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Methane Leak Seen From Space

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the South California methane leak registered in infrared

Infrared image of the Porter Ranch methane leak.

NASA reported that the methane leak from Southern California was registered from space. Satellite data from January revealed the leak from beneath a Porter Ranch mountain, showing the magnitude of the greenhouse gas emissions.

The Hyperion Spectrometer Findings

NASA satellite Earth Observing-1 passed three times over the Aliso Canyon and registered the methane leak. The spaceship had a Hyperion imaging spectrometer that measured shortwave infrared marks of CH4.

The satellite recorded the methane leak on three different occasions, and scientists managed to map its magnitude and morphology.

The orbital measurements were validated by the information captured by airborne instruments. Researchers have now the proof that space observations could contribute to further methane leak detections.

The percentage of methane released into the atmosphere through human activities has not been determined yet.

Scientists feel confident that future orbital instrument may be able to complete global surveys of massive CH4 emissions.

Methane was proved to be 25 times more dangerous than carbon dioxide when it comes to climate change.

The Aliso Canyon Methane Leak

The accident was discovered in October 2015, and in January 2016 the governor issued a state of emergency. By February 2016, the gas leak was reported to be under control.

The methane leak was responsible for health problems in thousands of residents, ranging from nosebleeds to nausea and headaches.

More than 6,400 families were relocated because of the dangers of the gas leak. However, public health officials declared that there will be no long-term effects.

The accident was estimated to have contributed to a quarter of the state’s methane emissions, which would make the event the worst environmental disaster since the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The responsible company will have to pay the costs of capping the well, family relocation, as well as added penalties from government agencies, expenses to mitigate pollution and other potential damages. Sempra Energy has now more than 65 lawsuits filed on the issue.

The leak took place in one of the 60-years-old wells at the base of Santa Susana Mountains. The wells were first used to store oil, and after the oil deposit ran out the company continued to use them for methane storage.

There are 115 wells in the area, and people are reluctant in returning to their homes as there are no guarantees that the other wells are safe.

During the accident, more than 97,100 tons of methane and 7,300 tons of ethane were released in the atmosphere.

Image Source: YouTube

Alaska Wildfires Vicious Circle

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Elk Bath Alaska Wildfires

Alaska wildfires are a threat to the ecosystems and they also induce climate changes.

A new study shows that the loss in the carbon storage from Alaska’s soil is directly linked to wildfires. The number of local fires has increased because of the changes in the Arctic climate and the rise in temperatures, thus initiating a vicious circle.

The Devastating Effects of Alaska Wildfires

2015 was Alaska’s record year in wildfires, as more than 5 million acres were affected by fire.

Carbon stored by trees and soil vegetation is released back into the atmosphere during a fire. Moreover, the burning of the plants exposes the permafrost that lies under and creates damages to the soil.

The conclusion of the recently published study shows that the net carbon balance is dangerously affected by the wildfires.

Forest burns lead to the massive releases of methane and carbon dioxide, which are the main elements involved in climate change.

Every year, the wildfires in Alaska emit more greenhouse gases than all the other fires from the states. The warming temperatures is an important factor that favorites spontaneous fire occurrences in the wild.

Alaska’s Flux of Greenhouse Gases

The new geological study analyses the effects of Alaska fires on forests, tundra, and the frozen soil. These natural elements are in turn the primary protectors against climate change.

Alaska’s vegetation and soil store more carbon than all the other US states combined, and they can absorb about 3.7 m tones of carbon each year.

Previous studies have already shown that rising temperatures have a negative impact on the carbon storage in soils and on the glaciers size.

Scientists are thus worried about the impact that the warming temperatures, the ground melting, and changes in the streams of the ocean will affect the greenhouse gas exchange and the carbon storage.

Alaska is also one of the high latitude ecosystems which are considered to be more vulnerable when carbon storage is taken into consideration. Average temperatures are thought to be having a more abrupt increase in temperatures in the next 50 years. In this worst case scenario, scientists calculated that by 2100, Alaska may lose a quarter of its frozen soils.

Until now, Alaska wildfires were considered a side effect of climate change, as their number is increased because of the new conditions brought by the warming temperatures.

The new study shows that in fact, the devastating effects of wildfires add up to the conditions that are favorable to climate warming.

This cycle can only lead to the destruction of the area and perpetuates the risks for larger scale climate changes.

Image Source: Wikipedia

Doomsday Clock Is Ticking; Set At ‘3-Minutes’ To Midnight

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doomsday_clock

The world is “three minutes” from doomsday.

