Global Warming - So What?

 Below are files - articles mostly - about carbon sources & sinks, arranged in 4 major groups: Rising Sources, Rising Sinks, Fading Sinks, and Others.  Rising Sources are Permafrost, Seabed Methane Hydrates, Oil & Gas Extraction (tar sands, fracking ,etc.), and Misc.  Rising carbon sinks include Soils, Rock, Ocean Algae, Other Ocean, Forests, and Scrub from Air (a technique to be combined with sinks).  Fading Carbon Sinks include Oceans, Soils, Forests, Biofuel Problems, and General.

     Month and year follow each article's name.  PDF files are so marked, after month and date, some with authors noted.  Within sections, more recent files appear above older files.

    Diagrams are generally immediately below the summary articles from which they were taken.

     Fossil fuel flux (rate) and change in reservoir size are more than a decade old.

     map from NASA, May 2011 - in metric tonnes of carbon per hectare.  About 250 hectares per square mile.  Mg = tonnes.
are apparently for above-ground carbon only

     Permafrost covers 1/6 to 1/4 of northern hemisphere land surface, 15-25 million square kilometers.  Its top 10 feet hold ~ 1.9 trillion tons of carbon.  That's 1,200 tonnes (Mg) / hectare (120 kg/sq m, 12 g/sq cm): 6-7 times what NASA shows for tropical rainforests.  Mongabay et al. estimate 168-420 (µ 302) Mg / hectare for various tropical rainforests, a bit more than NASA..

Below is world soil organic carbon density (tons/hectare, as above).
USDA: Natural Resource Conservation Service, 2000.
Soil carbon densities for most of Russia, Siberia, Europe, Alaska, and Canada exceed total tropical ones for soil + trees.

via http://eusoils.jrc.ec.europa.eu/esdb_archive/eusoils_docs/other/EUR25225.pdf, p. 57

     Albedo measures reflection.
% change from average (mean, µ) , from American Meteorological Association (full study available on Overviews page).

     The trend is that Earth is getting darker.  This is consistent with ice loss.

Scientists Have Long Feared Soil Climate ‘Feedback’.  Now It’s Happening. 1116 - more than just permafrost soils

Global CO2 Emissions Still Accelerating, even as Human Ones Level Off 0516 - 

     The increase in CO2 levels in the air is accelerating, even as human CO2 emissions from fossil fuels are leveling off.
     This suggests some combination of fading carbon sinks in the ocean and the land biosphere, with rising emissions from natural sources - permafrost, forest fires, methane hydrates, and peat fires - as well as agriculture and land use changes.

Carbon Dioxide Removal and Reliable Sequestration - NAS 0215 - PDF, 155 pp

     Soil lost 230 GT of carbon over the past 10,000 years, due to land conversion and land use.  This comparesw to 365 GT added from burning fossil fuels.  Feasible soil carbon sequestration, by moving carbon from the air back into soil, is estimated (to 2065) at 30-50 GT of carbon.
     Other major methods to sequester significant amounts of carbon include accelerated rock weathering (almost as much potential), ocean iron fertilization (very costly, with 90-300 GT potential), bio-energy with carbon capture (100-1,000 GT), direct air capture, and sequestration for the 2 capture-only methods.  Cost estimates range from $1 to $1,000 per tonne of CO2 removed, depending on the method, with wide estimates for each method.

 

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Rising Carbon Sources - Permafrost

We’re 60 Years Too Late to Stop Global Warming, Sea Level Rises 1120 - a "cycle of self-sustained melting of the permafrost."  
     "The effect of surface albedo continues on its smooth upward path throughout this period....  It has enough momentum to push the climate system back onto a path of rising temperatures, with its secondary effects of raising humidity and permafrost melting, which then in turn help the system become warmer and warmer, even if man-made GHG emissions are zero."

Greater Snowfall Speeds the Melting of Arctic Tundra 0823 - It insulates the permafrost underneath it from the very cold air of winter, so that the permafrost thaws earlier or deeper in the warmer seasons.

Reeling Arctic Glaciers Are Leaving Bubbling Methane in Their Wake 0723

Scientists Now Know Why Methane Mysteriously Surged during Lockdowns 0223

Rapid Thawing of World’s Permafrost Is a Big Climate Change Problem 1222

How the Climate Crisis Is Transforming the Arctic Permafrost 1122

‘Imminent’ Tipping Point Threatens Europe’s Permafrost Peatlands 0322 - Shrinking permafrost area, 4 emission scenarios.

Blue is more permafrost than tan or gray. 

The Great Siberian Thaw 0122 - In-depth history and analysis

Across the Boreal Forest, Scientists Are Tracking Warming’s Toll 0122

Fire and Ice - Permafrost 1221

Arctic Ground ‘Literally Collapsing’ amid Abrupt Thaw 1021

U.N. Weather Agency Says World Ill-Prepared for Looming Water Crisis

1021

Scientists Expected Thawing Wetlands in Siberia’s Permafrost.

 What They Found Is ‘Much More Dangerous.’ 0821

Thawing Permafrost Prompts Denali National Park to Reimagine Its Future 0721

Fighting Feedback Loop, Scientists Sound Alarm on Canada’s Permafrost Thaw 0421

Why Drilling the Arctic Refuge Will Release a Double Dose of Carbon 0221

Climate Scientists Show Limits in ‘Point of No Return’ Paper That’s Freaking People Out 1120

'Past Point of No Return' - Cutting Emissions to Zero Won't Stop Global Warming 1120

2°C Warming Would Release Billions of Tons of Soil Carbon 1120

Wildfires Trigger Long-Term Permafrost Thawing 0820

More Rain in the North from Climate Change Is Bad News for Permafrost 0820

Heavy Summer Rains Speed Permafrost Thaw 0820

Rapid Arctic Meltdown in Siberia Alarms Scientists 0720

Releasing Herds of Animals into the Arctic Could Delay Permafrost Thawing 0420

Large Loss of CO2 in Winter Observed across the Northern Permafrost Region - Summary 1019

Large Loss of CO2 in Winter Observed across the Northern Permafrost Region - PDF, 10 pp.

 

 

Large Loss of CO2 in Winter Observed across the Northern Permafrost Region - Abstract 1019 - Net emissions (winter emissions less summer uptake) are about 630 million tons of carbon per year.  630 equals ~ 45% of total US emissions.

Arctic Permafrost Moving toward Crisis, Abrupt Thaw a Growing Risk 0320

Packing the Tundra with Animals Could Slow Arctic Melt 0320

The Arctic Is Getting Greener.  That's Bad News for All of Us. 0220 - Darker bushes & trees gain heat as less sunlight is reflected.  This heat gets into permafrost, warming it up, for more emisions.

Arctic Permafrost Thaw Is Warming Climate More than Estimated Earlier 0220

Billions of Acres of Cropland Lie within a New Frontier, as Do 100 Years of Carbon Emissions 0220

UN Climate Report on Oceans & Ice Highlights Permafrost, Acidity, Low Oxygen 0919

Russian Land of Permafrost and Mammoths Is Thawing 0819

Global Warming Could Make Microbes Living in Alaskan Tundra Release More Greenhouse Gases 0719

Arctic Permafrost Is Thawing 70 Years Sooner than Predicted 0619

Arctic Permafrost Is Thawing So Fast that Scientists Are Losing Their Equipment 0519

Melting Permafrost Releasing Lots of Nitrous Oxide, a Potent Greenhouse Gas 0419

Thawing Alpine Permafrost a Stealth Source of CO2 - 0319

Arctic Bogs Hold Another Global Warming Risk That Could Spiral Out of Control 0219

Under the Surface of Russia’s Arctic Super-Region Looms a Disaster 0119

Permafrost Is Warming Around the Globe, a Problem for Climate Change 0119

Then the Ice Melts - the Catastrophe of Vanishing Glaciers 0119

Satellite Spies Methane Bubbling Up from Arctic Permafrost 1218 -
0.6 grams /sq meter of water surface / yr, 16% of some previous estimates, & consistent with CH4 measured in the air

Siberian Region Fights to Preserve Permafrost as Planet Warms 1218

Arctic Permafrost Cauldron 0918 - Much of the carbon emitted is really old, many thousands, even millions of years

Melting Permafrost Could Hasten Exceeding 1.5 and 2°C Warming Targets 0918

Coastal Erosion in the Arctic Intensifies Global Warming 0918

Alaskan Permafrost Flipped from Carbon Sink to Carbon Source 0618

Some Arctic Ground Is No Longer Freezing – in Winter 0818

The Arctic’s Carbon Bomb Might Be Even More Potent than We Thought 0318

Ancient Carbon Coming from Arctic Soil Might Be Fine, Might Be Terrible 0318

Is There a Ticking Time Bomb under the Arctic? 0118

Unearthing the Secrets of Soil 1117

Giant Craters in Canada's Melting Permafrost Impacting Climate Change 0817

Alaska’s Permafrost Is Thawing 0817

Methane Seeps Out as Arctic Permafrost Starts to Resemble Swiss Cheese 0717

Arctic Stronghold of World’s Seeds Flooded after Permafrost Melts 0517

Thawing Alaska Permafrost Sends Autumn CO2 Emissions Surging 0517

Permafrost Thaw in Canadian Arctic Is Sign of Global Trend 0417

Global Warming Could Thaw Far More Permafrost Than Expected 0417 - unfrozen area increases a lot

Siberia's Growing 'Doorway to Hell' Offers Clues on Climate Change 0317

Massive Permafrost Thaw in Canada Portends Huge Carbon Release 0217

Arctic Soils Set to Release Lots of Carbon, More than Plants Can Absorb 1216

'It's a Lit Fuse -' Release of Ancient Carbon from Melting Permafrost Measured 0816

Forest Fires Can Heat Up the Whole Planet 0616 - Northern (boreal) forest fires put carbon in the air not only from standing trees, but also from peat, while they thaw permafrost, for still more carbon emissions.

