AS GREENLAND MELTS / GULF STREAM COOLS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greenland Ice sheet melting down

 

For years, scientists have studied the impact of global warming on the Greenland Ice sheets but now on the ground researchers are documenting the full impact of the melting of Greenland's ice sheet, one of the biggest and fastest-melting chunks of ice on Earth ~ which could eventually increase sea levels by about 20 feet as well as permanently alter the Gulf stream and effectively freeze Europe: Allen L Roland, PhD

 

“The ice sheet is porous, like Swiss cheese,” Dr. Smith said. “We didn’t know that until this year.”

This summer in Greenland, these scientists set up their camp on the ice, where they hoped to capture the first comprehensive measurements of the rate of melting. See New York Times Interactive article ~ http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/10/27/world/greenland-is-melting-away.html?emc=edit_th_20151028&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=65700837&_r=0

 

Leap forward 10 years and the prospect of such calamitous tipping points in the North Atlantic or elsewhere no longer seem improbable. In fact, climate scientists have begun to note early indicators of possible catastrophes ~ such as altering the North Atlantic current and effecting the global conveyor belt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scene from Day after Tomorrow

Michael T Klare, Truthout explains this potential tipping point on October 28th, 2015  "Take the disruption of the North Atlantic Current, the pivotal event in The Day After Tomorrow. Essentially an extension of the Gulf Stream, that deep-sea current carries relatively warm salty water from the South Atlantic and the Caribbean to the northern reaches of the Atlantic. In the process, it helps keep Europe warmer than it would otherwise be. Once its salty water flows into sub-Arctic areas carried by this prolific stream, it gets colder and heavier, sinks to lower depths, and starts a return trip to warmer climes in the south where the whole process begins again.

So long as this "global conveyor belt" - known to scientists as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC - keeps functioning, the Gulf Stream will also continue to bring warmer waters to the eastern United States and Europe. Should it be disrupted, however, the whole system might break down, in which case the Euro-Atlantic climate could turn colder and more storm-prone. Such a disruption might occur if the vast Greenland ice sheet melts in a significant way, as indeed is already beginning to happen today, pouring large quantities of salt-free fresh water into the Atlantic Ocean. Because of its lighter weight, this newly introduced water will remain close to the surface, preventing the submergence of salty water from the south and so effectively shutting down the conveyor belt. Indeed, exactly this process now seems to be underway."

By all accounts, 2015 is likely to wind up as the hottest year on record, with large parts of the world suffering from severe heat waves and wildfires ~ which includes Greenland.

Could it be that the global conveyor belt system is already being affected? Apparently so according to Truthout ~

" a stretch of the North Atlantic below Iceland and Greenland is experiencing all-time cold temperatures, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. What explains this anomaly? According to scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Pennsylvania State University, among other institutions, the most likely explanation is the arrival in the area of cold water from the Greenland ice sheet that is melting ever more rapidly thanks to climate change. Because this meltwater starts out salt-free, it has remained near the surface and so, as predicted, is slowing the northern advance of warmer water from the North Atlantic Current."

"So far, the AMOC has not suffered a dramatic shutdown, but it is slowing, and scientists worry that a rapid increase in Greenland ice melt as the Arctic continues to warm will pour ever more meltwater into the North Atlantic, severely disrupting the conveyor system. That would, indeed, constitute a major tipping point, with severe consequences for Europe and eastern North America. Not only would Europe experience colder temperatures on an otherwise warmer planet, but coastal North America could witness higher sea levels than those predicted from climate change alone because the Gulf Stream tends to pull sea water away from the eastern US and push it toward Europe. If it were to fail, rising sea levels could endanger cities like New York and Boston. Indeed, scientists discovered that just such a slowing of the AMOC helped produce a sea-level rise of four inches from New York to Newfoundland in 2009 and 2010."

How likely is this tipping point to happen?

