InvestorsHub Logo
Boards
News
Market Data
Markets
Discover
Discover
Subscribe Login/Register
S&P 500
5,509.01
(
0.62%
)
US TECH 100
19,471.20
(
1.01%
)
Dow Jones
39,331.85
(
0.41%
)
Brent Oil
86.45
(
-0.10%
)
Bitcoin
61,951.16
(
-1.43%
)
Post# of 482496
Next 10
Reply Private New
Public Reply Private Reply New Post
Keep Last Read
Replies (3) Keep Next 10 Report Keyboard Shortcuts
Replies (3) Next 10 Prev Next

F6

Send PM Follow Ignore
Followers 59
Posts 34538
Boards Moderated 2
Alias Born 01/02/2003

F6

Re: rooster post# 41590

Tuesday, 09/05/2006 4:45:03 PM

Tuesday, September 05, 2006 4:45:03 PM

Post# of 482496
Ice cores hold threat of climate timebomb

John Von Radowitz, London
September 6, 2006

A CLIMATE change timebomb may be just 10 years away from detonating, according to the latest global warming evidence.

Data from a deep ice core drilled out of the Antarctic permafrost reveals a shocking rate of change in carbon dioxide concentrations. The core, stretching through layers dating back 800,000 years, contains tiny bubbles of ancient air that can be analysed.

Scientists who studied the samples found that they left no doubt as to the extent of the build-up of greenhouse gases. For most of the past 800,000 years, carbon dioxide levels had remained at between 180 and 300 parts per million (ppm) of air. Today they were at 380 ppm.

In the past, it had taken 1000 years for carbon dioxide to rise by 30 ppm during natural warming periods. According to the new measurements, the same level of increase has occurred in the past 17 years.

Isotopic tests confirmed the recent carbon dioxide had come from fossil fuel sources and must be due to human activity.

Eric Wolff, from the British Antarctic Survey, who presented the findings at the BA Festival of Science in Norwich, was alarmed by the rate of change.

"We really are in a situation where something's happening that we don't have any analogue for in our records. It's an experiment we don't know the result of," he said.

Many experts recognise a "tipping point" of 440 ppm of carbon dioxide, after which climate change starts to run out of control.

Although opinions differ, it was generally accepted that at some stage a "step change" is reached after which global warming accelerates exponentially, Dr Wolff said. According to the new evidence, the threshold may now be only a decade away.

"We could expect that tipping point to arrive in 10 years' time," he told the meeting at the University of East Anglia. The ice core also showed a doubling in concentration of methane.

Copyright © 2006. The Age Company Ltd. (emphasis added)

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/ice-cores-hold-threat-of-climate-timebomb/2006/09/05/11572221317...


Greensburg, KS - 5/4/07

"Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty."
from John Philpot Curran, Speech
upon the Right of Election, 1790

F6

Public Reply Private Reply New Post
Keep Last Read
Replies (3) Keep Last Read Next 10 Report Keyboard Shortcuts
Replies (3) Next 10 Prev Next

Join the InvestorsHub Community

Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.

Sign Up