Climate Fear As Carbon Levels Soar

[zavvy]

<b>Climate Fear As Carbon Levels Soar</b><br /><br />LINK<br /><br />An unexplained and unprecedented rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere two years running has raised fears that the world may be on the brink of runaway global warming. <br /><br />Scientists are baffled why the quantity of the main greenhouse gas has leapt in a two-year period and are concerned that the Earth's natural systems are no longer able to absorb as much as in the past. <br /><br />The findings will be discussed tomorrow by the government's chief scientist, Dr David King, at the annual Greenpeace business lecture. <br /><br />Measurements of CO2 in the atmosphere have been continuous for almost 50 years at Mauna Loa Observatory, 12,000ft up a mountain in Hawaii, regarded as far enough away from any carbon dioxide source to be a reliable measuring point. <br /><br />In recent decades CO2 increased on average by 1.5 parts per million (ppm) a year because of the amount of oil, coal and gas burnt, but has now jumped to more than 2 ppm in 2002 and 2003. <br /><br />Above or below average rises in CO2 levels in the atmosphere have been explained in the past by natural events. <br /><br />When the Pacific warms up during El Niño - a disruptive weather pattern caused by weakening trade winds - the amount of carbon dioxide rises dramatically because warm oceans emit CO2 rather than absorb it. <br /><br />But scientists are puzzled because over the past two years, when the increases have been 2.08 ppm and 2.54 ppm respectively, there has been no El Niño. <br /><br />Charles Keeling, the man who began the observations in 1958 as a young climate scientist, is now 74 and still working in the field. <br /><br />He said yesterday: "The rise in the annual rate to above two parts per million for two consecutive years is a real phenomenon. <br /><br />"It is possible that this is merely a reflection of natural events like previous peaks

 

[silylene old]

Well, let's consider what's been happening the last few years:<br /><br />1. We continue to burn the world's rainforests down. <br /><br />2. We continue to flare (burn) the huge natural gas deposits off the African coast as we extract oil . To a lesser extent natural gas is being flared off in Russia too. <br /><br />3. The idiots burning the rainforest down in Borneo have ignited huge subsurface coal beds which are burning uncontrollably, with no way to extinguish. There are a known 159 coal fires and a suspected 3000 more coal fires just in Borneo. National Geographic ran a great article on this a few years back. China also has an enormous subsurface coal bed on fire, and there are also smaller but notable coal bed fires in Australia and Centralia PA. <br />http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/02/15/wsci15.xml<br /><br />4. The increase in the hurricane/typhoon cycle has created a viscous feedback cycle of releasing CO2 from the ocean to the atmosphere. One category 3 hurricane release as much CO2 into the atmosphere by overturning ocean water as the whole US emits in one year. This was discussed in some great <i>Nature</i> articles in 1998. Here is a popular reference: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/163610.stm<br /><br />5. We burn more gasoline worldwide every year as developing countries (i.e. China!) become automobilized, and as more Americans drive SUVs and huge pickup trucks. <br /><br />6. In some European countries existing nuclear reactors are being shut down and replaced by fossil fuel electric plants. <br /><br />(edit: I removed some political commentary) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[zavvy]

I'm not convinced that it's all man-made. I posted these links in another thread about the Sun's role in all of this.. <br /><br />The Truth About Global Warming<br /><br />Sun Fuels Global Warming Debate<br /><br />Scientists Blame Sun For Global Warming<br /><br />Global warming - Is The Sun To blame?<br /><br />Sun's Warming Influence 'Underestimated'

 

[silylene old]

stevehw33: as you may remember, we debated in another thread the idea of whether our profilgate generation of CO2 might be delaying the next ice age. I rather agree that this hypothesis is certainly possible.<br /><br />I was just pointing out some huge sources of CO2 generation that most people overlook. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[zavvy]

Steve and silylene ...<br /><br />Fascinating stuff! I was just reading about how global warming could bring about another ice age in the following articles..<br /><br />Are We On The Brink Of A New Little Ice Age?<br /><br />Will Global Warming Trigger A New Ice Age?

 

[tom_hobbes]

Sobering stuff. Are we looking at what happened in periods with comparable carbon levels in the past?<br /><br />Truth is we haven't a clue what effect we're having (in conjunction with rising solar output etc.). With the advent of that clever little ****** hom-sap, all bets were off. I just hope we get lucky. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#339966"> I wish I could remember<br /> But my selective memory<br /> Won't let me</font><font size="2" color="#99cc00"> </font><font size="3" color="#339966"><font size="2">- </font></font><font size="1" color="#339966">Mark Oliver Everett</font></p><p> </p> </div>

 

[nexium]

A new ice age following greenhouse warming is likely. Even if green house warming does not trigger a new ice age it is prudent to store as much carbon dioxide and methane as possible to be released when and if the temperature starts dropping rapidly. Besides under ground in old wells mines and natural caverns, how else could we store a million times a million tons of green house gas? Allededly natural caverns have all ready been mapped to a depth of several kilometers, world wide, by sub surface tomography, so the storage space is available, filling it with green house gas reduces its usefulness for military purposes which is good in my opinion. The cost perhaps is the only problem = ten million times a million dollars = $10,000,000,000,000 at an average pumping cost of $10 per ton. Is that possible? Neil