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

APOCALYPSE NOW / FUKUSHIMA

 As Harvey Wasserman expounds ~ Fukushima's missing melted cores and gushing radioactivity continues to fester in secret and speculation on the ultimate impact borders from relatively harmless to intensely apocalyptic. However, it is obvious to all that the impacts of these emissions on human and ecological health are unknown primarily because the nuclear industry has resolutely refused to study them: Allen L Roland

 

As Wasserman explains ~ " This "see no evil, pay no damages” mindset dates from the Bombing of Hiroshima to Fukushima to the disaster coming next … which could be happening as you read this "  so here are some major points to consider as you determine , as I do, that this is indeed Apocalypse Now (courtesy of Harvey Wasserman)

 

1. At Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945), the U.S. military initially denied that there was any radioactive fallout, or that it could do any damage. Despite an absence of meaningful data, the victims (including a group of U.S. prisoners of war) and their supporters were officially “discredited” and scorned

 

2. During and after the Bomb Tests (1946-63), down winders in the South Pacific and American west, along with thousands of U.S. “atomic vets,” were told their radiation-induced health problems were imaginary … until they proved utterly irrefutable.

 

3. By refusing to compile long-term emission assessments, the industry systematically hides health impacts at Three Mile Island (TMI), Chernobyl, Fukushima, etc., forcing victims to rely on isolated independent studies which it automatically deems “discredited.”

 

4. Stack monitors and other monitoring devices failed at  (TMI) Three Mile Island (1979) making it impossible to know how much radiation escaped, where it went or who it impacted and how.

 

5. But some 2,400 TMI downwind victims and their families were denied a class action jury trial by a federal judge who said “not enough radiation” was released to harm them, though she could not say how much that was or where it went. 

 

6. Widespread death and damage downwind from TMI have been confirmed by Dr. Stephen Wing, Jane Lee and Mary Osbourne, Sister Rosalie Bertell, Dr. Sternglass, Jay Gould, Joe Mangano and others, along with hundreds of anecdotal reports.

7. Fukushima’s on-going fallout is already far in excess of that from Chernobyl, which was far in excess of that from Three Mile Island.

 

8. Three Russian scientists who compiled more than 5,000 studies concluded in 2005 that Chernobyl had already killed nearly a million people worldwide. 

 

9. Key low-ball Chernobyl death estimates come from the World Health Organization, whose numbers are overseen by International Atomic Energy Agency, a United Nations organization chartered to promote the nuclear industry. 

 

10. When Fukushima Units 1-4 began to explode, President Obama assured us all the fallout would not come here, and would harm no one, despite having no evidence for either assertion.

 

11. Since President Obama did that, the U.S. has established no integrated system to monitor Fukushima’s fallout, nor an epidemiological data base to track its health impacts … but it did stop checking radiation levels in Pacific seafood.

 

12. Devastating health impacts reported by sailors stationed aboard the USS Ronald Reagan near Fukushima are being denied by the industry and Navy, who say radiation doses were too small to do harm, but have no idea what they were.

 

13. Though it denies the sailors on the Reagan were exposed to enough Fukushima radiation to harm them, Japan (like South Korea and Guam) denied the ship port access because it was too radioactive (it’s now docked in San Diego).

 

14. The Reagan sailors are barred from suing the Navy, but have filed a class action against Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), which has joined the owners at TMI, the Bomb factories, uranium mines, etc., in denying all responsibility.

 

15. At least 300 tons of radioactive water continue to pour into the ocean at Fukushima every day, according to official estimates made prior to such data having been made a state secret.

 

16. To the extent they can be known, the quantities and make-up of radiation pouring out of Fukushima are also now a state secret, with independent measurement or public speculation punishable by up to ten years in prison.

 

17. Likewise, “There is no systematic testing in the U.S. of air, food and water for radiation,” according to University of California (Berkeley) nuclear engineering Professor Eric Norman.

 

18. No current dismissal of general human and ecological impacts ~”apocalyptic” or otherwise ~ can account over time for the very long half-lives of radioactive isotopes Fukushima is now pouring into the biosphere. 

 

19. As Fukushima’s impacts spread through the centuries, the one certainty is that no matter what evidence materializes, the nuclear industry will never admit to doing any damage, and will never be forced to pay for it .
 

20. Hyman Rickover, father of the nuclear navy, warned that it is a form of suicide to raise radiation levels within Earth’s vital envelope, and that if he could, he would “sink” all the reactors he helped develop.  “Now when we go back to using nuclear power,” he said in 1982, “I think the human race is going to wreck itself, and it is important that we get control of this horrible force and try to eliminate it.”    See full article: http://ecowatch.com/2014/02/02/50-reasons-fear-fukushima/
 

Check out this brief 8 minute video as PBS takes us on a terrifying 'Post-Apocalyptic' tour inside Fukushima ~ http://ecowatch.com/2014/03/02/pbs-post-apocalyptic-tour-fukushima/
 

Dr Ken Buesseler is a senior scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution who has examined the waters around Fukushima, makes his assessment of the situation: "It is not over yet by a long shot, Chernobyl was in many ways a one week fire-explosive event, nothing with the potential of this right on the ocean. We've been saying since 2011 that the reactor site is still leaking whether that's the buildings and the ground water or these new tank releases. There's no way to really contain all of this radioactive water on site. Once it gets into the ground water, like a river flowing to the sea, you can't really stop a ground water flow. You can pump out water, but how many tanks can you keep putting on site?"

So there you have it, it's quite likely that we are presently experiencing Apocalypse Now and only future generations will experience and judge the life threatening errors of our ways, regarding nuclear power.

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/apocalypse-now-fukushima.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 also a 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

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