20 January 2016, Science Daily, Impact of human activity on local climate mapped. Earth’s temperature has increased by 1°C over the past century, and most of this warming has been caused by carbon dioxide emissions. But what does that mean locally? A new study published in Nature Climate Change pinpoints the temperature increases caused by CO2 emissions in different regions around the world. Using simulation results from 12 global climate models, Damon Matthews, a professor in Concordia’s Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, along with post-doctoral researcher Martin Leduc, produced a map that shows how the climate changes in response to cumulative carbon emissions around the world. They found that temperature increases in most parts of the world respond linearly to cumulative emissions. “This provides a simple and powerful link between total global emissions of carbon dioxide and local climate warming,” says Matthews. “This approach can be used to show how much human emissions are to blame for local changes.” Read More here
Monthly Archives: January 2016
19 January 2016, Science Daily, One-stop shop for biofuels. First high-gravity one-pot process for producing cellulosic ethanol developed. The falling price of gasoline at the pumps may warm the hearts of consumers but it chills the souls of scientists who recognize that humankind must curtail the burning of fossil fuels to reduce the threat of climate change. Biofuels can help mitigate climate change and provide us with a sustainable source of transportation energy if yields and production costs are economically competitive. A major step towards achieving this goal has been achieved by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI). Led by Seema Singh and Blake Simmons, JBEI researchers have developed a “high-gravity” one-pot process for producing ethanol from cellulosic biomass that gives unprecedented yields while minimizing water use and waste disposal. The process utilizes a combination of ionic liquid pretreatment, enzymatic saccharification, and yeast fermentation for the production of concentrated fermentable sugars that result in high-titer cellulosic ethanol. “High gravity” means high biomass loading — the higher the biomass loading, the lower the costs for converting it to fuels. Read More here
19 January 2016, Carbon Brief, Heat absorbed by oceans has doubled since 1997. The ocean is taking up twice as much heat now as it was just two decades ago, relative to pre-industrial times. According to new research, a third of that heat – and rising – is finding its way into the deep ocean below 700m, temporarily slowing warming at Earth’s surface. That the oceans are warming isn’t a surprise to scientists – it’s what we would expect from rising greenhouse gases. The more surprising part is the speed at which it is taking place. The new study, published today in Nature Climate Change, says as much heat entered the oceans in the last 18 years as in the previous 130 years. The new findings add to a growing body of research on the unseen impact of human activity on the oceans and the role they play in moderating the temperature we feel on Earth’s surface, say scientists not involved in the study. A brief history The oceans take up more than 90% of the heat trapped by greenhouse gases. It follows, then, that we would look to the oceans in seeking the fingerprint of human-caused climate change. Read more here
18 January 2016, The Conversation, Heading north: how the export boom is shaking up Australia’s gas market. You might have missed it, but last month something unusual happened in Australia’s eastern gas market. Gas in a major pipeline that normally flows from north to south started flowing in the opposite direction for the first time. This seemingly small change reflects big upheavals in Australia’s gas market as exports expand significantly. At Gladstone, Queensland, coal seam gas companies have invested around A$80 billion in equipment to chill gas to -160℃ and convert it to liquefied natural gas (LNG). This liquefied gas is then loaded onto ships and sold to overseas customers. Exports are well underway with over 80 70,000-tonne LNG cargoes loaded in 2015. As shown in the following chart, eventually three times as much gas will be exported from Queensland in the form of LNG each year as has historically been used in all of eastern Australia. Read More here