, so the boundary protects us from this harsh galactic environment."
"The heliosphere is created by the solar wind, a combination of electrically charged particles and magnetic fields that emanate a more than a million miles an hour from the sun, meet the intergalactic gas that fills the gaps in space between solar systems.
"At the boundary where they meet a shock wave is formed that deflects interstellar radiation around the solar system as it travels through the galaxy.
"Without the heliosphere the harmful intergalactic cosmic radiation would make life on Earth almost impossible by destroying DNA and making the climate uninhabitable.
"Measurements made by the Ulysses deep space probe, which was launched in 1990 to orbit the sun, have shown that the pressure created inside the heliosphere by the solar wind has been decreasing.
"If the heliosphere continues to weaken, scientists fear that the amount of cosmic radiation reaching the inner parts of our solar system, including Earth, will increase.
"This could result in growing levels of disruption to electrical equipment, damage satellites and potentially even harm life on Earth.
Categories: Climate Change, For Scientists and Engineers, News Archives
Posted by Admin at 12:43 AM, Saturday, October 04, 2008
Rising Arctic methane threatens efforts to reverse global warming
Methane gas is now bubbling from the Artic ocean. It is now unclear if the recent volcano eruption in Iceland would accerlate the methane rellease from the ocean bed. While methane is a heat-trapping greenhouse gas, it is also a toxin. Its presence in the atmosphere will displace the oxygen which survives all the animal species on the planet. Most articles, like the following one, only highlight the issue of global warming:
"Rising Arctic methane threatens efforts to reverse global warming
"GWYNNE DYER
"Article Last Updated: 09/29/2008 12:12:16 AM MDT
"Scientists have their own way of putting things. This is how Dr Oerjan Gustafsson of Stockholm University announced the approach of a climate apocalypse in an e-mail sent last week from the Russian research ship "Jakob Smirnitskyi" in the Arctic Ocean.
""We had a hectic finishing of the sampling program yesterday and this past night. An extensive area of intense methane release was found. At earlier sites we had found elevated levels of dissolved methane. Yesterday, for the first time, we documented a field where the release was so intense that the methane did not have time to dissolve into the seawater but was rising as methane bubbles to the sea surface."
"Gustafsson's preliminary report, published in The Independent of Sept. 23, is a development far more frightening than the current financial crisis, although it will get only one-thousandth of the coverage. The worst that the financial crisis can bring is some years of recession. The worst that massive methane releases in the Arctic can bring us is runaway, irreversible global warming.
"Molecule for molecule, methane gas is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a warming agent. However, since methane doesn't stay in the atmosphere as long - around 12 years, on average, compared to a hundred years for CO2 - and human activities do not produce all that much of it, concerns about climate change have mostly been focused on carbon dioxide. The one big worry was that warmer temperatures might cause massive releases of methane from natural sources.
" There are thousands of megatons of methane stored underground in the Arctic region, trapped there by the permafrost (permanently frozen ground) that covers much of northern Russia, Alaska and Canada and extends far out under the seabed of the Arctic Ocean. If the permafrost melts and methane escapes into the atmosphere on a large scale, it would cause a rapid rise in temperature - which would melt more permafrost, releasing more methane, which would cause more warming, and so on.
"Fear of this runaway feedback is why most climate scientists (and the European Union) have set a rise of 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit in the average global temperature as the limit which we must never exceed. Somewhere between 3.5 and 5.2 degrees, they fear, and massive feedbacks like methane release would kick in and take the situation out of our hands.
"Unfortunately, the heating is much more intense in the Arctic region. The average global temperature has only risen 1.1 degrees so far, but the average temperature in the Arctic is up by 7 degrees. So the permafrost is starting to melt and the trapped methane is escaping.
"That is what the research ship "Jakob Smirnitskyi" has just found: areas of the Arctic Ocean off the Russian coast where "chimneys" of methane gas are bubbling to the surface. What this may mean is that we have no time left if we hope to avoid runaway global warming - and yet it will obviously take many years to get our own greenhouse gas emissions down. So what can we do?
"There is a way to cheat, for a while. Several techniques have been proposed for holding the global temperature down temporarily in order to avoid running into the feedbacks. They do not release us from the duty of getting our emissions down, but they could win us some time to work on that task without running into disaster.
"The leading candidate, suggested by Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen in 2006, is to inject sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere in order to reflect some incoming sunlight. (This mimics the action of large volcanic eruptions, which also lower the global temperature temporarily by putting huge amounts of sulphur dioxide into the upper atmosphere.
