Clipping Board » Environmental Pollution & Change ─ How dirty the human heart is, how dirty the environment will be...
Update Date: 2009/02/16 04:09
[Compiled by Zheng Siyin / Comprehensive Report]
American scientists warned on the 14th that due to the faster-than-expected increase in greenhouse gases, rising temperatures are also triggering feedback mechanisms in the global ecosystem. The rate of global warming has even far exceeded the expectations set in 2007. Additionally, the strong advocacy for using biofuels to curb carbon dioxide emissions might have the opposite effect.
Biofuels to Curb Carbon Emissions May Backfire
Field from the Carnegie Institution stated at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on the 14th that since 2000, carbon dioxide emissions have been growing at a rate of 3.5% annually, significantly higher than the 0.9% growth rate in the 1990s, and much faster than the 2007 estimates by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Field, who is also a member of the panel, said that the increase in greenhouse gas emissions is mainly due to higher fuel combustion in developing countries.
The higher-than-expected release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is caused by accelerated natural processes due to feedback loops, with the most notable evidence being the rising temperatures causing the Arctic permafrost to begin melting, releasing hundreds of billions of tons of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.
Field mentioned that out of the trillion tons of carbon dioxide contained in the Arctic permafrost, 10% could be released this century. The melting of permafrost not only releases carbon dioxide but also methane, which has a greenhouse gas content 25 times higher than carbon dioxide.
Moreover, the strong advocacy for using biofuels to curb carbon emissions might even backfire. For example, the increased demand for biofuels has led to an increase in corn cultivation in the United States, meaning that farmland originally used for soybean production must be converted to corn. However, since the demand for soybeans has not decreased, countries like Brazil have increased soybean cultivation to fill the gap. To grow more soybeans, Brazil burns tropical rainforests to create farmland, which in turn leads to more gas emissions.
Source: http:/ / tw. news. yahoo. com/ art……url/ d/ a/ 090216/ 78/ 1eiut. html
Update Date: 2009/02/16 18:01
The pace of global warming is accelerating once again. According to a recent multinational study, due to greenhouse gas emissions far exceeding expectations, the Arctic permafrost is melting at an accelerated rate. The release of greenhouse gases is pushing the Earth into a vicious cycle of warming. Scientists point directly to the major global polluters, China and India, as the culprits.
Global warming has entered a terrifying vicious cycle. Scientists from Finland and Russia have detected N2O, commonly known as laughing gas, seeping from the peat beneath the tundra in Siberia. Methane emissions have also been detected in the perennially frozen permafrost. These two greenhouse gases are 300 and 25 times more destructive than carbon dioxide, respectively, making them super killers of the environment.
Statistics show that the polar permafrost stores 1 trillion tons of carbon for the Earth. Since the industrial revolution, human emissions of carbon dioxide have only amounted to one-third of that. If the permafrost melts, the released greenhouse gases will warm the Earth, which in turn will accelerate the warming of the permafrost, plunging the Earth into an irreversible situation.
But why is the permafrost melting at an accelerated rate now? Scientists say it's due to the unrestrained burning of coal in China and India. However, expecting these developing countries to sacrifice economic growth for environmental protection is probably wishful thinking. To make matters worse, scientists have found that due to abnormal climate conditions, the ocean's ability to absorb greenhouse gases is weakening year by year. Multiple blows are causing the rate of warming to increase unabated.
Scientists warn that if no action is taken this time, the so-called "irreversible consequences" are truly not alarmist talk. (Comprehensive report from Min News)
Source: http:/ / tw. news. yahoo. com/ art……url/ d/ a/ 090216/ 11/ 1ejft. html
UN Experts Warn of Accelerating Climate Crisis beyond Expectations
[Compiled by Zheng Siyin / Comprehensive Report]
American scientists warned on the 14th that due to the faster-than-expected increase in greenhouse gases, rising temperatures are also triggering feedback mechanisms in the global ecosystem. The rate of global warming has even far exceeded the expectations set in 2007. Additionally, the strong advocacy for using biofuels to curb carbon dioxide emissions might have the opposite effect.
Biofuels to Curb Carbon Emissions May Backfire
Field from the Carnegie Institution stated at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on the 14th that since 2000, carbon dioxide emissions have been growing at a rate of 3.5% annually, significantly higher than the 0.9% growth rate in the 1990s, and much faster than the 2007 estimates by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Field, who is also a member of the panel, said that the increase in greenhouse gas emissions is mainly due to higher fuel combustion in developing countries.
The higher-than-expected release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is caused by accelerated natural processes due to feedback loops, with the most notable evidence being the rising temperatures causing the Arctic permafrost to begin melting, releasing hundreds of billions of tons of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.
Field mentioned that out of the trillion tons of carbon dioxide contained in the Arctic permafrost, 10% could be released this century. The melting of permafrost not only releases carbon dioxide but also methane, which has a greenhouse gas content 25 times higher than carbon dioxide.
Moreover, the strong advocacy for using biofuels to curb carbon emissions might even backfire. For example, the increased demand for biofuels has led to an increase in corn cultivation in the United States, meaning that farmland originally used for soybean production must be converted to corn. However, since the demand for soybeans has not decreased, countries like Brazil have increased soybean cultivation to fill the gap. To grow more soybeans, Brazil burns tropical rainforests to create farmland, which in turn leads to more gas emissions.
Source: http:/ / tw. news. yahoo. com/ art……url/ d/ a/ 090216/ 78/ 1eiut. html
China and India: Major Contributors to Global Warming
The pace of global warming is accelerating once again. According to a recent multinational study, due to greenhouse gas emissions far exceeding expectations, the Arctic permafrost is melting at an accelerated rate. The release of greenhouse gases is pushing the Earth into a vicious cycle of warming. Scientists point directly to the major global polluters, China and India, as the culprits.
Global warming has entered a terrifying vicious cycle. Scientists from Finland and Russia have detected N2O, commonly known as laughing gas, seeping from the peat beneath the tundra in Siberia. Methane emissions have also been detected in the perennially frozen permafrost. These two greenhouse gases are 300 and 25 times more destructive than carbon dioxide, respectively, making them super killers of the environment.
Statistics show that the polar permafrost stores 1 trillion tons of carbon for the Earth. Since the industrial revolution, human emissions of carbon dioxide have only amounted to one-third of that. If the permafrost melts, the released greenhouse gases will warm the Earth, which in turn will accelerate the warming of the permafrost, plunging the Earth into an irreversible situation.
But why is the permafrost melting at an accelerated rate now? Scientists say it's due to the unrestrained burning of coal in China and India. However, expecting these developing countries to sacrifice economic growth for environmental protection is probably wishful thinking. To make matters worse, scientists have found that due to abnormal climate conditions, the ocean's ability to absorb greenhouse gases is weakening year by year. Multiple blows are causing the rate of warming to increase unabated.
Scientists warn that if no action is taken this time, the so-called "irreversible consequences" are truly not alarmist talk. (Comprehensive report from Min News)
Source: http:/ / tw. news. yahoo. com/ art……url/ d/ a/ 090216/ 11/ 1ejft. html