Current rates of ocean acidification are unparalleled in Earth's history

The study, based on an expert workshop led by Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the University of Bristol, assessed in detail a number of climate change events in the planet's history, including the asteroid impact that made the dinosaurs go extinct and the Permian mass-extinction which wiped out around 95 per cent of all life on Earth. The findings are reported this week in Science.

Oceans are currently absorbing about a quarter of the CO2 released into the atmosphere, lowering the pH of the surface ocean. As atmospheric CO2 increases, so does the rate at which it will dissolve in seawater, forcing surface ocean pH lower and lower – a process called ocean acidification.

CO2-chomping microbes battling for ocean iron

Australian, Belgian and New Zealand scientists have expanded our understanding of the way phyoplankton take up scarce iron in the ocean – a process that regulates ocean food chains from the bottom up and helps remove up to 40 per cent of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.

Research published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science explores the relationship between iron, which limits primary productivity in vast regions of the ocean, and its uptake by phytoplankton species.

New ocean acidification study shows added danger to already struggling reefs

Rosenstiel School scientists illustrate threat of increased carbon dioxide to coral reproduction

A new study led by scientists at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science suggests that over the next century recruitment of new corals could drop by 73 per cent, as rising CO₂ levels turn the oceans more acidic. The research findings reveal a new danger to the already threatened Caribbean and Florida reef Elkhorn corals

CSNOx: 3-in-1 emission abatement system

Low-cost system reduces harmful greenhouse gas emissions from ships, power plants and other sites, with no secondary pollutants or emissions

Singapore-based research and technology company, Ecospec Global Technology, has introduced a low-cost system capable of dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions from ships, power plants, refineries, and other fossil fuel-burning sites.

The system, called CSNOx, is the first of its kind in the world capable of significantly reducing carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen oxide (NOx), all in a single system and by a single process. The CSNOx technology not only effectively removes emissions that contribute to climate change but does so without producing secondary pollutants or generating further CO2 emissions. Its compact size and low cost strengthen even further its potential for widespread implementation and positive impact on the environment on a global scale.

Soil microbes produce less atmospheric carbon dioxide than expected with climate warming

Credit: Steven D. AllisonKey players in carbon cycle multiply slowly when overheated
In dark, rich soils on every continent, microbes dealing with the effects of climate change aren't accelerating global warming the way scientists had predicted, a study by researchers at the University of California at Irvine, Colorado State University and Yale University shows.

Results of the study appear in a paper published on-line this week in the journal Nature Geoscience. The work was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and U.S. Department of Energy.

New boreal forest biomass maps produced from radar satellite data

Boreal forest Having a large-scale boreal forest biomass inventory would allow scientists to understand better the carbon cycle and to predict more accurately Earth’s future climate. However, obtaining these maps has been wrought with difficulty – until now.

A new processing algorithm has been developed using stacks of images from the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) on ESA’s Envisat satellite that allows for the retrieval of boreal forest biomass well beyond the levels that have been previously reported.

Measuring carbon dioxide over the ocean

Reliable measurements of the air-sea flux of carbon dioxide – an important greenhouse gas – are needed for a better understanding of the impact of ocean-atmosphere interactions on climate. A new method developed by researchers at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) working in collaboration with colleagues at the Bjerknes Center for Climate Research (Bergen, Norway) promises to make this task considerably easier.

Infrared gas sensors measure carbon dioxide based on its characteristic absorption spectra and are used to evaluate the air-sea flux of the gas. So-called closed-path sensors precondition air before measurements are made, while open-path sensors can be used to measure the air in situ.

Malaysia’s 1MDB to explore development potential of carbon neutral city with Masdar

Masdar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mubadala Development Company focused on renewable energy and sustainability, and 1Malaysia Development Berhad (“1MDB”) have signed a cooperation agreement to explore clean technology projects and investments, including the possibility of building Malaysia’s first carbon-neutral city.

Masdar and 1MDB also intend to cooperate and invest in carbon reduction projects, under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (“CDM”) and clean technology venture capital. If fully implemented the cooperation agreement would lead to the development of new catalytic projects, with an estimated value of USD100 million.

Echinoderms contribute to global carbon sink

The impact on levels of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere by the decaying remains of a group of marine creatures that includes starfish and sea urchin has been significantly underestimated.

"Climate models must take this carbon sink into account," says Mario Lebrato, lead author of the study. The work was done when he was at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) and affiliated with the University of Southampton's School of Ocean and Earth Science (SOES); he is now at the Leibniz Institute of Marine Science in Germany.

Global temperatures could rise more than expected

The kinds of increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide taking place today could have a significantly larger effect on global temperatures than previously thought, according to a new study led by Yale University geologists. Their findings appear December 20 in the advanced online edition of Nature Geoscience.

The team demonstrated that only a relatively small rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) was associated with a period of substantial warming in the mid- and early-Pliocene era, between three to five million years ago, when temperatures were approximately 3 to 4 degrees Celsius warmer than they are today.

