What happens when the ice melts?...

You might have already seen video of the 10,000-year-old Wilkins Ice Shelf collapsing in Antarctica the other week. Brian at Larvatus Prodeo has also collected some maps and graphics to put it into context. This particular collapse isn’t much in the grand scheme of things, but it’s part of a larger pattern. There have been many ice shelves disappearing lately - Wordie, Larsen B, Larsen A, Mueller and Jones...

What is biochar?...

Biochar is a possible way to reduce the carbon emissions that come from farming. It’s been in the news a little bit lately, and I think it’s got the potential to really help Australia reduce it’s eco-footprint, and hopefully will have other benefits for farmers too. By RaeAllen at Flickr.com Our agricultural sector is responsible for nearly 20% of our climate-change emissions, so a new technique for...

Rapid decline in Arctic ice...

On Tuesday, Brian from Larvatus Prodeo posted 7 graphs showing the incredibly rapid decline in Arctic ice last year. It beats all other extremes that have been recorded already, and shows how close we are to the point of no return. Scientists previously predicted that the Arctic ice-cap would be no longer there during summertime by 2040, but have now revised that date to 2012. When it’s gone, we’re looking...

What is geosequestration?...

One of the major items on our government’s list of “Things to Do to Help the Environment” is paying for more carbon sequestration experiments. In the recent budget, they allocated $500 million towards research into ‘clean’ coal. But what is it, exactly?Carbon sequestration is also known as geosequestration or carbon capture and storage (I prefer the last name, because it’s easier to...

The Great Global Warming Swindle...

Last night the ABC aired The Great Global Warming Swindle, a documentary that claims nature, not humans, is causing climate change. ABC Science Online has a debunking at The-Great-Global-Warming-Swindle Swindle which explains the science in layman’s terms. If you really want to nerd it up, you can see more details at RealClimate.org and the Australian Science Media Centre. I’m not sure why the ABC aired such...