Climate Letter #1528

More accurate calculation of estimates of the oceanic carbon sink (European Space Agency).  Satellite measurements have refined some previous uncertainties in the estimates, which were usually said to be around 25% of the amount of carbon emitted by human activity—after netting out both absorption and outgassing of CO2 gases at ocean surfaces.  The new figure is more like 30%, which implies a reduction in the amount of excess CO2 being absorbed by additional vegetation growth on land.  It also implies a worsening in the rate of ocean acidification.

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–Another recent study, from Rutgers University, found that the growth of sea ice around the West Antarctic peninsula was responsible for an extraordinary amount of CO2 absorption into the ocean in recent decades, a helpful development the authors thought was likely to be reversed in the near future.  “A decrease in the ocean’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide could lead to more warming worldwide by allowing more of the heat-trapping gas to remain in the atmosphere.”
–Comment:  Studies like these are a reminder that the ‘carbon sink’ has been of great help in holding down the potential warming effect of our greenhouse gas emissions for a long time now, but cannot be depended on to last that way forever.  The future of the sink is still very uncertain—and very important.
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A perfect example of what future sea level rise means for human civilization, on a sharply condensed timescale (The Atlantic).  “The town of Hasankeyf, Turkey, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the world, with evidence of people living there as far back as 12,000 years ago. In a matter of months, most of the ancient town will be abandoned—flooded by a reservoir rising behind the Ilisu Dam, one of Turkey’s newest and largest hydroelectric projects.”  The story is mainly told through photography, which is truly magnificent.
–It’s all happening with great deliberation, in order to satisfy demands for more and more energy.
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“Study of past California wildfire activity suggests climate change will worsen future fires” (Brown University).  According to evidence found in sediment cores, “Fire activity peaked during what’s known as the Medieval Climate Anomaly, a period of unusual heat and drought lasting from about 950 to 1,250 C.E.”  The existence of similar trends now in place “suggests that future fires may be more extensive than we have observed in the last century.”
Carl

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