Green | February 15, 2009 | 25 comments

Burp of Arctic laughing gas is no joke

source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16602-burp-of-arctic-laughing-gas-is-no-joke.html

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JanforGore
Of course, there will always be those who laugh in the face of truth and hide behind their political grudges or ideologies while hypocritically telling others to think for themselves. Regarding what is happening in the Arctic, it is plain to the naked eye willing to look at it that climate change/global warning is having an effect. The question now is, do we allow those laughing in the face of that truth to continue to set the tone of this debate, or do we push them aside and get down to business? I personally vote for the latter. It is bad enough that we spew 70 million plus tons of GHG into the atmosphere everyday we continue to talk about needing action. And to add insult to injury, we are also compounding the amount of GHGs being released from the thawing tundra. How long will it take before people realize this is not a joke?
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25 comments // Burp of Arctic laughing gas is no joke

  • jimmypockets
  • jubal
  • JanforGore
  • JimboTheHippo
  • daboz
    • 0
      daboz  

    • Another turkey that does not know the difference between climate change and over population. One is man made problem the other is nature. Try figuring out which is which.

    • 3 years ago
  • JimboTheHippo
  • JanforGore
  • JimboTheHippo
  • simguy665
    • 0
      simguy665  

    • just a thought, but wouldnt the energy output of the sun have a larger effect on the earth than the makup of the earths atmosphere?

      i agree humans are wasteful, but i think theres much more to it than "greenhouse gasses"

    • 3 years ago
  • darkhorsejim
    • 0
      darkhorsejim  

    • As usual Jan, thanks for your exceptional input helping to make us aware of these never ending conditions arising from climate change - which are really no laughing matter. Until some amusing assholes entertain us with their ignorance that is.

    • 3 years ago
  • dirtyemowords
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • Well, number one is simply not an option; Number two is simply too depressing to think about; and number three is absolutely what must be done if we are to save ourselves. So absolutely sick of arrogant ignorant trolls and shills permeating websites and our tv with their distractionary, selfish, ignorant propaganda. I say, either move out of the way and let the serious ones work on this, or be run over.

    • 3 years ago
  • pjacobs51
    • 0
      pjacobs51  
    • JanforGore:

      I couldn't agree with you more. But unfortunately there are people like trut who go for option #1, and a lot of corporations like Monsanto are in the same ballpark.

      "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity"

      MLK

    • 3 years ago
  • pjacobs51
    • 0
      pjacobs51  
    • Image

    • We are running out of options, here are three that came to mind

      1. We could sit back and do nothing, pretend everything is alright, and if we are lucky, die laughing from Nitrous Oxide.

      2. Start building a giant mega structure, a warning sign for the next ones to inhabit this planet. That tells the tale of a species so full of promise, but ignored all the warning signs and scientific data, and through laziness and greed, failed miserably in saving themselves from self destruction.

      3. Push the ones aside who are laughing in the face of truth and get down to the business of saving ourselves.

    • 3 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • Not another one.

      FYI, the human species including YOU are responsible for where this world goes. Getting tired of the trollish remarks on these threads of late.

    • 3 years ago
  • trut
    • 0
      trut  
    • JanforGore:

      I am sorry mister, but Al Gore is doing nothing for the environment. He is for mass extermination, he is a majority owner in 2 oil companies. Polar shift will put an end to this global warming hysteria. Hey I'm standing in snow right now aren't I.

    • 3 years ago
  • JanforGore
  • trut
  • jubal
  • trut
  • Vierotchka
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • Image

    • Nitrous Oxide From Ocean Microbes Could Be Adding To Global Warming

      A large amount of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide is produced by bacteria in the oxygen poor parts of the ocean using nitrites according to Dr Mark Trimmer of Queen Mary, University of London.

      Dr Trimmer looked at nitrous oxide production in the Arabian Sea, which accounts for up to 18 % of global ocean emissions. He found that the gas is primarily produced by bacteria trying to make nitrogen gas.

