Tag Archives: carbon dioxide

Rising Carbon Dioxide Levels at End of Last Ice Age Not Tied to Pacific Ocean, As Had Been Suspected

By Guest PostOctober 9, 2011Environmentalan mix, carbon dioxide, co2 levels, coast of southwestern oregon, continental ice sheets, david lund, deep ocean, glacial times, heat trapping greenhouse gas, irvine, john southon, last ice age, levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, microscopic shells, oregon state university, paleoclimatologist, plankton, radiocarbon dating, reservoir of carbon during glacial times, sediment core, university of california, university of michigan, ventilation rate

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— After the last ice age peaked about 18,000 years ago, levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide rose about 30 percent. Scientists believe that the additional carbon dioxide—a heat-trapping greenhouse gas—played a key role in warming the planet and melting the continental ice sheets. They have long hypothesized that the source of the gas was the deep ocean.

But a new study by a University of Michigan paleoclimatologist and two colleagues suggests that the deep ocean was not an important source of carbon during glacial times. The finding will force researchers to reassess their ideas about the fundamental mechanisms that regulate atmospheric carbon dioxide over long time scales. (more…)

Breaking Down Plastics: New Standard Specification May Facilitate Use of Additives that Trigger Biodegradation of Oil-Based Plastics in Landfills

By Guest PostSeptember 27, 2011Environmentanaerobic biodegradation, anaerobically biodegradable and recyclable, anaerobically biodegradable conventional plastics, anaerobically biodegradable in municipal landfill facilities, atmospheric warming gases, biodegradation, biodegrade, biogas methane, biogenic carbon, bioplastics, carbon dioxide, charles lancelot, chemical additives, electricity, erin prowett, gautam patel, georgia institute of technology, georgia tech research institute, global climate change, gtri, humus, landfills, lisa detter hoskin, methane, north carolina state university, oil derived plastics, organic substances, oxobiodegradables, oxygen and ultraviolet light, pec, pet products, plastic materials, plastic packaging, plastics environmental council, polyethylene, polymer biodegradation, polypropylene, recycling, recycling of plastic water bottles, styrofoam, typical us landfills, united states, us plastics industry, walton collins

Despite efforts to encourage the recycling of plastic water bottles, milk jugs and similar containers, a majority of the plastic packaging produced each year in the United States ends up in landfills, where it can take thousands of years to degrade. To address that problem with traditional polyethylene, polypropylene, Styrofoam and PET products, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are working with the Plastics Environmental Council (PEC) to expand the use of chemical additives that cause such items to biodegrade in landfills.

Added during production of the plastic packaging, the compounds encourage anaerobic landfill bacteria and fungi to break down the plastic materials and convert them to biogas methane, carbon dioxide and biogenic carbon – also known as humus. These additives – simple organic substances that build on the known structures of materials that induce polymer biodegradation – don’t affect the performance of the plastics, introduce heavy metals or other toxic chemicals, or prevent the plastics from being recycled in current channels. (more…)

First Global Picture of Greenhouse Gases Emerges from Pole-to-Pole Research Flights

By Guest PostSeptember 10, 2011Environmentandy watt, anne-marie schmoltner, Antarctic, Arctic, black carbon particles, britton stephens, carbon dioxide, climate, concentrations of greenhouse gases, earth, global distribution of gases, gulfstream v aircraft, harvard university, hiaper, hiaper pole to pole observations, high performance instrumented airborne platform for environmental research, hippo, Houston, industrial age, los angeles, national science foundation, natural carbon dioxide uptake and storage, new zealand, nsf, pacific, particles in the atmosphere, portrait of greenhouse gases, ryan spackman, steven wofsy

*Three-year series of scientific missions from Arctic to Antarctic produces new views of atmospheric chemistry*

A three-year series of research flights from the Arctic to the Antarctic has successfully produced an unprecedented portrait of greenhouse gases and particles in the atmosphere.

The far-reaching field project, known as HIPPO, ends this week, and has enabled researchers to generate the first detailed mapping of the global distribution of gases and particles that affect Earth’s climate. (more…)

Thawing Permafrost Could Release Vast Amounts of Carbon and Accelerate Climate Change by the end of this Century

By Guest PostAugust 27, 2011Environmentalternative energies and atomic energy commission, amount of soil carbon, atmosphere, berkeley lab, boreal and arctic land ecosystems, canada, carbon, carbon dioxide, charles koven, climate changes, combine, computer modeling, energy, European Union, france, frozen soils, global warming, high latitude permafrost, intergovernmental panel on climate change, land surface ecosystem model, lawrence berkeley national laboratory, methane emissions, orchidee, organic matter, plant growth, project, rate of soil carbon decomposition, simulation, supercomputing facility, temperature, united kingdom

*New computer modeling study, led by a Berkeley Lab scientist, could help revise understanding of permafrost’s role in global warming*

Billions of tons of carbon trapped in high-latitude permafrost may be released into the atmosphere by the end of this century as the Earth’s climate changes, further accelerating global warming, a new computer modeling study indicates.

