"Because of the delays in the system, if the global society waits until those constraints are unmistakably apparent, it will have waited too long." - Limits to Growth, 1972.
CODY — As the planet enters a new phase of climate change, scientists in two countries are working with core samples drilled in Wyoming to understand what caused a pattern of runaway warming, sometimes called the “fever period,” 56 million years ago. For reasons unknown, during the transition between the Paleocene and Eocene epochs, a sudden surge of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere prompted an extreme version of global warming, producing droughts and floods, widespread species extinctions and a redistribution of planetary life.
Whatever caused the mass release of C02 remains a mystery. Scientists wonder if it could happen again, and if the human release of C02, now estimated at 300 billion tons over the past two centuries, could help trigger another period of runaway warming.
Northern Canada's Tibbitt-Contwoyto "diamond road," a winter road first built in 1982 and said to be the world's most lucrative ice road as it services several diamond mines, is expected to be among the routes that suffer, according to the researchers. Much of the roughly 300 mile road runs atop frozen lakes. By 2020 the road is projected to lose 17 percent of its up to 10-week operating season.
24 minutes into the presentation he talks about NASA being afraid to release findings of methane releases off the coast of San Diego for fear of retribution.
In conclusion, this scenario would be catastrophic and the methane wouldn't go away quickly either, since this would be likely to keep triggering further releases. While some models project rapid decay of the methane, those models often use global decay values and long periods, which is not applicable in case of such abrupt releases in the Arctic.
Instead, the methane is likely to stay active in the Arctic for many years at its highest warming potential, due to depletion of hydroxyl and oxygen, while the resulting summer warming (when the sun doesn't set) is likely to keep triggering further releases in the Arctic.
"If countries agree to the text as it stands, they will be passing a death sentence on Africa," said Nnnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends of the Earth International and a Nigerian activist. And yet African countries and other vulnerable countries might go along because they will be bullied or bribed, said Bassey.
When Bolivia stood up to the United States at the Copenhagen climate meet in December 2009, Washington pulled its development aid the next year. "Delegates must show that they care about the devastation across the continent and small island states .... or are they going to yield to arm twisting because a few dollars are being hoisted about," Bassey said.
The Canadian government’s “commitment” to addressing climate change makes us a global pariah. Our government says it is committed to reducing Canada’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 17% from 2005 levels by 2020. And at the moment it remains entirely unclear how even this completely inadequate goal will be achieved.
Carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels have increased by half in the last 20 years, giving the world much less chance of avoiding dangerous climate change, according to new data.
Inuit hunters of northwest Canada report thinning sea ice, shorter winters and hotter summers, change to the permafrost and rising sea levels.
Innu people of northeast Canada report observing birds in Northern Labrador such as blue jays that are typically only found in southern Canada or the U.S., less snow during the coldest months of the year and fewer mosquitoes during the summer.
Nenet reindeer herders of Siberia report that frozen rivers are melting earlier in the season, which hinders their reindeer’s spring migration, forcing them to swim instead of walk across the ice. They also report fewer mosquitoes.
Tsaatan reindeer herders of Mongolia report that the growth of lichen and moss that nourish their reindeer is being adversely impacted.
Yanomami of the Brazilian Amazon report a change in the pattern of rainfall in the rainforest. They urge the world to recognize the vital role of the Amazon in the regulation of the world’s climate, and the contribution of deforestation to global warming.