      "A third of the 'denitrification' that happens in the world's oceans occurs in the Arabian Sea (an area equivalent to France and Germany combined)" said Dr Trimmer. "Oxygen levels decrease as you go deeper into the sea. At around 130 metres there is what we call an oxygen minimum zone where oxygen is low or non-existent. Bacteria that produce nitrous oxide do well at this depth."

      Gas produced at this depth could escape to the atmosphere. Nitrous oxide is a powerful greenhouse gas some 300 times more so than carbon dioxide, it also attacks the ozone layer and causes acid rain.

      "Recent reports suggest increased export of organic material from the surface layers of the ocean under increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. This could cause an expansion of the oxygen minimum zones of the world triggering ever greater emissions of nitrous oxide."
      --------------------------------------------------------------------

      This is why dead zones are now also a threat and why their pervasiveness around the world, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico should be of great concern.

      And to poosta7: Thank you, and I agree. What we are doing as a species is downright immoral. It is hard for many however, to look in the mirror and face that fact. For doing so means that they are now bound morally to changing it.

    • 3 years ago
  • poosta7
    • 0
      poosta7  

    • Janforgore posts are always wonderful....and when we destroy the world to the point that life (at least Homo-sapiens) can no longer exist we will know exactly how we did it....we are not only destroying ourselves but are taking millions of innocent species with us.

    • 3 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • Image

    • Nitrous oxide and climate change

      Nitrous oxide makes up an extremely small amount of the atmosphere - it is less than one-thousandth as abundant as carbon dioxide. However, it is 200 to 300 times more effective in trapping heat than carbon dioxide.

      The natural nitrous oxide cycle
      Nitrogen is removed from the atmosphere by plants and converted into forms such as ammonia, which can then be used by the plants. This is called nitrogen fixation. At the same time, micro-organisms remove nitrogen from the soil and put it back into the atmosphere - denitrification - and this process produces nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide also enters the atmosphere from the ocean.

      Nitrous oxide has one of the longest atmosphere lifetimes of the greenhouse gases, lasting for up to 150 years.

      The impact of human activities
      Burning fossil fuels and wood is one source of the increase in atmospheric nitrous oxide, however the main contributor is believed to be the widespread use of nitrogen-base fertilisers. Sewage treatment plants may also be a major source of this gas.

      The statistics
      Since the Industrial Revolution, the level of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere has increased by 16%.

      The future
      Due to the long time it spends in the atmosphere, the nitrous oxide that we release today will still be trapping heat well into the next century.

    • 3 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • From the article:

      It seems the Arctic is belching out nitrous oxide – commonly known as laughing gas. Unfortunately, the punchline is that it is a powerful greenhouse gas.

      Previously, emissions of N2O were thought to enter the atmosphere mainly from tropical forests and intensively managed farmland, with only a negligible amount from northerly environments.

      Maija Repo and colleagues from the University of Kuopio, Finland, measured emissions from peat circles in northern Russia. These sit on peatland plateaux, which are widespread throughout the Arctic, covering 20% of the total land surface. The bare surfaces of peat circles develop because cycles of freezing and thawing churn up the peat, preventing plant growth.

      During the snow-free season, they found the peat circles emitted 1.2 grams/m2 of N2O, which is just as much as tropical forests release in a year. The team reckons that a lack of plants decreases competition for the mineral nitrogen. This allows nitrate to accumulate in the soil which is then metabolised by bacteria to produce N2O.

      Although this means N2O remains a small contributor to the greenhouse effect, compared with methane and carbon dioxide, the gas persists unaltered in the atmosphere for over 110 years, compared with around 10 years for methane – which is also periodically released by the tundra.

      Unfortunately, global warming may promote churning, and expand bare areas. Since the flow of the gas from the peat circles is so high, even a small increase in bare surfaces would cause significant changes in N2O emissions, says Repo.

      Journal reference: Nature Geoscience, DOI: 1038/NGEO434

    • 3 years ago
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