Sauropod Flatulence Caused Mesozoic Climate Change

We’ve all heard the – possibly dubious – theory that bovine flatulence is adding to global warming? If not, the theory goes something like…

The abundance of methane evacuated from bovine rectum is apparently taken so seriously that in 2008 - at the height of greenhouse panic – the head of the international panel advising the world’s governments on how to reduce global emissions says people should stop eating red meat.

With cattle population sitting around 1.9 billion, cattle flatus accounts for about 30 per cent of the methane in the atmosphere, according to the US EPA, thats about 80 million metric tonnes a year, eeeew…

According to researchers, this isn’t the first time the planet has faced this particular problem. Researchers say dinosaur flatulence could have put enough methane into the atmosphere to warm the planet during the hot, wet Mesozoic era :: Read the full article »»»»

Our Planet’s Water Cycle is Intensifying With Global Warming

A study published in the journal Science has concluded that climate change is altering oceans and rainfall worldwide. A team of three researchers looked at ocean data over the period 1950 to 2000. The research found salinity levels have changed in all the world’s oceans, wetter areas are experiencing more rain and drier areas have become drier.

Susan Wijffels from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation – CSIRO - says she expects the trend to continue.

“The answer of how much more is going to be in the future depends on how much more warning there is going to be,” she said. ”So if we stay on a high emissions pathway we might see warming up around three degrees, which will give us maybe a 24 per cent change in our water cycle.”

The authors say this could have implications for global food security. In the paper, Australian scientists from the CSIRO and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California, reported changing patterns of salinity in the global ocean during the past 50 years, marking a clear fingerprint of climate change. :: Read the full article »»»»

New Study Says Climate Obsessives Swayed By Media

A new published study has highlighted how the media influences opinion on emotive issues. The study undertaken by the University of Sydney was carried out to investigate whether climate change had any impact on the nature of the obsessions or compulsions experienced by sufferers of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder – OCD

The study takes reference from a 1994 study which found that some children developed obsessive thoughts about Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome – HIV/Aids – once media reports on the virus became common place.

“We suggest that mental health professionals need to be aware of, and assess for the presence of such concerns” the study recommended.

This latest study has found that many patients suffering with OCD are worrying about the effects of climate change and global warming. Dr Mairwen Jones and her co-authors looked at 50 patients attending an anxiety disorders clinic.

They found one-third of the patients had anxiety about the effects of climate change. The most common concerns were wasting water, gas and electricity, often leading to an obsessive checking to make sure utilities and appliances were switched off :: Read the full article »»»»

Global Warming Atmospheric CO2 Link Questioned

High levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may have less of an impact on the rate of global warming than previously feared, a new study suggests.

Associate Professor Schmittner notes that many previous studies only looked at periods spanning from 1850 to today, thus not taking into account a fully integrated palaeoclimate data on a global scale.

The authors of the study stress that global warming is real and that increases in atmospheric CO2, which has doubled from pre-industrial standards, will have multiple serious impacts.

But more severe estimates that predict temperatures could rise up to an average of 10 degrees Celsius are unlikely, the researchers report in the journal Science.

The new study suggests temperatures will rise on average 2.3 degrees under the same conditions :: Read the full article »»»»