"In its 2014 report on the status of global warming, the IPCC indicated that the likelihood of the AMOC collapsing before the end of this century remains relatively low. But some studies suggest that the conveyor system is already 15%-20% below normal with Greenland's melting still in an early stage. Once that process switches into high gear, the potential for the sort of breakdown that was once science fiction starts to look all too real." See full story ~

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/33156-welcome-to-a-new-planet-climate-change-tipping-points-and-the-fate-of-the-earth

 

This is an important story so the world awaits the findings of the Greenland on- the- ground researchers for their report could well effect the fate of the Earth.

“Men argue. Nature acts.”
~ Voltaire

 

Allen L Roland, PhD
http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2015/10/as-greenland-melts-gulf-stream-cools.html
 
Heart centered spiritual consultant and advisor Allen L Roland can be contacted at  allen@allenroland.com Allen is also a lecturer and writer who shares a weekly political and social commentary on his web log and website allenroland.com. He is also featured columnist on Veterans Today and  guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

GLOBAL WARMING HITS SF / CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL

  Click on photos to enlarge

 

King Tide on San Francisco Embarcadero on Tuesday, January 21, 2015 offers a glimpse into the not too distant future of Climate Change: Photo credit, Mike Flippoff, SF Chronicle

 

The Earth has a unique method of delivering its innate message of its demand for social cooperation and altruism and global warming and climate change just may be the vehicle for that long overdue message. If we humans do not voluntarily take action to preserve our planet and its occupants ~ we will be dramatically forced to respond and it won't be painless: Allen L Roland. Ph.D

 

“If we can't love our one and only home, what can we love? If we're unwilling to defend what we love, then what are we?”
~  Michael Carter, Kingfisher's Song: Memories Against Civilization

 

2014 was the hottest year on record for California and 2015 is starting out on the same track as global warming, like a never ending creeping fog, inevitably changes our coastlines and way of life and ushers in the hard cold reality of Climate Chang

" This is what San Francisco will look like on an average day in 2050," said Marina Psaros, co-founder of the Kings Tides Project, an environmental group that studies the phenomenon. "Water levels are higher because the Earth is warmer ~ there's nothing theoretical about it, nobody with a real stake in the game, people like city planners and insurance underwriters ~ is denying global warming anymore."

 

The big climate news last week was NOAA and NASA announcing that 2014 was the hottest year on record, breaking the highs of 2005 and 2010 ~ but the bigger story got buried: Global warming has continued unabated in recent years. As climate expert Prof. John Abraham writes in the UK Guardian, “The oceans are warming so fast, they keep breaking scientists’ charts.”

But I maintain that we are already beyond the point of no return ~ because the release of previously trapped arctic methane stores into the atmosphere will magnify the gradual effects of feedback loops, climate disruption and the rapid rise of sea levels.

The looming specter of an abrupt methane release in the artic is not only real but likely and could lead to an immediate temperature rise of 5 to 6 degrees ~ possibly within a decade as explained by Dahr Jamail in Truthout;

Excerpt: " Vast amounts of methane lie frozen in the Arctic. It's not news that the Arctic sea ice is melting rapidly, and that it will likely be gone for short periods during the summers starting as early as next year. Losing that ice means releasing larger amounts of previously trapped methane into the atmosphere…..In the simplest terms, here's what an ice-free Arctic would mean when it comes to heating the planet: Minus the reflective ice cover on Arctic waters, solar radiation would be absorbed, not reflected, by the Arctic Ocean. That would heat those waters, and hence the planet, further. This effect has the potential to change global weather patterns, vary the flow of winds and even someday possibly alter the position of the jet stream. Polar jet streams are fast-flowing rivers of wind positioned high in the earth's atmosphere that push cold and warm air masses around, playing a critical role in determining the weather of our planet…In the atmosphere, methane is a greenhouse gas that, on a relatively short-term time scale, is far more destructive than carbon dioxide. When it comes to heating the planet, methane is 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide, per molecule, on a 100-year timescale, and 105 times more potent on a 20-year timescale - and the Arctic permafrost, onshore and off, is packed with the stuff.” See article ~ http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/28490-the-methane-monster-roars

What Dahr is saying is that a 50 gigaton release (Burp) of Methane from thawing Artic Permafrost beneath the East Siberian sea is highly possible at any time ~ "This means that methane releases from decaying frozen hydrates could result in emission rates that "could change in order of magnitude in a matter of minutes," and that there would be nothing "smooth, gradual or controlled about it"  ~ as it would affect the whole planet immediately.