Permafrost Soil under North Slope Lakes Is about to Thaw 0616

New ‘Gateway to the Underworld’ Crater in Siberia Warns of Warming Planet 0616

We Could Be Underestimating Arctic Methane Emissions 1215

Here’s How Much of Alaska’s Permafrost Could Melt 1215

Runaway Global Warming Becomes a Concern, as Permafrost Melts 1115

Permafrost Warming in Parts of Alaska ‘Is Accelerating' 1015

Permafrost Methane Release Could Trigger Dangerous Global Warming 1015

Massive Wildfires by Lake Baikal Send Soot to Arctic, Greenland 0815  Thawed permafrost burns, sending CO2 into the air.

Alaska's Permafrost Threatened by Intense Fires as Climate Changes 0815

Beneath Alaskan Wildfires, a Hidden Threat- Long-Frozen Carbon's Thaw 0715

Thawing Arctic Carbon Threatens ‘Runaway' Global Warming 0515

Microbes Play Villainous Role in Arctic Climate Change 0415

Thawing Arctic Soils May Release 10 x the Carbon That Burning Fossil Fuels Did 0415

Permafrost Holds Key to Release of Trapped Carbon 0415

Scientists Confirm Arctic Could Become Major New Carbon Emissions Source 0415

Russian Scientists Blame Climate Change for Mysterious Siberia Craters 0315

Siberian Crater Saga Is More Widespread and Scarier Than Anyone Thought 0215

Climate Change Is Accelerating the Melting of Siberia 0215

Siberian Methane Release is on the Rise 1214

Melting Permafrost Threatens Infrastructure, Homes 1214

Tracking the Fate of Ancient Carbon in the Siberian Arctic 1114

Permafrost Carbon Emissions Measured - a Whole Other Problem 1014

Melting Permafrost May Stabilize Global Long-Term Temperatures 0714

Arctic Methane Emissions ‘Certain to Trigger Warming’ 0514

How Taking the 'Perma' Out of Permafrost Could Accelerate Global Warming 0414

Alaska Sinks, as Climate Change Thaws Permafrost 1213

Climate Downgrade- Planetary Feedbacks 1112

Warming Spike - Siberian Stalagmites Show Permafrost Peril 0613

Policy Implications of Warming Permafrost - UN, Schaefer 0413 - PDF, 38 pp

     About 24% of the Northern Hemisphere's land surface was covered by permafrost in 1997.  See north polar-view map at left.

 

     Permafrost areas contain 3 to 7 times as much carbon per square meter, give or take, as tropical rainforest areas do.  Exact ratios depends on the particular forest, the particular tundra, & the estimation method.

     Moreover, worldwide soils contain about 3 times as much carbon as either the atmosphere or above-ground biomass. (Kane 2012)  2/3 of it is in permafrost.

     In permafrost areas, almost all carbon is below ground, while in tropical rainforests, almost all is above ground.  In between, carbon % is similar above and below ground.
     Forests store more carbon above ground, while grasslands store more carbon below grrond.

     Decomposition of organic material by soil microbes (except in farm fields) increases more than linearly as temperatures rise.  This is a major reason why permafrost stores more carbon / acre than tropical rainforests.

    The 2nd north polar view map, left, shows the distribution of frozen organic matter, in grams of carbon per square centimeter (cm²), NOT kilograms (kg).
     Permafrost regions contain 1,700-1,900 trillion tonnes of carbon (to 1 meter deep), in the form of frozen organic matter, nearly 2 x that currently in the atmosphere (Tarnocai et al. 2009, updated by Hugelius et al. 2012).

 

     This model projection indicates a 59% loss in near-surface permafrost area by 2100 for the IPCC A1B scenario.  The dark grey regions show where taliks may form and permafrost in the top 15 meters of soil may completely thaw (Schaefer et al. 2011).

CO2 and methane (CH4) emissions from thawing permafrost can continue for decades or even centuries, as seen in this plot of estimated annual permafrost emissions in CO2 equivalent for the IPCC A1B scenario.  Here, anthropogenic emissions stop in 2100, but permafrost CO2 and methane emissions continue well past 2200 (Schaefer et al. 2011).
     Peak permafrost emissions are ~9% of today's human emissions (33 Gt/yr).

IPCC 5th Assessment, Technical Summary

Northern Hemisphere total

from US National Climate Assessment, 2013

     Projection for average yearly ground temperature at 3.3-foot (1-meter) depth over time, if heat-trapping gases continue to grow (higher A2 emissions scenario), and if they are substantially reduced (lower B1 emissions scenario).

     Blue shades represent areas below freezing (where permafrost is present at the surface), while yellow and red shades represent areas above freezing (permafrost-free at the surface) (Markon et al. 2012).

 

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Permafrost 2: MacDougall

Permafrost Carbon Emissions to 2300 - MacDougall 0912 - PDF

Changes in the size of each Earth system carbon pool in response to the addition of permafrost carbon to the UVic ESCM.  That is, the difference in the size of each carbon pool between simulations with and without permafrost carbon.  All values are relative to the size of the frozen permafrost carbon pool.  A summation of all the pools adds up to 100% for each year.  Results are given for two emissions pathways (DEPs 4.5 and 8.5) and for 3 climate sensitivities to a doubling of CO2 (2.0, 3.0, and 4.5°C).  Soil layers that thaw, but are subsequently returned to a permafrost state, continue to be administered by the active soil carbon pool, leading to the apparent high rate of transfer of carbon to the active soil carbon pool in the 20th century.

     Permafrost (not including whatever is under the ice in Greenland and Antarctica) holds about twice as much carbon as the atmosphere does today.  In the worst case shown, if current net carbon sinks fail, atmospheric CO2 levels could double from permafrost alone.  Then add the effect of human carbon emissions.

     Strangely enough, the additional temperature effect of permafrost emissions is not highest in the highest human emission scenario (DEP 8.5), but in the intermediate scenarios.  The simplest reason is that CO2 in the air warms the air at a diminishing rate; with more CO2 molecules in the air, the chances are higher that one at a lower altitude will intercept outgoing radiation before one at a higher altitude gets a chance.

Permafrost Carbon Emissions, Supplement - MacDougall 0912 - PDF

Modeled Future Permafrost Extent

       Anomaly in CO2 concentration with respect to baseline runs with no permafrost carbon, for each DEP.  Which climate sensitivity is assumed in not clear.

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Permafrost 3

Arctic Thawing Detection Tool - Stanford 0213

Thawing Permafrost May Be Huge Emissions Source 0213

Survey of Permafrost Thaw & Carbon Release 0213 - PDF

Slumping Arctic Soils Emit Significant CO2 0213

Siberian Permafrost Thaw Warning from Paleo Cave Data 0213

Thawing Permafrost to Double Carbon in Air 0113

How Much Carbon Is Released into the Atmosphere by Thawing Permafrost 0113

Ticking Arctic Carbon Bomb May Be Bigger Than Thought 1212

UN Fears Permafrost Thaw Means Runaway Warming 1112 

At the Edge of Disaster 1112

Squeezing the Carbon Balloon - Kane 1112 - PDF - for 2 adjacent plots in northern Sweden

     The tundra-heath stores about 7.1 kilograms of carbon per square meter (6.2+0.8), while the birch forest stores about 4.6 kg (2.1+2.5) of carbon / sq m.  The tundra-heath plot is on same hillside as the birch forest, 4 kilometers southeast and 190 meters higher.

     As tundra systems give way to birch forest, more ecosystem carbon is in aboveground pools, but with a net loss of total ecosystem carbon.  Below-ground carbon pools dwarf above-ground pools, especially if one considers carbon deeper in the soil….

2012 Swedish Plots - Hartley 1112  - PDF

     This complements and discusses Kane's study, in the same edition of Nature Climate Change.

Permafrost Carbon to Emit Up to 508 Billion Tons of Carbon by 2100, Warm Earth 1.69°C 0912

Antarctic May Host Methane Stores 0812                      

Permafrost Emissions to Accelerate Warming

Beyond Previous Projections 1211

Methane Releases Could Push Earth Past

Tipping Point by 2030 0711

Siberian Tundra Methane Time Bomb 1110

Arctic Permafrost Methane Releases

Set Records 0310

Permafrost Methane Emissions Up 31% 0110

Peat Under the Icy North 1209

Peat CO2 Emissions & Credits 1109  

Warming Speeds Tundra Carbon Release 0809 

Permafrost Thawing Grows 0709 

Carbon in Permafrost 4x Cum

Emissions - Tamocai 0709 - PDF

Permafrost Thaw CH4 Release Complex 0509

Arctic Meltdown Poses Global Threat 0309  

Carbon in Permafrost 0307 

Permafrost Methane Release Accelerated 0906

 

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PETM Permafrost

Thawing Permafrost Led to Extreme Global Warming 0412 - summary of study below

Antarctic Permafrost Drove PETM - DeConto 0412 - PDF
     "Between about 55.5 and 52 million years ago, Earth experienced a series of sudden and extreme warming events (hyperthermals) superimposed on a long-term warming trend.  The first and largest of these events ... (PETM) is characterized by a massive input of carbon, ocean acidification and an increase in global temperatue of about 5°C within a few thousand years."
     "...the magnitude and timing of the PETM and subsequent hyperthermals can be explained by the orbitally triggered decomposition of soil organic carbon in circum-Arctic and Antarctic terrestrial permafrost.  This massive carbon reservoir had the potential to repeatedly release thousands of [billions of tonnes] of carbon to the atmosphere-ocean system, once a … threshold had been reached...."

