MÔI TRƯỜNG và KHÍ HẬU THAY ĐỔI

[Nhím Hoàng Kim]

Sự bùng nổ khí mê-tan hâm nóng địa cầu tiền lịch sử , có thể trở lại - Nghiên cứu của NASA

Ngày 10 tháng 12 , 2001

Một nghiên cứu gần đây của NASA xác nhận , 55 triệu năm về trước , sự thoát ra nhiều khí mê-tan đông lạnh dưới đáy đại dương , đã hâm nóng địa cầu đến 13 độ F (7 độ C). Các khoa học gia NASA đã dùng những tài liệu từ một mô phỏng điện toán của cổ khí hậu để có thể hiểu rõ hơn vai trò của khí mê-tan trong khí hậu thay đổi . Trong khi đa số các nghiên cứu về khí nhà kính tập trung vào thán khí , khí mê-tan mạnh hơn gấp 20 lần như một loại khí giữ nhiệt trong khí quyển .

Đồ họa này cho thấy băng mê-tan được biết hiện tại , hoặc khí mê-tan đông lạnh , tích tụ trên toàn thế giới . Băng mê-tan xảy ra trong trầm tích đại dương dọc theo rìa lục địa dưới đáy biển , nơi độ sâu của nước hơn 300 đến 500 mét (khoảng 1.000 đến 1.600 bộ Anh), và nhiệt độ lạnh cùng áp suất cao giữ khí mê-tan ở đó ổn định . Băng mê-tan cũng có trong lớp hàn băng . Chất đặc biệt này hình thành khi các phân tử của nước đông lạnh bao bọc các phân tử khí mê-tan . Chính khí mê-tan được tạo ra bằng cách phân hủy vật chất hữu cơ trong trầm tích đại dương . Các khoa học gia hiện đang cố gắng tìm cách làm sao để gõ vào những kho khổng lồ chứa nhiên liệu hóa thạch , mà không phải bị thoát khí mê-tan vào khí quyển mà sẽ làm tăng hâm nóng toàn cầu .

Bài viết từ : Phòng thí nghiệm Nghiên cứu Hàng hải

Trong 200 năm qua , khí mê-tan trong khí quyển đã tăng nhiều hơn gấp đôi do sự phân hủy vật liệu hữu cơ ở vùng đất ngập nước và đầm lầy và khí thải do con người gây ra từ đường ống dẫn khí , mỏ than đá , sự tăng cường trong thủy nông và thải hơi của gia súc .

Tuy nhiên , có một nguồn khí mê-tan khác , được hình thành từ việc phân hủy vật chất hữu cơ trong trầm tích đại dương , bị đông lạnh ở các trầm tích dưới đáy biển .

Gavin Schmidt , tác giả chính của cuộc nghiên cứu này và là nhà nghiên cứu tại Viện Nghiên cứu Không gian Goddard của NASA tại Nữu Ước , NY và Trung tâm Nghiên cứu Hệ thống Khí hậu của Đại học Columbia , nói : “Chúng tôi hiểu rằng những khí nhà kính khác ngoài thán khí cũng rất quan trọng đối với khí hậu thay đổi ngày nay . Công trình này nhất định giúp định lượng tầm quan trọng của chúng trong quá khứ , và giúp đánh giá ảnh hưởng của chúng trong tương lai.”

Cuộc nghiên cứu sẽ được trình bày vào 12 tháng 12 , 2001 , tại Cuộc họp Mùa thu của Hiệp hội Địa Vật lý Hoa Kỳ (AGU), tại San Francisco , CA .

Trong khi đa số nghiên cứu khí nhà kính chú trọng vào thán khí , khí mê-tan mạnh hơn gấp 20 lần như một loại khí giữ nhiệt khí quyển . Biểu đồ tròn này cho thấy nguồn thiên nhiên và nhân tạo và số lượng khí mê-tan khá lớn hiện đang thoát ra vào trong khí quyển .

Các nguồn thiên nhiên bao gồm đầm lầy , mối đất , phân hủy vật chất hữu cơ trong biển và nước ngọt , và băng mê-tan . Những nguồn bị ảnh hưởng do con người bao gồm sự thả hơi từ gia súc , đồng lúa , sự đốt sinh khối , bãi rác , mỏ than đá , và sản xuất khí đốt , với đồng lúa và sự thả hơi của chăn nuôi đang là nguồn khí mê-tan chính .

Trong 200 năm qua , khí mê-tan trong khí quyển có nhiều hơn gấp đôi phần lớn do ảnh hưởng của con người . Một số khoa học gia suy đoán hâm nóng toàn cầu hiện tại cuối cùng có thể hâm nóng đại dương đủ để làm tan chảy khí mê-tan bị đóng băng dưới đáy biển , dẫn đến sự tăng khí mê-tan trong khí quyển . Những phát hiện của cuộc nghiên cứu này cho thấy rằng khi số lượng lớn khí mê-tan bị thoát ra 55 triệu năm về trước , tinh cầu bị hâm nóng lên đến 13 độ F (7 độ C).

Bài viết từ : Phòng thí nghiệm Công nghệ Năng lượng Hoa Kỳ , Chương trình Băng Mê-tan Quốc gia

Nói chung , nhiệt độ lạnh và áp suất cao giữ khí mê-tan ổn định dưới đáy biển , tuy nhiên , điều đó có thể không phải luôn luôn như vậy . Một giai đoạn hâm nóng toàn cầu , gọi là Kỳ Nhiệt Cực đại Hậu Cổ (LPTM), xảy ra khoảng 55 triệu năm về trước và kéo dài khoảng 100.000 năm . Lý thuyết hiện nay cho rằng sự kiện này liên quan đến sự thải khí mê-tan đông lạnh rộng lớn từ sát đáy biển , dẫn đến việc hâm nóng địa cầu như một kết quả của việc khí nhà kính tăng trong khí quyển .

Một sự di chuyển của các khối lục địa , như tiểu lục địa Ấn Độ , có thể đã khởi đầu một sự thoát khí dẫn đến Kỳ Nhiệt Cực đại Hậu Cổ , Schmidt nói . Hôm nay , chúng ta biết rằng khi tiểu lục địa Ấn Độ di chuyển vào trong lục địa Âu-Á , dải Hy Mã Lạp Sơn bắt đầu hình thành . Sự nâng cao thềm kiến tạo này đã giảm áp suất dưới đáy biển và có thể gây ra việc thải khí mê-tan quy mô lớn . Schmidt nói thêm , một khi khí quyển và các đại dương bắt đầu hâm nóng , có thể thêm nhiều khí mê-tan tan ra và tạo thành bọt khí thoát ra ngoài . Một số khoa học gia suy đoán hâm nóng toàn cầu hiện tại có thể cuối cùng dẫn đến viễn cảnh tương tự trong tương lai nếu các đại dương ấm lên .

Khi khí mê-tan (CH4) đi vào khí quyển , nó phản ứng với các phân tử dưỡng khí (O) và hydrogen (H), gọi là gốc OH . Gốc OH kết hợp với khí mê-tan và phân hóa , tạo ra thán khí (CO2) và hơi nước (H2O), trong đó có cả hai là khí nhà kính . Trước đây , các khoa học gia cho rằng tất cả khí mê-tan thoát ra sẽ chuyển hóa thành thán khí và nước sau khoảng một thập niên . Nếu điều đó xảy ra , sự gia tăng thán khí sẽ là tác nhân mạnh nhất gây sự hâm nóng địa cầu . Nhưng khi các khoa học gia cố gắng tìm thấy bằng chứng về mức độ tăng thán khí để giải thích sự hâm nóng nhanh chóng trong Kỳ Nhiệt Cực đại Hậu Cổ , họ không tìm thấy một bằng chứng nào .

Các mô hình được dùng trong nghiên cứu mới cho thấy rằng khi tăng lượng khí mê-tan lên nhiều , các OH mau chóng bị tiêu hao hết và khí mê-tan dư thừa còn lại đến hàng trăm năm , đủ mang lại hâm nóng toàn cầu để giải thích hiện tượng khí hậu Kỳ Nhiệt Cực đại Hậu Cổ .

Schmidt nói : “Mười năm thoát khí mê-tan là một hiện tượng thoảng qua , nhưng hàng trăm năm khí mê-tan trong khí quyển đủ để hâm nóng khí quyển , làm tan băng đá trong đại dương , và thay đổi toàn bộ hệ thống khí hậu . Như vậy , có thể chúng ta đã giải quyết được một vấn đề hóc búa.”

