Comments on: Arctic death watch http://greensblog.org/2008/05/16/arctic-death-watch/ Blogging Greens issues, policies and politics Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:48:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=MU By: mick http://greensblog.org/2008/05/16/arctic-death-watch/#comment-7081 mick Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:08:25 +0000 http://greensblog.wordpress.com/?p=375#comment-7081 If it is too late to save the bears, seals & walruses, it would make good ecological sense to hunt them all now. We could eat the meat, sell the skins & use the jaw bones as digging implements. If it is too late to save the bears, seals & walruses, it would make good ecological sense to hunt them all now. We could eat the meat, sell the skins & use the jaw bones as digging implements.

]]> By: Daniel Boon http://greensblog.org/2008/05/16/arctic-death-watch/#comment-5408 Daniel Boon Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:04:35 +0000 http://greensblog.wordpress.com/?p=375#comment-5408 In reality, donating money to any organization purporting to be able to save anything to make yourself feel like you are doing something is just a waste of money. 'Suck carbon out of the air', but where will you store it and what will be the size of the 'vacuum cleaner - air purifier'; why are these suggestions always re-active … whatever happened to ‘prevention is better than cure’ ? ‘Selectively’ driving dozers through forests and ‘burying older trees’ ... burning more fossil fuels to dig holes and bury all manner of wildlife's habitat … its no silver bullet, it’s a blank, just all noise …. what about just using less energy ? In reality, donating money to any organization purporting to be able to save anything to make yourself feel like you are doing something is just a waste of money.

‘Suck carbon out of the air’, but where will you store it and what will be the size of the ‘vacuum cleaner - air purifier’; why are these suggestions always re-active … whatever happened to ‘prevention is better than cure’ ?

‘Selectively’ driving dozers through forests and ‘burying older trees’ … burning more fossil fuels to dig holes and bury all manner of wildlife’s habitat … its no silver bullet, it’s a blank, just all noise …. what about just using less energy ?

]]> By: Greg Watson http://greensblog.org/2008/05/16/arctic-death-watch/#comment-5297 Greg Watson Thu, 29 May 2008 07:43:45 +0000 http://greensblog.wordpress.com/?p=375#comment-5297 Here is the best, almost real time, indicator of Climate Change and Global Warming I know of. Just watch the Blue line. http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/ Greg Watson Here is the best, almost real time, indicator of Climate Change and Global Warming I know of. Just watch the Blue line.

http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/

Greg Watson

]]> By: Julie http://greensblog.org/2008/05/16/arctic-death-watch/#comment-5179 Julie Mon, 19 May 2008 02:07:51 +0000 http://greensblog.wordpress.com/?p=375#comment-5179 Thanks for posting this video - I'd read the statistics, but seeing the visuals always makes it much clearer for me. Thanks for posting this video - I’d read the statistics, but seeing the visuals always makes it much clearer for me.

]]> By: Concerned http://greensblog.org/2008/05/16/arctic-death-watch/#comment-5159 Concerned Fri, 16 May 2008 09:54:15 +0000 http://greensblog.wordpress.com/?p=375#comment-5159 Actually Sam we have such things. They are called trees. A really interesting idea (perhaps a bit challenging for Greens though) is selectively logging mature trees (that are no longer rapidly extracting CO2) and burying those trees about a metre below the ground. At the right locations they have been shown to last thousands of years without decay in such conditions. That may be enough time for earth systems to renormalise our CO2 levels, or some other solution to arise, assuming we decarbonise our civilisation soon. You can continue to grow forests from where you logged the now buried tree. So the newly planted trees keep pumping CO2 out of the air and storing it as wood. You can even bury the tree in the forest itself. The crux of it is you manage the forest (by selective logging) to ensure it is always operating at its maximum CO2 extraction rate. If a tree operates at maximum extraction rate for 30 years and the buried trees are sound for 3000 years, then you potentially get 100 times the total CO2 sequestration that would have been available from a steady state forest. I wouldn't describe it as a silver bullet, just possibly one of the potential strategies to deploy within a larger suite. PS: If we do end up heading for an ice age, we can always dig up the fantastic resource of buried trees we squirrelled away and use them for firewood :) Actually Sam we have such things. They are called trees.

A really interesting idea (perhaps a bit challenging for Greens though) is selectively logging mature trees (that are no longer rapidly extracting CO2) and burying those trees about a metre below the ground. At the right locations they have been shown to last thousands of years without decay in such conditions. That may be enough time for earth systems to renormalise our CO2 levels, or some other solution to arise, assuming we decarbonise our civilisation soon.

You can continue to grow forests from where you logged the now buried tree. So the newly planted trees keep pumping CO2 out of the air and storing it as wood. You can even bury the tree in the forest itself.

The crux of it is you manage the forest (by selective logging) to ensure it is always operating at its maximum CO2 extraction rate.

If a tree operates at maximum extraction rate for 30 years and the buried trees are sound for 3000 years, then you potentially get 100 times the total CO2 sequestration that would have been available from a steady state forest.

I wouldn’t describe it as a silver bullet, just possibly one of the potential strategies to deploy within a larger suite.

PS: If we do end up heading for an ice age, we can always dig up the fantastic resource of buried trees we squirrelled away and use them for firewood :)

]]> By: Sam Clifford http://greensblog.org/2008/05/16/arctic-death-watch/#comment-5156 Sam Clifford Fri, 16 May 2008 07:55:26 +0000 http://greensblog.wordpress.com/?p=375#comment-5156 Countries like America and Russia will claim it's a boon for international shipping but they're probably not going to enjoy the climatic changes arising from the lack of reflection by the ice. Once the ice is gone, it's going to be harder to stop runaway climate change; we all know this. Perhaps we should start looking at projects which will actively suck carbon out of the air rather than reducing the amount we put in there. Yes, we need to stop emitting which is why we need to switch to renewables for electricity and public transport over the car. We also need to get as much carbon out of the air as possible. Countries like America and Russia will claim it’s a boon for international shipping but they’re probably not going to enjoy the climatic changes arising from the lack of reflection by the ice.

Once the ice is gone, it’s going to be harder to stop runaway climate change; we all know this.

Perhaps we should start looking at projects which will actively suck carbon out of the air rather than reducing the amount we put in there. Yes, we need to stop emitting which is why we need to switch to renewables for electricity and public transport over the car. We also need to get as much carbon out of the air as possible.

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