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Shifting Ecology

One Hundred Times Faster than Anything in 65 Million Years: The Speed of Climate Change

By clathrates, Climate Catastrophes, Methane, Oceans, Shifting Ecology, Temperature, Uncategorized

Climate change projected by the IPCC 2013 report under the business as usual scenario (RCP8.5) projects climate change in the next 100 years to be as big as the Paleocene/Eocene Thermal Maximum extinction event 56 million years ago. Changes today however are happening 100 times faster than the PETM. The PETM was likely a methane…

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Catastrophic Change and Climate Blindness

By CO2 Removal and Sequestration, forest health, Forest Mortality, ice sheet, Impacts, in-depth and Popular Press, Oceans, Shifting Ecology, Solutions

How do we curb emissions with the way our society has evolved? Really. I mean serious curbing; enough to prevent dangerous climate change? When considering the answer, dangerous climate change must be clearly defined. So, what exactly is dangerous climate change? Read More — First published on the Rag Blog

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US Geological Survey Report – U.S. Climate Change Science Program. Thresholds of Climate Change in Ecosystems

By Abrupt changes, Impacts, Shifting Ecology

(170 pages) Ecological thresholds occur when external factors, positive feedbacks, or nonlinear instabilities in a system cause changes to propagate in a domino-like fashion that is potentially irreversible.  Atmospheric carbon dioxide has reached levels unprecedented in possibly the last 24 million years. CO2 concentrations have risen by 34%, mostly in the last several decades. Global…

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