Schmidt cho biết nghiên cứu này nhất định giúp hiểu rõ vai trò của khí mê-tan trong hâm nóng nhà kính hiện tại .

Schmidt nói : “Nếu muốn nghĩ về việc giảm khí hậu thay đổi trong tương lai , người ta cũng phải nhận biết các khí nhà kính khác ngoài thán khí , như khí mê-tan và chlorofluorocarbon . Như vậy mang lại một cách nhìn bao quát hơn , và trong thời gian ngắn hạn , có thể giảm khí mê-tan trong khí quyển với phí tổn ít hơn so với việc giảm thán khí."

Đồ họa này mô tả vận chuyển của khí mê-tan đông lạnh tích tụ sát đáy biển đến khí quyển . Nói chung , nhiệt độ lạnh và áp suất cao giữ khí mê-tan ổn định sát đáy biển . Nhưng trong hiện tượng khí hậu Kỳ Nhiệt Cực đại Hậu Cổ (LPTM), khoảng 55 triệu năm về trước , các khoa học gia tin sự di chuyển thềm kiến tạo giảm áp suất dưới đáy biển và thoát ra khí mê-tan . Khi việc đó đó xảy ra , khí mê-tan tạo thành bọt khí thoát ra ngoài khí quyển , nơi mà nó thực hiện vai trò như một khí nhà kính , hâm nóng địa cầu đến 13 độ F (7 độ C). Điều đó cũng có thể là , một khi khí quyển và đại dương bắt đầu ấm lên , thêm nhiều khí mê-tan tan ra và tạo thành bọt khí thoát ra ngoài .

Bài viết từ : Debbi McLean ,

Để biết thêm chi tiết , xin xem :

http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20011212methane.html

Chú thích của biên tập : Thời gian và địa điểm AGU
Thứ tư , 12 tháng 12 , 2001 , 1 giờ 30 trưa , Moscone Center Hall D

###

Liên lạc :

Timothy R. Tawney
Trung tâm Bay Không gian Goddard , Greenbelt , Md.
Điện thoại : 301/614-6573 hay AGU Press Room 415/905-1007
ttawney@pop100.gsfc.nasa.gov

Krishna Ramanujan
Trung tâm Bay Không gian Goddard , Greenbelt , Md.
Điện thoại : 301/286-3026 hay AGU Press Room 415/905-1007
Kramanuj@pop900.gsfc.nasa.gov

http://www.suprememastertv.com/au/ru...d=576&page=1#v

[Nhím Hoàng Kim]

Khí mê-tan đang tràn ngập vào trong khí quyển từ lãnh nguyên nhanh hơn dự đoán nhiều

4 tháng 12 , 2008

Có thêm khí mê-tan đang thải ra vào trong khí quyển từ lãnh nguyên tại đông bắc Greenland nhiều hơn các nghiên cứu cho thấy trước đây . Những con số mới tiết lộ rằng những số lượng lớn khí nhà kính đang thải ra vào bầu khí quyển , không chỉ trong tháng mùa hè ấm áp , mà còn trong tháng mùa thu lạnh hơn . Đương nhiên , điều này đưa ra những thắc mắc mới liên quan đến sự hiểu biết về hệ thống khí hậu của địa cầu . Khoa học gia tại Đại học Copenhagen đang cộng tác với khoa học gia từ Đại học Lund tại Thụy Điển và Viện Nghiên cứu Môi sinh Quốc gia (DMU), Đại học Aarhus , gần đây đã trình bày những con số mới và ngạc nhiên trong tập san khoa học , Thiên Nhiên .

Khí mê-tan là một khí nhà kính hữu hiệu hơn , và phần lớn khí mê-tan trong khí quyển đến từ khí thải từ những khu vực lãnh nguyên khắp thế giới , một phần đáng kể đến từ những vùng cực . Cho đến nay , khoa học gia tin rằng lãnh nguyên thải ra phần lớn khí mê-tan vào khí quyển trong những tháng ấm . Tuy nhiên , kết quả mới cho thấy rằng thiên nhiên có một kiến thức bí mật . Khoa học gia đã biết rằng sự bắt đầu đông đá những tháng mùa thu cũng ép số lượng khổng lồ khí nhà kính thoát ra khỏi lãnh nguyên . Số ghi được thực hiện tại trạm nghiên cứu Zackenberg ở đông bắc Greenland .

Charlotte Sigsgaard , phụ tá nghiên cứu tại Ban Địa lý & Địa chất , Đại học Copenhagen , nói : “Thật ra , khí thải khí mê-tan vào tháng 9 và tháng 10 năm 2007 tương đương với tổng số khí thải khí mê-tan trong ba tháng mùa hè.”

Những con số này rất ngạc nhiên , và các khoa học gia của chúng tôi hài lòng rằng thời gian đo lường được kéo dài , vốn được khởi động bởi Năm Địa cực Quốc tế 2007 , đã mang lại nhập liệu mới đối với hiểu biết chung của chúng ta về hệ thống khí hậu và , đặc biệt là những thay đổi khí hậu mãnh liệt tại vùng Bắc Cực .

Charlotte Sigsgaard nói và cho biết thêm về những con số mới , nhấn mạnh tầm quan trọng của những hoạt động giám sát mãnh liệt tại vùng Bắc Cực trên cao : “Giám sát trong môi trường dưới 20°C có thể phần nào là vấn đề , nhưng trong trường hợp này việc đó thật tuyệt vời và khá ngạc nhiên khi giám sát khí thải khí mê-tan từ lãnh nguyên bỗng nhiên tăng mạnh khi kết nối với sự bắt đầu đông đá tại Zackenberg.”

Charlotte Sigsgaard dành vài tháng lạnh mùa thu vừa qua trong lãnh vực Zackenberg , giám sát mỗi ngày , điều hành và sử dụng thiết bị để thâu thập mẫu tài liệu từ lãnh nguyên . Việc làm của cô hiện có thể mang đến cho khoa học những hiểu biết mới lạ và chưa từng biết trước đây đối với vấn đề nan giải lớn của khí hậu .

Đại học Copenhagen
Liên lạc : Communications Division +45 35 32 42 61
Nørregade 10 , P.O. Box 2177
kommunikation@adm.ku.dk
DK-1017 Copenhagen K

http://www.suprememastertv.com/au/ru...d=612&page=1#v

[Nhím Hoàng Kim]

Melting Arctic Ocean Raises Threat of ‘Methane Time Bomb’

Nguồn: Yale Environment 360

Scientists have long believed that thawing permafrost in Arctic soils could release huge amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Now they are watching with increasing concern as methane begins to bubble up from the bottom of the fast-melting Arctic Ocean.
by susan q. stranahan

30 Oct 2008: Report

For the past 15 years, scientists from Russia and other nations have ventured into the ice-bound and little-studied Arctic Ocean above Siberia to monitor the temperature and chemistry of the sea, including levels of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Their scientific cruises on the shallow continental shelf occurred as sea ice in the Arctic Ocean was rapidly melting and as northern Siberia was earning the distinction — along with the North American Arctic and the western Antarctic Peninsula —of warming faster than any place on Earth.

Until 2003, concentrations of methane had remained relatively stable in the Arctic Ocean and the atmosphere north of Siberia. But then they began to rise. This summer, scientists taking part in the six-week International Siberian Shelf Study discovered numerous areas, spread over thousands of square miles, where large quantities of methane — a gas with 20-times the heat-trapping power of carbon dioxide — rose from the once-frozen seabed floor.

These “methane chimneys” sometimes contained concentrations of the gas 100 times higher than background levels and were so large that clouds of gas bubbles were detected "rising up through the water column," Orjan Gustafsson of the Department of Applied Environmental Science at Stockholm University and the co-leader of the expedition, said in an interview. There was no doubt, he said, that the methane was coming from sub-sea permafrost, indicating that the sea bottom might be melting and freeing up this potent greenhouse gas.

Gustafsson said he makes no claims that the methane release “is necessarily driven by global warming.”

The route of the Jacob Smirnitskyi, a Russian research vessel that traveled along the Russian Arctic coast this summer as part of the International Siberian Shelf Study. Scientists detected extremely high levels of methane in the sea during the six-week voyage. The purple grid shows areas where researchers sampled gases.

But a growing body of data showing that more methane is emanating from the rapidly thawing Arctic Ocean has caught the attention of many climate scientists. Could this be the beginning, they wonder, of the release of vast quantities of sub-sea Arctic methane long trapped by a permafrost layer that is starting to thaw?

