Climate Change News & Discussions

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Predicting Methane Dynamics During Drought Recovery
April 13, 2022

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/949725

Introduction:
(DOE via EurekAlert)
The Science

Researchers often think about methane emissions on big scales involving large areas over many years. But spatially isolated “hot spots” and brief “hot moments” also shape methane emissions from tropical forest soils. For example, climate shifts between drought and recovery can result in pulses of methane release from soil. Similarly, small differences in location on a landscape control the proportion of methane production versus methane consumption in soils. In this research, scientists used model simulation of a wet tropical hillslope during typical and drought conditions to understand how observed soil moisture and oxygen dynamics and different kinds of microbes contribute to the soil’s production and consumption of methane.

The Impact

Drought alters the diffusion of oxygen and molecules into and out of soil microsites. This results in increased methane release from the entire hillslope, but only during drought recovery. Overall, the findings show that hot spots and hot moments of methane emissions result from a specific combination of landscape position and soil moisture status. These factors affect the activity of different soil microbes and net methane emissions. This finding is important for understanding sources of methane, an important greenhouse gas.

Summary

Methane emissions and other soil variables are vastly different along different points on the slope between a valley and a ridge. Soils and their processes also differ between drought and non-drought conditions. In particular, valley soils nearly always emit methane, in contrast to ridge and slope soils. However, during recovery from a strong drought, methane emissions were substantial from all three landscape positions. This study wanted to understand the reasons behind the complex methane dynamics, both in terms of space (hot spots) and time (hot moments). The researchers coupled a microbial functional group model that considered a range of soil variables, using capabilities to consider diffusion of solutes and gases into and out of soil microsites. The model successfully represented methane emissions under all conditions and from all landscape positions. Methanogens were dominant in the wet valley soils, while methanotrophs were dominant in the drier ridge and slope soils.
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An Earth Day Technology Worth Investing In
by Daphne Wysham
April 13, 2022

https://otherwords.org/an-earth-day-tec ... esting-in/

Introduction:
(Other Words) This year’s Earth Day comes on the heels of some alarming climate news. But if we act now, we can make a huge difference.

This April, scientists observed a record annual increase in methane levels in the atmosphere for the second year in a row. It’s the largest increase since record-keeping began.

Methane is a greenhouse gas that’s over 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide. It’s a major contributor to global warming.

Man-made sources of methane —from fossil fuels to factory farms and landfills — dominate our atmosphere today. But about 40 percent of the methane now in the atmosphere comes from natural sources like wetlands and melting permafrost.

Scientists worry these natural sources of methane will grow rapidly as the world warms.
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I went on TV to explain Just Stop Oil – and it became a parody of Don’t Look Up

Miranda Whelehan
Wed 13 Apr 2022 17.34 BST

I hadn’t seen the 2021 satirical film Don’t Look Up when I went on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday. I was there on behalf of Just Stop Oil – a group that has been engaging in direct action by blockading oil terminals. We’re demanding that the UK government ends all new oil licences, exploration and consent in the North Sea. It’s a simple message that’s in line with science.

But the simplicity of our demands seemed to annoy my interviewer, Richard Madeley. “But you’d accept, wouldn’t you, that it’s a very complicated discussion to be had, it’s a very complicated thing,” he said. “And this ‘Just Stop Oil’ slogan is very playground-ish isn’t it? It’s very Vicky Pollard, quite childish.” I then proceeded to talk about the recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which confirmed that it is “now or never” to avoid climate catastrophe. But they didn’t seem to care.

People were quick to point out the parallels with a key scene in Don’t Look Up, when Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence’s characters, both astronomers, go on a morning talkshow to inform the public about a comet that’s heading to Earth, potentially leading to an extinction-level event. The newsreaders don’t care about what they have to say: they prefer to “keep the bad news light”.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... ng-britain


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Antarctic sea ice experiences record low extent for the second time in 5 years
https://phys.org/news/2022-04-antarctic ... years.html
by Chinese Academy of Sciences
Arctic sea ice may be disappearing, but until recently, Antarctic sea ice was having the opposite experience. In February, however, the extent of sea ice at the southern hemisphere experienced a record low, the second such event in five years. Researchers have now identified its proximate causes, but many mysteries remain.

A study describing their findings was published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences on April 19.