    "These results show the potential for high-latitude climate forcing to trigger massive terrestrial carbon release, initiating positive warming feedbacks that can account for the sudden and high elevations of past hyperthermals."

(Xerophytic plants, such as cactus, are adapted to live with very little water.)

     At 400 ppm (not shown), global mean surface temperature is ~14.6°C, about the same as today.  At 900 ppm CO2 (top & middle 4 panels of 6), global mean surface temperature is 6°C warmer than today and Antarctic summers are too warm to allow glaciation.  But ~9/10 as much permafrost remains in high latitudes of both hemispheres (top panel, not middle) as in Earth's total modern inventory, NOT counting modern Greenland and Antarctica, where most permafrost was then.
     In the model, the warming-permafrost positive feedback loop eliminates 97-98% of the initial permafrost inventory (bottom 2 panels), releasing ~3,400 billion tons af carbon within 10,000 years [~10 times what humans have released from fossil fuels].  This raises global mean surface temperature another 6°C, leaving 2,680 ppm of CO2 in the air (see bottom left panel).

     In the bottom panel, which features 2,680 ppm CO2 and is ~12°C warmer than today, dry vegetation types (scrub and cactus) cover most of Africa (replacing much savanna), South America (replacing savanna and tropical deciduous woodland), and Southeast Asia (replacing tropical broadleaf forest).  Warm and temperate deciduous and mixed deciduous-conifer forests cover much of Antarctica and most of Siberia and Canada, replacing most cold conifer forests.

 

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Rising Carbon Sources - Methane Hydrates

Underwater Permafrost Is a Big, Gassy Wild Card for the Climate 0322

Holes the Size of City Blocks Are Forming in the Arctic Seafloor 0322

Scientists in Arctic Confirm Methane Hydrate Thawing 0221

'Sleeping Giant' Arctic Methane Deposits Starting to Release 1020

1st Active Leak of Sea-Bed Methane Discovered in Antarctica 0720

Untapped “Fossil” Methane Hydrates Could Save or Ruin Our Climate 0518

Scientists Document an Ancient Arctic Methane Explosion 0617

Soaring Ocean Temperature Is ‘Greatest Hidden Challenge of Our Generation' 0916

Climate Change Mitigation’s Best-Kept Secret - Methane 0115

Alarm over Kara Sea Permafrost Thawing 0115

Warming Ocean May Be Triggering Mega Methane Leaks Off Northwest Coast 1214

Widespread Methane Leakage from Ocean Floor off US Coast 0814

Methane Plumes Seep From Frozen Ocean Floors 0814

Arctic Seafloor Methane Releases Double Previous Estimates 1113

How Fiery Ice Could Power Asia 0313

Warming Gulf Stream Destabilizes Methane Hydrates Off US Coast 1012

Seismic Signs of Escaping Methane Off US East Coast 1012  

Methane Hydrates and Global Warming 0812 

Huge Methane Plumes Escape Arctic Ocean 1211  

Methane Hydrate Releases from Arctic Shelf Grow Large 0310  

Methane Seeps from Arctic Sea Bed 0809  

More Seabed Methane Seepage Startles Scientists 0109  

Big Arctic Seabed Methane Releases 1008 

Rising Carbon Sources - Permafrost + Methane Hydrates (Jointly)

Underwater Permafrost Is a Big, Gassy Wild Card for the Climate 0322

Scientists Confirm Arctic Could Become Major New Carbon Emissions Source 0415

Do Siberia’s Methane Blow-holes Warn of Unstoppable Climate Change? 0714

Methane Poses Huge Climate Threat to Earth 0414

Huge Arctic Methane Belch Could Cost Us $60 Trillion 0713 

Arctic Methane Release Time Bomb 0712

Message from the Arctic Methane Emergency Group (AMEG) 0712 - PDF

Arctic Melt Releasing Ancient Methane 0512  

Big Arctic Methane Release 0111 

Comment - Shakova Overestimated Problem 0910 - PDF

Arctic Methane Releases Set Records 0310

Warming Accelerates Methane Releases 0110  

Arctic Melt Drives Big Methane Rise 1108

 

 

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Rising Carbon Sources - Oil, Gas & Coal Leaks +

Methane from Oil and Gas Are Worse than Reported to UN, Satellites Show 0923

Methane Pollution “Pouring Out” of Australian Gas Infrastructure 0823 - 150,000 tonnes a year from just a few of the sites

Leaks Can Make Natural Gas as Bad for the Climate as Coal 0723

Australian Fossil Fuels Giants Severely Underestimate Methane Leaks 0723

Energy Companies Ignore Fixing Methane Leaks - a Cheap, Powerful Climate Fix 0223

Earth Can Warm Nearly 1°C by 2100 from Agriculture Methane Emissions Alone 0323

Pennsylvania Community in Shock, Feels Unsafe, after Record Methane Leak 0323

EPA’s Risky Methane Gambit - Let Outsiders Look for Leaks 0323

Yet More Research Suggests Offshore Oil’s Methane Pollution Is Underestimated 0223

Massive Gas Leak Erased Gains from Half of USA’s 2021 Electric Vehicles Sales 1222

Fixing Oil & Gas Industry Methane Leaks, a Climate Game Changer, Pays for Itself 1122

Methane Emissions from Gas & Oil May Be 5 X Higher than Previously Thought 0922

Oil and Gas Companies Underreported Methane Leaks 0622

Methane Leaks in New Mexico Far Exceed Current Estimates 0322 - Emissions averaged 9.4% of gross gas production, vs  1.4% EPA estimate.  The breakeven leakage rate for natural gas is  3% (Howarth).  9.4% means natural gas is much worse for climate than coal.

Coal Mining Emits More Methane Than Venting & Flaring from Gas and Oil Wells 0322

Halting the Vast Methane Release Is Critical for Climate, U.N. Says 0421

Cow Burps, Leaky Pipelines Put Earth on High-End Warming Track 0720

Oil and Gas - CH4 Leaks - May Be a Far Bigger Climate Threat Than We Knew 0220

New NASA Study Confirms Methane Spike Tied to Oil and Gas 0119

Methane Seeps Out as Arctic Permafrost Starts to Resemble Swiss Cheese 0717

Replacing Old Gas Pipes Reduces Leaks 0915

Gas Utilities Reduce Methane Leaks 0315

Siberian Crater Saga Is More Widespread and Scarier Than Anyone Thought 0215

Study Finds Relatively Low Methane Emissions from 3 Major US Gas Fields 0215

Climate Change Mitigation’s Best-Kept Secret - Methane 0115

Cities May be Leaking More Heat-Trapping Methane Than Previously Thought 0115

Boston Belching Gigantic Gobs of Greenhouse Gas 0115

Activists Say Obama Action on Methane Emissions ‘Misses 90% of Pollution’ 0115

L.A. Basin Methane Emissions Found up to 61% Higher than Estimates 0115

Accounting For Methane Emissions From Oil And Gas Wells 0115

Leaking City Gas Pipes Pose Climate Hazard 1214

Scientists Refute Lower Emissions Claim for Fracking 1014

Huge Methane Emissions ‘Hot Spot’ Found in Southwest US 1014

Fracking’s Methane Emissions Fell 70% from 2011 to 2013 - 0914

EPA May Force Drillers to Cut Methane Leaks, Chief Says  0914

Another Study Points to Climate Harm from Gas Drilling 0514

EIP Announces Hidden Climate Change Impact to Fracking Boom 1213

Solving the Case of California's Extra Methane 0513

A Global Look at Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas 0213 

EPA Sees Fracking as #2 GHG Source 0213  

Methane Leaks Erode Green Credentials of Natural Gas 0113  

Excess CH4 Near Fracking in Australia 1112  

Oil Sands to Undo Canada GHG Cuts 0811  

Natural Gas from Shale Contributes to Global Warming 0411

 

Rising Carbon Sources - Current Biology, etc.

Shaky Ground - Selling sequestration credits is shaky, for several reasons.  1. Carbon may only move from the lower solis layers to the top foot.  2. Carbon may not stay in the ground nearly as long (a century) as the soil credit is sold for.  3. The error bars for measurements or claims are very wide, and include zero. 4. Sampling is relatively costly, so samples from a few sampled fields are combined in a computer model to estimate savings for many more unsampled fields. 5. Other lesser issues.

Canada’s 2023 Wildfires Spewed More CO2, So Far, than Mexico Did in 2021 - 0923

Greece’s Wildfires Are Burning through Its Natural Carbon Stores 0723

Wildfires Are Set to Triple Canada’s Climate Emissions This Year 0723

Hydropower Reservoirs, Once Called Clean Energy, Are ‘Giant Methane Factories’ 0723

Canada’s Explosive Wildfires Have Damaged a Forest Carbon Offset Project 0623

Federal Regulations Fail to Contain Methane Emissions from Landfills 0523

Tropical Biomass Loss from Climate Change Could Increase CO2 Emissions 0123

Scientists Now Know Why Methane Mysteriously Surged during Lockdowns 0223

Low Salt Marsh Habitats Release More Carbon in Response to Warming 0123

Termites in Australia Are Hungrier and on the March as Climate Heats Up 0123

A Trash Heap 62 Meters High Shows the Scale of India’s Climate Challenge 1222

Forest Fires Wipe Out California’s 2020 Record for Greenhouse Gas Reductions 1022

Deforestation Surges in World’s #2 Tropical Forest 1122

‘Carbon Time Bomb’ - Climate Crisis Threatens to Destroy Congo Peatlands 1122

GT Carbon Net Loss in Forests of Canada, Amazon & Australia + Permafrost 0922

Wildfires Are Destroying California's Forest Carbon Credit Reserves 0822

Forest Fires Burn Twice as Many Trees as 2 Decades Ago 0822

No-Till May Not Be the Agricultural Panacea We Thought It Was 0822 - With no-till, more carbon is found in the top 10 cm of soil, but even less (than before) 10-60 cm down, for less carbon (0.28 to 2.29 tonnes / hectare) stored aross the whole soil profile.  Based on 144 studies over the last 50 years.  Un-tilled soil becomes compacted over time.