In recent years, climate scientists have been concerned about a so-called “methane time bomb” on land, which would be detonated when warming Arctic temperatures melt permafrost and cause frozen vegetation in peat bogs and other areas to decay, releasing methane and carbon dioxide. Now come fears of a methane time bomb, part two, this one bursting from the sea floor of the shallow Arctic continental shelf. The Arctic sea floor contains a rich, decayed layer of vegetation from earlier eras when the continental shelf was not underwater.

So little data is available from the Arctic Ocean that no scientists dare say with certainty whether the world is watching the fuse being lit on a marine methane time bomb. But researchers such as Natalia Shakhova —a visiting scientist at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks and a participant in some of the Siberian Shelf scientific cruises — are concerned that the undersea permafrost layer has become unstable and is leaking methane long locked in ice crystals, known as methane hydrates.

"Now come fears of a methane time bomb, part two, this one bursting from the sea floor of the shallow Arctic continental shelf."

One thing is certain: the shallow Siberian Shelf alone covers more than 1.5 million square kilometers (580,000 square miles), an area larger than France, Germany, and Spain combined. Should its permafrost layer thaw, an amount of methane equal to 12 times the current level in the atmosphere could be released, according to Shakhova. Such a release would cause “catastrophic global warming,” she recently wrote in Geophysical Research Abstracts. Among the many unanswered questions is how quickly — over years? centuries? — methane releases might occur.

Said Gustafsson, “The conventional view is that the permafrost is holding these large methane reservoirs in place. That is a view that we need to rethink and revise.”

What concerns some scientists is evidence from past geological eras that sudden releases of methane have triggered runaway cycles of climate upheaval. Martin Kennedy, a geologist at the University of California at Riverside and lead author of a paper published in Nature in June, speaks in near-doomsday terms, warning that rising methane emissions — from land and sea — threaten to radically destabilize the climate. Ice core studies in Greenland and Antarctica have shown that Earth’s climate can change abruptly, more like flipping a switch than slowly turning a dial.

“I’m very concerned that we’re near the threshold and we’re going to see the tipping point in 20 years,” Kennedy warns. Temperature increases in the Arctic of a just few degrees could unleash the huge storehouse of methane, which some have estimated would be comparable to burning all recoverable stocks of coal, oil, and natural gas.

"What concerns some scientists is evidence from past geological eras that sudden releases of methane have triggered runaway cycles of climate upheaval."

Kennedy’s Nature article bases his warnings on a long-ago event. Sediment samples gathered in south Australia led Kennedy’s team to theorize that a catastrophic era of global warming was triggered some 635 million years ago by a gradual — and then abrupt — release of methane from frozen soils, bringing an end to “Snowball Earth,” when the entire planet was encrusted in ice. He sees similarities in the mounting threats of thawing terrestrial and marine permafrost today. The question, he asks, is what will set the process in motion and when.

“Do we have a substantial risk of crossing one of these thresholds?” he asked in an interview. “I would say yes. I have absolutely no doubt that at the current rate of [greenhouse gas emissions] we can cross a tipping point, and when that occurs it’s too late to do anything about it.”

As with much climate research, the science is complex and opinions can vary dramatically. David Lawrence of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, is concerned, but not alarmed. Lawrence was lead author of a paper in Geophysical Research Letters, also published in June, that documented the consequences of the record loss of Arctic sea ice in 2007. Based on climate models, Lawrence and his team theorized that during periods of rapid sea-ice loss, temperatures could increase as far as 900 miles inland, accelerating the rate of terrestrial permafrost thaw. From August to October of 2007, they reported, temperatures over land in the western Arctic rose more than 4° F above the 1978-2006 average.

“If you give it [the land] a pulse of warming like that it could lead to increased degradation of permafrost,” Lawrence said in an interview. “It’s not quite a runaway situation, but it does accelerate once it starts to thaw and accumulates heat.”

Arctic soils hold nearly one-third of the world’s supply of carbon, remnants of an era when even the northern latitudes were covered with lush foliage and mammoths ranged over grassy steppes. Scientists estimate that the Siberian tundra contains as much buried organic matter as the world’s tropical rain forests.

Disappearing Arctic sea ice — summer ice extent was at its lowest level in recorded history in 2007 and almost hit that level in 2008 — also will warm the Arctic Ocean, since a dark, ice-free sea absorbs more solar radiation than a white, ice-covered one. In addition, warmer waters are pouring in from rivers in rapidly warming land regions of Alaska, Canada, and Russia, also increasing sea temperatures.

"Scientists are stepping up their monitoring of the land and the sea in the Arctic."

Rising ocean and air temperatures mean not only the continuing disappearance of Arctic sea ice — many scientists now think the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free in summer within two decades — but also mean that permafrost on the sea floor could thaw more quickly. Scientists are unsure how rapidly the subsurface permafrost is thawing, or the exact causes. One possible cause could be geothermal heat seeping through fault zones. In any case, scientists agree that Arctic sub-sea permafrost — with a temperature of 29° F to 30° F— is closer to thawing than terrestrial permafrost, whose temperature can drop as low as 9.5° F.

At this point, scientists are stepping up their monitoring of the land and the sea in the Arctic, watching to see if either time bomb — terrestrial or marine — is showing signs of going off. So far, data are scarce and monitoring networks don’t exist. “That makes it very difficult to understand and evaluate the future,” Lawrence said. Although scientists know that methane has been released in the region’s water for eons, they are unsure if the new findings represent a short-term spike or long-term trend.

Pending more research, Orjan Gustafsson shares Lawrence’s caution. When he was asked how close Earth may be to a tipping point of irreversible climate change, he replied: “Everyone would like to know the answer to that. I don’t think anyone can say.”

the article is reprinted from Yale Environment 360 e360.yale.edu

http://www.suprememastertv.com/au/ru...d=726&page=1#v

Nguồn: Yale Environment 360

Scientists have long believed that thawing permafrost in Arctic soils could release huge amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Now they are watching with increasing concern as methane begins to bubble up from the bottom of the fast-melting Arctic Ocean.
by susan q. stranahan

30 Oct 2008: Report

For the past 15 years, scientists from Russia and other nations have ventured into the ice-bound and little-studied Arctic Ocean above Siberia to monitor the temperature and chemistry of the sea, including levels of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Their scientific cruises on the shallow continental shelf occurred as sea ice in the Arctic Ocean was rapidly melting and as northern Siberia was earning the distinction — along with the North American Arctic and the western Antarctic Peninsula —of warming faster than any place on Earth.

Until 2003, concentrations of methane had remained relatively stable in the Arctic Ocean and the atmosphere north of Siberia. But then they began to rise. This summer, scientists taking part in the six-week International Siberian Shelf Study discovered numerous areas, spread over thousands of square miles, where large quantities of methane — a gas with 20-times the heat-trapping power of carbon dioxide — rose from the once-frozen seabed floor.

These “methane chimneys” sometimes contained concentrations of the gas 100 times higher than background levels and were so large that clouds of gas bubbles were detected "rising up through the water column," Orjan Gustafsson of the Department of Applied Environmental Science at Stockholm University and the co-leader of the expedition, said in an interview. There was no doubt, he said, that the methane was coming from sub-sea permafrost, indicating that the sea bottom might be melting and freeing up this potent greenhouse gas.

Gustafsson said he makes no claims that the methane release “is necessarily driven by global warming.”

The route of the Jacob Smirnitskyi, a Russian research vessel that traveled along the Russian Arctic coast this summer as part of the International Siberian Shelf Study. Scientists detected extremely high levels of methane in the sea during the six-week voyage. The purple grid shows areas where researchers sampled gases.

But a growing body of data showing that more methane is emanating from the rapidly thawing Arctic Ocean has caught the attention of many climate scientists. Could this be the beginning, they wonder, of the release of vast quantities of sub-sea Arctic methane long trapped by a permafrost layer that is starting to thaw?

In recent years, climate scientists have been concerned about a so-called “methane time bomb” on land, which would be detonated when warming Arctic temperatures melt permafrost and cause frozen vegetation in peat bogs and other areas to decay, releasing methane and carbon dioxide. Now come fears of a methane time bomb, part two, this one bursting from the sea floor of the shallow Arctic continental shelf. The Arctic sea floor contains a rich, decayed layer of vegetation from earlier eras when the continental shelf was not underwater.

