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Deadly Ocean Burp
ScienCentralNews
Could a dangerous gas buildup at the bottom of the ocean bubble up and wipe out most life on Earth? According to some researchers, it already has done so; several times. As this ScienCentral story explains, scientists are worried that global warming is making conditions ripe for another deadly ocean burp.
Attack from Below
Scientists mostly agree that it was an object from space that crashed into Earth 65 million years ago, killing off much of the planet’s life, including most of the dinosaurs. But geologists have found evidence of four other major mass extinctions and more than a dozen other smaller similar extinctions over the past 500 million years. In addition they’ve not found any corresponding evidence of a collision from an object from space.
Peter Ward, Biology and Earth and Space Sciences Professor at the University of Washington says, “Try as people would, they could not find evidence for impact other than at, really, the age of dinosaurs.” Writing in Scientific American, Ward says instead that, “A new type of evidence reveals that the earth itself can, and probably did, exterminate its own inhabitants.”
(16 Nov 2006)
Livestock a major threat to environment
FAO
Which causes more greenhouse gas emissions, rearing cattle or driving cars?
Surprise!
According to a new report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent – 18 percent – than transport. It is also a major source of land and water degradation.
Says Henning Steinfeld, Chief of FAO’s Livestock Information and Policy Branch and senior author of the report: “Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems. Urgent action is required to remedy the situation.”
With increased prosperity, people are consuming more meat and dairy products every year. Global meat production is projected to more than double from 229 million tonnes in 1999/2001 to 465 million tonnes in 2050, while milk output is set to climb from 580 to 1043 million tonnes.
(29 Nov 2006)
See full document. Milton Maciel comments over at EnergyResources
Massive Ice Shelf ‘May Collapse without Warning’
New Zealand Herald via Common Dreams
The Ross Ice Shelf, a massive piece of ice the size of France, could break off without warning causing a dramatic rise in sea levels, warn New Zealand scientists working in Antarctica.
A New Zealand-led ice drilling team has recovered three million years of climate history from samples which gives clues as to what may happen in the future.
Initial analysis of sea-floor cores near Scott Base suggest the Ross Ice Shelf had collapsed in the past and had probably done so suddenly.
The team’s co-chief scientist, Tim Naish, told The Press newspaper the sediment record was important because it provided crucial evidence about how the Ross Ice Shelf would react to climate change, with potential to dramatically increase sea levels.
“If the past is any indication of the future, then the ice shelf will collapse,” he said.
“If the ice shelf goes, then what about the West Antarctic Ice Sheet? What we’ve learnt from the Antarctic Peninsula is when once buttressing ice sheets go, the glaciers feeding them move faster and that’s the thing that isn’t so cheery.”
(1 Dec 2006)
