redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports – Your Universe Online
Global warming was slowed between 2000 and 2010 because of sulfur dioxide spewed forth by volcanoes, researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) claim in a new study.
Some experts had blamed China and India for the phenomenon, as both countries increased their industrial sulfur dioxide emissions by an estimated 60 percent during that decade. The new findings essentially exonerates those two Asian nations, lead author Ryan Neely of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) said Friday in a statement.
Writing in the online edition of the journal Geophysical Research Letters, Neely and his colleagues report that increases in stratospheric aerosols over the past 13 years have counteracted nearly one-fourth of the temperature increased that have been blamed on human greenhouse gas emissions.
Portions of sulfur dioxide emissions from the planet’s surface ultimately rise to as much as 20 miles into the stratosphere, where chemical reactions cause them to be changed into sulfuric acid and water that reflect sunlight back into space and keep the planet cool.
Neely and researchers from CU-Boulder, the NOAA, MIT, NASA’s Langley Research Center, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) reported that emissions caused by volcanoes of “small to moderate” size caused global warming to slow during that 10-year period.
Calculations suggest that on average, a single ocean iron fertilization will result in a net sequestration of just 10 tonnes of carbon per square kilometer sequestered for a century or more at a cost of almost US$500 per tonne of carbon dioxide.
One such technology involves dispersing large quantities of iron salts in the oceans to fertilize otherwise barren parts of the sea and trigger the growth of algal blooms and other photosynthesizing marine life.
Photosynthesis requires carbon dioxide as its feedstock and when the algae die they will sink to the bottom of the sea taking the locked in carbon with them.
Unfortunately, present plans for seeding the oceans with iron fail to take into account several factors that could scupper those plans, according to Daniel Harrison of the University of Sydney Institute of Marine Science, NSW.
Writing in the International Journal of Global Warming, Harrison has calculated the impact of iron seeding schemes in terms of the efficiency of spreading the iron, the impact it will most likely have on algal growth the tonnage of carbon dioxide per square kilometer of ocean surface that will be actually absorbed compared to the hypothetical figures suggested by advocates of the approach.
“If society wishes to limit the contribution of anthropogenic carbon dioxide to global warming then the need to find economical methods of carbon dioxide sequestration is now urgent,” Harrison’s new calculations take into account not only the carbon dioxide that will be certainly be sequestered permanently to the deep ocean but also subtracts the many losses due to ventilation, nutrient stealing, greenhouse gas production and the carbon dioxide emitted by the burning of fossil fuels to produce the iron salts and to power their transportation and distribution at sea.
His calculations suggest that on average, a single ocean iron fertilization will result in a net sequestration of just 10 tonnes of carbon per square kilometer sequestered for a century or more at a cost of almost US$500 per tonne of carbon dioxide.
Crossroads News : Changes In The World Around Us And Our Place In It
Pollution
More Potent than CO2, N2O Levels in California May be Nearly Three Times Higher Than Previously Thought
by Staff Writers
Berkeley CA (SPX)
This map shows the amount of nitrous oxide emissions in California (in nanomoles per square meter per second). The “x” represents the location of the measurement tower in Walnut Grove, CA.
Using a new method for estimating greenhouse gases that combines atmospheric measurements with model predictions, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) researchers have found that the level of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, in California may be 2.5 to 3 times greater than the current inventory.
At that level, total N2O emissions-which are believed to come primarily from nitrogen fertilizers used in agricultural production-would account for about 8 percent of California’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
The findings were recently published in a paper titled “Seasonal variations in N2O emissions from central California” in Geophysical Research Letters. Earlier this year, using the same methodology, the researchers found that levels of methane, another potent greenhouse gas, in California may be up to 1.8 times greater than previous estimates.
“If our results are accurate, then it suggests that N2O makes up not 3 percent of California’s total effective greenhouse gases but closer to 10 percent,” said Marc Fischer, lead researcher on both studies.
“And taken together with our previous estimates of methane emissions, that suggests those two gases may make up 20 to 25 percent of California’s total emissions. That’s starting to become roughly comparable to emissions from fossil fuel CO2.”
Accurate estimates of the California’s greenhouse gas emissions are important as the state works to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, as mandated by a law known as AB 32. The vast majority of the reduction efforts have been focused on CO2.
Nitrous oxide, better known as laughing gas, is an especially potent greenhouse gas because it traps far more infrared radiation than both carbon dioxide and methane. “It’s present in the atmosphere at tiny concentrations-one-thousandth that of CO2-but it is very potent,” Fischer said. “It has a global warming potential of approximately 300, meaning it is 300 times more active than CO2 per unit mass. And it’s 10 to 15 times more potent than methane.”
Worldwide levels of N2O have been rising rapidly for decades, and the major culprit was recently confirmed to be the heavy use of nitrogen fertilizers to grow the world’s food. Other less significant sources of N2O emissions include wetlands, animal and industrial waste and automobiles.
The standard method for estimating emissions levels has been to do what is called a “bottom-up inventory.” This process involves listing all the activities that emit N2O, assigning an emission factor for each activity, then tallying up the emissions. However, this method can result in large uncertainties because of the way N2O is produced.
