A recent report in Science Daily caught my attention as it dealt with the natural release of CO2 into the atmosphere at a critical time in the world’s climate 14,500 years ago. This was when we were emerging from an ice age into the current warm Holocene period.
This is a brief summary of what geoscientists and climate researchers Dr. Peter Köhler and Dr. Gregor Knorr from the Alfred Wegener Institute found.
‘One of the most abrupt rises in the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere at the end of the last ice age took place about 14,600 years ago. Ice core data show that the CO2 concentration at that time increased by more than 10 ppm (parts per million, unit of measure for the composition of gases) within 200 years. This CO2 increase, i.e. approx. 0.05 ppm per year, was significantly less than the current rise in atmospheric CO2 of 2-3 ppm in the last decade caused by fossil fuels.’
This is a brief summary of what geoscientists and climate researchers Dr. Peter Köhler and Dr. Gregor Knorr from the Alfred Wegener Institute found.
‘One of the most abrupt rises in the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere at the end of the last ice age took place about 14,600 years ago. Ice core data show that the CO2 concentration at that time increased by more than 10 ppm (parts per million, unit of measure for the composition of gases) within 200 years. This CO2 increase, i.e. approx. 0.05 ppm per year, was significantly less than the current rise in atmospheric CO2 of 2-3 ppm in the last decade caused by fossil fuels.’
This chart shows the world’s temperature for the last 14,000 years and illustrates the reaction to that very slow increase in CO2. The mid-section of the graph shows how the world was cooling as we drifted towards the next ice age. On the extreme right the chart shows the temperature reaction to the massive pulse of CO2 in the modern era.
The above chart show how the world has slowly cycled through ice ages and warm periods and how CO2 drives the temperatures and sea level over thousands of years. For a detailed explanation of how CO2 drives temperature see here.
The Keeling curve shows how we have increased CO2 in the atmosphere by 80 parts per million in 60 years. We are producing CO2 at the rate of 40 billion tons a year with 50% going into the oceans and the atmospheres share is increasing by 2 or 3 points a year.
During a critical period in the world’s climate when the permafrost was melting naturally and releasing CO2 at the maximum rate it increased by 10 ppm in 200 years and we can do that in 5 years.
The human lifespan is relatively short in world terms but even so we are seeing changes within our lifetime. The next thirty to fifty years should see some big changes and many of them will be unexpected.
Weather is only the local expression of the climate and we are making huge changes to the climate. Expect some huge changes to the weather.
During a critical period in the world’s climate when the permafrost was melting naturally and releasing CO2 at the maximum rate it increased by 10 ppm in 200 years and we can do that in 5 years.
The human lifespan is relatively short in world terms but even so we are seeing changes within our lifetime. The next thirty to fifty years should see some big changes and many of them will be unexpected.
Weather is only the local expression of the climate and we are making huge changes to the climate. Expect some huge changes to the weather.
On a more speculative area.
Two recent reports on normally reliable blogs are so extreme that I have to question their validity but will pass them on because they sound credible and even if they are found to be short lived, we can expect similar unexpected events.
Just as we were not expecting the jet stream to slow down and bring big changes to the weather in the northern hemisphere so other events will come out of nowhere.
The first by Robert Scribbler shows how Greenland has created its own cold wind circulation because the North Pole is so warm that it has become dysfunctional and so the extreme cold of the high Greenland plateau has taken its place.
Two recent reports on normally reliable blogs are so extreme that I have to question their validity but will pass them on because they sound credible and even if they are found to be short lived, we can expect similar unexpected events.
Just as we were not expecting the jet stream to slow down and bring big changes to the weather in the northern hemisphere so other events will come out of nowhere.
The first by Robert Scribbler shows how Greenland has created its own cold wind circulation because the North Pole is so warm that it has become dysfunctional and so the extreme cold of the high Greenland plateau has taken its place.
The second by Peter Sinclair of Climate Crocks shows a cool patch in the Gulf Stream. If this were to continue Northern Europe would be plunged into freezing conditions and it would be a disaster.
it’s just one of those events that everyone keeps looking for because it has happened before and may happen again.
it’s just one of those events that everyone keeps looking for because it has happened before and may happen again.
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