Scientists: Human activity exceeding Earth’s limits

Posted on January 16, 2015 by GarryRogers

By Joel Achenbach January 15 at 10:14 PM

“At the rate things are going, the Earth in the coming decades could cease to be a “safe operating space” for human beings. That is the conclusion of a new paper published Thursday in the journal Science by 18 researchers trying to gauge the breaking points in the natural world.

“The paper contends that we have already crossed four “planetary boundaries.” They are the extinction rate; deforestation; the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; and the flow of nitrogen and phosphorous (used on land as fertilizer) into the ocean.”

Planetary boundaries: Gauging the limits

Posted on January 16, 2015 by GarryRogers

The chart shows how close we are to the limits of Earth’s ability to support our civilization.

“Human civilization has arisen during a period of relatively stable environmental conditions during the past 10,000 years. Scientists fear that major changes in these conditions could pose a threat to our future. By the time a system reaches a certain threshold, it may be too late to correct a trend, so scientists recommend setting boundaries for certain parameters to help maintain stability” Source: apps.washingtonpost.com.

Which Coral Reefs Will Survive Global Warming the Longest?

Posted on January 14, 2015 by GarryRogers

Global Warming and Coral Reefs

Coral outcrop on Flynn Reef Scientists have identified which parts of the Great Barrier Reef and other reefs are most capable of recovering from mass bleaching events which will become more frequent due to global warming. The information should help conservationists to target their efforts to protect the portions of reefs that are most capable of survival, they say. Previous studies have shown coral reefs as they exist today will be largely wiped out by climate change in the long term, but the new work by an Australian team shows for the first time which reefs in the short term can be expected to bounce back from bleaching events (Source: The Guardian, Environment).

GR: The whole idea that we might save parts of Earth’s natural ecosystems from global warming is troubling. The fundamental principles of island biogeography predict that smaller areas loose species more quickly than large areas. If we try to preserve patches of reefs, deserts, and forests that we deem most resistant to global warming, are we just prolonging the collapse. Wouldn’t it be smarter to spend our energy on stopping global warming?

Study eyes ‘pond scum’ environmental feedback loop

Posted on January 10, 2015 by GarryRogers

‘This is important because cyanobacteria are on the increase in response to global change …’ Staff Report FRISCO — Fish-killing bacterial blooms are becoming more common in lakes around the world…Source: summitcountyvoice.com

GR: Too many human impacts happening too quickly. In hindsight, we may one day see a news story like this as the dread harbinger of a sudden drop in global productivity.

Pond scum at Coldwater Farm.

Pond scum killed all the fish in one of my three ponds. After covering the water, the algae began browning in the center and as this spread, dead fish floated. The other ponds had sufficient cover of fragrant lily to block the scum (the lilies do this by shading the water). I replaced the killed fish, planted lilies, and introduced duckweed (duckweed also shades the water and it is eaten by ducks). Within three years the lilies had covered enough of the pond to block the scum. The duckweed spread, however, and at the end of five years had totally replaced the lilies. The fish disappeared, and I do not know the cause. The duckweed has invaded the other ponds and I can only wait to see what will happen as it spreads. This little story might sound familiar to many of you who have seen the consequences of ignorant attempts to intervene in ecological processes.

NASA: Melting, Darkening Arctic Ocean Turns Up Solar Heat by 5 Percent

Posted on January 8, 2015 by GarryRogers

Global circulation of air and water influenced by factors such as latitude, land and sea size, altitude, and albedo determines climatic conditions. It explains, for instance, why the Atacama Desert is so dry. Melting sea ice and warming Polar Regions will alter circulation. What comes next? And when does it arrive?

robertscribbler

Atop the world lies a thinning veil of ice. A gossamer lid covering a deep, dark Arctic Ocean. It is a reflector screen for incoming solar radiation during the months-long-day of Polar Summer. And a recent NASA study shows that this heat shield is starting to fail.

Ever since the late 1970s an Arctic warming at 2-3 times the rate of the rest of the globe has set off a 13.3 percent decline of sea ice at end summer during each and every following decade. And that cumulative loss is having an extraordinary impact. For the white, reflective ice cover by September has now, on average, fallen by nearly 50%. What remains is a thinner ice cover. One full of holes and interspersed with great and widening expanses of dark water.

Dark water and thinner, less contiguous, ice absorbs more of the sun’s heat. NASA notes that this added absorption…

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2014 Hottest Year on Record Amidst Ocean Heat Spikes and Arctic Wildfires

Posted on January 7, 2015 by GarryRogers

According to Japan’s Meteorological Agency, 2014 set new inauspicious marks as the hottest year in the global climate record since measures began in 1891. Temperatures rocketed to 0.27 C above the 1981-2010 average, 0.63 C above the 20th Century average and showed a severe pace of warming of 0.70 C per Century. By comparison, the end of the last ice age featured century scale warming at the rate of 0.04 to 0.05 C every 100 years. So the current rate of warming, according to the JMA measure, is 14-17 times faster. A rapid warm-up driving increasingly severe weather and geophysical changes. Source: robertscribbler.wordpress.com

GR: NOAA and NASA determinations not yet in, but will probably agree with Japan’s. It is interesting that there is no leveling in the annual global average temperature trendline computed by the Japanese Meteorological Agency.

World to Oil Producers — “We Don’t Want Your Fracking Crude”

Posted on January 6, 2015 by GarryRogers

“World oil prices routed to 49 dollars per barrel today amidst weak global demand. It’s a sea change in the oil and energy markets that is now in the process of rattling many previously well established oil ventures to their foundations. A shot across the bow that may well signal the beginning of the end of crude due to a combination of expensive production, competition by renewables and efficiencies, and a widespread recognition of ramping hazards from human-caused climate change. Photo: Fracking Pads stretch as far as the eye can see in North Dakota’s Bakken Formation (Image source: Greenpeace).

“Within 5-10 years the next price war on marginal oil may well be spear headed by renewables themselves. And that is a good thing, because in order to prevent the very worst impacts of human caused climate change that geological firewater needs to remain where it belongs — in the ground. In other words, there’s good reason not to want that fracking crude.”

Source: robertscribbler.wordpress.com

GR: This is an excellent review of the current global oil market. As Scribbler points out, there has been a huge sacrifice of nature for oil profits. Scribbler also included the photo below in his article.

(Tar Sands’ hellish landscape of ruined Earth and toxic tailing ponds. Image source Occupy.)

Invasive Tropical Fish Are Changing Ocean Ecosystems

Posted on January 3, 2015 by GarryRogers

Tropical fish are moving north as the global climate warms, in some cases with devastating impacts to ocean ecosystems. Source: summitcountyvoice.com

GR: Invasive species of the land, water, and air are causing greater immediate impacts on Earth ecosystems than global warming. At present, human activities are spreading far more invasive species than global warming. This will change in the future, but for now, we can stoop many invasives with the well-known methods for inventorying, monitoring, and prevention. Of course, the cost might be as astronomical as that of a warplane.

Guiding African Wildlife Through Global Warming

Posted on December 9, 2014 by GarryRogers

In central Africa, one of the world’s richest biological hotspots, an international group of scientists is working to preserve biodiversity as the climate warms.

Source: m.livescience.com

GR: Africa’s growing human population makes preservation of diversity a daunting problem even without global warming.