Black snow: just as ugly and dangerous as black ice
If you’ve ever walked across asphalt on a hot August day, you can imagine how a mountain covered in dirty snow feels. Scientists in the western U.S. looked at how fast snow melts when covered in soot from fossil fuel burning plants and diesel engines. They found that the soot accelerates snowmelt by over one degree Fahrenheit by absorbing more sunlight than white snow, according to a report from the Department of Energy.
This news may upset the snow bunnies, but it may be even more devastating for wildlife and those residing in the valleys dependent on stream and river flows for farming, drinking water, and habitat. In a Darwinian twist, the residents of water starved areas may have created the pollution that will ultimately reduce their own water supply. Unfortunately this may also affect time-sensitive stream fish and invertebrates dependent on nutrients and water fluctuations as snow melts.
Increased temperatures from climate change coupled with faster snow melt may lead to bald mountains across the U.S. Reductions in particulate pollution may be on Obama’s plate, but only time will tell us how well these ecosystems survive change.
saturation level
Scientists have issued a new warning about climate change after discovering a sudden and dramatic collapse in the amount of carbon emissions absorbed by the Sea of Japan, according to The Guardian UK.
Currently, the world’s oceans absorb 11 billion tons of carbon dioxide. (It should be noted that is only one quarter of what is emitted.) Many of limits on emissions are set based on what is expected of the ocean absorption. If the oceans have reached a saturation limit we may need to restrict the allowable emissions even more.
The scientists have discovered that the warmer atmospheric temperatures have affected a process called ‘ventilation’. This is the way seawater flows and mixes and drags absorbed CO2 from surface waters to the depths.
They compared the dissolved CO2 in the seawater with similar samples collected in 1992 and 1999. The results showed the amount of CO2 absorbed during 1999 to 2007 was half the level recorded from 1992 to 1999.
Crucially, the study revealed that ocean mixing, a process required to deposit carbon in deep water, where it is more likely to stay, appears to have significantly weakened.
And while many believe that the oceans are not going to stop absorbing CO2, even reducing the uptake a small amount, will have its affects across the globe. It becomes a vicious circle. The more CO2 in the atmosphere the warmer it gets, the warmer is gets the harder it is for oceans to absorb CO2, the less the oceans absorb CO2 the more CO2 in the atmosphere, starting the circle over again.
bpa news, 1/12/09
Two articles were released today with more data about the harm of BPA, both from the Environmental Health News
Study predicts BPA in babies 11 times higher than adults
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