Ocean News

Coastal erosion in the Arctic intensifies global warming | Science Daily
Summary:

The loss of arctic permafrost deposits by coastal erosion could amplify climate warming via the greenhouse effect. A study using sediment samples from the Sea of Okhotsk on the eastern coast of Russia revealed that the loss of Arctic permafrost at the end of the last glacial period led to repeated sudden increases in the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere.​

Today the Arctic's permafrost coast is eroding severely because the region is warming rapidly -- in some places the coast is receding at a rate of 20 metres per year. As Gesine Mollenhauer explains: "Our findings show that this coastal erosion is an important process, but to date it has not been sufficiently considered in climate models. Such effects need to be included in future models."

 

Climate change: Polar bears and penguins ‘extinct before end of century | Sunday Express

A study was done covering the 8,236 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that cover around four per cent of the planet’s oceans, carrying out simulations to model sea surface temperatures and oxygen concentrations.

It is estimated that MPAs will face temperatures 2.8C warmer than today - making them uninhabitable for many of the fish, mammals, birds and invertebrates they were set up to save.

In tropical areas the Community Thermal Safety Margin (CTSM) threshold will be reached in little more than three decades.

But Arctic and Antarctic conservation zones are among those at greatest risk.

"With warming of this magnitude, we expect to lose many, if not most, animal species from Marine Protected Areas by the turn of the century," said John Bruno, lead author.

 

Scientists Think A Giant Artificial Wall Propped Up Under Antarctica's Ice Sheets Could Stop Catastrophic Sea Level Rise | IFL Science

Many coastal cities are threatened by anticipated sea level rise caused by the melting/collapse of Greenland and Antarctic glaciers.

For instance, a collapse of the Thwaites glacier in West Antarctic would ultimately raise global sea level by about 3 metres,

One possible solution is to build massive walls under the Antarctic ice sheets to stop them from falling apart.

Such a project would be the biggest civil engineering project in human history.

The study was published the European Geosciences Union journal The Cryosphere.

 

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34 tons of garbage per day dumped into the Amazon at this one site.

 

Planet Earth Wobbles As It Spins, and Now Scientists Know Why | Live Science

Since 1899, the Earth's axis of spin has shifted about 34 feet (10.5 meters), and humans are responsible for some of it.

A third is due to melting ice and rising sea levels, particularly in Greenland, which implicates human-caused climate change.

Another third of the wobble is due to land masses expanding upward as the glaciers retreat and lighten their load on the earth's crust, an ongoing process since the end of the last ice age 16,000 years ago.

The final portion is caused by the slow movement of the mantle, the viscous middle layer of the planet.

The study was published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

 

xkcd​

 

I'm not sure that my fuzzy high-school physics agrees with that statement? I would think that only while the spinner is getting up to speed is any angular momentum being robbed (or added).

 

Yes, and she gives that angular momentum back to earth when she's slowing down, but she's confused there by romantic feelings, I'm sure that guy wanted her to be a bit more realistic too.

 

More Ships and More Clouds Mean Cooling in the Arctic | University of Connecticut

More arctic-bound ships will increase emissions of black carbon, which settles on highly reflective surfaces such as snow and ice, reducing the reflection of solar radiation, meaning the surfaces hold the radiation as heat.

However, sulfur dioxide is released as a by-product of fuel combustion, which promotes cooling by encouraging the formation of cloud droplets that scatter incoming sunlight.

Both effects are relatively minor in the context of overall global warming.

The study was published in Geophysical Research Letters.


Ship tracks form when very small, airborne particles emitted in the exhaust of large ships (and airplanes) attract water molecules, acting as ‘seeds’ (or ‘cloud condensation nuclei’) for clouds. Continued accumulation of droplets on the cloud condensation nuclei forms the thin, streaky clouds pictured in this image. (NASA Photo)

 

Shell and Exxon's secret 1980s climate change warnings | The Guardian

In the 1980s, large oil companies estimated the amount of carbon dioxide released by fossil fuels, and forecast the planetary consequences of these emissions.

In 1982 Exxon predicted that by about 2060, CO2 levels would reach around 560 parts per million – double the preindustrial level – and that this would push the planet’s average temperatures up by about 2°C over then-current levels.

In 1988, Shell projected similar effects but also found that CO2 could double even earlier, by 2030.

Shell estimated a one-meter sea-level rise, and suggested that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could disintegrate, resulting in a worldwide rise in sea level of “five to six meters.

Shell concluded, “the changes may be the greatest in recorded history.”

 

Global Warming Is a Central Bank Issue | Bloomberg Opinion

Central bank governors from the U.K., France, Netherlands, China, Germany, Mexico, Singapore and Sweden have formed the "Network for Greening the Financial System."

This group has two objectives: sharing and identifying best practices in the supervision of climate-related risks, and enhancing the role of the financial sector in mobilizing "green" financing.

The author of this article argues that the first is entirely reasonable and consistent with the central banks' traditional role.

However, he thinks the idea that central banks should promote "green investment" is more problematic.

 

Taller plants moving into warmer Arctic | BBC

Due to rapid warming, plants in the Arctic are growing taller - perhaps doubling in size by the end of the century.

Taller Arctic plants will trap more snow around them, insulating the ground from very cold air and preventing it from freezing quite so hard.

Thawed soils will release stored carbon, increasing the concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases.

A team of 180 researchers reported their findings in the journal Nature.

 

Study: Commitment to democratic values predict climate change concern | EurekAlert

Commitment to democratic values is the strongest predictor of climate change concern globally.

A belief in free elections, freedom of religion, equal rights for women, freedom of speech, freedom of the press and lack of Internet censorship is nearly universal in predicting this concern.

Female, younger, and less religious people tend to worry more about climate change in English-speaking Western democracies.

Only in English-speaking Western democracies is party identification a better predictor than democratic values.

The study was published in Environmental Politics, based on an analysis of the Pew Research Center's 2015 Global Attitudes Survey.

 

The argument for fracking as a climate solution just went down in flames | Think Progress

A study has concluded that if a coal-fired plant is replaced with a gas-fired plant there is no net climate benefit for at least two decades.

Many studies find that even a very small leakage rate of methane from the natural gas supply chain (production to delivery to combustion) can have a large climate impact.

Other studies have found that leakage rates are not small at all, especially as fracking has become more popular.

This most recent damning study shows that gas-fired plants displace not only coal-fired plants, but also nuclear and renewable sources.

 

ExxonMobil agrees to join oil and gas climate change alliance | The Guardian

Four years ago the European companies BP, Shell and Total started the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OCGI).

In a reversal, ExxonMobil, as well as Chevron and Occidental Petroleum, have now joined them in contributing $100m to curb the impact of global warming.

The project has been derided as “greenwash” by activists.