Methane Emissions Much More Sensitive to Global Heating than Earlier Thought 0722

Cattle Burp Methane Emissions Measured From Space for First Time 0422

DR Congo to Auction Oil Blocks in One of the World’s Largest Carbon Sinks 0522

Experts Fear These Forests Could Shift from Absorbing CO2 to Emitting It 0422

How Corn Ethanol for Biofuel Fed Climate Change 0222

Amazon Losing Far More Carbon from Forest Degradation than Deforestation 0222

Across the Boreal Forest, Scientists Are Tracking Warming’s Toll 0122

The Corn Belt’s Topsoil Loss Is Increasing Carbon Emissions, Lowering Yields 0122

The Race to Defuse Congo’s Carbon Bomb 1221

Trees in the Wetlands Emit More Methane than Researchers Thought 1221

Siberia’s Massive Wildfires Are Unlocking Extreme Carbon Pollution 0821

Fires Are Harming California’s Efforts to Curb Climate Change 0821

Soil-Science Revolution Upends Plans to Fight Climate Change 0721 - Many, more recent, studies indicate that, when soil carbon building practices (no-till, cover crops, etc.) are used, more carbon shows up in the top.  "When farmers skipped the tilling and instead drilled seeds into the ground, carbon stores grew in upper soil layers, but they disappeared from lower layers.  Most experts now believe that the practice redistributes carbon within the soil rather than increases it.”
     Moreover, that the researchers found — or, more specifically, what they didn’t find — was shocking: there were few or no long “recalcitrant” carbon molecules — the kind that don’t break down.  Almost everything seemed to be small and, in principle, digestible.

Hotter and Drier - Deforestation and Wildfires Take a Toll on the Amazon 0721

Brazil’s Amazonia, Led by Its East, Is Now a Carbon Source 0721

Nitrous Oxide, Powerful Greenhouse Gas, Is on the Rise from Ocean Dead Zones 0721

Northern Farms Are Releasing Massive Amounts of Carbon from Peat 0621

'Quick Fixes' to the Climate Crisis Risk Harming Nature 0621 e.g., trees that burn or are unsuited to where they are planted

Enormous Missing Contribution to Global Warming Is Right under Our Feet 0621 - peat

Why Indonesia’s Rice Paddy Expansion Is Raising Climate Concerns 0521 - draining peat / swamps and peat fires

The Brazilian Amazon Is Burning, Again 0621

Fish ‘Not as Carbon Friendly' as Previously Thought 0521

Trawling for Fish May Unleash as Much Carbon as Air Travel 0321

All-Amazon Greenhouse-Gas Study Suggests Forest Worsens Climate Change 0321

500+ Experts Call on World’s Nations to Not Burn Forests for Energy 0221

Net, Land Absorbs Carbon Now, but It Could Emit It in Just a Few Decades 0121

Many Overheated Forests May Soon Release More Carbon than They Absorb 0121

Human Use Has Increased Grasslands' Contribution to Climate Change 0121

Brazilian Forests Are Transitioning from Carbon Sinks to Carbon Sources 1220

Sicker Livestock Emit More Methane, Accelerating Climate Change 1020

Global Warming Could Unlock Carbon from Tropical Soil 0820

Cow Burps, Leaky Pipelines Put Earth on High-End Warming Track 0720

Siberian Fires Have Released a Record Amount of Carbon This Year 0720

Amazon Fires at 13-Year High for June 0720

‘Zombie Fires’ in the Arctic Pump Out Carbon at Record Pace 0720

Arctic Battling Climate Change and Beavers 0720 - beaver ponds mean carbon emerges as CH4 more than CO2

Frequently Dry Waterways Still Contribute to Carbon Emissions 0620

Why ‘Carbon-Cycle Feedbacks’ Could Drive Temperatures Even Higher 0420

Surge in Global Methane Emissions Traced Back to East African Wetland 1219

One California Wildfire is Spewing Enough Smoke to Rival 320,000 Cars 1019

Bigger, More Frequent Wildfires Turn Canada’s Boreal Forest into Carbon Source 0819

The Bizarre, Peaty Science of Arctic Wildfires 0719 - So far in 2019, Arctic fires have released more CO2 into the air than what Belgium emits annually.  That beats the previous ecord, set in 2004—and we’re only in June.

Arctic Wildfires Continue to Burn, Releasing Record Amounts of CO2 - 0719 - The amount of CO2 emitted from Arctic Circle fires in June 2019 is larger than all of the CO2 released from Arctic Circle fires in the same month from 2010 through to 2018 put together.

Scientists Zero in on Trees as a Surprisingly Large Source of Methane 0619

Canada Forests Haven’t Absorbed Carbon than They Released since 2001 - 0519

Climate Change Being Fueled by Soil Damage 0419

Worsening Algae Blooms Could Significantly Increase Global Methane Emissions 0319

Quantifying global soil carbon losses in response to warming 1116 - Abstract.  Soils lose 30± GT of carbon for 1°C warming.

Why Peatlands Matter in the Battle against Climate Change 1218

The Seafloor Is Dissolving Because of Climate Change 1118

Latitudinal Limits to Predicted Increased Peatland Carbon Sink with Warming 0918

Rice Farming Up to Twice as Bad for Climate Change as Previously Thought 0918

Globally Rising Soil Heterotrophic Respiration over Recent Decades 0818 - abstract of study

Rising Temperatures Are Causing Soil to Dump More CO2 into the Air 0818 - summary of study

Why BECCS Might Not Produce ‘Negative’ Emissions after All 0818

Another Climate Change Effect Is Superheated Bugs in the Soil, Belching Carbon 0818

Tracking the Shift of Tropical Forests from Carbon Sink to Source 0718

Marine Heat Wave Set Off 'Carbon Bomb' in World's Largest Seagrass Meadow 0318

In California’s Wildfires, a Looming Threat to Climate Goals 1217

El Niño Might Speed Up Climate Change 1217

El Niño’s Warning - Satellite Shows How Forest CO2 Emissions Can Skyrocket 1017

Baltic Sea Clams 'Giving Off as Much Gas as 20,000 Cows' 1017

There’s a Climate Bomb Under Your Feet 1017

A Solution to the Atmosphere’s Methane Mystery? 0917

Volcanic Eruptions Triggered Global Warming 56 Million Years Ago 0817

Tropical Peat Forests Risk Turning from Carbon ‘Drains' to Emitters 0617

Frozen Farmers’ Fields Emit Nitrous Oxide, a Climate Change Culprit 0417

Soil Microbes Hold Key to Climate Puzzle 0317 - Complex soil ecosystems harbor carbon sinks and sources.

Small Ponds Have Big Impact on Global Warming 0217

Arctic Soils Set to Release Lots of Carbon, More than Plants Can Absorb 1216 - Global soil can release 55 billion tons of carbon by 2050.  Take 2 on study

Scientists Have Long Feared Soil Climate ‘Feedback’.  Now It’s Happening. 1116 - more than just permafrost soils - take 1

Soil Could Become Significant CO2 Contributor in Near Future 1116

How Earth Will Pay Back Our Carbon Emissions with Even More - from Peat, etc. 1016

Reservoirs Now Recognized a Key Source of Greenhouse Gas Methane 0916 - rotting vegetation drowned by reservoirs

Zombie Carbon Emissions Haunt the Planet 0716 - carbon from trees rotting that were killed by drought

Russian Wildfires Put Key Climate Change Resource at Risk 0716

These Peat Fires Are Huge, Hidden and Harmful.  What Can We Do? 0616

Fort McMurray Fire’s Stunning Pulse of Carbon to the Atmosphere 0516

To Help Curb Climate Change, Stop Wasting Food 0416

Is Climate Change Putting the World's Micro-Biomes at Risk? 0316

Indonesia's Peat Fires Make It World’s 4th-Largest Carbon Emitter 1015

Why Scientists Are So Worried about Drylands (40% of Earth’s Land) 0915

Climate Models May Misjudge Soils' Carbon Emissions 0815

Coal Renaissance Means Switching to Plan B - Carbon Pricing and CO2 Removal 0715

The Complex Relationship between Agriculture and Climate Change 0715

Dairy Straits 0415

World's Plants and Soils to Switch from Carbon Sink to Source by 2100 - 0415  - Limits to other nutrients are important.

     Maps of carbon storage on land. Upper map shows historical levels of storage (1860-69).

     Lower map shows model projections of the change in storage by 2100 as a result of nitrogen and phosphorus limits, under a high emissions scenario (RCP8.5). Source: Wieder et al. (2015). 

Below, Pg = billion tons (GT).  Fossil fuel emissions to date are 300-400 GT (Pg).

     Change in land carbon storage projections from CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5) models, under a high emissions scenario (RCP8.5). Coloured lines show average model projection for no nutrient constraints (black), limits to nitrogen (red), and limits to nitrogen and phosphorus (blue). Box plots on right-hand side show range in model results. Source: Wieder et al. (2015). 