A Methane time bomb ticking away in the artic and holding the whole world hostage unless we evolve collectively from ego consciousness to soul consciousness.

Here's more recent evidence of global warming and the effect on rising sea levels ~ Meltwater lakes in Greenland are fast draining off due to rising temperatures in the region, with some of them disappearing within weeks. One of the sub-glacial lakes that once held about 6.7 billion gallons of water disappeared within a single season ~ and the second one has filled and emptied twice in the last two years.

Scientists already know that sub-glacial lakes exist in Greenland, but they were not aware that they drain out to sea at almost 57,000 gallons per second ~ until now; and this appears to be the main cause of rising sea levels. See NY Times article ~ http://www.thetimesgazette.com/due-to-rising-temperatures-greenlands-lakes-are-disappearing-within-weeks/652/

There is something very right about this global warming message ~ Unite and cooperate or perish ~ are we ready for dramatic needed action?

The earth is growing impatient and demands an answer through climate change.

 

“Men argue. Nature acts.” ~ Voltaire

 

Allen L Roland, Ph.D
http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/global-warming-hits-sf-climate-change.html

Heart centered spiritual consultant and advisor Allen L Roland can be contacted at  allen@allenroland.com . Allen is also a lecturer and writer who shares a weekly political and social commentary on his web log and website allenroland.com. He is also a featured columnist on Veterans Today and  guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

 

CLIMATE CHANGE IS HERE / THE PEOPLE MARCH BUT WILL THEY ACT

 A selection of posters from the People's Climate March. (photo: (L-R) Favianna Rodriguez, Nicolas Lampert, Collin Matthes)

Climate Change is here and now and can no longer be ignored as public demand for action has reached the tipping point. The largest climate change action in history takes place today in New York City as hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, representing over 1,400 environmental justice groups, march peaceably through Manhattan's streets as a reminder to the UN that their pathetic inaction will no longer be tolerated by the people ~ but will the people act: Allen L Roland, Ph.D

 

"Organizing a big march is like throwing a rock in a pond, the splash is exciting, but the real beauty is in the ripples. I'm confident the energy from this march will ripple out in all directions, from fossil fuel divestment fights on campus to the push for a global climate treaty in Paris." Jamie Henn, co-founder of the activist group 350.org, one of the march's principal organizers.

 

The Argument is over. Climate Change is Happening Now ~ see 11 minute YouTube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bRrg96UtMc&feature=player_embedded

 

More than 30,000 people have turned out for today's climate change demonstration in Melbourne, the first of more than 2,500 similar events which will take place around the globe in the next 14 hours, ahead of a UN summit on climate change in New York early next week: http://bit.ly/1uTXD0y

 
Bill McKibben, a scholar in residence at Middlebury College, and the author of The End of Nature and Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future, posted his comments regarding this historic  march on Tom Dispatch and his comments resonate with my own deeply held feelings about climate change ~ " We march because California has lost 63 trillion gallons of groundwater to the fierce drought that won’t end, and because the glaciers at the roof of Asia are disappearing. We march because researchers told the world in April that the West Antarctic ice sheet has begun to melt “irrevocably”; Greenland’s ice shield may soon follow suit; and the waters from those, as rising seas, will sooner or later drown the world’s coastlines and many of its great cities. We’re tired of winning the argument and losing the fight. And so we march. We march for the beaches and the barrios. We march for summers when the cool breeze still comes down in the evening. We march because Exxon spends $100 million every day looking for more hydrocarbons, even though scientists tell us we already have far more in our reserves than we can safely burn. We march for those too weak from dengue fever and malaria to make the journey."  See article ~ http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175894/tomgram%3A_bautista%2C_crisp-sauray%2C_and_mckibben%2C_a_future_to_march_for/#more

 

 

For myself, this march is for our children and grandchildren for our inaction regarding global warming and climate change is putting their health and existence at greater and greater risk.

