N2O "has conventionally been assumed to have minimal emissions in permafrost regions," the report said, citing research published in the 1990s.
But the new study's findings challenge that assumption.
A team of researchers, led by Harvard University scientists, used a small plane to measure greenhouse gas levels over 120 square miles of thawing permafrost in the North Slope of Alaska. They found that in just one month of 2013, emissions of nitrous oxide in the region reached what was previously believed to be the yearly total.
"This revelation could mean that the Arctic—and our global climate—are in more danger than we thought," explained a statement from Harvard
What is clear, though, is that "much smaller increases in nitrous oxide would entail the same kind of climate change that a large plume of CO2 would cause," Wilkerson said.
The team's findings align with other recent studies that have relied on chambers—or "covered, pie plate-sized containers planted into tundra"—or the extraction of cylindrical "cores" from the permafrost to measure greenhouses gases, according to Harvard's statement.
The new study, said Wilkerson, "makes those findings quite a bit more serious."
The findings also bolster experts' previous warnings that policymakers around the world aren't adequately considering the impacts of permafrost thaw in their plans—based on the goals of the Paris climate agreement—to cut down planet-heating emissions and prevent climate catastrophe.
dohboi wrote:"Happer ... has no formal training in climate science"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Happer
dissident wrote:dohboi wrote:"Happer ... has no formal training in climate science"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Happer
The usual denier kook.
The George C. Marshall Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank that has cast doubt on the science behind global warming for years, closed its doors in September.
The institute, which had a twin focus on defense and climate change denial and had been funded by a number of fossil fuel interests, including the ExxonMobil Foundation, morphed into a nonprofit called the CO2 Coalition in August.
The CO2 Coalition is headed by William Happer and William O'Keefe, CEO and former chief operating officer of the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group.
clif wrote:The George C. Marshall Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank that has cast doubt on the science behind global warming for years, closed its doors in September.
The institute, which had a twin focus on defense and climate change denial and had been funded by a number of fossil fuel interests, including the ExxonMobil Foundation, morphed into a nonprofit called the CO2 Coalition in August.
The CO2 Coalition is headed by William Happer and William O'Keefe, CEO and former chief operating officer of the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group.
Nuff said..........
Newfie wrote:It doesn’t much matter if he BELIEVE in AWG. If we did the things necessary to address his concerns then we would also address global warming. And he has a huge point the alternatives without energy reduction is just a different way of trying to maintain the status quo.
There are vast areas where your concerns overlap and you could easily joint hands in action.
onlooker wrote:Newfie wrote:It doesn’t much matter if he BELIEVE in AWG. If we did the things necessary to address his concerns then we would also address global warming. And he has a huge point the alternatives without energy reduction is just a different way of trying to maintain the status quo.
There are vast areas where your concerns overlap and you could easily joint hands in action.
Rampant contamination/waste of and into the Environment and overpopulation are problems in themselves. It is not just CC. Alleviation requires both a reduction in population and consumption and a halt to Earth damaging technologies.
If atmospheric CO2 levels exceed 1,200 parts per million (ppm), it could push the Earth’s climate over a “tipping point”, finds a new study. This would see clouds that shade large part of the oceans start to break up.
...
They found a striking result: in their simulations, stratocumulus cloud decks become unstable and break up into scattered clouds when CO2 levels rise above 1,200ppm. When these clouds break up they no longer shade the surface, triggering global warming of 8C – and as much as 10C in subtropical regions. This is in addition to the 5C or so of global warming above pre-industrial levels associated with 1,200ppm CO2.
...
The authors find that once the stratocumulus decks have broken up, they only re-form once CO2 concentrations drop substantially, to below 300ppm.
...
Despite a lot of public attention on tipping points, scientists have found limited evidence of them in climate models, at least over time-frames relevant to humans. The finding in this paper is important, say scientists, because it represents one of the first firm climate tipping points to come out of modeling exercises.
William Happer has accepted funding from the fossil fuel industry in the past. For example, in an email chain revealed as part of a undercover investigation by Greenpeace, Happer admitted he had been paid $8,000 by Peabody Energy for a 2015 Minnesota state hearing on the impacts of carbon dioxide. The funds were routed through the CO2 Coalition. [8]
“My fee for this kind of work is $250 per hour. The testimony required four 8-hour days of work, so the total cost was $8,000,” Happer wrote in the email. [114]
As part of a 2018 case where he provided supporting testimony for the side of fossil fuel companies against cities suing for damages related to climate change, Happer was required to disclose any funding he had received in the past. In these disclosures, Happer estimated the amount he received for the 2015 Minnesota testimony as “$10,000 to $15,000, though he does not recall the precise number.” [100], [101]
Happer also noted he had received $1,000 for a speech on climate change at the Heritage Foundation in 2017. [101]
Fossil fuel shill. Don't waste our time. We're not that gullible.
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