That is the troubling viewpoint from board members of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Disappointed with a lack of global action to address climate change and shrink atomic arsenals, they chose today (Jan. 22) to push the minute hand of their famous “Doomsday Clock” to 11:57 p.m.

It’s the first time the clock hands have moved in 3 years; since 2012, the clock had been fixed at 5 minutes to emblematic doom, midnight.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists doesn’t utilize the clock to make any genuine doomsday forecasts. Rather, the clock is a visual symbol to caution people about how close the world is to a potentially civilization ending disaster. Every year, the magazine’s board examines to humankind’s survival to choose where the Doomsday Clock’s hands must be set.

Specialists on the board said they felt a feeling of direness this year because of the world’s continuing  addiction on fossil fuels, dawdling with authorizing laws to cut greenhouse gas emanations and slow actions to dispose of atomic weapons.

Kennette Benedict, executive director of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, said in a news conference this morning in Washington, D.C., “We are not saying it is too late to take action but the window for action is closing rapidly. We move the clock hand today to motivate action.”

Sivan Kartha, a senior researcher at the Stockholm Environment Institute said, “If nothing is done to decrease the amount of high-trapping gases like CO2, in the environment, earth could be 5 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit (3 to 8 degrees Celsius) hotter before the end of century.”

Some may not feel frightened when they see those numbers; they may usually encounter that sort of temperature swing in the course of a single day, Kartha said. However, he said a temperature increment of that magnitude was enough to bring the world out of the last ice age, and it will be sufficient to “fundamentally change” the Earth’s surface later on.

“Nuclear disarmament efforts have ‘ground to a halt’ and many nations are expanding, not scaling back, their nuclear capabilities. Russia is upgrading its nuclear program, India plans to expand its nuclear submarine fleet, and Pakistan has reportedly started operating a third plutonium reactor, Sharon Squassoni, another board member and director of the Proliferation Prevention Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said.

She said the United States has good oratory on atomic non-proliferation, yet in the meantime is in amidst of a $335 billion upgrade of its atomic system. (That figure appears to originate from a Congressional Budget Office report from December 2013.)

 

Made in 1947, the Doomsday Clock was initially a symbol of the risk of atomic war. In the interceding years, it now reflect the decreasing supplies of – and mankind’s expanding dependence on – fossil fuels, alongside the impact of environmental change, and other experimental revelations with potential for a severe impact on human life.

Initially, the time was set at 11:53pm, or 7 minutes to midnight. The most recent it has ever been was 11:58pm in 1953, when the US and Russia each tried atomic devices inside the space of nine months.

“The likelihood of worldwide calamity is high,” the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists conclude, “and the actions required to lessen the threats of catastrophe must be taken soon.”

Study Reveals: Rising Crop Yields Stimulate Global Warming

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Global-warming

It appears to be irrational, however, mounting crop yields really add more carbon dioxide to the environment. Over the recent decades, sustenance generation has expanded pointedly to meet demands for rising populace. As per the recent study directed by researchers at Boston University, expanding crop yields represents as much as 25% of the recurring boost in greenhouse gases.

Crops Acts As Mop

Plants soak up carbon dioxide in spring and summer alter solar energy into food, prompting an exceptional drop in barometric Co2. At the same time that consumed Co2 is discharged once again into the air in the fall and winter, said Chris Kucharik, co-creator of the study and a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The study is published in the Nature journal.

It’s not that crop yielding is adding more greenhouse gasses to the environment. Rather, crops acts as a mop for Co2. Researchers say the mop has turned a lot bigger, holding and discharging a greater amount of carbon. Global food production is anticipated to twofold in the following 5 decades. The results of the recent study could help analysts enhance atmosphere models and better comprehend Co2 buffering ability of ecological unit.

Link Between Crop Yields & Co2 Increment

It’s yet an alternate bit of proof that when people do something at a vast scale, we “significantly impact” the environmental synthesis. In spite of the fact that farmland has expanded practically nothing, crop generation has expanded fundamentally in the most recent 50 years, on account of plant propagation, fertilization developments, and watering system. Cropland records of only 6% of the aggregate green vicinity in the Northern Hemisphere. Yet it is a “prevailing patron” to the half increment in the carbon dioxide regularity cycle.

Among different crops, corn assumes the greatest part in irritating worldwide temperatures, emulated by wheat, rice and soybeans. Researchers said these products assimilate and discharge a billion metric huge amounts of Co2 yearly. Up to this point, mainstream researchers had missed the association between growing crop yields and the sporadic Co2 increment.

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