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methane

Methane Eruption Craters: Lots of Them

By Methane, Permafrost

Last summer the first of these appeared in the “formerly” frozen tundra of Siberia. When permafrost melts, methane can build up beneath impermeable soils and suddenly erupt. These holes are up to 100 feet wide and seven of them have been identified with many more smaller ones. Four of them have been located and three…

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With This Decade’s Climate Policy, Expect More Warming Than if Nothing Was Done at All, by Bruce Melton

By Abrupt changes, Climate Policy, climate pollutants short-lived, CO2 Removal and Sequestration, Emissions, Emissions Scenarios, in-depth and Popular Press, Methane, Temperature, Truthout.org

First Published on Truthout, August 27, 2014 (link) The fundamental climate change policy question today is not how much we should reduce carbon dioxide emissions by when, but what will currently proposed carbon dioxide emissions reductions do to our climate in the near-term? In addition, what are the ramifications of short-lived climate pollutants that are…

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Emissions Timing: The New Direction of Climate Pollution Policy

By Climate Policy, Emissions, Methane

For a generation we have proposed climate pollution control policy based on the 100-year time frame and simple “test tube” lab evaluation of the warming potential of individual greenhouse gases (also called “global warming potential” or GWP). This was once enough to prevent dangerous climate change, but the times have changed. Not only do we…

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Optimal Path for Avoiding Dangerous Change and Short-lived Greenhouse Gases

By Abrupt changes, Methane, Uncategorized

Methane (and natural gas), and black carbon (soot) are short-lived greenhouse gases relative to carbon dioxide, N20 (nitrous oxide) and CFC (chlorofluorocarbons). Limiting these short-lived greenhouse gases have obvious benefits in reducing warming. Focusing emissions reductions on these gasses also gives the benefit of delaying warming in the short-term, but really only in a world…

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Organic Gardeners Rejoice! Methane From Compost is OK

By What we can do

Methane: so much news.  First, methane from the decomposition of recently grown organic stuff is not really a problem. How ’bout that. It’s fossil methane that’s a problem.  Recently grown organic material cycles through the growth/decay process rapidly relative to climate change’s semi-geologic timescale. So it’s factored in to the equation. Burning fossil fuels releases…

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Extreme Methane Fright – Laptev Sea and East Siberian Arctic Shelf Methane Releases Rival Those of All of Earth’s Oceans Combined

By clathrates

Sometimes I read these reports and feel that all is lost. But I also read the reports about atmospheric sequestration and geoengineering. I get to see the scientists’ understanding of what may and what may not be feasible.  Then I read the economists’ understanding of the world and climate change as we know it. I…

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Methane time bomb

By Methane, Permafrost

Dr. Katey Walter, from the University of Fairbanks, sees methane like many climate scientists these days. The warming across the planet is concentrated at the poles because of what is called polar amplification. This means that the Arctic is warming even more than the rest of the Earth. In many places the Arctic has already…

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