ScienceDaily — University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers have added a new source of carbon dioxide to the complex climate change puzzle by showing that ancient rocks can release substantial amounts of organic matter into Earth’s rivers and oceans, and that this organic matter is easily converted by bacteria to carbon dioxide, which enters the atmosphere and contributes to climate change.
“Sedimentary rocks contain the largest mass of organic carbon on Earth, but these reservoirs are not well-integrated into modern carbon budgets” says Steven Petsch, a professor of geosciences. “Since we need to know the budget of the natural carbon cycle in order to determine human climate impacts, this information will lead to more accurate climate modeling.” The research was conducted by Petsch and UMass Amherst graduate student Sarah Schillawski.
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Monday, July 28, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Democrats: White House must publish 'chilling' climate change document
by Elana Schor
guardian.co.uk
The row over US inaction on carbon emissions reached new heights yesterday after the White House allowed Congress to look at last year's government proposal to officially deem climate change a threat to public health – a plan that aides to George Bush refused to acknowledge or read.
The climate plan was finished in December by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in response to a supreme court ruling that required the Bush administration to state whether carbon emissions should be regulated to protect public health.
The EPA concluded that regulation was needed, but whistleblowers have revealed that the White House ordered the agency to scrap its proposal. Democratic attempts to investigate the backroom dealings were stymied until this week, when senators were finally permitted a look at the plan.
The chairman of the Senate environment committee, California Democrat Barbara Boxer, released a summary of the proposal to reporters. Boxer was allowed to take notes on the plan but not given a copy.
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Go to EPA Website, Climate Change Health Facts, U. S. Regions
guardian.co.uk
The row over US inaction on carbon emissions reached new heights yesterday after the White House allowed Congress to look at last year's government proposal to officially deem climate change a threat to public health – a plan that aides to George Bush refused to acknowledge or read.
The climate plan was finished in December by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in response to a supreme court ruling that required the Bush administration to state whether carbon emissions should be regulated to protect public health.
The EPA concluded that regulation was needed, but whistleblowers have revealed that the White House ordered the agency to scrap its proposal. Democratic attempts to investigate the backroom dealings were stymied until this week, when senators were finally permitted a look at the plan.
The chairman of the Senate environment committee, California Democrat Barbara Boxer, released a summary of the proposal to reporters. Boxer was allowed to take notes on the plan but not given a copy.
Read Entire Article
Go to EPA Website, Climate Change Health Facts, U. S. Regions
Monday, July 21, 2008
NSF Awards Grant to Track 'Space Weather' in Earth's Near-Space Environment
Global and real-time "space weather" observations of near-Earth space--and the solar storms that can knock out electric power grids--is about to happen for the first time, thanks to funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Scientists at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., have been awarded an NSF grant to perform an experiment called the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE).
AMPERE will use the Iridium constellation of communications satellites to measure the electric currents that link Earth's atmosphere and space. By measuring this key component of the space weather system, AMPERE will allow 24/7 tracking of Earth's response to supersonic blasts of plasma ejected from the sun.
"Earth's space environment can completely reconfigure in as little as 30 minutes," says APL's Brian Anderson, lead scientist on AMPERE. "With a new ability to continually monitor these electric currents, we can track the transformations of our planet's space environment for the first time, and gain a new understanding of how Earth reacts to the sun."
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Scientists at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., have been awarded an NSF grant to perform an experiment called the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE).
AMPERE will use the Iridium constellation of communications satellites to measure the electric currents that link Earth's atmosphere and space. By measuring this key component of the space weather system, AMPERE will allow 24/7 tracking of Earth's response to supersonic blasts of plasma ejected from the sun.
"Earth's space environment can completely reconfigure in as little as 30 minutes," says APL's Brian Anderson, lead scientist on AMPERE. "With a new ability to continually monitor these electric currents, we can track the transformations of our planet's space environment for the first time, and gain a new understanding of how Earth reacts to the sun."
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Ecovillages: Our way into the future
Eco-villages are people-based initiatives to model sustainable, low-impact, human settlements and lifestyles.
They are applicable to both rural and urban settings and accessible to all. Eco-villagers utilize green energy technology, ecological building techniques, and human-scale design to reduce exploitation of natural resources, facilitate community self-reliance, and improve quality of life.
It is about creating new settlements as well as retrofitting existing rural villages and urban areas. An eco-village is designed in harmony with its environment instead of the landscape being unduly engineered to fit construction plans. By thinking in terms of bioregions/ecosystem environments, sustainable settlements are planned considering water availability, the ability to grow food, and accessibility.