"Another, less intrusive approach, proposed by John Latham of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., and Prof. Stephen Salter of Edinburgh University, is to launch fleets of unmanned, wind-powered vessels, controlled by satellite, that would spray seawater up into low-lying marine clouds in order to increase the amount of sunlight that they reflect. The great attraction of this technique is that if there are unwelcome side effects, you can turn it off right away.
"These techniques are known as "geo-engineering," and discussing them has been taboo in most scientific circles because of the "moral hazard": the fear that if the public knows you can hold the global temperature down by direct intervention, people will not do the harder job of cutting their emissions. But if large-scale methane releases are getting under way, the time for such subtle calculations is past.
"Starting now, we need a crash program to investigate the feasibility of these and other techniques for geo-engineering the climate. Once the thawing starts, it is hard to stop, and we may need them very soon.
* GWYNNE DYER is an independent, London-based journalist.
Article source: http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_10586023
Categories: Climate Change, For Scientists and Engineers, News Archives
Posted by Admin at 5:36 PM, Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Old Article: Methane Climate Time-Bomb
The following news article highlights a very alarming issue: bubbling of methane from Artic ocean. Contrary to what Climategate is trying to demonize, the problem of climate change is not just about the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide or 1~2 degree change in temperature. But the oil industry has been trying to force us to focus on carbon dioxide and the definition of global warming only:
"Study Says Methane a New Climate Threat
"Scientists Find New Global Warming 'Time Bomb' - Methane Bubbling Up From Permafrost
SOURCE
"By SETH BORENSTEIN
"The Associated Press
"September6, 2006
"WASHINGTON - Global warming gases trapped in the soil are bubbling out of the thawing permafrost in amounts far higher than previously thought and may trigger what researchers warn is a climate time bomb.
"Methane a greenhouse gas 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide is being released from the permafrost at a rate five times faster than thought, according to a study being published Thursday in the journal Nature. The findings are based on new, more accurate measuring techniques.
""The effects can be huge," said lead author Katey Walter of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks said. "It's coming out a lot and there's a lot more to come out."
"Scientists worry about a global warming vicious cycle that was not part of their already gloomy climate forecast: Warming already under way thaws permafrost, soil that has been continuously frozen for thousands of years. Thawed permafrost releases methane and carbon dioxide. Those gases reach the atmosphere and help trap heat on Earth in the greenhouse effect. The trapped heat thaws more permafrost and so on.
""The higher the temperature gets, the more permafrost we melt, the more tendency it is to become a more vicious cycle," said Chris Field, director of global ecology at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, who was not part of the study. "That's the thing that is scary about this whole thing. There are lots of mechanisms that tend to be self-perpetuating and relatively few that tend to shut it off."
"Some scientists say this vicious cycle is already under way, but others disagree.
"Most of the methane-releasing permafrost is in Siberia. Another study earlier this summer in the journal Science found that the amount of carbon trapped in this type of permafrost called yedoma is much more prevalent than originally thought and may be 100 times the amount of carbon released into the air each year by the burning of fossil fuels.
"It won't all come out at once or even over several decades, but if temperatures increase, then the methane and carbon dioxide will escape the soil, scientists say.
"The permafrost issue has caused a quiet buzz of concern among climate scientists and geologists. Specialists in Arctic climate are coming up with research plans to study the permafrost effect, which is not well understood or observed, said Robert Corell, chairman of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, a study group of 300 scientists.
""It's kind of like a slow-motion time bomb," said Ted Schuur, a professor of ecosystem ecology at the University of Florida and co-author of the study in Science.
"Most of the yedoma is in little-studied areas of northern and eastern Siberia. What makes that permafrost special is that much of it lies under lakes; the carbon below gets released as methane. Carbon beneath dry permafrost is released as carbon dioxide.
"Using special underwater bubble traps, Walter and her colleagues found giant hot spots of bubbling methane that were never measured before because they were hard to reach.
"I don't think it can be easily stopped; we'd really have to have major cooling for it to stop," Walter said.
"Scientists aren't quite sure whether methane or carbon dioxide is worse. Methane is far more powerful in trapping heat, but only lasts about a decade before it dissipates into carbon dioxide and other chemicals. Carbon dioxide traps heat for about a century.
""The bottom line is it's better if it stays frozen in the ground," Schuur said. "But we're getting to the point where it's going more and more into the atmosphere."
"Vladimir Romanovsky, geophysics professor at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, said he thinks the big methane or carbon dioxide release hasn't started yet, but it's coming. In Alaska and Canada which have far less permafrost than Siberia it's closer to happening, he said. Already, the Alaskan permafrost is reaching the thawing point in many areas.