So little data is available from the Arctic Ocean that no scientists dare say with certainty whether the world is watching the fuse being lit on a marine methane time bomb. But researchers such as Natalia Shakhova —a visiting scientist at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks and a participant in some of the Siberian Shelf scientific cruises — are concerned that the undersea permafrost layer has become unstable and is leaking methane long locked in ice crystals, known as methane hydrates.

"Now come fears of a methane time bomb, part two, this one bursting from the sea floor of the shallow Arctic continental shelf."

One thing is certain: the shallow Siberian Shelf alone covers more than 1.5 million square kilometers (580,000 square miles), an area larger than France, Germany, and Spain combined. Should its permafrost layer thaw, an amount of methane equal to 12 times the current level in the atmosphere could be released, according to Shakhova. Such a release would cause “catastrophic global warming,” she recently wrote in Geophysical Research Abstracts. Among the many unanswered questions is how quickly — over years? centuries? — methane releases might occur.

Said Gustafsson, “The conventional view is that the permafrost is holding these large methane reservoirs in place. That is a view that we need to rethink and revise.”

What concerns some scientists is evidence from past geological eras that sudden releases of methane have triggered runaway cycles of climate upheaval. Martin Kennedy, a geologist at the University of California at Riverside and lead author of a paper published in Nature in June, speaks in near-doomsday terms, warning that rising methane emissions — from land and sea — threaten to radically destabilize the climate. Ice core studies in Greenland and Antarctica have shown that Earth’s climate can change abruptly, more like flipping a switch than slowly turning a dial.

“I’m very concerned that we’re near the threshold and we’re going to see the tipping point in 20 years,” Kennedy warns. Temperature increases in the Arctic of a just few degrees could unleash the huge storehouse of methane, which some have estimated would be comparable to burning all recoverable stocks of coal, oil, and natural gas.

"What concerns some scientists is evidence from past geological eras that sudden releases of methane have triggered runaway cycles of climate upheaval."

Kennedy’s Nature article bases his warnings on a long-ago event. Sediment samples gathered in south Australia led Kennedy’s team to theorize that a catastrophic era of global warming was triggered some 635 million years ago by a gradual — and then abrupt — release of methane from frozen soils, bringing an end to “Snowball Earth,” when the entire planet was encrusted in ice. He sees similarities in the mounting threats of thawing terrestrial and marine permafrost today. The question, he asks, is what will set the process in motion and when.

“Do we have a substantial risk of crossing one of these thresholds?” he asked in an interview. “I would say yes. I have absolutely no doubt that at the current rate of [greenhouse gas emissions] we can cross a tipping point, and when that occurs it’s too late to do anything about it.”

As with much climate research, the science is complex and opinions can vary dramatically. David Lawrence of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, is concerned, but not alarmed. Lawrence was lead author of a paper in Geophysical Research Letters, also published in June, that documented the consequences of the record loss of Arctic sea ice in 2007. Based on climate models, Lawrence and his team theorized that during periods of rapid sea-ice loss, temperatures could increase as far as 900 miles inland, accelerating the rate of terrestrial permafrost thaw. From August to October of 2007, they reported, temperatures over land in the western Arctic rose more than 4° F above the 1978-2006 average.

“If you give it [the land] a pulse of warming like that it could lead to increased degradation of permafrost,” Lawrence said in an interview. “It’s not quite a runaway situation, but it does accelerate once it starts to thaw and accumulates heat.”

Arctic soils hold nearly one-third of the world’s supply of carbon, remnants of an era when even the northern latitudes were covered with lush foliage and mammoths ranged over grassy steppes. Scientists estimate that the Siberian tundra contains as much buried organic matter as the world’s tropical rain forests.

Disappearing Arctic sea ice — summer ice extent was at its lowest level in recorded history in 2007 and almost hit that level in 2008 — also will warm the Arctic Ocean, since a dark, ice-free sea absorbs more solar radiation than a white, ice-covered one. In addition, warmer waters are pouring in from rivers in rapidly warming land regions of Alaska, Canada, and Russia, also increasing sea temperatures.

"Scientists are stepping up their monitoring of the land and the sea in the Arctic."

Rising ocean and air temperatures mean not only the continuing disappearance of Arctic sea ice — many scientists now think the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free in summer within two decades — but also mean that permafrost on the sea floor could thaw more quickly. Scientists are unsure how rapidly the subsurface permafrost is thawing, or the exact causes. One possible cause could be geothermal heat seeping through fault zones. In any case, scientists agree that Arctic sub-sea permafrost — with a temperature of 29° F to 30° F— is closer to thawing than terrestrial permafrost, whose temperature can drop as low as 9.5° F.

At this point, scientists are stepping up their monitoring of the land and the sea in the Arctic, watching to see if either time bomb — terrestrial or marine — is showing signs of going off. So far, data are scarce and monitoring networks don’t exist. “That makes it very difficult to understand and evaluate the future,” Lawrence said. Although scientists know that methane has been released in the region’s water for eons, they are unsure if the new findings represent a short-term spike or long-term trend.

Pending more research, Orjan Gustafsson shares Lawrence’s caution. When he was asked how close Earth may be to a tipping point of irreversible climate change, he replied: “Everyone would like to know the answer to that. I don’t think anyone can say.”

the article is reprinted from Yale Environment 360 e360.yale.edu

http://www.suprememastertv.com/au/ru...d=726&page=1#v

[Nhím Hoàng Kim]

Hydrogen Sulfide Eruptions Along the Coast of Namibia (NASA Images)

Metadata
* Sensor Terra/MODIS
* Start Date 2004-05-12
* Event Start Date2004-05-15
* NH Image ID 12123
* NH Event ID 10367
* NH Posting Date 2004-05-13

Credit NASA GSFC image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team

People living along Namibia's desert coast have long been familiar with the rotten egg smell that periodically emanates from the Atlantic Ocean whenever hydrogen sulfide erupts from the ocean. This MODIS image shows one such eruption on May 12, 2004.

People living along Namibia’s desert coast have long been familiar with the rotten egg smell that periodically emanates from the Atlantic Ocean. With an economy that is largely based on fishing, the locals are also used to seeing millions of fish die whenever the unpleasant scent fills the air. The smell and the fish die-off are caused by hydrogen sulfide erupting from decaying plants on the sea floor.

In the southeast Atlantic Ocean, strong ocean currents carry nutrient-rich deep-ocean water to the surface. The waters nourish free-floating microscopic plants,called phytoplankton, and other sea life. When the plants die, they sink to the ocean floor where bacteria begin to break them down. The oxygen is quickly used in the decay process, and anaerobic bacteria take over. These bacteria emit hydrogen sulfide gas as a by-product.

The gas builds on the ocean floor until it erupts suddenly. When it reaches the surface, the hydrogen combines with oxygen to form water,allowing solid white sulfur to precipitate into the ocean. Of itself,hydrogen sulfide gas is toxic to fish, but this reaction with oxygen also creates deadly low-oxygen conditions in the ocean.

The reaction at the surface also makes hydrogen sulfide eruptions visible in satellite imagery. The
white sulfur reflects light, tinting the water bright green along the Namibian coast. On May 12, 2004, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image of a hydrogen sulfide eruption in progress. Along the coast, milky green sections of ocean show where hydrogen sulfide gas is coming up. Offshore, a phytoplankton bloom forms a bright green swirl in the ocean water, proof of the productivity that triggers the deadly eruptions.

Both the image above and the full image are at MODIS’ maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The image is available in additional resolutions.

Source: http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=19276

http://www.suprememastertv.com/au/ru...d=727&page=1#v

[Nhím Hoàng Kim]

Methane gas released from lakes in Arctic region - 9 Sep 2009

US and Canadian scientists in northwestern Canada have found alarming signs of permafrost melt in the form of “seeps,” which are leaking pure methane gas from the floorbed of Arctic lakes.

With permafrost, or frozen tundra soil, covering almost one fifth of the Earth’s surface and containing massive stores of embedded carbon, permafrost expert Canadian Chris Burn has stated, “If we lost just 1 percent of the carbon in permafrost today, we'd be close to a year's contributions from industrial sources.”

The researchers’ concern is amplified since it has been found that the Arctic region is warming many times faster than the rest of the world. Thus, these ancient deposits could quickly decompose, releasing carbon dioxide, along with the more powerfully warming gas methane. We are grateful for the dedication of the US and Canadian scientists whose studies in these remote regions show just how rapidly the Arctic is changing. May this eye-opening research lead to our own swift actions to stabilize our climate.

