Tag Archives: atmosphere

A record-breaking number of scientists are running for office this year.

by LarhondWillhite Posted on February 5, 2018

Which, by the way, is melting.

“This discovery is a game-changer,” said Paul Schuster, lead author of a new study that quantified the total mercury in the Arctic’s frozen permafrost.

And it’s a lot of mercury! To be precise, 793 gigagrams — more than 15 million gallons — of the stuff is currently locked up in frozen northern soils. That’s by far the biggest reservoir of mercury on the planet — almost twice the amount held by the rest of the world’s earth, oceans, and atmosphere combined.

This wouldn’t be a problem if the permafrost stayed, well, permanently frosty. But, as previous research has outlined, it’s not.

Mercury is a toxin that can cause birth effects and neurological damage in animals, including humans. And mercury levels accumulate as you go up the food chain, which is why king-of-the-jungle species like tuna and whale can be unsafe to eat in large quantities.

As thawing permafrost releases more mercury into the atmosphere and oceans, the implications for human health are troubling. Locally, many northern communities rely on subsistence hunting and fishing, two sources of possible mercury contamination. Globally, the toxin could travel great distances and collect in distant ecosystems.

As if we didn’t already have enough reasons to want permafrost to stay frozen.

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A record-breaking number of scientists are running for office this year.

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Farmworkers are risking their health to harvest produce near California wildfires.

by JunkoWhitelegge Posted on December 11, 2017

On the one hand, supporting science is good! On the other hand, geoengineering — the modification of planetary systems to counteract the effects of global warming — is a risky long-shot attempt to address climate change, when much simpler, more direct solutions are already known.

A new bill introduced by a Jerry McNerney, a Democratic representative from California, calls for “a federal commitment to the creation of a geoengineering research agenda and an assessment of the potential risks of geoengineering practices” by the National Academies of Sciences.

The bill comes out of the House Science, Space, and Technology committee, chaired by outgoing climate foe Lamar Smith. Smith has somehow managed to support geoengineering research without acknowledging the changing climate that would render it necessary in the first place.

To be fair, research into geoengineering is a far cry from — as one proposal would have it — actually spraying particles into clouds to make them brighter, reflecting more sunlight and therefore allowing less heat to enter the atmosphere.

Whether that kind of planetary meddling will ever be a viable approach to climate change requires a lot more research, yes. But with the sciences feeling the pinch of a science-allergic administration, lots of important research is already on the chopping block.

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Farmworkers are risking their health to harvest produce near California wildfires.

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Trump’s EPA eases off on the whole “environmental protection” thing.

by Lawrenc8856 Posted on December 11, 2017

On the one hand, supporting science is good! On the other hand, geoengineering — the modification of planetary systems to counteract the effects of global warming — is a risky long-shot attempt to address climate change, when much simpler, more direct solutions are already known.

A new bill introduced by a Jerry McNerney, a Democratic representative from California, calls for “a federal commitment to the creation of a geoengineering research agenda and an assessment of the potential risks of geoengineering practices” by the National Academies of Sciences.

The bill comes out of the House Science, Space, and Technology committee, chaired by outgoing climate foe Lamar Smith. Smith has somehow managed to support geoengineering research without acknowledging the changing climate that would render it necessary in the first place.

To be fair, research into geoengineering is a far cry from — as one proposal would have it — actually spraying particles into clouds to make them brighter, reflecting more sunlight and therefore allowing less heat to enter the atmosphere.

Whether that kind of planetary meddling will ever be a viable approach to climate change requires a lot more research, yes. But with the sciences feeling the pinch of a science-allergic administration, lots of important research is already on the chopping block.

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Trump’s EPA eases off on the whole “environmental protection” thing.

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My Parrots – Dr. Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji

by Myrna Posted on November 29, 2017

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My Parrots
Significant Spiritual Experiences
Dr. Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji

Genre: Nature

Price: $9.99

Publish Date: May 26, 2013

Publisher: Datta Yoga Center

Seller: Datta Yoga Center


In this photo-studded narrative, Swamiji regales us with his intimate and entertaining spiritual experiences with his pet parrots at the newly inaugurated aviary, Shuka Vana, located at his ashram in Mysore, India. Readers will be awe struck by his invaluable insights about parrots both in their physical and esoteric aspects. Sage and seer, His Holiness Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji, the Founder of Avadhoota Datta Peetham, Mysore, India, is recognized far and wide for his extraordinary vision and compassionate heart. In this silver jubilee year of his worldwide Concerts of Music for Healing and Meditation, he has published his authoritative research compendium, Raga Ragini Nada Yoga, which reveals the secret behind the curative powers of his music, both vocal, and instrumental.  Swamiji has zeroed in on the particularly soothing and healing effects of birds and their sounds on humans. Parrots have capabilities not only for mimicking human speech and songs, but, he believes are perhaps the source of man’s initial foray into areas of communication. Swamiji declares, based on ancient Indian texts, that parrots have the ability to convey essential nourishment to departed human souls. He shares with us hitherto unknown significant facts about parrots according to Numerology, Astrology, Musicology, and Yoga. Swamiji blows the siren that birds are vital to the existence of the human race and that their alarmingly diminishing numbers in recent times do not bode well. He urges the halting of needless deforestation and pollution of the atmosphere. He appeals for a better informed, sensitive, reverential, and friendly treatment of the avian species. 

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My Parrots – Dr. Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji

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Is the end near for the green biofuel dream?

by AllenDalrymple Posted on November 9, 2017

Kathleen Hartnett White, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality, stammered through her confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

When Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, a Democrat, asked if she believes climate change is real, she wavered but settled on the right answer: “I am uncertain. No, I’m not. I jumped ahead. Climate change is of course real.”

That’s a surprise. Hartnett White, a former chair of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, has a long history of challenging climate science and promoting fossil fuels. Notably, she has said that carbon dioxide isn’t a pollutant.

But that’s not to say she’s made peace with established science. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, quizzed Hartnett White over how much excess heat in the atmosphere is absorbed by oceans. “I believe there are differences of opinions on that,” she said, “that there’s not one right answer.” For the record, the number is about 90 percent.

Then things got bizarre. Appearing frustrated with equivocating answers, Whitehouse pressed her on basic laws of nature, like whether heat makes water expand. “I do not have any kind of expertise or even much layman study of the ocean dynamics and the climate-change issues,” she said.

Watch below, if you dare:

After the hearing, Whitehouse tweeted, “I don’t even know where to begin … she outright rejects basic science.”

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Is the end near for the green biofuel dream?

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Congress might allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

by JoeannCoghlan Posted on October 16, 2017

In parts of the United Kingdom Monday morning, people woke up to a blood-red sun — a phenomenon seen around the globe this year.

The color was caused by smoke that blew in from wildfires across Portugal and Spain. Hurricane Ophelia deepened the reddish hue by dragging up dust from the Sahara.

Red skies have haunted the western U.S. recently as wildfires burned in Montana and ash rained down in Seattle. This month in Northern California, 20,000 people evacuated from massive wildfires under a red-orange sky.

Anadolu Agency / Contributor / Getty Images

On the other side of the world, wildfires burned in Siberia all summer long, covering the sun with enormous clouds of smoke and ash.

REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin

To understand why this happens, you need to know a bit of optics. Sun rays contain light from the whole visible spectrum. As the sun’s white light beams into the atmosphere, it collides with molecules that diffuse some of the wavelengths. On a normal day, short wavelength colors, like purple and blue, are filtered out, making the sun look yellow.

But high concentrations of light-scattering molecules in the air (like smoke particles from a wildfire) crowd out more of those short-wavelength colors, leaving behind that hellish red color.

Since climate change makes wildfires worse, we’ll be seeing a lot more of it.

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Congress might allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

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Drawdown – Paul Hawken & Tom Steyer

by Myrna Posted on September 30, 2017

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Drawdown

The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming

Paul Hawken & Tom Steyer

Genre: Science & Nature

Price: $13.99

Publish Date: April 18, 2017

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group

Seller: Penguin Group (USA) Inc.


•  New York Times  bestseller  • The 100 most substantive solutions to reverse global warming, based on meticulous research by leading scientists and policymakers around the world “At this point in time, the  Drawdown  book is exactly what is needed; a credible, conservative solution-by-solution narrative that we can do it. Reading it is an effective inoculation against the widespread perception of doom that humanity cannot and will not solve the climate crisis. Reported by-effects include increased determination and a sense of grounded hope.” —Per Espen Stoknes, Author,  What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming   “There’s been no real way for ordinary people to get an understanding of what they can do and what impact it can have. There remains no single, comprehensive, reliable compendium of carbon-reduction solutions across sectors. At least until now. . . . The public is hungry for this kind of practical wisdom.” —David Roberts,  Vox “This is the ideal environmental sciences textbook—only it is too interesting and inspiring to be called a textbook.” —Peter Kareiva, Director of the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, UCLA In the face of widespread fear and apathy, an international coalition of researchers, professionals, and scientists have come together to offer a set of realistic and bold solutions to climate change. One hundred techniques and practices are described here—some are well known; some you may have never heard of. They range from clean energy to educating girls in lower-income countries to land use practices that pull carbon out of the air. The solutions exist, are economically viable, and communities throughout the world are currently enacting them with skill and determination. If deployed collectively on a global scale over the next thirty years, they represent a credible path forward, not just to slow the earth’s warming but to reach drawdown, that point in time when greenhouse gases in the atmosphere peak and begin to decline. These measures promise cascading benefits to human health, security, prosperity, and well-being—giving us every reason to see this planetary crisis as an opportunity to create a just and livable world.