Categories: Climate Change, For Scientists and Engineers, News Archives
Posted by Admin at 2:48 AM, Sunday, July 27, 2008
Old Article: Methane Up Sharply; Ozone Impact Studied, Published: March 8, 1988, AP
The following very dated news article suggests that the issue of today's climate change has already been predicted by scientists three decades ago. Contrary to what Climategate is trying to demonize, the issue of climate change is not really invented by the climate researchers. The problem is not just about the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, but the oil industry has been trying to force us to focus on carbon dioxide only:
"A sharp increase in methane gas in the atmosphere since 1978 will probably make the earth warmer and may worsen seasonal losses of protective ozone over Antarctica, scientists say.
"But the 11 percent increase in methane in the last decade may also slow depletion of the ozone shield over the rest of the planet, said F. Sherwood Rowland and Donald R. Blake, chemists at the University of California at Irvine.
"Their study, financed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was published Friday in the journal Science.
"Methane is the major component of natural gas, but about 80 percent of atmospheric methane comes from decomposition in rice paddies, swamps and the intestines of cows, with some contribution from wood digestion in termites, Mr. Rowland said.
"Humans are responsible for increased methane levels because they are raising more cows, growing more rice and chopping down tropical forests, which provides food for more termites, said atmospheric scientist Pat Zimmerman of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo.
(Update 1: According to The Earth Encyclopedia , methane emissions resulting from human activities are now thought to exceed those from natural sources, annual emissions being around 320 million tonnes. The main human-made sources arise from losses occurring during oil, coal and gas extraction, from ruminant livestock and waste treatment, from landfill sites, rice cultivation and biomass burning. )
(Update 2: In 2008, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that methane is on the rise again after nearly a decade of near stagnation. The rising level of methane may be caused by the increased rate of oil, coal and gas extraction.)
"Mr. Blake and Mr. Rowland collected air samples regularly from January 1978 to September 1987 at up to 60 locations around the Pacific to measure methane levels. Their study indicates the rate of increase in methane gas slowed slightly in the last five years. The Greenhouse Effect
"Researchers generally agree that by trapping solar heat like glass in a greenhouse, methane, carbon dioxide and other pollutants are likely to warm the earth's lower atmosphere by a few degrees in the next half century.
"They fear this greenhouse effect may cause crop-threatening droughts and partly melt polar ice caps, raising sea levels.
"Ozone is an air pollutant at low altitudes, but in the stratosphere it shields the earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation. Scientists say reduction of the ozone layer will cause more skin cancers and ecological damage.
"In 1974, Mr. Rowland and a chemist, Mario Molina, first warned that the ozone layer was threatened by man-made chlorine compounds called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFC's, which are used as refrigeration coolants, aerosol propellants and for making plastic foams. The United States banned spray-can CFC's in 1978. A global treaty aims to reduce global output of CFC's and other ozone-destroying chemicals.
"Mounting evidence indicates CFC's are responsible for the worldwide loss of about 1 percent of the earth's ozone shield and drastic thinning of the ozone layer above Antarctica for a few months starting every September. Ice Clouds Over Antarctica
"Mr. Blake and Mr. Rowland said methane increases might worsen the Antarctic ozone hole by aiding formation of ice clouds above Antarctica. Studies by Molina and others suggest the clouds enhance chemical reactions that allow chlorine from CFC's to break down ozone.
"As methane rises into the polar stratosphere, it breaks down and releases hydrogen, which combines with a chemical called hydroxyl to form water, which in turn freezes into clouds, Mr. Blake explained.
"Outside Antarctica, wind and higher temperatures prevent formation of stratospheric clouds. Instead, by attacking chlorine from CFC's, methane may reduce the amount of chlorine available to destroy ozone, Mr. Blake said.
"The 11 percent methane increase ''will make the ozone hole over Antarctica more severe,'' said Mr. Molina, who is at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. ''It will probably make the ozone depletion in the rest of the world less severe,'' he said.
"Mr. Rowland and Mr. Blake also said that because increasing atmospheric methane reduces the amount of hydroxyl present, it may reduce the atmosphere's ability to cleanse itself of pollutants. Hydroxyl reacts with many pollutants and removes them from the atmosphere.
Categories: Climate Change, For Scientists and Engineers, News Archives
Posted by Admin at 1:34 AM, Sunday, April 27, 2008
European News (BBC)
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Posted by Admin at 11:10 PM, Sunday, April 13, 2008
Science and Technology News
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Posted by Admin at 1:15 PM, Friday, April 04, 2008
World News (Yahoo)
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