In the following excerpt from a June 2008 videoconference with our Association members in England, Supreme Master Ching Hai addresses the tolls of the meat industry in affecting the melting permafrost.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: The permafrost layer is melting each day. And the methane gas, or other gases even, are releasing into the atmosphere. Methane and nitrous oxide is made by stock raising, stock keeping, animals keeping. They are far more poisonous, far more dangerous than CO2. So the effect is immense. Because the methane gas,
it has been trapped all these centuries, because of stockbreeding, into the lakes, into the permafrost, into the ocean, and now if it’s melting then the gas will be released also.
On top of that, if we have daily more animal breeding, more methane gas, then we will never stop. So just stop killing animals, stop raising animals anymore. And we don’t produce anymore methane gas, then it is a perfect picture.

Reference:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090830/...ubling_bubbles
http://2020science.org/2009/09/01/ge...oyal-society/#

http://www.suprememastertv.com/au/ru...=1056&page=1#v

[Nhím Hoàng Kim]

Rapid warming is increasing global impact - 12 Sep 2010

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has published a comprehensive report intended to provide leaders at the upcoming climate change meeting in Denmark with solid research in support of urgent action.

Among its many findings were that the rapid Arctic melt and release of poisonous methane from melting permafrost could lead to dangerously irreversible climate change.

The report also stated that sea level rise would be twice that cited in the most recent UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change figures, due to the rapid melting of Greenland and the Antarctic.
Dr. Martin Sommerkorn, senior climate change advisor for WWF’s Arctic program said, "This report shows that it is urgently necessary to rein in greenhouse gas emissions while we still can. …

Simply put, if we do not keep the Arctic cold enough, people across the world will suffer the effects.” Our sincere appreciation Dr. Sommerkorn, World Wildlife Fund and all participating researchers for this in-depth evaluation of human-caused global warming.

We pray that leaders across the globe unite in commitment to sustainable lifestyles that protect our planet.
Supreme Master Ching Hai has on many occasions encouraged humanity’s quick response to the urgent facts being presented by the world’s scientists, as in this July 2008 videoconference in Tokyo, Japan.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: I think we’d better heed the warning of the scientists because otherwise it’s not just the ice melt, maybe we will melt also.
I hope not! And we are working frantically toward saving the planet. So if we be vegetarian, our good karma of saving lives will in turn reward us with our lives saved. That’s all I can say.

Reference
http://www.upi.com/Energy_Resources/...1181251909643/
http://www.reuters.com/article/envir...5812AJ20090902
http://www.google.com/hostednews/can...mpEZS4oXbJG82A

http://www.suprememastertv.com/au/ru...=1512&page=1#v

[Nhím Hoàng Kim]

Siberian Arctic temperatures and methane emissions sharply increased - 13 Jan 2010

Scientists from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks in the USA have reported that the shallow undersea permafrost in Siberia, which until recent years was stable, is now noted as releasing significant amounts of methane, even more than the record highs from Summer 2008.

According to lead scientist Professor Igor Semiletov, who is also head of the International Siberian Shelf Study (ISSS), the region is experiencing the fastest temperature rise of the planet.

Springtime air is currently measured at an average of 4 degrees Celsius higher than in the last three decades of the 20th century. Sudden releases of methane gas are linked to runaway global warming and are considered a factor in the past mass extinction of species.

The Alaskan researchers state that if the current warming conditions continue, the melting of underwater Siberian permafrost would release catastrophic amounts of methane.

Dr. Sergey Kirpotin – Tomsk University (Quote in Russian): As more permafrost melts, more greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere. It is absolutely evident. We could be uncertain in quantitative terms, but the fact that this process has a global character, global importance and global scale is absolutely evident.

Vladimir Chuprov – Greenpeace Russia Representative (Quote in Russian):It is essential to come up with a new international agreement that could guarantee the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions – the causes of the global climate change.

Only then could we slow down these negative processes that take place also in the Russian Arctic. Professor Semiletov and University of Alaska colleagues, we appreciate this clarion call about the dire signals being conveyed by our Earth.

May we all deeply realize the grave nature of climate change and act now to protect our shared planetary home. As on many occasions, Supreme Master Ching Hai explained during an October 2009 videoconference in Hong Kong the urgent situation of methane gas release, while offering the surest solution.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: There are massive quantities of gases, poisonous and explosive, such as under the permafrost. The gas released then causes more warming, which causes even more gas to be released. This is like a vicious circle. They even call this vicious feedback cycle a so-called “climate time bomb.” We are running out of time, we must wake up soon; we must make a small sacrifice and changes.

I am hopeful. I’m having a positive feeling that it won’t happen to Earth, but we all must work; we cannot sit there and wait for a miracle to happen. God needs us to represent Hirm in compassion, in merciful heart, in the way we live a godly life, befitting God’s children. If we all become vegan and live a virtuous, compassionate life, it won’t happen.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8437703.stm

http://www.suprememastertv.com/au/ru...=1513&page=1#v

[Nhím Hoàng Kim]

Melting tundra releases immense carbon stores - 20 Jan 2010

A study recently conducted by Dr. Sofia Hjalmarsson of the Department of Chemistry at Sweden’s University of Gothenburg found that the permafrost layer stretching across the vast reaches of the Arctic contains an additional global warming hazard.

Besides the melting of methane hydrate crystals, which have already been observed as gaseous bubbles rising from an increasing number of Siberian lakes and other water bodies, the thawing tundra also releases stored carbon.

Dr. Hjalmarsson’s studies of the Laptev, East Siberian and Chukchi Seas of north Siberia as well as the Baltic Sea revealed elevated carbon dioxide levels in all of them, meaning that organic carbon released from the permafrost is being carried by the rivers out into the coastal waters.

Dr. Hjalmarsson warned that the danger of the permafrost thawing is that it cannot be stopped once it advances beyond a certain stage, meaning that the melting of the vast carbon stores must be stopped now.

Our appreciation, Dr. Sofia Hjalmarsson for this important research showing the ever-increasing dangers of global warming. May findings as these spur us all toward sustainable practices such as the Earth-saving vegan diet. During an international gathering with our Association members in February 2008, Supreme Master Ching Hai spoke of toxic gases such as methane being released with atmospheric warming, as she urged for the solution that addresses the root cause.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: You see, the gases are fuming from the ocean and from the land that’s been defrosting. It’s fuming everywhere. It’s just that at the moment, it’s not so intense.

Everybody knows by now, from the UN report that meat eating, animal raising, it’s one of the worst factors, or even the worst factor of global warming. And nobody talks about it.

Everybody says, new energy, biofuel, hybrid car, dig a hole and store the carbon.” As if it will not bust one day. And before that you have to breathe in already, as if will not affect you.

What is so difficult, to put down one piece of meat, and replace it with one piece of tofu? Which is exactly the same, better nutrition. Better for your health. More economized.

http://www.physorg.com/news182430651.html
http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem...CultureCode=en
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Tundr...s-131761.shtml

http://www.suprememastertv.com/au/ru...=1514&page=1#v

[Nhím Hoàng Kim]

Methane emissions foretell runaway climate change - 27 Jan 2010

Scientists at Edinburgh University in Scotland have observed a 31% increase in methane emitted by high latitude permafrost, or Arctic tundra, in just the past five years. They also note that global warming in the Arctic is occurring at twice the rate as anywhere else on Earth, with some regions having already warmed by 2.5 degrees Celsius.

Dr. Phillippe Ciais with the Laboratory for Climate Sciences and the Environment in France reported in 2009 that vast stores of methane could be released with just a 2 degree Celsius average global rise. As Arctic soils store billions of tons of the gas, which has far more warming potential than carbon dioxide, the thawing of this region could create what has been called a “ticking timebomb” that would overwhelm any human efforts to halt it.

Dr. Ciais and University of Edinburgh researchers, we appreciate your observations and their resounding call to action. Let us step urgently while we still have time toward sustainable solutions that preserve our planet.

Supreme Master Ching Hai has often emphasized the critical danger of triggering such a methane release, as well as what we can do to halt it, as during September 2009 videoconference in South Korea.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: I would say that the most serious one is the frightening prospect of runaway global warming, described by scientists as the conditions that will trigger out-of-control climate change effects.
This runaway warming of the climate could easily be caused by melting permafrost, which is the frozen soil extending across the vast expanse of the Arctic tundra.

As the permafrost melts, it releases methane stored underground. Since 2007, scientists have seen more and more evidence of methane from permafrost melt, with recent discoveries of pure methane gas bubbling up from the bottom of the Arctic lakes in both northern Canada and Russia.