Obama Tackles Agriculture’s Role in Climate Change - Why That’s a Big Deal 0415

Acidic Oceans Helped Fuel Greatest Extinction 0415

Is Grass-Fed Beef Really Better for You, the Animal and the Planet? 0215 - cow farts (vs sequestration from trampling soil)

Farming Now Worse For Climate Than Deforestation 0215

Climate Change Mitigation’s Best-Kept Secret - Methane 0115

Smoldering Peat Fires Pose Global Threat 0115

Squirrels and Beavers Contributing More Than Thought to Global Warming 1214

Hydropower May Be Huge Source of Methane Emissions 1014

Drowned Tropical Forests Add to Climate Change 0914

Warning over Vulnerability of Soil Carbon to Warming 0914

Greenhouse Gas Fear over Increased Meat Eating 0814

Measuring Cow and Pig Emissions Goes to New Heights 0714

Peatland Fires Biggest Contributor to Carbon Emissions 0514

Are Gassy Cattle a Bigger Problem Than US Government Thought? 1113

Wasted Food is World's 3rd-Biggest Carbon Emitter, after China and US 0913

Global Methane Releases Could Be Wetlands or Wellheads 0913

Tropical Ecosystems Boost Carbon Dioxide as Temperatures Rise 0713

Global Warming at Your Doorstep - Lawns 0513 

Wild Weather Can Send GHGs Spiraling 0413  

Earthworms Increase Soils’ GHG Emissions, Take 2 0313  

Earthworms Increase Soils’ GHG Emissions 0213  

Black Soot Warms 2nd Only to CO2 0113  

Food May Cause Almost 33% of GHG Emissions 1012

Aquatic Dead Zones Contributing to Climate Change 0310 

Wetlands 11K Yr Ago Raised Carbon in Air 0409 - PDF

 

GO TO Top. .Permafrost 1. .2. .3. .PETM. .Hydrates. .Other+. .Soil:Ranch. .Scrub-Rock-. .Ocean-. .Forest+ -. .Ocean+. .Other 2+

Rising Carbon Sinks - Overviews

    Below is one outfit’s take on CO2 removal prices, early 2021.  Compare with “Summary of CDR Approaches, by Factor", a little farther below.

U.N. Slams Carbon Removal as Unproven and Risky 0523

CO2 Removal Efforts Seen Far behind What Is Needed 0123

 

Can the Climate Be Restored? 1022

All the Ways to Remove Carbon Emissions from the Air 1022

The Market & Policy Landscape for Advancing Direct Air Capture – Who Pays? 0122

U.S. Experts Endorse Research on Ocean Carbon-Removal Strategies 1221

World Will Miss 1.5°C without Large-Scale Negative Emission Solutions by 2025 - 0621

After Net Zero, We Need to Go Much Further and Clean Up Historic Emissions 0621

Carbon Capture Has to Get as Big as Oil Industry in Less than 30 Years 0421

Elon Musk Pledges $100 Million to Carbon Capture Contest 0221

Charting a Path towards Net-Zero - US Leadership in CO2 Removal Is Important 0221 - review of recent and proposed US laws on CO2 removal.  Also, list of major nations recently committed to net zero by 2050 (& China 2060).

Stopping Climate Change Could Cost Less than Fighting Covid-19 - 0920

We Made This Heat, Now We Cool It 0920

Guide to Negative Emissions Technologies - Focus on Direct Air Capture 0320

Negative CO2 Emissions Overview - Physics Today 0120 - PDF - outstanding summary

The Next Investing Trend Is Climate Restoration 0120

The Necessity of Pulling CO2 Out of the Air 1219

Stable Climate May Require Carbon Removal Industry Twice as Big as Fossil Fuel Industry 0919

What You Need to Know about Catching CO2 to Fight Climate Change 0919 - a simple look at CO2 capture from smokestack and direct from ambient air - emphasis on uses for CO2 like enhanced oil recovery 

Stripe Inc. Says Offsets Aren’t Enough; It’s Time to Pay for Negative Emissions 0819

Net-Zero by 2050 - 0519

Scientists Test Radical Ways to Fix Earth's Climate 0519

Can Carbon-Removal Technologies Curb Climate Change? 0419

Finnish Businesses Set Up ‘World's 1st' Market for CO2 Removal Certificates 0419

‘Carbon Removal Is Now a Thing’ - Radical Fixes Get a Boost at Climate Talks 1218

World Needs to Suck CO2 to Meet Goals — National Academies 1018

We Absolutely Must Suck CO2 from the Air, but We Must Be Very Careful 0918

Cutting Emissions Still Matters, but Carbon Capture Rises as a Battlefront 0918

Greenhouse Gas Removal Could Make UK Carbon Neutral by 2050, but Requires Immediate Action 0918

Technological Carbon Removal in the US - WRI 0918 - PDF, 32 pp

Creating Negative Emissions - The Role of Natural and Technological CO2 Removal Strategies 0618

 

 

The Future of Ocean-Based Carbon Removal Research 0322

This “Carbon Removal Marketplace” Will Make Buying Offsets Easier 0618

Cost Plunges for Capturing CO2 from the Air 0618 - take 2 on another summary (below)

This Is How We Might Pull Carbon Out of the Atmosphere 0618 - another summary of many methods

Methods for Climate Restoration 1017

     summary of many methods of CO2 removal, some with costs, + some solar radiation management

US Tax Incentives Expected to Grow CO2 Capture, Sequestration Projects 0318

Keeping the World below 2°C of Warming Needs Tech We Don’t Have 0218 - pessimistic summary from Eur. NAS's

We Can Pull CO2 from Air, but It's No Silver Bullet for Climate Change 0218 - pessimistic summary, take 2

Rising Carbon Sinks - Soils

As stated far above, soils now contain 3-7 times as much carbon as either the atmosphere or above-ground biomass.

Ranching and farming can both move very large amounts of carbon from the air into soils - IF done right.

Savanna & Grassland Carbon Storage Slows Climate Change 1023

Microbes Are Key to Sequestering Carbon in Soil 0523

Once Nearly Extinct, Bison Are now Climate Heroes 0722

How the Soil World Sustains Plants by Their Roots.  Soil Is Key to Earth’s Future. 0522 - The intricate fungi network works with trillions of specialized bacteria to send nutrients to plants roots, which the plants pay for (11-40% of all sugar prodution from photosynthesis).  Myriad creatures, from beetles, worms and insects, to mites to bacteria form an enriched ecosystem.  Farmer Iain Tolhurst in England has become a master of letting  the whole ecosystem boost his crop yields to high levels on “rubble” land without pesticides, herbicides, mineral treatments, animal manure, or any other kind of fertilizer.  Leave low green ground cover on the land 365 days a year.  And much more.

Giga-ton economy for future of farming: “Carbon capture with benefits” (Dean Houton Feb. 27, 2021 seminar)

Rock Dust in UK Agriculture Could Absorb 45% of CO2 Needed for Net-Zero 0522

Rock Powder with Biochar - Synergies & Co-Benefits 0422

Regenerative Agriculture Can Fight Climate Change, Keep Food on Our Plates 0422

Fungi Are a Powerful and Under-Appreciated Ally in the Climate Crisis 1121

Desertification Is Turning the Earth Barren – but a Solution Is Still within Reach 0921

Only 4-5% of Corn Belt Farmers Are Planting Crops to Store Carbon 0621

Canada's Swamps Are the Secret Weapon to Fighting Climate Change 0521

Large Food Companies Look to Lock Carbon in Soils to Meet Emission Goals 0221

Planting Crops — and Carbon, Too 0121

Are Carbon Markets for Farmers Worth the Hype? 0920 - No, Indigo Ag, etc. 

Farms Can’t Save the Planet 0820 - Mostly, carbon farming and fast-rotation grazing move carbon into the top foot of soil from the 2 feet of soil below that top layer.

New Soil Models May Ease Atmospheric CO2, Climate Change 0720

Is Carbon Farming a Climate Boon or Boondoggle? 0620 - If more carbon in top 30 cm, correspondingly less in rest of top 2 meters.  Cost-effectiveness difficulties in measuring carbon added, so use algorithms instead.  No-till and cover crops good for other reasons, but not clear they actually add carbon (net) to soils.  Etc.

Is Carbon Sequestration on Farms Actually Working to Fight Climate Change? 0420

Methane-Eating Bacteria Could Help Cut Emissions from Thawing Permafrost 0320

Horizon Will Become the 1st ‘Carbon Positive’ National Dairy in the U.S. 0320

Fighting Climate Change from the Ground Up 1119

1st Auction of Sequestrated Soil Organic Carbon 1019

Can Big Ag Be Part of the Climate Solution? 0919

For a Sustainable Climate and Food System, Regenerative Agriculture Is the Key 0819

The Climate Emergency - Regenerate or Perish 0619

Can Soil Microbes Slow Climate Change? 0319

General Mills Has a Plan to Regenerate 1 Million Acres of Farmland 0319

Soil Ecologist Challenges Mainstream Thinking on Climate Change 0219

Farmers Start Field Trial for Carbon Capture with Fungi 1218

Put More Carbon in Soils to Meet Paris Climate Pledges 1218

Cornell Study Reveals Natural Solutions to Combat Climate Change 1118

Natural Climate Solutions, Including Farm Conservation, Can Reduce Global Warming 1118

Natural Climate Solutions Could Cancel Out 1/5 of U.S. Emissions 1118

Lowly In Stature, Fungi Play a Big Role In Regulating the Climate 0918

‘Natural Solutions’ in Focus as EU Hosts Climate Summit with China, Canada 0618

Mitigation Potential of Soil Carbon Management Overestimated by Neglecting N2O Emissions 0216

Could Soils Help Save the Climate? 0218

Unearthing the Secrets of Soil 1117

This Is Why, When You Talk about Climate Change, You Can’t Ignore Agriculture 0817
    Estimated loss since farming began is 133 billion tonnes of carbon.  Authors think we could regain 8-28 billion tons.

Soil Carbon Scheme a World-1st for South Australian and Victorian Farmers 0817

Next Decade Critical for Climate Targets 0517

Soil Microbes Hold Key to Climate Puzzle 0317 - Complex soil ecosystems harbor carbon sinks and sources.