As Dahr Jamail reports on Truth out  " Given the massive injection of carbon dioxide gasses into the atmosphere by humans and the fact that large amounts of methane are already being released in the Arctic which many scientists believe is already a runaway feedback loop that will add several more degrees warming to the planet, the current mass extinction event may closely resemble the Permian-Triassic extinction that happened about 251 million years ago.

During that extinction event, earth's worst, 95 percent of all species were killed off ".

See report ~ http://truth-out.org/news/item/25646-peak-water-methane-blowholes-and-ice-free-arctic-cruises-the-climate-crisis-deepens#.U_LdEFOYMLI.email

 

Chris Hedges calls the march the last gasp of Climate Change liberals and points out that

"The Climate Group, for example, which endorses the march, includes among its members and sponsors BP, China Mobile, Dow Chemical Co., Duke Energy, HSBC, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Greenstone. The Environmental Defense Fund, which says it “work[s] with companies rather than against them” and which is calling on its members to join the march, has funding from the oil and gas industry and supports fracking as a form of alternative energy. These faux environmental organizations are designed to neutralize resistance. And their presence exposes the march’s failure to adopt a meaningful agenda or pose a genuine threat to power."

Hedges, who I greatly respect, offers perhaps the only true solution to Climate Change and it demands action beyond marching for only we the people can defeat the corporate state ~ " We have known about the deleterious effects of carbon emissions for decades. The first IPCC report was published in 1990. Yet since the beginning of the Kyoto Protocol Era in the late 1980s, we have emitted as much carbon dioxide as was emitted in the prior 236 years. The rising carbon emissions and the extraction of tar sands ~ and since the industry has figured out how to transport tar sands without building the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline, this delivery seems assured ~ will continue no matter how many police-approved marches are held. Play by the rules and we lose. Resistance will come from those willing to breach police barricades. Resistance will mean jail time and direct confrontation. Resistance will mean physically disrupting the corporate machinery. Resistance will mean severing ourselves from the dominant culture to build small, self-sustaining communities. This resistance will be effective only when we refuse to do what we are told, when we turn from a liberal agenda of reform to embrace a radical agenda of revolt. " See Hedges article ~ http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/25637-the-last-gasp-of-climate-change-liberals

Climate change is most certainly here and now and the people are speaking and marching as they are today in New York but now it's time for action ~ for there is no change without action and action always involves risk.

“Men argue, Nature acts.” ~ Voltaire

Allen L Roland, Ph.D

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/climate-change-is-here-people-march-but.html

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and heart centered spiritual counselor Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private Skype consultations at allen@allenroland.com

 

Allen L Roland is also a lecturer and shares a weekly political and social commentary on his web log and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

 

 

TICKING MASS EXTINCTION TIME BOMB IS NOT FUKUSHIMA ~ IT'S METHANE

Permafrost in Siberia. Methane emissions from the Arctic permafrost increased by 31% from 2003-07, figures show. Photograph: Francis Latreille/Corbis

Our planet Earth has experienced five major species extinctions over the past billion years and the common denominator has always been a sudden acceleration in Global Warming with the rapid release of Methane being the most likely culprit: Allen L Roland

Experts say methane emissions from the Arctic have risen by almost one-third in just five years, and that sharply rising temperatures are to blame ~ but very few people understand both the short and long range consequences for the planet in regards to a sudden increase in Methane emissions.