The more people who eliminate meat and, indeed, all animal products from their lives, the more we have a chance to save the planet and not only that, to actually restore our earthly home to her original grace and beauty and even more so, more than what we have known, more beautiful, more abundant, more peace, more gladness than what we have known up to now.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...afrost-methane
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/s...st/8459770.stm
http://www.news.com.au/arctic-greenh...-1225820280873

http://www.suprememastertv.com/au/ru...=1515&page=1#v

[Nhím Hoàng Kim]

Permafrost receding northward - 26 Feb 2010

In two concurring studies, researchers from Canada’s Université Laval and Sweden’s Lund University have found that the permanently frozen ground known as permafrost is melting at southern latitudes.

In the case of Canada’s James Bay region, the permafrost layer now begins 130 kilometers north of where it had been 50 years ago. In Sweden, scientists found over a several-year period that the permafrost in one peat mire region completely disappeared. The Canadian researchers also noted a temperature rise of some 2 degrees Celsius over the last two decades, saying that if this continues, permafrost in the James Bay region will vanish.

Not only is the melting of permafrost a sign of acute global warming, scientists have warned previously that its effects include the collapse of entire communities, which has already been seen in Arctic locations like Alaska, USA.

Worse yet are the vast underground stores of methane that are released as the permafrost melts, with tipping points beyond which runaway global warming is inevitable.

We thank you for your careful observations, Canadian and Swedish scientists, despite our alarm at what they foretell. May everyone turn to harmonious lifestyles that sustain our environment while there is still time.

As in a September 2009 videoconference held in Peru, Supreme Master Ching Hai has frequently spoken of such warning signs as permafrost melt, along with the way we can all act to halt it.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: US and Canadian scientists traveling to the Arctic have noted increased methane gas being released from the Earth’s melting permafrost, which is storing immense amounts of methane beneath the frozen surface. Other research has also highlighted how quickly the temperature is rising in the Arctic, much faster than in the rest of the world.

This means a vast quantity of methane could be released from the previously frozen soil very quickly, which would be a complete disaster for life on Earth.

One fact is clear: if we stop meat consumption and livestock raising, we will also eliminate one of the most heat-trapping gases, which is methane.

And since this gas disappears more quickly from the atmosphere, the planet will cool almost immediately.
This will also address problems like the melting permafrost, which will otherwise emit more methane if nothing is done to halt it.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0217101129.htm
http://ca.reuters.com/article/domest...100217?sp=true
http://www5.fsa.ulaval.ca/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0218081629.htm

http://www.suprememastertv.com/au/ru...=1516&page=1#v

[Nhím Hoàng Kim]

Sulfur dioxide pollution highlights methane as key to global warming - 11 Mar 2010

With countries such as China and India now reducing pollutants containing sulfur dioxide, Dr. Frank Raes, head of the Climate Change Unit of the European Commission Joint Research Center in Italy reports that the planet is likely to heat more quickly in response.

Sulfur dioxide, which is emitted in the processing of coal, oil and other industrial processes, has already been significantly reduced in many developed nations.

Although it is harmful to health, sulfur aerosols create an atmospheric cooling effect that offsets the heat emitted by the CO2 released in these same processes.

This suggests that the heat from coal, oil and industry in developing nations has played a smaller role in global warming than previously thought. Such a finding corresponds with the conclusions of Dr. Drew Shindell from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration, who estimated that because of sulfur dioxide’s cooling effect, methane, which is generated primarily by activities related to meat production, is heating the atmosphere much more than previously thought.

Our appreciation Dr. Raes and European Commission Joint Research Center fellow scientists, for this insightful finding. Let us choose the fastest way to return to health and cool the planet, namely, through the safe and Earth-friendly vegan diet.

As mentioned on previous occasions, Supreme Master Ching Hai reminded once again during a September 2009 videoconference in South Korea that the most urgent global warming threat lies in sources other than carbon dioxide.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: If the goal is to be a truly carbon-free society, we should consider all the major sources of greenhouse gases emissions. You see, we are emitting greenhouse gases not just through the fumes from factories, houses, and cars, but also through the products that we choose to consume. Besides, CO2 is cancelled out by aerosols, which are released at the same time from burning fossil fuels.

Even though aerosols are very detrimental to our health, they actually have a cooling effect that cancels out the CO2 heat in the atmosphere.

So the warming climate problem is not from CO2 I repeat, it’s not from carbon dioxide. It is from other sources, mainly methane.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: First and foremost, eliminate the single largest source of human-caused methane, namely, livestock. Stop animal products, then we stop global warming.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/...-culprits.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle6895907.ece

http://www.suprememastertv.com/au/ru...=1517&page=1#v

[Nhím Hoàng Kim]

Seabed methane could spell climate disaster - 27 Mar 2010

In a new study published in the journal “Science,” a team of researchers from Russia, United States and Sweden have found that thawing permafrost is causing 8 million tons of methane to be released from the seabed of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf each year.

This alarming amount from just one location is equivalent to the total that had been previously estimated for all the world’s oceans and causes concern that a tipping point may have already been reached.

Lead researcher, Dr. Natalia Shakhova of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks in the USA noted that current average methane concentrations in the Arctic are already the highest in 400,000 years.

Of equal concern is the fact that, averaged over a 20-year period, methane is 72 times more heat-trapping than CO2; however, these potentially vast permafrost methane emissions are not included in climate change prediction models.

Dr. Shakhova and international colleagues, we are grateful for your sharing of such factually urgent observations. Let us act in accordance with their dire implications and move swiftly toward sustainable ways to save our ecosphere.

Supreme Master Ching Hai has spoken with concern on several occasions about the risks of melting permafrost, as during a September 2009 videoconference in South Korea.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Since 2007, scientists have seen more and more evidence of methane from permafrost melt, with recent discoveries of pure methane gas bubbling up from the bottom of the Arctic lakes in both northern Canada and Russia. This situation is so alarming that

UN Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change Chairman Dr. Pachauri has referred to the potential for “abrupt, irreversible climate change” from the melting permafrost. This irreversible effect, we want to avoid at all costs, especially since it may not be as far away as we would like to think.

The more people who eliminate meat and, indeed, all animal products from their lives, the more we have a chance to save the planet and not only that, to actually restore our earthly home to her original grace and beauty and even more so, more than what we have known, more beautiful, more abundant, more peace, more gladness than what we have known up to now.

So please, be a part of the solution and join in first by being vegan yourself and helping to spread this message as much, as quickly as possible: Be Veg, Go Green, Save the Planet.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle7050312.ece
http://esciencenews.com/articles/201...er.anticipated
http://www.theage.com.au/national/se...0305-pox2.html

http://www.suprememastertv.com/au/ru...=1518&page=1#v

[Nhím Hoàng Kim]

Thawing permafrost releases nitrous oxide - 15 Apr 2010

A recent study by scientists at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark has found that the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide is released as permafrost in the Northern Hemisphere thaws. Identified as the third most predominant greenhouse gas by the United Nations after carbon dioxide and methane, nitrous oxide is 310 times more warming than carbon dioxide and its release into the atmosphere creates a feedback loop that accelerates global warming.

Previously, scientists had thought that permafrost thawing did not release nitrous oxide in large amounts, but this most recent study, conducted on core samples from Greenland, indicates that as the soil is re-saturated with melt-water, nitrous oxide production increases to 20 times it natural levels, with a third entering the atmosphere.

University of Copenhagen scientists, we are grateful for your observations that add to our knowledge about climate change. May such awareness motivate us all to act now while we still can protect our precious planet.

Supreme Master Ching Hai has often expressed her concern regarding the melting of the Arctic permafrost, also urging actions to halt it, as in this July 2008 videoconference with our Association members in the US.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: And you see, if it is not cold then even all the permafrost, which is the cold hard mud layers, will be melted also, and then the gas from the permafrost also will be released. So it depends on how many people join the vegetarian diet.

The more vegetarian people, the less killing of the animals, the more time we have to rescue the planet and the lives on the planet. So everybody has to join to into the vegetarian diet, and stop the killing, stop the harm to other people and the animals and save energies every way possible and go green wherever possible.