Compendium of Scientific Findings Supporting Eco-Restoration to Address Global Warming 0417 - PDF 29 pp

about Farming 1st (mostly, immediately below)

Improving Soil Could Keep World within 1.5°C Heating Target 0723

However,

40% of Study Area Used No-Till Farming. What if 100% Did? Soil Loss Plummeted. 0623

No-Till May Not Be the Agricultural Panacea We Thought It Was 0822 - With no-till, more carbon is found in the top 10 cm of soil, but even less (than before) 10-60 cm down, for less carbon (0.28 to 2.29 tonnes / hectare) stored aross the whole soil profile.  Based on 144 studies over the last 50 years.  Un-tilled soil becomes compacted over time.

U.S. Farmers Improving Climate-Friendly Practices, but ‘More Work to Do 0322

‘Carbon Farming’ Could Make US Agriculture Truly Green 0620

General Mills Starts Michigan Program to Cut Dairy Emissions 0620

Pete Buttigieg, Polling High in Iowa, Targets Farmers with Climate Message 1119

Cory Booker Wants to Pay Many More Farmers to Practice Carbon Farming 0819

New Plan Would Remove a Trillion Tons of CO2 from the Air and Bury It 0619

How Soil Carbon Can Help Tackle Climate Change 0519

The Key to Curb Climate Change?  Super Plants 0419

These Probiotics for Plants Help Farms Suck Up Extra CO2 - 0219

‘Carbon Farmers’ Are Newest Recruits in California’s War on Climate Change 0918

How Did Farmer Brown Bring His Dying Land Back from the Brink? 0918

Missouri Farms Hold Big Potential as Carbon Storehouse 0718

Can Carbon Farming Reverse Climate Change? 0718

Facing Climate and Water Pressures, Farmers Return to Age-Old Cover Cropping 0518

Cropping, Population Boost Carbon Sinks 0418

Plants Are Great at Storing CO2.  Scientists Aim to Make Them Even Better. 0418

Adding Crushed Volcanic Rock to Farm Soil Could Boost Crops and Slow Global Warming 0418

Farming with Crops and Rocks to Address Global Climate, Food and Soil Security 0218 - add crushed, fast-reacting silicate rocks to soils

No-Till Farmers’ Push for Healthy Soils Ignites a Movement in the Plains 0218

New Healthy Soil Guide Gives Cooks a Better Recipe for Climate Change 1217

Better Soil Could Trap as Much Planet-Warming Carbon as Transport Produces 1117

Switching to Organic Farming Could Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions 1117

Nature Is One of the Most Under-Appreciated Tools for Reining in Carbon 1017

Why the Way We Manage the Carbon Bio-Flux Matters 1017

Study Shows Organic Farming Traps Carbon in Soil to Combat Climate Change 0917

This Is Why, When You Talk about Climate Change, You Can’t Ignore Agriculture 0817
    Estimated loss since farming began is 133 billion tonnes of carbon.  Authors think we could regain 8-28 billion tons.

Indonesian Farmers Befriend Soil to Protect Harvests from Climate Stress 0617

Solutions - Carbon Farming & Cutting Food Waste Don’t Require Trump Buy-in 0617

Surprising News about Deep Soil Carbon 0217 0.9 tons / acre in no-till maize and switchgrass plots, mostly 1-5 feet deep.  Best results with cover crop (stover) remained atop soil and 107 pounds of nitrogen fertilizer per acre.  Agricultural Research Service studies

The Search Is On for Pulling Carbon from the Air 1216 - emphasis on CCS, also spread silicates onto farmlands

White House Releases Climate Change Plan Before Trump Takes Office 1116

Prince Charles Joins Clean Soil Project to Combat Climate Change1016

Ancient Farming Practice Produces More Food, Less Pollution 1016

Looking to the Earth Itself as a Climate Solution 0916

C Sequester - Wolfe 0616 - PDF of PPT

at left, up to $20/T   $50/T   $100/T, good for 2-3 decades
from Paustian et al. 2016. Nature 532:49.

Iowa Farmers Ripped Out Prairie.  Now Some Hope It Can Save Them. 0816

Michigan Scientists See Urgency for Negative Emissions 0816

How the World’s Most Fertile Soil Can Help Reverse Climate Change 0716 - terra preta, from Amazon & W Africa

How Africans Are Saving Their Own Soil 0616

How Soil Microbes Fight Climate Change 0516

Regenerating Degraded Dirt 0316 - More and more farmers are using no-till and cover crops - to prevent erosion, improve soil’s water retention, and improve nutrient availability (cutting down use of artificial fertilizers).  Sequestering carbon (4/1000 Initiative) is a side benefit.

Cover Crops – a Farm Revolution with Deep Roots in the Past 0216

Massive Tree Farms, Soil Carbon Sequestration May Be Really Bad Climate Ideas 0216
     Darkening soils and forests, from carbon sequestration, especially biochar, increases solar radiation absorbed.
$60 trillion ($30 trillion?) price tag to cut 50 ppm via rock dust / gravel is a lot of money (but less than warming damages?).
Dedicating soils to carbon sequestration may (probably not) make them unavailable for farming.
Problems with farming the oceans to sequester carbon via algae.

Healthy Ground, Healthy Atmosphere - Recarbonizing the Earth’s Soils 0216

Improving Soils Cuts Carbon and Grows More Food 1215

Dirt, a Secret Weapon to Fight Climate Change 1215

Does industrial Agriculture Actually Yield More Food per Acre than Organic? 1015 - yes, but no, and, but, maybe

The Dirt on Soil 1015 - a primer on how parts of soils function

Putting Down the Plow in Oklahoma 1015

Join the 4‰ Initiative Soils for Food Security and Climate 0915

 

Farms Hold the Key to Absorbing Carbon and Fighting Climate Change 0715

A 3rd Way to Fight Climate Change 0715

Cover Crops Can Store 4 Tons of Carbon per Acre 0515

Tillage and Cover Cropping Affect Crop Yields and Soil Carbon in the San Joaquin Valley, California - PDF
     Summary article is below.  Using no-till plus a cover crop sequestered 0.29 more tons of carbon per acre per year (0.66 tonnes / hectare), than using neither.  No differences in fertilizer or pesticide treatment were noted in treatment or control. 

San Joaquin Valley Growers Seek Credit for Sequestering Carbon in Soils 0215 - summary of study above

Best Technology to Save the World Is Trees, Biochar and More Soil Carbon 0215

Can Biochar Fertilize Soil and Help Fight Climate Change? 0914

Old-School Farming Methods Could Save the Planet 0814

Altered Soil May Help Fight Global Warming 0814

How Organic Farming Can Reverse Climate Change 0414

Regenerative Organic Agriculture & Climate Change - Rodale 0414 - PDF, 16 pp
     "There is hope right beneath our feet. There is a technology for massive planetary geo-engineering that is tried and tested, and available for widespread dissemination right now.  It costs little and is adaptable to local contexts the world over.  It can be rolled out tomorrow, providing multiple benefits beyond climate stabilization.  The solution is farming.  Not just business-as-usual industrial farming, but farming like the Earth matters.  Farming like water and soil and land matter.  Farming like clean air matters.  Farming like human health, animal health and ecosystem health matters.  Farming in a way that restores and even improves on soil’s natural ability to hold carbon.  This kind of farming is called regenerative organic agriculture, and it is the short-term solution to climate change we need to implement today.”
     Field trials in the U.S., Egypt, Iran, and Thailand show carbon seqestration of 2.4 to 6.4 tonnes per hectare [0.87 to 2.34 tons per acre] per year.  "Even if modest assumptions about soil’s carbon sequestration potential are made, regenerative agriculture can easily keep annual emissions to within the desirable lower end of the 41-47 GT CO2e range by 2020.”
     Elements of regenerative organic farming include cover crops, residue mulching, composting, crop rotation, and conservation tillage.  Plants so treated sequester carbon in soils at depths to at least 80 cm, for decades to millennia.  Clay helps.  Mycorrhizal fungi are key players in the process, producing glomalin in which carbon is stored.  Yields of organic crop systems exceed those in artificial fertilized systems in times of drought, and they are more resilient in the face of greater weather variability.

Salamander’s Hefty Role in the Forest 0414

Can Farming Provide a Solution to Climate Change? 0813

Australia Coalition's Soil Carbon Plan 'Unviable' 0713

CO2 Reductions from Farming & Forestry - Smith 2013 - PDF, 48 pp

Scientist Finds Chemical Group That Helps Organic Soils Store More Carbon 0613

Fungi Pull Carbon into Northern Forest Soils 0413

Does Biochar Stay Put? 0413

King Corn Mowed Down 2 Million Acres of Grassland in 5 Years Flat 0213

Biochar Cookstoves Boost Health for People and Crops 0113  

Why the Government Should Pay Farmers to Plant Cover Crops 0113  

Carbon Stored in California’s Deserts 1212  

Soil’s Hidden Secrets 0112

CO2 Sequestration Potential in Farm Soils: Abstract - Smith 2011

Siberian Herds Park Takes Carbon from Air 1210  

Carbon Sequester in Soils+ 0609

Storing Carbon in Forest Soils 0308  

Returning Carbon from Air to Soils 0308  

Reading List for Soil Carbon Sequestration 0308 

Moving Carbon from Air to Soil - Details 0308  

More CO2 Sequesters in Soil (Pine Plantations) 0207 - PDF

Organic Farming Sequesters Atmospheric Carbon and Nutrients in Soils - Rodale 2005
     Rodlae's Farming Systems Trial, for 23 years since 1981, has shown that soil, under organic agriculture management, can accumulate about 1,000 pounds of carbon per acre foot of soil each year.  This accumulation is equal to about 3,500 pounds of carbon dioxide per acre, taken from the air and sequestered into soil organic matter.  When multiplied over the 160 million acres of corn and soybeans grown nationally, a potential for 580 billion pounds of excess carbon dioxide per year can be sequestered, when farmers transition to organic grain systems.
     Organic grain production systems increase soil carbon 15 to 28%.  Moreover, soil nitrogen in the organic systems increased 8 to 15%.  Decay rates differ for soil organic matter under different management systems.  In the conventional system, the application of soluble nitrogen fertilizers stimulates more rapid and complete decay of organic matter, sending carbon into the atmosphere instead of retaining it in the soil as the organic systems do.
     Soil microbial activity, specifically the work of mychorrhiza fungi, plays an important role in helping conserve and slow down the decay of organic matter.  Mychorriza fungi are more prevalent in the organic farm systems. These fungi work to conserve organic matter by aggregating organic matter with clay and minerals. In soil aggregates, carbon is more resistant to degradation than in free form and therefore more likely to be conserved.
     In conventional and organic farming systems, yields of corn and soybean were not different, except in drought years.  Then, organic systems yielded 25 to 75% more than the conventional system.  The organic yield advantage in drought years is specifically related to the ability of higher-carbon organic soils to capture and deliver more water to crop plants.