The study also found that soil in high-latitude regions could shift from being a sink to a source of carbon dioxide by the end of the 21^st century as the soil warms in response to climate change. (more…)

Microbial life on Mars: Could Saltwater Make it Possible?

By Guest PostAugust 19, 2011Scienceair pressure, antarctic lakes, atmospheres, bruce block, carbon dioxide, daily and seasonal cycles, earth, forms of microbial life, gregory dick, gulf of mexico, mars, Mars Phoenix Lander, mars today, microbe, microbial life, NASA, nilton renno, organisms, perchlorate salts, salt loving extremophile microorganisms, saltwater on mars, sea level, temperatures, the centro de astrobiologia in madrid, the university of georgia, united states, university of michigan, university of texas at dallas, water vapor

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— How common are droplets of saltwater on Mars? Could microbial life survive and reproduce in them? A new million-dollar NASA project led by the University of Michigan aims to answer those questions.

This project begins three years after beads of liquid brine were first photographed on one of the Mars Phoenix lander’s legs.

“On Earth, everywhere there’s liquid water, there is microbial life,” said Nilton Renno, a professor in the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences who is the principal investigator. Researchers from NASA, the University of Texas at Dallas, the University of Georgia and the Centro de Astrobiologia in Madrid are also involved. (more…)

Ethane Levels Yield Information About Changes in Greenhouse Gas Emissions

By Guest PostAugust 14, 2011EnvironmentAntarctica, atmosphere, atmospheric methane, carbon dioxide, change in energy use, change in human activities, decline in methane emission, donald blake, eric saltzman, ethane, fossil fuel emissions, global temperatures, greenhouse gas, greenland, hydrocarbons, julie palais, kristal verhulst, methane, michael prather, murat aydin, polar ice sheets in greenland and antarctica, potent greenhouse gas, qi tang, twentieth century, university of california

*Research at Greenland and Antarctic shows decline in methane and ethane levels*

Recent data from NSF-funded research in both Greenland and Antarctica demonstrate that fossil-fuel related emissions of both methane and ethane, two of the most abundant hydrocarbons in the atmosphere, declined at the end of the twentieth century, according to a paper published Thursday in the journal Nature.

The causes of the decline in methane emission rates to the atmosphere have been puzzling scientists for some time. This new study shows that a change in human activities may have played a key role in the recent leveling off of methane, which, being a potent greenhouse gas contributes to global temperatures. (more…)

Ancient Fossils Hold Clues for Predicting Future Climate Change, Scientists Report

By Guest PostApril 18, 2011Environmentadam csank, ancient climate record, ancient fossils, Antarctica, aradhna tripati, arctic circle, arctic temperatures, beaver pond, canada, carbon dioxide, climate modeling, coal mine, early pliocene epoch, ellesmere island, Environment, fossilized mollusks, geochemical techniques, geosciences, global climate change, greenland, mollusk shells, natalia rybczynski, polar ice cap, strathcona fiord

By studying fossilized mollusks from some 3.5 million years ago, UCLA geoscientists and colleagues have been able to construct an ancient climate record that holds clues about the long-term effects of Earth’s current levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, a key contributor to global climate change.

Two novel geochemical techniques used to determine the temperature at which the mollusk shells were formed suggest that summertime Arctic temperatures during the early Pliocene epoch (3.5 million to 4 million years ago) may have been a staggering 18 to 28 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than today. And these ancient fossils, harvested from deep within the Arctic Circle, may have once lived in an environment in which the polar ice cap melted completely during the summer months. (more…)

Oxygen Sensor Invention Could Benefit Fisheries to Breweries

By Guest PostApril 5, 2011Sciencebiological wastes, brewing beer, carbon dioxide, concept of oxygen, fish farming, fluctuations in temperature, monitoring oxygen, oil spills, phosphates, salinity

East Lansing, Mich — Monitoring oxygen levels in water has applications for oil spills, fish farming, brewing beer and more – and a professor at Michigan State University is poised to help supply that need.

The concept of oxygen sensors isn’t new. The challenge, however, has been manufacturing one that can withstand fluctuations in temperature, salinity, carbon dioxide, phosphates and biological wastes. Ruby Ghosh, associate professor of physics, was able to overcome those obstacles as well as build one that provides real-time data and is relatively inexpensive. (more…)