“The biogeochemical processes that produce N2O are sensitive to environmental conditions and very small changes in things like temperature, moisture, the type of soil and when the fertilizer is applied,” Fischer said.
“All those factors can result in big differences in the amount of N2O that’s produced. If you try to use a single number for a given patch of land, you’re almost certainly going to get a variable result.”
While there are models that try to capture these factors, “it is still likely the numbers are going to have relatively large uncertainties, especially compared to thing like burning fossil fuels to make CO2, where pretty much every mole of carbon becomes CO2,” Fischer said.
The method that Fischer and his colleagues describe in their paper compares measurements taken from a 2,000-foot tower in Walnut Grove, California to model predictions of expected N2O levels based on the bottom-up inventory to arrive at the new estimate.
“This is the first study of its kind to look at a full annual cycle of emissions-actually it’s two years-from a large region of California that includes the sources that we believe are most important,” Fischer said. “In general, we found that the measured signals were much bigger than the predicted signals.”
WEATHER MODIFICATION CAUSES CLIMATE MODIFICATION.
Thousands of planned weather modification events occur every year in the U.S. and worldwide.
This documentary should make you think twice before dismissing persistent tracks in the sky from condensation trails, or “chemtrails.”
Skywatcher is a 25-minute science presentation discussing weather modification and the REAL cause of climate change, which is anthropogenic CLOUD cover– much more than greenhouse gases like CO2– and the spraying of “cloud seeding” chemicals (especially silver iodide) for precipitation enhancement.
This video shows exactly HOW we make clouds with aircraft, why the jet contrails persist now (when they used to disappear much more quickly), and why we’re finding high levels of metals in our water and soil, including aluminum and strontium. …you sure you want the truth?
Degradation and destruction of the world’s seagrasses, tidal marshes, and mangroves may generate up to a billion tons in carbon dioxide emissions annually, reports a new study published in the journal PLOS ONE.
The research looked at the world’s 49 million hectares of coastal ecosystems and attempted to estimate emissions from conversion. Due to high levels of uncertainty about the extent of these ecosystems and the rate of conversion as well as the variance in carbon stocks, the study came up with a broad range of emissions: 150 million to 1.02 billion tons of CO2 per year. At the high end, emissions from destruction and degradation of costal ecosystems would approach the annual emissions of Japan, the world’s fifth largest greenhouse gas emitter.
According to the study, the bulk of emissions (53 percent) result from mangrove forest loss. Seagrass (33 percent) and tidal marshes (13 percent) follow.
Map of coastal ecosystems
“These coastal ecosystems are a tiny ribbon of land, only 6 percent of the land area covered by tropical forest, but the emissions from their destruction are nearly one-fifth of those attributed to deforestation worldwide,” said Linwood Pendleton, the study’s co-lead author and director of the Ocean and Coastal Policy Program at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute, in a statement. “One hectare, or roughly two acres of coastal marsh, can contain the same amount of carbon as 488 cars produce in a year. Comparatively, destroying a hectare of mangroves could produce as much greenhouse gas emissions as cutting down three to five hectares of tropical forest.”
The results are being used to argue for the inclusion of “blue carbon” in international climate change mitigation programs. Such initiatives aim to use carbon funds — either in the form of aid money or market-based activities like offsets — to finance conservation of these ecosystems. It suggests the economic cost of annual emissions ranges from $6.1 to $41.9 billion.
“Blue carbon ecosystems provide a plethora of benefits to humans: they support fisheries, buffer coasts from floods and storms, and filter coastal waters from pollutants,” said Emily Pidgeon, senior director of Strategic Marine Initiatives at Conservation International and co-chair of the Blue Carbon Initiative. “Economic incentives to reverse these losses may help preserve these benefits and serve as a viable part of global efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and address climate change.”
Extent of coastal ecosystems
Rate of conversion of coastal ecosystems (mangroves, sea grass, tidal marshes)
Emissions from conversion of coastal ecosystems
CITATION: Pendleton L, Donato DC, Murray BC, Crooks S, Jenkins WA, et al. (2012) Estimating Global “Blue Carbon” Emissions from Conversion and Degradation of Vegetated Coastal Ecosystems. PLoS ONE 7(9): e43542. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0043542
The Hill: Specter says Obama ditched him after he provided 60th vote to pass health law
By Alexander Bolton
Former Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) writes in a new book that President Obama ditched him in the 2010 election after he helped Obama win the biggest legislative victory of his term by passing healthcare reform.
The Hill: Opinion: Moderation out of fashion on Capitol Hill
By Juan Williams
Even as more Americans identify themselves as independents — not Democrats or Republicans — there is a painfully sharp decline in moderate and independent voices in both houses of Congress.
The Hill: Tea Party groups pressure House GOP leaders to rev up Fast and Furious probe
By Jordy Yager
Local Tea Party activists are pressing House Republican leaders to pursue their investigation into the Operation Fast and Furious gun-tracking effort more aggressively.
