Læser du nogensinde Joe Romms blog www.climateprogress.org ? Det gør jeg, og jeg kan anbefale den – det er en uvurderlig informationskilde på klimaområdet. Her er en smagsprøve fra i dag:
Climate Progress, torsdag den 12. juni:
A major new study published Friday in Geophysical Research Letters by leading tundra experts has found “Accelerated Arctic land warming and permafrost degradation during rapid sea ice loss.” The lead author is David Lawrence of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), who I interviewed for my book and recently interviewed again via e-mail about his recent work. The study’s ominous conclusion:
We find that simulated western Arctic land warming trends during rapid sea ice loss are 3.5 times greater than secular 21st century climate-change trends. The accelerated warming signal penetrates up to 1500 km inland….
In other words, if it continues, the recent trend in sea ice loss may triple Arctic warming, causing large emissions in carbon dioxide and methane from the tundra this century. What is especially worrisome is that 2007 provides strong evidence on behalf of this theory:
- NOAA reported that methane levels rose in 2007 for the first time since 1998 (see here).
- The tundra can emit vast amounts of methane when it defrosts (see Part 1).
- Scientific analysis suggests the rise in 2007 methane levels came from Arctic wetlands (see here).
- And 2007 saw record Arctic ice loss [see “Ice Ice Maybe (not)“].
So I would certainly pay attention to what these scientists have to say. How much warmer did the Arctic get last summer, and how much warmer might it get with further ice loss?
Læs mere på Climate Progress her. DMI skriver også om sagen – her.