Methane vs CO2, which is more to be feared

A very thoughtful article from David Archer, author of one of my favorite books on impending climate change, The Long Thaw. His synopsis of methane vs CO2 is so revealing:

"CO₂ is plenty to be frightened of, while methane is frosting on the cake. Imagine you are in a Toyota on the highway at 60 miles per hour approaching stopped traffic, and you find that the brake pedal is broken. This is CO₂. Then you figure out that the accelerator has also jammed, so that by the time you hit the truck in front of you, you will be going 90 miles per hour instead of 60. This is methane. Is now the time to get worried? No, you should already have been worried by the broken brake pedal."

Smile if you can, or better still, read the whole article which concludes with:

"For methane to be a game-changer in the future of Earth’s climate, it would have to degas to the atmosphere catastrophically, on a time scale that is faster than the decadal lifetime of methane in the air. So far no one has seen or proposed a mechanism to make that happen."

Wave Energy

 E.ON Pelamis P2, Orkney

I just received a Christmas Newsletter from Pelamis, a company that makes wave powered generators. Their good news is the recent one year anniversary of their first commercial wave generator off the coast of Scotland. The title link goes to the Pelamis site and will open on the page explaining the benefits of wave energy, such as it can be forecast up to 5 days in advance (unlike solar and wind), and it has a very low visual impact. The rest of the site explains how their device works to extract wave energy, what their history is, and what their plans are.

Greenland Ice Sheet, Melting Accelerates

Orange on the above figure indicates where satellites measured increased melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet in 2011

For details about the measurements, see the title link. There is a phenomena involved called "Arctic Amplification". From the Arctic Report Card issued Dec 1, 2011:
"The amplification of warming in the Arctic reflects a powerful feedback between the region’s ice covers and air temperature. As air temperature increases, ice melts; as the bright, reflective ice melts, it reveals darker ocean and land surfaces. These dark surfaces absorb more solar energy during the Arctic’s summer season, when the Sun never sets. This causes more heating, which causes more melting…and so on."

Complete melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet would cause sea levels to rise 6.5 meters, or 21 feet. (USGS fs002-00)

What is Happening Under Pine Island Glacier?

NASA photo of Pine Island Glacier Nov 13, 2011

NASA will be taking a detailed look UNDERNEATH Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica this year and in years to come. One of the most critical questions is what are the underlying sea currents doing that might be accelerating the advance of Pine Island Glacier into the sea, as is being observed.

An excellent summary about what could be one of the most important global warming implications for all mankind. The video is also very good.

Where's the Beef?

It would be good for Earth and all life on it, if this was a current valid question. But it is not. Anyway, some tidbits from the linked Washington Post article by Ezra Klein from July 2009:

• "livestock accounts for 18% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions."
• "switching to a vegan diet would have a bigger impact than trading in your gas guzzler for a Prius."

And from me, more vegetables and less livestock is also a much healthier way to eat. Thanks to Dorothy Greet for providing this article and her great class on Plant Based Nutrition at Osher Lifelong Learning, Lewes, DE.

ITER - Thermonuclear Fusion

Image from the Belgian portal to ITER

We talked a bit about fusion energy production in our last Osher class, so I felt it worthwhile to refresh my knowledge of where this stands. The title link is to a page on the ITER site which has a very good summary of fusion research to date, and an outlook for the future.

If you like what you read on the linked page, please browse the site more fully. It is amazing technology and an easy to navigate site! There are also several other approaches to controlled nuclear fusion which I will review in the future, but ITER is the biggest, most researched, and most funded approach.

Note: ITER was originally an acronym for International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. Now ITER is just ITER, but for Latin lovers, it can also be The Journey.

Optimistic Signs of Emissions Reduction Efforts

In this article from the Financial Times, a link is made between top-down governmental efforts to enact binding legislation to reduce carbon emissions, and voluntary bottom-up efforts by industry, and governments to reduce emissions on their own.

The article contains many positive and encouraging efforts, from those of PepsiCo and DuPont, to California, China and Indonesia. However, looking at today's bottom line, actual carbon emissions are still rising, for instance up 5.3% in 2010. Hopefully this figure will soon begin to show a significant decline.

Risk of Extreme Events...SREX

The title link is to a special IPCC web page devoted to Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX).  From the IPCC press release:

Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the IPCC, said today: “This summary for policymakers provides insights into how disaster risk management and adaptation may assist vulnerable communities to better cope with a changing climate in a world of inequalities”.

“It also underlines the complexity and the diversity of factors that are shaping human vulnerability to extremes--why for some communities and countries these can become disasters whereas for others they can be less severe,” he added.

The site contains an interesting slide show which can be accessed at the link Generic Presentation, just below the video, which is not yet available.

Is Congress Really Listening?

It would appear they are, at least some of them. On Monday Physicist Richard Mueller from Berkley presented the findings by his study group to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

Mueller: "We confirm that over the last 50 years, temperature has risen 0.9 degrees Celsius, or 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the same number that the IPCC (UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) says."

Ranking committee Democrat Ed Markey lamented the United States' failure to act and applauded Australia's recent approval of a carbon tax to force its coal-fired power stations and other major emitters to "pay to pollute."

"The attacks on climate science have been a colossal distraction from the debate we should be having Congress on what actions should be taken to reduce pollution, create jobs, reclaim our lead in the clean energy race." (Markey)

Class 5 Tipping Points

Title link takes you to Powerpoint program in the cloud.

Class 4 Wildlife and Vegetation Changes

The Title link goes to the original program in Powerpoint format, and now located in Google Docs (aka The Cloud). Note that some links did not convert to active links, but you can still cut and paste them into you browser window to get to the referenced site.