The extent of sea ice in the Arctic is famously undergoing rapid decline as a result of global warming, but at the Earth's other pole, Antarctic sea ice has been enjoying a modest increasing trend of about one percent a decade since the late 1970s (albeit with significant variation from year to year and substantial regional differences).
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There's Something Different About Clouds in Antarctica, And It Could Be Important
by David Nield
April 20, 2022

https://www.sciencealert.com/there-s-so ... ate-models

Introduction:
(Science Alert) Clouds that form in the frosty air above Antarctica are different in the way that water and ice interact inside them, a new study reveals – and that in turn changes how much sunlight they reflect back into space, which is important for climate change models.

Through a combination of modeling, satellite imagery and data collected from flying through the clouds themselves, researchers have identified a process of 'secondary' ice production. This means icy particles collide with supercooled water droplets, freezing and then shattering them, creating many more shards of ice.

The technical term for this sequence of events is Hallett-Mossop rime splintering. It dims the clouds, reducing the amount of sunlight that's reflected back into space, and allowing more of it through into the ocean below.

"The Southern Ocean is a massive global heat sink, but its ability to take heat from the atmosphere depends on the temperature structure of the upper ocean, which relates to the cloud cover," says atmospheric scientist Rachel Atlas, from the University of Washington.

Based on the researchers' calculations, in clouds at temperatures between -3°C and -8°C (26.6°F and 17.6°F), around 10 Watts per square meter of extra energy could reach the ocean from the Sun, enough to significantly change temperatures.
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Breakthrough in estimating fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions
https://phys.org/news/2022-04-breakthro ... oxide.html
by University of East Anglia
A team of scientists led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) has made a major breakthrough in detecting changes in fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions more quickly and frequently.

In a study published today they quantified regional fossil fuel CO2 emissions reductions during the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020–2021, using atmospheric measurements of CO2 and oxygen (O2) from the Weybourne Atmospheric Observatory, on the north Norfolk coast in the U.K.

The estimate uses a new method for separating CO2 signals from land plants and fossil fuels in the atmosphere. Previously it has not been possible to quantify changes in regional-scale fossil fuel CO2 emissions with high accuracy and in near real-time.

Existing atmospheric-based methods have largely been unsuccessful at separating fossil fuel CO2 from large natural CO2 variability, so that estimates of changes, such as those occurring in response to the lockdowns, must rely on indirect data sources, which can take months or years to compile.
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Fifteen Carbon Renewal Projects Score One Million Dollars Each in Climate Xprize Milestone
by Devin Coldeway
April 22, 2022

https://techcrunch.com/2022/04/22/15-ca ... milestone/


Extract:
(TechCrunch) A multi-year, $100 million Xprize competition for startups trying to remove or reverse carbon emissions has its first crop of big winners. Though the bulk of this Musk money won’t be given away until 2025, these 15 companies are each getting $1M today to keep the lights on til then.

The Carbon Removal Xprize, funded by the Musk Foundation, aims to reward novel methods to “pull carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere or oceans and lock it away permanently in an environmentally benign way.” We’ve seen a few companies doing this with venture funding as well; it’s clearly an important and potentially both transformative and profitable space.

Here’s a very basic summary of each, in the order listed on the Xprize site (See link above quote box for this list, which includes hyperlinks for further information):
  • Calcite: Using “the natural carbon absorbing properties of Calcium Hydroxide” to pull it from the air at scale
  • Carbyon: “A fast swing process by means of a rotating drum” containing an engineered material to capture CO2
  • Heirloom + Carbfix: Sequestering carbon in naturally occurring minerals and fluids through efficient exposure
  • Project Hajar: Mineralization using 44.01’s peridotite injection process
  • Sustaera: “Direct air capture 2.0” with improved modularity and cheaper chemical reaction pathways
  • Verdox + Carbfix (yes, they’re listed twice): “Electroswing adsorption” to fix CO2 with 70% less energy
  • Bioeconomy Institute at ISU: Uses Pyrolysis to refix outgoing plant-based carbon (with bio-oil byproduct)
  • Global Algae: Algae farms that naturally capture CO2 from the air
  • NetZero: Also pyrolysis (helpful video explainer here)
  • PlantVillage: Helps farmers in Africa to adapt to climate change
  • Takachar: Mobile “oxygen-lean torrefaction” to convert waste biomass to fuel, fertilizer etc
  • Captura: Extracting CO2 directly from seawater by means unspecified
  • Marine Permaculture: “Deepwater-irrigated, open-ocean seaweed mariculture.” Kelp farms!
  • Planetary: Turns mine waste into a “mild, nontoxic antacid” that helps restore natural ocean pH
  • Carbin Minerals: Using mine tailings for a mineralization process
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And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
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