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Methane (greenhouse gas 25x potent as CO2) bubbles out 5x faster. Warmer air thaws Arctic soil, 50 bil tonnes may be released
Researchers believe the Arctic Ocean seabed is thawing in patches and releasing greenhouse gases. Methane, trapped in the permafrost, 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, is bubbling out of the frozen arctic faster than expected.
Researchers ignite a bubble of methane on Alaska’s Steward Peninsula.
Methane is leaking from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf into the atmosphere at an alarming rate. The amount leaking from this locale is comparable to all methane from rest of the world's oceans put together. Methane is a greenhouse gas more than 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Left: Researcher ignites a pocket of methane. Right: methane bubbles trapped in lake ice in Siberia in early autumn.
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Giant iceberg, 965sqmi (2500sqkm, 400m thick) split fr Antarctica, holding "enough water to fill River Thames 100 times."
An giant iceberg has broken off from Antarctica, created when it was hit by another iceberg two weeks ago. The size of Luxemberg, it could disrupt ocean circulation patterns.
The 965 sq mile (2,500 sq km) block of ice broke off from the Mertz Glacier which ends in a floating tongue of ice that protrudes 100 miles (160 km) out into the Southern Ocean. The 'calving' - or splitting of the ice sheet - resulted a collision with another iceberg.
Glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising, cloud forests are drying, and wildlife is scrambling to keep pace. It's becoming clear that humans have caused most of the past century's warming by releasing heat-trapping gases as we power our modern lives. Called greenhouse gases, their levels are higher now than in the last 650,000 years.
A large iceberg was spotted off an island about halfway between Antarctica and Australia, a rare sight in waters so far north. read more »
Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, Feb 12-28, 2010. Photos: moments of challenge, daring, fun and basking in Nature
Top: United States' Johnny Spillane competes on large hill ski jump during men's individual Nordic Combined - the event combines ski jumping and a 10K cross-country race; he won the silver medal. Bottom: Large crowd of spectators gather in final curve during Men’s luge competition at Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games at the Whistler Sliding Centre.
Left: Whistler ice sculpture of Olympic torch. Right: Anabellee Langlois & Cody Hay of Canada compete in figure skating program of Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics at Pacific Coliseum.
Alexandre Bilodeau of Canada wins gold medal for Freestyle Skiing Men's Moguls on day 3 of the 2010 Winter Olympics at Cypress Freestyle Skiing Stadium, becoming the first Canadian to win a gold medal on home soil at the Winter Olympic Games.
US bailout tab: $3 trillion. Why not rescue Arizona's heritage of Nature? Prevent entire state parks to close due to budget cut
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Arizona decides to close most state parks
Facing a multibillion-dollar shortfall, the state will shut 13 parks by June. Several had already been closed. Wrestling with a multibillion-dollar budget deficit, Arizona decided Friday to close nearly all of its state parks, including the famed Tombstone Courthouse and Yuma Territorial Prison. The State Parks Board unanimously voted to close 13 parks by June 3. Eight others had already been closed, and the decision would leave nine open -- but only if the board can raise $3 million this year. The action represents the largest closure of state parks in the nation, although several other states are considering similar moves.
21 of 30 state parks will be closed: The Arizona State Parks Board voted unanimously Friday to begin shuttering state parks, a move that will leave the parks system with fewer than one third of its properties open by June 3 read more »
Filmmaker to swim across Pacific & Garbage Patch, floating mass of plastic junk size of North America, 10-meters deep
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The floating mass of plastic junk - almost the size of the Northern Territory - in the Pacific is an environmental catastrophe: "...the nature of the problem is so immense and the fact it doesn't fall under the jurisdiction of any particular country means as a cause it's kind of like the runt of the litter, something that no particular country wants to take responsibility for." According to the United Nations Environment Program, it causes the deaths of more than a million seabirds every year, as well as more than 100,000 mammals including whales, dolphins, turtles and seals.
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Photos: Santa Claus running in blizzard; White Christmas in London; skis in Capitol Hill; snow-covered Great Wall
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Air passengers are facing delays and cancellations as freezing temperatures and heavy snow sweep across Britain and much of Northern Europe. Many flights in and out of Manchester airport were cancelled today as staff cleared the runway of snow and ice. Many homes have been without power since Thursday night as a result of snow, an energy supplier said today. About 330 homes in the east of England were still without power supplies this morning, an EDF Energy spokesman said. He said staff had worked tirelessly to restore the power for thousands of homes affected by the severe weather. 'With snow and ice still across the region, travel between faults remains difficult,' he added.
CO2 in atmosphere has been up 24% in 50 years from 310 to 384 (1958 – 2009); upper limit is 350 ppm, realtime evident indicator
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To see whether enough is being done at the moment to solve these global problems, there is no single indicator as complete and current as the monthly updates for atmospheric CO2 from the Mauna Loa Observatory. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the chief greenhouse gas that results from human activities & CO2 levels rising in the Earth’s atmosphere causes global warming and climate change. Both atmospheric CO2 and climate change are accelerating. Climate scientists say we have YEARs, not decades, to stabilize CO2 and other greenhouse gases. To help the world succeed, CO2Now.org makes it easy to see the most current CO2 level and what it means. So, use Earth's CO2 Home Page & keep an eye on CO2.
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