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Drawdown – Paul Hawken & Tom Steyer

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Science is under assault. On Inauguration Day, scientists speak out.

by LesliPlunkett Posted on January 20, 2017

On Friday, Donald Trump was sworn in as president. He and his cabinet nominees have expressed views on climate and other aspects of science that are far outside the norm.

Scientists are spending Inauguration Day reminding the public that science has been a cornerstone for society. Their tweets using the hashtag #USofScience highlight the vast scope of scientific knowledge and the diverse group of researchers helping to build our understanding of the world each day.

Through years of meticulous research, scientists have developed a clear view of climate change and its impacts. They’ve tracked the global temperature using thermometers and satellites, studied the rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and gauged how fast ice is melting and oceans are rising, to name just a few areas of research.

It’s clear from that research just how much carbon pollution has altered the climate, and how it’s impacting society. Scientists are continuing to work hard to better understand what comes next for our planet if carbon pollution isn’t checked. And yet their work will likely be under assault by the Trump administration and a Republican-controlled Congress.

That’s why they’re using the inauguration to show the value of science, their contributions, and the contributions of their predecessors. It’s a rallying cry for policy based on sound science and a reminder to the public that a lot of what we know about the world wouldn’t exist without dedicated researchers.

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Science is under assault. On Inauguration Day, scientists speak out.

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The day after VW execs were indicted, Fiat Chrysler has been accused of cheating on diesel emissions.

by RandyKirwin Posted on January 12, 2017

Senate confirmation hearings began on Wednesday for Tillerson, former CEO of ExxonMobil and Trump’s nominee for secretary of state. Tillerson was pressed on the issue of climate change by several senators, including Tennessee Republican Bob Corker, who asked Tillerson if he believes that human activity is the cause.

“The increase in greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is having an effect,” Tillerson said, demonstrating that he at least knows more about the issue than our future president. But, Tillerson added, “Our ability to predict that effect is very limited.” This is false.

Tillerson had less to say about allegations that Exxon, his employer for 40 years, knew about the effect of greenhouse gases on the atmosphere back in the ’70s and failed to disclose the risks to the public or shareholders. When asked about it by Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine, Tillerson punted and said he didn’t work there anymore: “You’ll have to ask them.”

The nominee did acknowledge that it’s important for the U.S. to stay involved in international climate negotiations and “maintain its seat at the table in the conversation.” As for what he would do at that table, he’s not saying. If he wanted to do anything constructive, first he’d have to convince his boss.

You can read more about the hearing here.

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The day after VW execs were indicted, Fiat Chrysler has been accused of cheating on diesel emissions.

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The Department of Energy has taken a last-minute step to protect scientists from Trump.

by Larue35Xgs Posted on January 12, 2017

Senate confirmation hearings began on Wednesday for Tillerson, former CEO of ExxonMobil and Trump’s nominee for secretary of state. Tillerson was pressed on the issue of climate change by several senators, including Tennessee Republican Bob Corker, who asked Tillerson if he believes that human activity is the cause.

“The increase in greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is having an effect,” Tillerson said, demonstrating that he at least knows more about the issue than our future president. But, Tillerson added, “Our ability to predict that effect is very limited.” This is false.

Tillerson had less to say about allegations that Exxon, his employer for 40 years, knew about the effect of greenhouse gases on the atmosphere back in the ’70s and failed to disclose the risks to the public or shareholders. When asked about it by Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine, Tillerson punted and said he didn’t work there anymore: “You’ll have to ask them.”

The nominee did acknowledge that it’s important for the U.S. to stay involved in international climate negotiations and “maintain its seat at the table in the conversation.” As for what he would do at that table, he’s not saying. If he wanted to do anything constructive, first he’d have to convince his boss.

You can read more about the hearing here.

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The Department of Energy has taken a last-minute step to protect scientists from Trump.

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