The New York Times: Health care act offers Roberts a signature case
By Adam Liptak
Considered likely to join the Supreme Court majority either way the case is decided, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. may never encounter a more important ruling.
Russia Boots out Biggest NGO – Paper
Russian Justice Initiative (RJI), Russia’s largest foreign non-governmental organization providing legal assistance to Russians in the European Court of Human Rights, was excluded from the list of authorized NGOs, the Kommersant daily said on Monday.
Since 2001, Russian Justice Initiative won about 10 million euros (almost $13 million) in Strasbourg Court actions on complaints from residents of Chechnya. In late 2010, it won a record lawsuit of 1.72 million euros (about $2.3 mln) against Russia over the killing of at least 24 Chechen villagers in an operation against militants in 2000.
How Public Sector Layoffs Are Holding Back the Recovery
Heather Boushey, ThinkProgress:
“The current economic recovery is going well if one looks at private sector job creation. The pace of private sector job creation is slower than in the recovery from the early 1990s recession … Since early 2009, governments at all levels have shed nearly 700,000 jobs, most of them at the state and local level. Since August of 2008 state and local governments have shed a total of 647,000 workers, of which 64 percent were women workers.”
Canadian Government Targeting Opponents of New Oil Sands
Lisa Song, InsideClimate News:
“As US environmental groups renew their battle against the resurrected Keystone XL oil pipeline, their counterparts in Canada are facing a deeper problem – a government campaign to limit their influence over Canada’s Northern Gateway pipeline…. As environmental groups have stepped up their campaigns against the project, key figures in the Harper administration have publicly denounced them as extremists, and a federal finance committee has announced plans to audit all of Canada’s charities.”
The Hill: Dodd-Frank panel faces pushback on rules for naming vital Wall Street firms
By Peter Schroeder
Federal regulators are facing opposition from business groups as they try to develop a system to ensure that large institutions do not cause another financial crisis.
The Washington Post: Amid anger over Afghan killings, U.S. faces growing public weariness on war
By Craig Whitlock and Jon Cohen
The massacre of at least 16 Afghan civilians, apparently by an American soldier, forced the Obama administration Sunday to confront yet another nightmare from the war zone and fresh evidence that patience back home is increasingly wearing thin.
The blame for the situation in Syria does not lie with Russia alone; one of the biggest problems is also the Obama administration, which has squandered a golden opportunity to get rid of a significant obstacle to security in the region — and by extension US national security, Bashar Al-Assad.
However, it is clear that Obama is not concerned with the security of the region — even though it impacts upon international security as a whole, especially with the chaos in Syria overlooking the Mediterranean — rather Obama is preoccupied with his re-election bid.
Environmental Protection Agency Puts Greenhouse Gas Rules for Oil Refineries on Backburner
Elizabeth McGowan, InsideClimate News:
“Election-year politics, $4-a-gallon gasoline and an anti-regulatory fervor on Capitol Hill have aligned to thwart EPA’s vow to issue final carbon emissions standards for oil refineries this year…. The pullback on refineries – combined with an earlier and separate delay on regulating greenhouse gases from fossil fuel power plants – means EPA has yet to control emissions from a pair of sizable industrial sources.”
One year after catastrophe, Fukushima remains a threat
While the Japanese authorities promise to get residents of Fukushima prefecture home “as soon as possible”, the crippled nuclear plant remains a danger zone. Two specialists tell FRANCE 24 why it could still explode.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says President Barack Obama’s birth certificate is not authentic
Uploaded by FederalJacktube6 on Mar 8, 2012
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said President Barack Obama’s birth certificate is not authentic.
Arpaio revealed the findings of a investigation into the president’s birth certificate at a 1 hour and 20 minute news conference Thursday, calling the certificate “suspect.”
Arpaio’s team of investigators said they found that the long-form birth certificate was created electronically and never existed in paper form.
The president’s Selective Service card was also questioned.
Arpaio’s investigators claimed the document has “failed every test we put it through.”
At Thursday’s news conference, investigators said they will request a criminal investigation. They also said they have identified a person of interest in the forgery of the birth certificate.
Arpaio said he is not accusing the president of the crime. He said they will investigate who is behind the “possible forgery and fraud.”
“I haven’t decided where to go with this yet,” Arpaio said. “I just wanted to get the facts of this situation. We haven’t accused anyone of anything.”
The controversy over the certificate has been widely debunked, but it remains alive in the eyes of some conservatives, namely members of the Tea Party who urged Arpaio to look into the matter.
For the past six months, Arpaio’s “Cold Case Posse” has been investigating the authenticity of those documents to see if there’s been any fraud or forgery involved.
“We conducted a very professional investigation; we have come up with I feel some probable cause, some evidence,” Arpaio said Wednesday.
Arpaio said the investigation was done at no cost to taxpayers.
“Just let me say the results may be interesting without using the word ‘shocked,'” Arpaio said prior to the conference. “I think it will reveal some information no one else has really developed in a professional law enforcement manner.”
The Cold Case Posse comprises volunteers who are former police officers and lawyers.
Arpaio is facing problems of his own, including a federal grand jury probe over alleged abuse of power and Justice Department accusations of racial profiling.
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