The rise of digital currency like Bitcoin, and carbon footprints

Here i take a look at the rapidly growing Bitcoin currency and technological developments in light of emissions targets. Above video shows a Bitcoin rig June 2011, many computer’s with GPU’s (high power graphic cards), hence high energy consumption. Recent developments David Gilson from Coin Desk writes on June 6th, 2013: We have just observed…

Most Comprehensive Paleoclimate Reconstruction Confirms Hockey Stick

By Stefan Rahmstorf via Scilogs The past 2000 years of climate change have now been reconstructed in more detail than ever before by the PAGES 2k project. The results reveal interesting regional differences between the different continents, but also important common trends. The global average of the new reconstruction looks like a twin of the…

Does Sea Ice loss create the condition for an emerging permanent El Nino state?

Recently Doug asked: “…my question is, how far could this phenomenon go? What is the “end” state? Is it possible for example that we could find the jet stream staying in place for months at a time, years, decades? How wavy could this waviness become?” A main theme of Sea ice loss seems to be…

Past decade saw unprecedented warming in the deep ocean

By Phys.org: From 1975 on, the global surface ocean has shown a pronounced-though wavering-warming trend. Starting in 2004, however, that warming seemed to stall. Researchers measuring the Earth’s total energy budget-the balance of sunlight streaming in compared to the amount of light and heat leaving from the top of the atmosphere-saw that the planet was…

Understanding the long-term carbon-cycle: weathering of rocks – a vitally important carbon-sink

By John Mason / SkepticalScience This post delves into the long-term carbon cycle that involves the interactions of the atmosphere with rocks and oceans over many millions of years. Because of its length, I’ve broken it up into bookmarked sections for easy reference: to come back here click on ‘back to contents’ in each instance.…