Global warming likely to be amplified by slow changes to Earth systems

Researchers studying a period of high carbon dioxide levels and warm climate several million years ago have concluded that slow changes such as melting ice sheets amplified the initial warming caused by greenhouse gases.

The study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, found that a relatively small rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels was associated with substantial global warming about 4.5 million years ago during the early Pliocene.

More than 100 groups endorse petition to EPA to cap CO2 pollution at 350ppm

More than 100 groups have issued a letter supporting a legal petition filed earlier this month by the Center for Biological Diversity and 350.org that would require the Environmental Protection Agency to scientifically establish national safe limits for carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas pollution under the Clean Air Act. The petition seeks to have greenhouse gases designated as “criteria” air pollutants and atmospheric CO2 capped at 350 parts per million (ppm), the level leading scientists say is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of global warming.

The letter states: “We are writing in support of the petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and 350.org to cap greenhouse gas pollution under the Clean Air Act[’s]... national ambient air quality (NAAQS) program... For four decades, the Clean Air Act has protected the air we breathe through a proven, successful system of pollution control that saves lives and creates economic benefits exceeding its costs by many times. It’s time to fully use our strongest existing tool for reducing greenhouse gas pollution: the Clean Air Act.”

Soil microorganisms’ role cited as a missing factor in climate change equation

Those seeking to understand and predict climate change can now use an additional tool to calculate carbon dioxide exchanges on land, according to a scientific journal article co-authored by a University of Alabama researcher.

The research, publishing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences’ Early Edition, incorporates into global computer models the significant impact an enzyme, carbonic anhydrase, has on the chemical form of carbon dioxide released from the soils and reduces uncertainties in estimates of CO₂ taken up and released in terrestrial ecosystems.

Cornellians work to predict climate change

As Yogi Berra said, prediction is hard – especially about the future. The computer models scientists use to predict climate change are always works in progress.

In a sort of cosmic reality competition, 20 groups around the world are developing new models they plan to submit for review under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the international body whose recommendations are being considered at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. Three modelling groups are based in the United States, and Cornell researchers are involved in one of them.

NASA's greenhouse gas project: Measuring carbon dioxide

Researchers studying climate now have a new tool at their disposal: daily global measurements of carbon dioxide and water vapour in a key part of Earth's atmosphere. The data are courtesy of the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft and confirm the mainstream scientific view that large changes in the climate are likely over the next century.

Moustafa Chahine, the instrument's science team leader at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, unveiled the new measurements at a briefing on recent breakthroughs in greenhouse gas, weather and climate research from AIRS at this week's American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.

Small emissions reductions, large loopholes add up to world on way to disaster

Photo:National Geographic Stock/ Sarah Leen / WWFPledges for emissions reductions now on the table from developed nations at the Copenhagen climate change conference could be lost in loopholes being built into an agreement, WWF warned.

"It is possible for developed nations to spin their way out of real emissions reductions, but they can't spin their way out of climate catastrophe," said Kim Carstensen, leader of WWF's global climate initiative."That is the track we are on if the industrialised world's find ways to increase emissions while saying they are reducing them through creative accounting which allows us to not count emissions, count them twice or count them in strange ways."

"Don't get distracted," WWF urges ministers

Ministers arriving for the high level segment of the UN climate summit in Copenhagen are being urged to not get distracted from a goal of preserving the world from climate catastrophe.

WWF called on ministers to adopt a shared vision where the rise in average global temperature rise was limited to below two degrees and stabilises at 1.5 degrees. "To minimise the risk of overshooting two degrees, WWF believes any measures decided at this conference should be subjected to a science review finishing no later than 2015," said Kim Carstensen, leader of WWF's global climate initiative.

Solar energy: Key solution to CO2 challenges in the developing world

Intense debate at COP15 centres on the challenge of reducing CO₂ emissions in developing countries without limiting their economic growth and ability to make life better for their citizens. EPIA (the European Photovoltaic Industry Association) is in Copenhagen to make the case that solar provides the opportunity for developing countries to leapfrog traditional energy dependence on fossil fuel to producing clean energy.

"Solar energy offers a decentralised solution, easily adapted to poor infrastructures and ready for an expanded energy access to meet fast growing demand," says EPIA's Vice-president, Murray Cameron.

Solar energy can ramp up quickly to help meet global CO2 challenges

Global solar industry leaders have come to COP15 to showcase the immediate capability of solar power to deliver clean energy and reduce harmful carbon dioxide emissions (CO₂).

The European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) and the U.S.-based Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) are spearheading the SolarCOP15 initiative in Copenhagen, supported by over 40 solar trade associations from around the world.

Stop our oceans souring

Deep and immediate cuts in emissions are needed to stall ocean acidification and prevent mass extinction of marine species, food insecurity and serious damage to the world economy, according to IUCN.

Released at UNFCCC COP 15 in Copenhagen, "Ocean acidification – the facts" takes stock of the latest science on oceans acidification and spells out the steps that are urgently needed to stop its acceleration.