Ecovillages defined
In 1991, Robert Gilman one of the pioneers in the world ecovillage movement, set out a definition of an ecovillage that was to become a standard. Gilman defined an ecovillage as: Human scale, (somewhere where you can feel you know the neighbors in your community); fully-featured settlements, (comprising housing, businesses/livelihood, agriculture, culture, spiritual & educational development, as appropriate to the local setting); human activity is integrated harmlessly into the natural world; supports human development; can be continued into the indefinite future; and must have multiple centers of initiative.
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go to: Global Ecovillage Network
They are applicable to both rural and urban settings and accessible to all. Eco-villagers utilize green energy technology, ecological building techniques, and human-scale design to reduce exploitation of natural resources, facilitate community self-reliance, and improve quality of life.
It is about creating new settlements as well as retrofitting existing rural villages and urban areas. An eco-village is designed in harmony with its environment instead of the landscape being unduly engineered to fit construction plans. By thinking in terms of bioregions/ecosystem environments, sustainable settlements are planned considering water availability, the ability to grow food, and accessibility.
Ecovillages defined
In 1991, Robert Gilman one of the pioneers in the world ecovillage movement, set out a definition of an ecovillage that was to become a standard. Gilman defined an ecovillage as: Human scale, (somewhere where you can feel you know the neighbors in your community); fully-featured settlements, (comprising housing, businesses/livelihood, agriculture, culture, spiritual & educational development, as appropriate to the local setting); human activity is integrated harmlessly into the natural world; supports human development; can be continued into the indefinite future; and must have multiple centers of initiative.
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go to: Global Ecovillage Network
Icelandic Volcanoes Help Researchers Understand Potential Effects Of Eruptions
ScienceDaily (July 17, 2008) — For the first time, researchers have taken a detailed look at what lies beneath all of Iceland’s volcanoes – and found a world far more complex than they ever imagined. They mapped an elaborate maze of magma chambers - work that could one day help scientists better understand how earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in Iceland and elsewhere in the world.
Knowing where magma chambers are located is a key first step to understanding the chemical composition of the molten rock that is flowing within them - and of the gases that are released when a volcano erupts, explained Daniel Kelley, doctoral student in earth sciences at Ohio State University.
Kelley and Michael Barton, professor of earth sciences at Ohio State, have determined that the volcanoes in Iceland are likely to have explosive eruptions that shoot debris far into the atmosphere. That’s because the magma moves very quickly to the surface from deep within the magma chambers. Fast-moving magma propels sulfur and ash out of a volcano and high into the atmosphere, where it can spread around the planet.
Knowing where magma chambers are located is a key first step to understanding the chemical composition of the molten rock that is flowing within them - and of the gases that are released when a volcano erupts, explained Daniel Kelley, doctoral student in earth sciences at Ohio State University.
Kelley and Michael Barton, professor of earth sciences at Ohio State, have determined that the volcanoes in Iceland are likely to have explosive eruptions that shoot debris far into the atmosphere. That’s because the magma moves very quickly to the surface from deep within the magma chambers. Fast-moving magma propels sulfur and ash out of a volcano and high into the atmosphere, where it can spread around the planet.
Strong earthquake jolts northern Japan
TOKYO (AFP) — A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 jolted northern Japan on Monday, the US Geological Survey said, but there was no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
The undersea quake struck at 8:30 pm (1130 GMT) off the east coast of Japan's main island of Honshu, at a depth of 33 kilometres (20 miles).
The epicentre was located about 100 kilometres east of the city of Iwaki.
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The undersea quake struck at 8:30 pm (1130 GMT) off the east coast of Japan's main island of Honshu, at a depth of 33 kilometres (20 miles).
The epicentre was located about 100 kilometres east of the city of Iwaki.
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Tropical Storm Dolly over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula
CANCUN, Mexico: Tropical Storm Dolly was moving over the northern Yucatan Peninsula and about to enter the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, forecasters said.
Dolly was expected to strengthen once the center of the storm moves into the Gulf and it could be become a hurricane by Tuesday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.
The storm lashed the peninsula with heavy rains and high winds. A tropical storm warning was in effect from Campeche, Mexico, to the Belize border.
Dolly could dump 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters) of rain on the Yucatan, with up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) in isolated spots, the hurricane center said.
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Dolly was expected to strengthen once the center of the storm moves into the Gulf and it could be become a hurricane by Tuesday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.
The storm lashed the peninsula with heavy rains and high winds. A tropical storm warning was in effect from Campeche, Mexico, to the Belize border.
Dolly could dump 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters) of rain on the Yucatan, with up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) in isolated spots, the hurricane center said.
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