Bits of Climate

Melting Arctic ice releases persistent organic pollutants

Global temperatures are rising and as a result icecaps are melting. But as a study in Nature Climate Change shows icecaps don’t just discharge water when they melt. They also release a gift from generations past in the form of … Continue reading →

The forest fire feedback, Yellowstone’s case: ecosystem shift by 2050

Climate change could cause the forests of the world’s oldest national park, Yellowstone, in the Eastern Rocky Mountains, to shift to a gras and shrub ecosystem, US scientists warn. It could happen in four decades, and will likely not be … Continue reading →

Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction caused by >16,000 Gt methane – from clathrates

Scientists of Utrecht University have investigated fossil leaves found in terrestrial late Triassic sediments and discovered a large carbon-13 depletion. That means 200,000,000 years ago The Methane Bomb went off.

Eemian sea level rise of 8m was 95% meltwater – another paleo warning?

Sounds like there’s new food to calibrate our oceans’ sea level sensitivity. In red the image shows inundations around the Gulf of Mexico under Eemian sea levels. That’s ‘bye bye Houston, New Orleans, Miami.’ Two days ago we looked at … Continue reading →

Trees in cities contain carbon – like anywhere else

Urbanisation increases the need to include city surfaces in assessments of the world’s carbon cycle. Already 4 percent of our planet’s land surface is urbanised and that percentage is likely to increase over decades to come. But although new research … Continue reading →

Just 565 Gt CO2 to go till 2050 under 450 Scenario – 80% proven fossil fuel reserves should remain untouched

In order to limit global warming to an average of no more than 2 degrees Celsius, the official UN climate target, the equivalent of 2230 gigatonnes CO2 of proven fossil fuel reserves should remain in the ground, a report published … Continue reading →

Soils don´t need warming to add another positive climate feedback

We recently reported on a possible negative carbon feedback of forest soils in higher latitudes: when such soils warm, nutrient availability may increase, as would (therefore) biomass production and CO2 uptake. But not all climate feedbacks operate through temperature. It … Continue reading →