The Discovery of Abiotic Methane – A New Methane Hydrate Source (News Roundup)

2015, Bacteria, Geosphere, Greenhouse Gases, Methane (CH4), Methane Hydrate, Methanogen, Microbiology, Oceanography, Pedology, Report, Science, Soil, StudyLeave a comment

A reservoir of abiotic methane has been discovered in the Arctic Ocean. This means that there is more of the greenhouse gas trapped under the seabed than previously thought. News: A reservoir of abiotic methane has been discovered in the Arctic Ocean https://cage.uit.no/news/new-source-methane-discovered-arctic-ocean/ Study: Abiotic methane from ultraslow-spreading ridges can charge Arctic gas hydrates http://geology.geoscienceworld.org/content/early/2015/03/27/G36440.1.full.pdf+html?ijkey=tNRcKxKHNcG5s&keytype=ref&siteid=gsgeology…

David Archer – Subsea Permafrost and the Methane Cycle on the Siberian Continental Shelf

2015, Arctic, Climate Change, Climate Feedbacks, Communication, Jet Stream / Polar Vortex, Methane (CH4), Methane Hydrate, Pedology, Permafrost, Polar Amplification, SoilLeave a comment

ARCTIC-WISE: Bridging Northern Knowledges of Change Subsea Permafrost and the Methane Cycle on the Siberian Continental Shelf: Predictive Modelling for Climate Change David Archer, Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago Tuesday, March 10, 2015, 5-6:30 pm A numerical model called SpongeBOB is used to simulate the hydrology and methane cycle on the Siberian continental shelf. Lowered…

Naomi Oreskes – The Key Strategy Of The Merchants Of Doubt: Attacking The Consensus

2015, Climate Change, Communication, DenialLeave a comment

Naomi Oreskes is an American historian of science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. In 2010 she co-authored Merchants of Doubt which describes how the tobacco industry wrote the handbook on using doubt to delay legislative action against the harms of tobacco. The same book also chronicles how the same…

Siberian Arctic permafrost decay and methane escape

2014, 2015, Abrupt Climate Change, Climate Change, Communication, Expedition, Geosphere, Greenhouse Gases, Methane (CH4), Methane Hydrate, Pedology, Permafrost, Soil, StudyLeave a comment

Widespread seafloor gas release from the seabed offshore the West Yamal Peninsula, suggests that permafrost has degraded more significantly than previously thought.  Gas is released in an area of at least 7500 km2 in water depths >20 m.((Offshore permafrost decay and massive seabed methane escape in water depths >20 m at the South Kara Sea shelf | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/grl.50735/abstract | Alexey Portnov,…

NASA | 2014 Warmest Year On Record

2014, 2015, Climate Change, Communication, Global, Report, Study, TemperatureLeave a comment

The year 2014 now ranks as the warmest on record since 1880, according to an analysis by NASA scientists. Nine of the 10 warmest years since modern records began have now occurred since 2000, according to a global temperature analysis by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York. 2014’s record-breaking warmth…

Rivers of meltwater on Greenland’s ice sheet contribute to rising sea levels

2015, Cryosphere, Deglaciation, Greenland, Ice Sheets, Sea Level RiseLeave a comment

Using satellite and field work after an extreme melt event in Greenland, a UCLA-led study finds that melt-prone areas on its ice sheet develop a remarkably efficient drainage system of stunning blue streams and rivers that carry meltwater into moulins (sinkholes) and ultimately the ocean. However, the team’s measurements at the ice’s edge show that…

Exceptionally mild temperatures in large parts of Europe and stormy UK weather with 100mph winds

2015, Climate Change, Communication, Extreme Weather, Impacts, Meteorology, Storms, Temperature, UKLeave a comment

2015 takes off with temperatures for parts of Europe hovering around 17C. And The Guardian warned of 100mph gale-force winds and snow to batter the UK. Temperatures in Germany spring like with meteorologists forecasting 17C in Germany Salzburg or in Wien Austria, for tomorrow the 10th of January 2015. Ironically, the ski resort Allgäu tries to…

How the Greenhouse Effect Works

2015, Climate System, Climate Wiki, Greenhouse Effect, Greenhouse Gases, LectureLeave a comment

The greenhouse effect is a process by which thermal radiation from a planetary surface is absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases, and is re-radiated in all directions. Since part of this re-radiation is back towards the surface and the lower atmosphere, it results in an elevation of the average surface temperature above what it would be…