Bits of Climate

Permian-Triassic mass extinction: 11,000 Gt CO2 worth of climate change led to microbial plagues that killed the world’s forests

New research shows an example of a missing link between climatic disruptions and biodiversity decline: killer microbes.

Fossil driftwood tells Danish scientists the Arctic sea ice variations during Holocene are larger than we thought

During the Holocene Climatic Optimum of 8,000 to 5,000 years ago, the Arctic sea ice was less than 50% [so <2.6 mln sq km] of the lowest extent on satellite record, the 2007 melting record, researchers of Copenhagen University stated … Continue reading →

Crop geoengineering #3: doubling root depth would store 230 Gt carbon in agricultural soils – minus 118 ppm CO2

Breeding crops with deeper (and larger) root systems could help to lower atmospheric CO2 levels, while also making the crops better drought-resistant, Douglas Kell, a Professor of Bioanalytical Science at the University of Manchester says.

Lull in upper ocean warming explained through ENSO – warming trend continues

Shortly after an El Niño event there is elevated heat exchange from the upper ocean layers to the cosmos over the tropical Pacific Ocean. In the North Atlantic Ocean, variations in the ocean circulation affect the heat exchange to the … Continue reading →

Eemian sea level rise update: just 1.6-2.2m from Greenland – Antarctic ice sheet less stable than we think?

Last week we learned 5 percent of the Eemian sea level rise was thermal expansion of the oceans. Today we learn the slightly higher temperatures led Greenland to ‘only’ add an extra 1.6-2.2m. Do we fail to spot the Antarctic … Continue reading →

The wildfire climate feedback, tundra´s case: megatonnes of extra CO2

Globally 2007 was one of the hottest years on record. In the Arctic it led to the thus far smallest sea ice extent. But that’s not the only thing unprecedented that happened in the far north. For the first time … Continue reading →