from the Independent, and Worldchanging Exclusive: The methane time bomb Arctic scientists discover new global warming threat as melting permafrost releases millions of tons of a gas 20 times more damaging than carbon dioxide By Steve Connor, Science EditorTuesday, 23 September 2008 The first evidence that millions of tons of a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere from beneath the … Read more Methane Time Bomb
A sea level rise of 50 to 100 centimetres above the 1920 level may be enough to ‘unpin’ the west Antarctic ice sheets, says an Australian researcher. (Source: iStockphoto) Wednesday, 25 June 2008 Cat O’DonovanABC Science There’s a ‘big gorilla hiding the closet’ whose collapse could have a dramatic effect on sea levels, according to Australian researchers. Dr Bradley Opdyke, a paleoceanographer from the Australia National University (ANU) believes … Read more Rising seas threaten west Antarctic
FRESH evidence of melting came from both poles this week. Until recently, conflicting results have meant estimates of ice loss at the poles vary widely. Now an international team has used satellite data and climate modelling to show that, in the decade ending in 2006, annual ice loss from West Antarctica increased by 59 per cent while losses from the Antarctic Peninsula leapt by 140 per cent (Nature Geoscience, … Read more Melting Ice