THEN WE STILL CAN SAVE THE PLANET

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=10290840
http://www.triplepundit.com/2010/04/...ughing-matter/

http://www.suprememastertv.com/au/ru...=1519&page=1#v

[Nhím Hoàng Kim]

Focus on reducing short-lived methane to cool the planet faster - 16 Jun 2010

The US-based environmental group, Clean Air Task Force (CATF) has been researching ways to decrease both air pollution and global warming, by focusing primarily on the so-called “basket” of shorter-lived climate forcers.

According to CATF scientist Dr. Ellen Baum, reducing substances like black carbon, tropospheric ozone, and methane would be more effective in quickly cooling the planet than prioritizing carbon dioxide mitigation.

Dr. Ellen Baum – Researcher, Clean Air Task Force, USA; Vegetarian (F): You would get both the air quality benefit and you’d get a much faster climate response from reductions than you would get by being able to cut carbon dioxide. And we don’t seem to be cutting carbon dioxide either.

VOICE: In particular, Dr. Baum explained why a focus on reducing human-caused methane is urgently needed. Whereas carbon dioxide can take hundreds or even thousands of years to stop heating the atmosphere, methane dissipates in a small fraction of that time.

Dr. Ellen Baum (F): Methane has a much shorter lifetime than CO2, and therefore it is something we think needs immediate attention. It’s also a precursor to tropospheric ozone, and probably one of the best ways to reduce the part of tropospheric ozone that has the most climate impact.

VOICE: Among all global human sources of methane, the livestock industry is by far the largest at 37%, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, and even more in certain countries.
Dr. Baum, a vegetarian herself, explained the implications of removing this major source of planetary warming.

Dr. Ellen Baum (F): If we ate no meat, it would have a beneficial effect on the climate in all sorts of ways. You would have a much smaller population of ruminant livestock, so you wouldn’t have methane emissions.
You wouldn’t have to have the conversion of land to grazing land so that you would have beef operations. So, I don’t have any question if the whole population worldwide, 7 billion people stopped eating meat, it would make a difference.

VOICE: Dr. Baum and Clean Air Task Force, we appreciate your efforts in calling attention to these atmospheric agents that account significantly toward global warming. May we all do our part to curb such harmful effects through the simple and humane change to meat-free fare.

Supreme Master Ching Hai has frequently advocated a focus on eliminating short-lived greenhouse gases like methane, as during an interview published in the December 16, 2009 edition of The Irish Dog Journal.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Methane, the potent, greenhouse gas whose largest human-created source is the livestock industry, traps a hundred times more heat than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.

Until now most studies used the fact that methane is 23 times more heat trapping than CO2, over 100 years, which gives a less accurate picture about methane in its actual life span.

Therefore, the powerful methane is actually a greater cause of the warming than previously estimated. The good news is that methane dissipates from the atmosphere in approximately 12 years, whereas it takes carbon dioxide thousands of years to disappear.

So, if we want to make a rapid, effective difference now, we must stop the methane generation at its largest, original source: that is, the livestock industry.

http://www.htap.org/meetings/2009/20...g%20Agents.pdf
http://www.fao.org/ag/magazine/0612sp1.htm
http://www.nature.com/climate/2008/0....2008.122.html

http://www.suprememastertv.com/au/ru...=1619&page=1#v

[Nhím Hoàng Kim]

Short-lived greenhouse gases heating the planet - 26 Jun 2010

As government climate efforts continue to focus on reducing carbon dioxide as a major greenhouse gas, a growing number of scientists and leaders have begun calling attention to other climate forcing agents whose warming effects are many times shorter-lived than CO2.

Along with methane, a potent greenhouse gas primarily generated by the livestock industry whose effects can dissipate in as few as ten years, other agents have similarly have intense warming influences that could quickly be halted. Dr. Andreas Stohl from the Norwegian Institute for Air Research explains.

Andreas Stohl (M): The short-lived climate forcers are anything that has a shorter lifetime than say, 10, 15 years, starting at methane, which has a lifetime of about 10 years. Which means that, if you reduce the emissions of these substances, then the concentrations in the atmosphere would almost immediately go down. And that means that climate impacts would also be reduced almost immediately, which we don’t get for the CO2.

VOICE: One of the aerosols that acts as a short-lived climate forcer is black carbon, or soot. Soot is released through the incomplete combustion of burning substances such as biofuels, fields, or forests.

The black air-borne particles absorb solar radiation both while in the atmosphere and after being deposited on snow or ice, resulting in regional warming.

Andreas Stohl (M): It darkens the snow surface and then the snow starts absorbing more solar radiation, and that means that the snow is probably melting away quicker in the spring. And if it’s a glacier, then it could also cause additional melting.

VOICE: We thank Dr. Stohl and all scientists and governments for your consideration of this significant warming source. Let us join in acting now to address such short-lived agents as black carbon and methane to bring swift and necessary planetary cooling. Supreme Master Ching Hai has frequently urged for the most effective actions in halting climate change, as during an interview published in the December 16, 2009 edition of The Irish Dog Journal.

Supreme Master Ching Hai : The powerful methane is actually a greater cause of the warming than previously estimated. The good news is that methane dissipates from the atmosphere in approximately 12 years, whereas it takes carbon dioxide thousands of years to disappear.

So, if we want to make a rapid, effective difference now, we must stop the methane generation at its largest, original source: that is, the livestock industry. The livestock sector is the top driving force behind rainforest destruction. Forest burning for making pasture is also a major source of black carbon, which is soot, particles capable of trapping 2,000 times more heat than CO2.

The super hot particles end up on the world’s ice caps and accelerate their melting. I pray that our world’s leaders will take swift actions to ban the destructive meat production and, instead, use subsidies for organic vegan farming which helps absorb emissions. Then, we can have an immediate effect on climate change and have more time to develop and perfect our green technology to address CO2.

http://www.suprememastertv.com/au/ru...=1621&page=1#v

[Nhím Hoàng Kim]

Global methane from the livestock industry underestimated - 5 Jul 2010

Through recalculations based on a new approach, US researchers from the University of Missouri have concluded that the amounts of methane emitted from the waste on dairy and pig farms could be underestimated by as much as 65%.

US factory farms, which house thousands of animals at a time in one building, are often forced to dispose of the overwhelming quantities of waste in manure “lagoons,” open and untreated cesspits holding up to millions of gallons of liquid waste.

Although these livestock waste lagoons generate toxic methane gas as a byproduct, they are rarely measured due to the technical difficulty and high costs. As a result, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had been estimating the emissions of this potent greenhouse gas based on a certain United Nations formula. However, the scientists found that the lagoons generated methane more rapidly than calculated by the UN formula.

This, combined with other equation updates, suggested the current methane emissions could be up to two-thirds higher than estimated. In addition, the report stated that other farmed animal operations may in fact be producing methane pollution beyond the threshold currently required for reporting to the EPA such as livestock farms with less than 3,200 dairy cows or 34,100 pigs.The harmful effects of livestock manure on environment and health due were further described by US investigative journalist David Kirby in an interview.

David Kirby – Award winning US investigative journalist, author of “Animal Factory” (M): There are all the gases that come up off the lagoons, that come out of the barns themselves, and that come from the spray fields, where when they have to get rid this liquid waste. Of course, if the wind comes, well that’s great for the farmer, because he’s just gotten rid of several hundreds of gallons of liquid that just flew away out in the air.

The lagoons themselves give off gas, and they emit methane, which is very hazardous to human health; hydrogen sulfide, which can cause neurological disorders, depression, anxiety, even suicide, aggression – hydrogen sulfide is a horrible thing to be exposed to; and ammonia.

VOICE: Our appreciation, Mr. Kirby and University of Missouri researchers for your factual observations that help quantify this harmful greenhouse gas. With such serious considerations as these, may governments and individuals make the urgent and necessary shift to low-emission, humane plant-based agriculture to save the planet.

Supreme Master Ching Hai has conveyed on many occasions her concern for the environmental impact of animal farming, as during this September 2009 videoconference in South Korea.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: The animals and their waste also produce very potent greenhouse gases, like methane and nitrous oxide, even other toxic gases. Methane is up to 100 times more potent than carbon dioxide. And nitrous oxide is 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Respected scientists recalculated and found that the meat industry is actually producing more than 50% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Meat is the number one cause of global warming. So, the number one solution is to stop producing it. Logical, yes? So, we all have to be vegan. That is what the science is clearly telling us right now.

http://www.physorg.com/news196618186.html
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science...gas_emissions/

http://www.suprememastertv.com/au/ru...=1671&page=1#v

[Nhím Hoàng Kim]

Nitrous oxide and methane emissions recalculated - 20 Jul 2010

Although CO2 emissions are typically believed to be the primary source of global warming, a study conducted by Dutch government researcher Dr. Petra Kroon has found that non-CO2 emissions, specifically those from methane and nitrous oxide, have in fact been underestimated due to inaccurate measuring methods.

