Global carbon dioxide and methane levels increased significantly in 2007.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found that in 2007 the level of carbon dioxide, which is the primary gas attributed to global warming, increased by 0.6%, or 19 billion tons. Scientists at the Earth System Research Laboratory also showed that the amount of methane, an even more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, increased by 0.5% last year, or 27 million tons.

A big thank you, NOAA, for releasing current information about emission levels to the public. May we all quickly do our part to restore the environment to a stable and sustainable state.

 http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=29&ContentID=69550

New Zealand’s Tasman Glacier is rapidly disappearing. 

Glaciologist Martin Brook of Massey University estimates the glacier has been retreating at a rate of 180 meters per year since the 1990s. A lake has also formed at the base and is increasing the rate of ice melt. Dr. Brook states that at this pace, the glacier will likely disappear altogether due to its low altitude and the continuing rise in temperature. 

Dr. Brook, we appreciate your informative survey.  We pray that we are able to halt global warming to save this natural wonder of New Zealand. 

http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/about-us/news/article.cfm?mnarticle=tasman-glacier-retreat-extreme-23-04-2008 

Climate change assessment and global cooperation.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published a report last year providing a scientific and human impact assessment on climate change, along with ways to help mitigate its effects. One year after this report, research has now expanded, with global warming options more intensely studied by experts worldwide.

Supreme Master Television spoke with Dr. Gordon McBean, a Professor at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, and Chair for Policy in the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction. Dr. McMean shares with us his latest findings on how climate change is affecting the equilibrium of the Earth’s natural systems.

Dr. Gordon McBean
Professor of University of Western Ontario
Chair for Policy in the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction

Dr. Gordon McMean, Chair for Policy in the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction: As we warm the permafrost or the ocean, that might become volatile, might turn from the solid entrenched form into a gaseous form and bubble up. As the climate changes such that a natural flora system, which in equilibrium is absorbing huge amounts of CO2 but also giving off roughly the same amount, as you make it less productive, it wouldn’t grow as well, it wouldn’t be pulling up as much. But as it is dying and decaying off, it would give off as much.

What we’re seeing in these studies is an increasing risk of large amounts of carbon dioxide, coming not from us directly burning fossil fuel, but as an indirect effect of us causing the climate to change, causing then other, sort of like natural, in this case no longer natural, but nonetheless an interference with natural processes, such that they would add CO2. So you could see in some of these models an escalating. Even with the amount of emissions going down from human activities, the climate’s still warming.

The Earth’s atmosphere is capable of holding a great amount of carbon dioxide, much like the carbon-saturated atmospheres of Venus and Mars. Once released, the carbon dioxide remains present for centuries, creating a long-term problem that Dr. McBean says requires a global solution.

Dr. McBean: It only takes two, three, four years for that greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide to get circulated around the globe. The CO2 is moving and mixing all around the globe, so that the CO2 from Canada, from India, from Nigeria, from China, from Europe, within a few years it’s all mixed together. So you can’t solve it by having one country or one group of countries doing something. We need a global effort to address the issue. It’s inherently a global issue.

Regarding the degree of collective effort required, Dr. McBean provides this projection for the future.

Dr. McBean: The oceans are still warming up, they’re still catching up. If we were to stop all greenhouse gas emissions tomorrow supposedly by some miraculous process, and we kept the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere constant for the next 100 years at 380 parts per million (ppm), which is what it is now, the climate system would still be warming at a rate of about 0.1 degrees C per decade, another degree by the end of the century. More likely we’re going to warm by probably 2 degrees C by the end of the century, if we take some action. But if we don’t do anything, we could be warming at a rate of 8 degrees Celsius per decade by the end of the century. And that is really horrific, that is just going off the top of the scale.

However, Dr. McBean says he and much of the scientific community have hope. Dr. McBean’s own endeavors go beyond pure science; he is also working with countries in Asia and Africa to support their research and policy efforts. He called on all governments to likewise take urgent action with an international approach.

Dr. McBean: In the end, humanity hopefully will pull together, and we will see the wisdom of what we should be doing and the benefits of that, in a global way, so that we can, let’s say, collectively address the issue before it becomes too late. I don’t think it is yet too late. I think there is basis for still taking action, moving together. But it has to be an effort that is let’s say, motivated and driven by those with the capacity to help the global community.

We thank Dr. McBean and the many scientists who are our pathfinders of the climate change solution. May we all help one another to implement the best possible systems and technologies, for the sake of our survival and even more importantly, that of our future generations.