As the Guardian points out ~ "This recent discovery follows a string of reports from the region in recent years that previously frozen boggy soils are melting and releasing methane in greater quantities. Such Arctic soils currently lock away billions of tons of methane, a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, leading some scientists to describe melting permafrost as a ticking time bomb that could overwhelm efforts to tackle climate change." See Guardian story ~ http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jan/14/arctic-permafrost-methane

 

Lack of action in international climate change talks risks extreme weather events such as the typhoon that devastated the Philippines three weeks ago being repeated, Paddy Ashdown has warned.

The former Liberal Democrat leader said that the lack of energy at the UN climate talks, which wrapped up in Warsaw last weekend, left him "speechless." Writing in the Guardian, Ashdown also said that climate change is contributing to extreme weather events, that the role of human-caused emissions in global warming is having fatal consequences and that typhoon Haiyan is a preview of what the future holds.

Now let's move to the United States where a late November story by Seth Borenstein (Huffington Post) reveals that "The United States is spewing 50 percent more methane ~ a potent heat-trapping gas ~ than the federal government estimates, a new comprehensive scientific study says. Much of it is coming from just three states: Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas… The study estimates that in 2008, the U.S. poured 49 million tons of methane into the air. That means U.S. methane emissions trapped about as much heat as all the carbon dioxide pollution coming from cars, trucks, and planes in the country in six months. "  See story  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/25/us-methane-study-emissions_n_4339308.html

Now that I've confirmed the rapid Methane buildup both in the rapidly melting Arctic permafrost as well as domestically ~ let's throw an historical fact into the equation to truly define the current ticking Methane mass extinction time bomb .

The Permian–Triassic (P–Tr) extinction event, informally known as the Great Dying, was an extinction event that occurred 252 million years ago, forming the boundary between the Permian and Triassic geologic periods, as well as the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. It was the Earth's most severe known extinction event, with up to 96% of all marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species becoming extinct. It is the only known mass extinction of insects. Some 57% of all families and 83% of all genera became extinct. Because so much biodiversity was lost, the recovery of life on Earth took significantly longer than after any other extinction event, possibly up to 10 million years. This event has been described as the "mother of all mass extinctions."

The Plant eating Dicynodon was one of few survivors of Permian Mass extinction 250 million years ago where 95% of all life died.

Now watch this must see BBC Documentary video  THE DAY THE EARTH DIED ~ which brilliantly describes the search by geologists throughout the world to discover the cause of this mass extinction event millions of years ago. At first they thought it was a giant asteroid ~ similar to the event that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago due to the after-effects of an asteroid impact off the Yucatan Peninsula.

Their search for the Permian killer took several twist and turns until the late 1900's when they discovered the evidence of a buildup in Methane Hydrate with massive quantities of carbon 12 in Permian crust deposits. They then postulated that global warming led to a 5 degree increase in global temperature which led to a massive release of carbon 12 from the Methane Hydrate which led to a 10 degree increase in Global temperature which then literally wiped out life on Earth. Must see 48 minute BBC video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn62AjIpWMw

So where are we now regarding Global warming?

 I agree with Gaius Publius who writes in America Blog We Could See 7 degree C (12 degree F) warming, and a mass extinction, by 2100 ~ and here's why: No one is taking into account the consequences of a rapid Methane build up and resultant carbon 12 increase if the Methane emissions from the Artic permafrost continue to accelerate.

See Publius article http://americablog.com/2013/09/climate-crisis-see-7c-12f-warming-mass-extinction-2100.html

The sad realization for an apathetic world and main stream press is that we may already be beyond the point of no return ~ and many others agree.

We are upsetting the atmosphere upon which all life depends. In the late 80s when I began to take climate change seriously, we referred to global warming as a ‘slow motion catastrophe’ one we expected to kick in perhaps generations later. Instead, the signs of change have accelerated alarmingly. - David Suzuki

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/ticking-mass-extinction-time-bomb-is.html

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and transformational counselor Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private Skype consultations allen@allenroland.com

 

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his web log and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net