This may be our most important way to reduce CO2 levels in the air.

Sequestering Carbon in Farm and Forest Soil - Fact Sheet 2004?

Depositing Carbon in the Soil Bank 0201 - USDA

GO TO Top. .Permafrost 1. .2. .3. .PETM. .Hydrates. .Other+. .Soil:Farm. .Scrub-Rock-. .Ocean-. .Forest+ -. .Ocean+. .Other 2+

About Grazing 2nd -                    .

     The at left picture is from a piece of land in Africa, the Karoo.  Holistic Management grazing is used to the left of the fence, as locals use methods taught by the Savory Institute.  Traditional modern grazing methods are used to the viewer’s right.

    Holistic Management involves grazing cattle (or buffalo, caribou, etc.) for short (~ 1 week) periods on a patch of land, then moving them to another patch.  (Sheep, and especially goats, should not be used, as they crop the grass too short.)  After several months of moving to one patch after another, they return to the original patch, then revisiting each patch in turn.  In the meantime, dung beetles move carbon (in dung) underground, while close-cropped perennial grass adds to its roots and sends up new shoots (as it does after a lawn is mowed).  The cattle hooves help break up the soil, so moisture and seeds can penetrate.  The soil stores more carbon in fungal networks, much of it in the form of glomalin.  The soil carbon results in soils soaking up 75-95% of rainfall, instead of 5-25% of rainfall in soils not treated (to viewer’s right of the fence.)

     This practice removes carbon from the air and stores it soil.  Moreover, the soil becomes a much better sponge for holding water.  A few of the articles (and 1 PPT) below address this practice and its results.

     Details are available here.  Especially watch the two videos.  Watch the short one first.  The second, Allan Savory's TED talk, is also available HERE.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpTHi7O66pI&feature=youtu.be

This may be our most important way to reduce CO2 levels in the air.

     Estimates vary for how much carbon our soils can remove from the air, and how fast.  In 2001, US Department of Agriculture staff estimated (see below) that US farming and ranching practices move 20 million tons of carbon a year from air to soils, for $6 per ton of CO2 removed initially.  They also estimated that removal could be increased to 10 times as much, more than 10% of US carbon emissions, largely via changes in tilling practices (no-till, etc.)

Allan Savory Says Says More Cows on the Land Will Reverse Climate Change.  Science Says Otherwise. 0217

    Partly, the article debunks a straw man: increased cattle per acre, but without fast rotation.  Good points - When you take cattle off the land to sell for meat, the land loses the nutrients on the hoof.  Replication has not been done.  Also, fallow (ungrazed) land recovers, eventually.  Also, cattle did not co-evolve with the driest rangelands.  Savory’s claims about how much CO2 can be removed may well be overblown, especially net of cows’ CH4 emissions.

Climate-Smart Cowboys Hope Regenerative Cattle Ranching Heal the Land and Sequesters Carbon 0623

Protecting the Beasts of the Land and Sea Could Help Fight Climate Change 0322 - grazed land is lighter colored than forest and shrubs.  So it reflects more sunlight, for a cooling effect.  Large grazers tend ro add carbon to soil.  Also, by cutting down on forests, they cut down on forest fires.

An Unusual Snack for Cows, a Powerful Fix for Climate 1120 - 2% of feed as red seaweeds Asparagopsis taxiformis and Asparagopsis armata can cut methane emissions 98%.

Restoring Big Plant-Eating Mammals Could Help Fight Climate Change 1018

Seaweed Diet for Burping Cows? 0718

‘Farming’ Microbes to Feed Cows Could Save Land and Cut Emissions 0618

Seaweed in Cow Feed Reduces Methane Emissions Almost Entirely 0518

Can Responsible Grazing Make Beef Climate-Neutral? 0418

Eco-Farming Can Solve Hunger and Climate Crises, Experts Say 0418

Nature Is One of the Most Under-Appreciated Tools for Reining in Carbon 1017

Why the Way We Manage the Carbon Bio-Flux Matters 1017

Grass-Fed Cows Won’t Save the Climate, Report Finds 1017

Focus on Carbon Removal a ‘High-Stakes Gamble’ 0517

Boosting Water Table Can Curb Climate Risks 0217

White House Releases Climate Change Plan Before Trump Takes Office 1116

Earth Soaking Up Less Carbon than We Thought, So It Warms Up Even Faster 0916

Carbon Farming - Hope for a Hot Planet 0416

Dirt - a Surprising Ally in the Battle against Climate Change 0416

Farmland Could Play Key Role in Tackling Climate Change 0416

Improving Soils Cuts Carbon and Grows More Food 0116 - for farming AND ranching

Dung Beetles Are Climate Heroes! 1215

Why Tom Steyer's Latest Climate Change Fight Involves Raising His Own Cattle 1015

How a Cow Can Help the Climate 0515 - one type of “rapid” rotation grazing; carbon sequestration is secondary.

Emerging Land Use Practices Rapidly Increase Soil Organic Matter 0415 - abstract.  8 Mg / year / hectare

Emerging land use practices rapidly increase soil organic matter | Nature Communications - weblink to full article

Obama Tackles Agriculture’s Role in Climate Change - Why That’s a Big Deal 0415 - legal & budget; grazing mentioned

Perennial Crops May Save Human Civilization 0415

Is Grass-Fed Beef Really Better for You, the Animal and the Planet? 0215

Scientists Urge Global ‘Wake-up Call' to Deal with Climate Change 0215

How Lowly Termites Save Grasslands for Lions, Elephants, and People 0215

Marin County Rancher Sees Compost as Miracle Cure for Climate Change 1114

Chevrolet Supports Grassland Preservation Program 1114

Microbe Turnover Offsets Soil New Carbon Storage - Sulman 1114 - PDF

Microbes, Roots & Soil Carbon - Wieder 1114 - PDF

Sprinkle of Compost Helps Rangeland Lock up Carbon 1014

Models ‘Underplay Plant CO2 Absorption' 1014

Wide, Brown Land Becomes a Home to Carbon Farming 0814

Carbon Mapping Trial Announced for Pilbara Cattle Station 0314

Soil as Carbon Storehouse- New Weapon in Climate Fight? 0314

As Biochar Uses Expand, Climate Benefits Still Uncertain 0114

Researchers Find Fungus That Can Boost Soil Carbon by up to 70% - 0114

No-Till Farming Is on the Rise.  That’s a Big Deal. 1113

Environmentalists Look to Carbon Markets to Slow Grassland Conversion 1113

The One Area Technology Cannot Save Us & 5 Little Things That Can 0913 - Holistic Managament links: eat grass-fed beef, eggs.  Video links are also in this article.

Holistic Management Can Save Our Soils and Reduce CO2 Levels 0913 - For more detail, see study below.

Restoring Soil Carbon to Slow Climate Change - Savory 0413 - PDF, 20 pp
     Holistic Management practices can move 2.5 tonnes of carbon / hectare / year (= 1 ton / acre / year = 0.25 kg / square meter [sq m]) from the air to soils, maybe more, building soil in the process.  This would increase removal almost by another factor of 10, from USDA's 2001 estimates.  Applied to 4 billion hectares of degraded grasslands (rangelands) around the world (about 20% of Earth's land), this would move 10 billion tons (GT) of carbon from air to soils.  Changed grazing practices would do it, rather than changed tillage ones.  10 GT / year removal ~ current world carbon emissions.  The atmosphere holds almost 1,000 GT of CO2.  Thus, Holistic Management applied to the max could cut atmospheric CO2 levels by ~ 4 ppm / year, if we reduce our emissions to zero.
     For perspective, the top foot of 1 square meter of soil weighs 350-500 kg.  Typically, 1% to 12% of that is organic carbon.  So, soils (except deserts, see map at top of page) contain 4 to 60 kg of carbon / sq m.  That includes 8-20 in most of the US, Canada, Russia, Siberia, Europe and China.  That's less than permafrost soils, but more than most tropical rainforests.  In all, Holistic Management practices might increase soil carbon by 1-6% / year (& topsoil mass by 0.05% / year), while tillage changes can increase soil carbon 0.1-0.6% / year.

     However, soil microbes respire carbon to the air faster as soil warms.  This counters moving carbon from air to soils.

Soil Organic Carbon Content - Europe & World 2012 - PDF.  eusoils.jrc.ec.europa.eu/esdb_archive/octop/octop_download.html

                                                                                                                    Carbon % at left.  Tonnes / Hectare below.  World is atop page.