By devising an innovative technique to measure the emission of these gases, Dr. Kroon, who was conducting research on behalf of the Netherlands’ Energy Research Center and Delft University of Technology, was able to calculate their contributions more accurately.

She found that the previous methods used by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for measuring these gases would account in the Netherlands for 14% percent of overall greenhouse gas emissions, and 23% globally.

However, Dr. Kroon’s newly available technology and methods that allowed measurements across several hectares continuously yielded vastly different measurements, which were also calculated with a much higher degree of certainty.

Using this technique, Dr. Kroon found, for example, that 70% of the annual greenhouse gas emissions in a peat pasture area used for intensive dairy farming were attributed to methane and nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide and methane are known to be linked to agriculture, with the methane mostly released from cattle and nitrous oxide emitted primarily by their manure as well as fertilizers. These two gases are also known to have a much higher global warming potential than CO2, which could change other calculations considerably.

Our appreciation, Dr. Kroon, the Netherlands and Delft University of Technology for this insightful research.
May individuals and governments alike quickly adopt more sustainable ways such as organic vegan farming to cool and restore our planetary balance. During a November 2009 videoconference in the United States, Supreme Master Ching Hai discussed research findings that also confirmed the significance of nitrous oxide and methane and their main source in animal agriculture.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Now, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reported that livestock raising is the single largest human use of land, the biggest source of water pollution, the number one cause of biodiversity loss, and the top producer of human-caused methane and nitrous oxide.

Furthermore, NASA announced that methane actually contributes much more to global warming than previously understood and it traps 100 times the atmospheric heat over 20 years.
And the largest source of methane is? You know - livestock. There is an advantage of time here, because one aspect of methane is that it dissipates in around 12 year’s time, whereas carbon dioxide, CO2, stays in the atmosphere for up to thousands of years.

So, we remove the livestock-generated methane, and the planet cools fast!
I am positive we will do it. Yes? We can make it – just a little change, just a little change. Just a little piece of animal meat, change to vegetable protein.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0701090330.htm
http://www.ecn.nl/nl/nieuws/item/dat...as-onderschat/

http://www.suprememastertv.com/au/ru...=1679&page=1#v

[Nhím Hoàng Kim]

Antarctic melt is speeding methane releas - 23 Sep 2010

On a recent trip to the Antarctic Peninsula, Argentine geologist Dr. Rodolfo del Valle witnessed continuous bubbling under certain areas of the water’s surface. Measurements revealed that the bubbles were 99% methane gas.

With ice shelves in Western Antarctica and the Peninsula already noted to be melting due to climate change, the additional release of methane could, due to its potency, accelerate global warming beyond what scientists have described as an irreversible tipping point, leading then to immense Earth changes.

Dr. del Valle is now working to determine the potential impact of this greenhouse gas as he stated, “We believe there is a huge amount of destabilized methane deposits that may leak into the atmosphere and ramp up warming.”

He went on to speak of the changes seen throughout significant periods of geologic history, saying, “Of seven major mass extinctions that erased 90% of the species at the time, five are attributable to climate change, and one in particular – at the Permo-Triassic boundary – could be directly attributable to mass methane release in the Upper Paleozoic.”

Dr. del Valle, we appreciate your work alerting us to this most recent evidence of continued climate change. Let us join in a rapid response to preserve a habitable ecosystem for all beings while we still have time.
Supreme Master Ching Hai has cautioned on previous occasions about the risks of methane release due to global warming, while also highlighting an effective way to stop it, as during a September 2008 interview on the US-based Environmentally Sound Radio.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: You look all that and you see already because the methane gas and hydrogen sulfide are resulted from animal raising, and that produces a lot of toxic gas into the air and it warms the atmosphere, and then the atmosphere melts the ice and the ocean will be warm, and then more methane and other toxins will be released from the bottom of the ocean and permafrost and all that. And then it will be like a devil’s circle. I hope we stop it quick.

If we do not do anything, then we will goto the point of no return. But luckily, because due to many new vegetarian people joining the vegetarian diet, now we have delayed the point of no return.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/20...methane-lakes/

http://www.suprememastertv.com/au/ru...=1767&page=1#v

[Nhím Hoàng Kim]

Antarctic melt is speeding methane releas - 23 Sep 2010

On a recent trip to the Antarctic Peninsula, Argentine geologist Dr. Rodolfo del Valle witnessed continuous bubbling under certain areas of the water’s surface. Measurements revealed that the bubbles were 99% methane gas.

With ice shelves in Western Antarctica and the Peninsula already noted to be melting due to climate change, the additional release of methane could, due to its potency, accelerate global warming beyond what scientists have described as an irreversible tipping point, leading then to immense Earth changes.

Dr. del Valle is now working to determine the potential impact of this greenhouse gas as he stated, “We believe there is a huge amount of destabilized methane deposits that may leak into the atmosphere and ramp up warming.”

He went on to speak of the changes seen throughout significant periods of geologic history, saying, “Of seven major mass extinctions that erased 90% of the species at the time, five are attributable to climate change, and one in particular – at the Permo-Triassic boundary – could be directly attributable to mass methane release in the Upper Paleozoic.”

Dr. del Valle, we appreciate your work alerting us to this most recent evidence of continued climate change. Let us join in a rapid response to preserve a habitable ecosystem for all beings while we still have time.

Supreme Master Ching Hai has cautioned on previous occasions about the risks of methane release due to global warming, while also highlighting an effective way to stop it, as during a September 2008 interview on the US-based Environmentally Sound Radio.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: You look all that and you see already because the methane gas and hydrogen sulfide are resulted from animal raising, and that produces a lot of toxic gas into the air and it warms the atmosphere, and then the atmosphere melts the ice and the ocean will be warm, and then more methane and other toxins will be released from the bottom of the ocean and permafrost and all that. And then it will be like a devil’s circle. I hope we stop it quick.

If we do not do anything, then we will goto the point of no return. But luckily, because due to many new vegetarian people joining the vegetarian diet, now we have delayed the point of no return.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/20...methane-lakes/

http://www.suprememastertv.com/au/ru...=1767&page=1#v

[Nhím Hoàng Kim]

Permafrost at Mt. Fuji and in Siberia melting at alarming rate - 28 Sep 2010

A study by researchers at Shizuoka University and the National Institute of Polar Research in Japan studying permafrost loss on Mt. Fuji has revealed that the thaw rate is much faster than expected.

In 1976, the layer of permafrost, or permanently frozen soil, existed at elevations of 3,100 meters and above. Today, the scientists find permafrost only in patches around the 3,776 meter peak, along with an increase in average August temperatures from 4.2 degrees Celsius in 1976 to 6.6 degrees in 2009. In a related study, a team of scientists from the University of Nevada, Reno in the USA led by Dr. Sudeep Chandra have been collecting permafrost samples in Siberia, Russia.

There, they discovered earth that had been frozen for the past 10,000 years is now releasing methane gas into the atmosphere. This is a concern because the permafrost layer contains immense stores of methane, which as a greenhouse gas has 100 times the warming potential of CO2. This gaseous release then traps more heat in the atmosphere, which in turn melts more permafrost, creating a cycle that could set off an irreversible warming process, with catastrophic consequences.

International scientists, we appreciate your research on this aspect of global warming, despite its disturbing implications. Let us engage in rapid actions to renew our harmony with nature and restore conditions that are conducive to human survival.
During an August 2009 videoconference with Supreme Master Television staff in California, USA, Supreme Master Ching Hai addressed this alarming aspect of global warming and spoke of the one way to halt the release of methane into the atmosphere.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: If we don’t turn around and walk in the opposite direction, then we are heading toward destruction of all kinds. You see planetary warming, methane gas from all sides: from all sides now, not just from livestock. But because of livestock, it triggers methane gas from all sides: from the river bed or from the permafrost,
from the bed of the ocean, from the mountains, from the dying forests, do you understand?

So we are surrounded by trouble. There’s only one escape route that I have told you already. I wish there were several. There’s only one: Be Veg. That’s the path to go, then maybe we still can have time.

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201009090330.html
http://www.time.com/time/health/arti...969767,00.html
http://x-journals.com/2010/researche...berian-arctic/

http://www.suprememastertv.com/au/ru...=1769&page=1#v