The Big Question
Any day now? Any moment? But at how many parts per billion do we actually have the same atmospheric conditions as the Permian extinction? Once we know that - then with a little math we could probably determine the next poorly planned and unfortunate event in the planet's history.
Remember too, that a failure to plan - is a plan to fail!
2 C Coming On Faster Than We Feared — Atmospheric "Methane Spikes " to Record 3096 Parts Per Billion
It’s essential that policymakers begin to seriously consider the possibility of a substantial permafrost carbon feedback to global warming. If they don’t, I suspect that down the road we’ll all be looking at the 2°C threshold in our rear-view mirror. — Robert Max Holmes
Unraveling the global warming puzzle is simple at its face, complex when you pierce the surface.
We know that burning fossil fuels, that the activity of mining coal, fracking for gas, and drilling for oil all result in dangerous greenhouse gas emissions. We know that the vast majority of these warming gasses are coming from fossil fuel based sources. We know that, now, the burning and mining and fracking and drilling have pushed atmospheric CO2 above 405 parts per million and the global concentration of all CO2 equivalent gasses to an amazing 485 parts per million CO2e (levels not seen in at least 15 million years). And we know that the heat re-radiated by these gasses has warmed the world by about 1 C above 1880s levels — forcing weather patterns to change, seas to rise, ocean health to decline, and setting off a wave of die offs in the animal world while increasing the near-term risk of hunger, spreading tropical disease, and mass displacement in the human world.
READ MORE
The Trickle of US Oil Exports Is Already Shifting Global Power
The implications -- both financial and political -- for energy behemoths such as Saudi Arabia and Russia are staggering, This is a game changer. The US, awash in shale oil, has gained while powerful exporters like Russia and Saudi Arabia, for whom oil represents not just profits but also power, find themselves on the downswing.
Hunt for foreign assets pits Japan Inc against China
Chinese buyers are normally state-linked, and their aims often involve Beijing's industrial policy objectives, so profitability is not always the top priority, while Japanese buying is led by private companies looking to expand abroad to offset deflation, flat growth and a shrinking population at home.
Gaza is laboratory for US-Mexico border tunnel warfare
No longer content with suffocating Gaza by air, land and sea, Israel is expanding its blockade below ground with a new tunnel warfare system. The US government is bankrolling the project to the tune of $120 million, with hopes of installing the technology at the US border with Mexico.
Human Hothouse Spurs Longest Coral Die-Off on Record
The big coral die-off began in the Western Pacific as a massive ocean temperature spike built up during 2014. Back then, ocean heat accumulation had hit a very high ramp. A vicious, century-and-a-half long increase in atmospheric greenhouse gasses re-radiated greater and greater portions of the sun’s energy hitting the Earth — transferring the bulk (about 90 percent) to the world ocean system.
READ MORE
http://robertscribbler.com/2016/02/23/human-hothouse-sets-off-longest-coral-die-off-on-record/