 

 

Australian Cattle Giant to Cash in Carbon Credits 0913

Carbon Capture and Renewable Energy Generation by Pyrolysis 0913

Meadowlands Valuable for Pulling CO2 from the Air 0813

More Cows — or Less?  Climate Strategies Point Opposite Ways 0813

Holistic Management: Move Carbon Back to Soil - Jim Laurie 0408 - PPT
     Extract 2 ppm (10 GigaTons of CO2) / year from the air by proper grazing on some 10 million square miles of rangeland.  That's half a ton of carbon / acre (1.1 tonnes of carbon / hectare) / year.  It would take 1-2 centuries to double the carbon content of treated soils.  In all, goes the plan, extract 80 ppm of CO2 from the air and return it to soils.  Pass 350 ppm on the way down, via 10GT CO2 / year moved to soils, by planned fast rotation grazing on marginal lands.  Decrease ocean dead zones, avoiding Canfield Ocean [very hot, anoxic, sulfur dominated] and a repeat of Permian Extinction.

     Allan Savory, founder of the Holistic Management Institute (which advocates fast (~ 1 week per pasture) rotation grazing on rangelands), says that a 0.5% increase in soil carbon in the world's degraded lands would remove 150 gigatonnes of carbon from the air.  That's 15 years of human emissions at current rates.

Rising Carbon Sinks - Biochar

Ancient Amazon Charcoal Seen as Next Big Thing in Carbon Markets 0623

Rock Powder with Biochar - Synergies & Co-Benefits 0422

Biochar Traps Water and Fixes Carbon in Soil, Helping the Climate 1220

Pyrogenic Carbon Capture and Storage 0818 - PDF

Biogeochemical Potential of Biomass Pyrolysis Systems for Limiting Global Warming to 1.5 °C 0418

Biochar, the Once and Future Agricultural Mainstay 1017

Is Biochar a Game-Changer for Sustainable Farms? 0617

Ancient Farming Practice Produces More Food, Less Pollution 1016

Largest Biochar Facility in U.S. Opens at Cornell 0416

Massive Tree Farms, Soil Carbon Sequestration May Be Really Bad Climate Ideas 0216
     Darkening soils and forests, from carbon sequestration, especially biochar, increases solar radiation absorbed.
$60 trillion ($30 trillion?) price tag to cut 50 ppm via rock dust / gravel is a lot of money (but less than warming damages?).
Dedicating soils to carbon sequestration may (probably not) make them unavailable for farming.
Problems with farming the oceans to sequester carbon via algae.

‘Last Ditch’ Climate Change Remedies Olivine & Biochar Remove CO2 from Air 0615

Best Technology to Save the World Is Trees, Biochar and More Soil Carbon 0215

Can Biochar Fertilize Soil and Help Fight Climate Change? 0914

Strategies to Mitigate Climate Change in Agriculture 0414 - PDF, 146 pp

Sustainable Biochar to Mitigate Climate Change - Ammonette 0810 - PDF, 57 pp

 

 

GO TO Top. .Permafrost 1. .2. .3. .PETM. .Hydrates. .Other+. .Soil:Farm. .Ranch. .Ocean-. .Forest+ -. .Ocean+. .Other 2+

Rising Carbon Sinks - Direct Air Capture (& Sequestration)

     The diagram above shows, based on the laws of thermodynamics, the minimum energy to remove CO2 from ambient air (Direct air capture).  Removal requires about 3 times as much energy as the energy gained by burning coal and more than twice as much as from burning natural gas.  That is primarily because the CO2 is so dilute in the atmosphere.  For net CO2 removal with DAC, cheap energy (solar and wind, perhaps also small modular nuclear) is needed.

     However, the diagram above assumes energy use for fans to speed up air circulation across a catalyst that captures CO2 (there are many possible catalysts.)  Is also assumes that heat is later used to separate the CO2 from the catalyst, so that the capture process can begin anew and so that the purified CO2 can be pumped to its final resting place (or another use).

Amazon Bets Big on Oil Giant Occidental’s Carbon Removal Project 0923

How an Oil Giant Took Control of Biden's Billion-Dollar Bet on Carbon Capture 0823

Can Vacuums Slow Global Warming? Administration Bets $1.2 Billion on It. 0823 - Much more progress on capture from high-density CO2 streams (100% at ethanol plants, ~15% at industrial plants, than 0.042% in ordinary air.

What’s Needed to Reach Net-Zero This Century - IEA 0423

Carbon-Sucking Tech Could Need More Energy than All Homes Use 0323

How to Suck Up CO2, Turn It into Baking Soda, and Store It in the Oceans 0323

Artificial Trees 0223

Carbon Removal Is Where Green Investment Should Go 0123

Competition Heats Up for U.S. Direct Air Capture Program 0123

CO2 Removal Efforts Seen Far behind What Is Needed 0123

New York Landlords Try Carbon-Sucking Towers to Comply with Climate Law 0123

Nasdaq Targets Boom in Market for Carbon Removal in Coming Years 1022

Why the $100 per Ton Target for Carbon Removal May Be ‘Pure Fantasy' 1022

Audi and Krajete Filter CO2 Out of the Air 1022

3 Big Direct Carbon Capture Deals to Know 1022

What the Inflation Reduction Act Means for Direct Air Capture 0822 - The tax credit awarded companies for CO2 captured and durably stored was raised from $50 to $180 per tonne.  For CO2 captured and utilized (concrete, carbonation, oil extraction, etc.), the increase was from $35 to $130 per tonne.  Minimum capture to claim the credits is reduced to 1000 tonnes / year.  Smaller projects can receive direct pay for the full value of the credits for the projects 1st 5 years.  Also, the deadline to build eligibale facilities ws extended 7 years.  The Act also provides $2.15 billion for low-carbon buildings and use of low-carbon materials.  This benefits companies such as CarbonCure and CarbonBuilt,which incorporate captured CO2 into building materials.

New Law Helps U.S. Firm Launch Wyoming Direct Air Carbon Capture Project 0922

Climeworks Predicts CO2 Removal Cost Drop to Below $250 / Tonne by 2030 - 0722

The Chips Act Has a CO2 Removal Easter Egg 0822 - $1 billion for carbon removal research

Startup That Sucks CO2 from the Air Is Building a Big Plant in Iceland 0622

Can Carbon Capture Be Part of the Climate Solution? 0622

Carbon-Removal Industry Draws Billions to Fight Climate Change 0622

U.S. Steel Backs Snatching CO2 from the Air and Storing It in Concrete 0622

Fastest CO2 Catcher Heralds New Age for Direct Air Capture 0522

Microsoft, Salesforce Add $300 Million to Carbon Removal’s Growing Cash Pile 0522

Whitehouse, Coons Introduce Act to Accelerate CO2 Removal 0522

Tonko, Peters Introduce CO2 Removal Legislation 0422

Musk and Google Add to $2 Billion Boost for Carbon Removal 0522

There Has Never Been a Better Time to Start a Carbon Removal Company 0422

We Need a Massive Carbon Removal Industry.  What Will It Take to Scale It Up? 0422

Verdox has a process (video at right and at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av_Sbd2cx3s) that uses electric charge changes instead of heat to separate captured CO2 from the catalyst and regenerate the catalyst sorbent or solvent.  Using electric charge changes gets rid of ~ 1/2 of energy use. $40-80 / ton by 2035?

Direct Air Capture 0422 - overview of DAC methods, EF.  Heirloom is projected to hit $50 / ton for carbon removal by 2035.  It gets rid of the other ~1/2 of energy use: moving air past the catalyst.  Use natural air circulation (slower) instead of fans.

A Scalable Direct Air Capture Process Based on Weathering Calcium Hydroxide 0322 - Heirloom explains its process.  Several pages, with chemical equations.

Climeworks Raises $650 Million in Largest Round for Carbon Removal Startup 0422

Carbon-Capture Startup Using Dirt Cheap Material Raises $53 Million 0322 - Limestone to calcium oxide and back

Fuel Cells and Game-Changing Tech to Remove 99% of CO2 from Air 0222

Bill Gates Invests in Carbon Capture Startup After Tech Breakthrough 0222

The Market & Policy Landscape for Advancing Direct Air Capture – Who Pays? 0122

As Carbon Emissions Rise Unabated, Scientists Eye a Methane Removal Fix 1121

“Urban Sequoia” Technology Could Turn Buildings into Climate-Fighting Tools 1121 - Stack or chimney effect draws air 

To Slow Global Warming, Some Researchers Want to Pull Methane Out of the Air 1121

The Dream of Carbon Air Capture Edges Toward Reality 0821 - Movement has begun from $500-600 per ton of CO2 removed to $94-232.  Discussion of the industry.

Direct Air Capture Carbon Removal Technology Reaches Early Milestone 0921 - Climeworks’ Orca plant opens.

These ‘Super-Trees’ Are Engineered to Capture More Carbon 0621

Direct Air Capture of CO2 Is Suddenly a Carbon Offset Option 0321

Microsoft Climate Fund Backs Climeworks Effort to Suck Up Carbon 0121

Chevron Invests in Carbon Capture and Utilization Startup Blue Planet 0121 - store CO2 incalcium carbonate aggregate for concrete

OpenAir’s R&D Roundup – Violet and Cyan Home CO2 Removal Projects 0121

Will Machines That Scrub CO2 from the Air Halt Climate Change? 0121 - brief overview: Climeworks, Carbon Engineering

Businesses Aim to Pull Greenhouse Gases from the Air 0121 - many companies.  Mostly about CCS and DAC.

Mining the Sky for CO2 with Metal Trees, Towers and Pumps 0121

Researchers Unveil New Method for Converting CO2 into Jet Fuel 1220

Climeworks to Build World’s Biggest Climate-Positive Direct Air Capture Plant 0920

Removing CO2 Could Spark Big Rise in Food Prices 0820 - Liquid sorbent DAC systems require lots of water and heat.  However, solid sorbent systems require no fresh water (or burning natural gas).  So, lack of water to grow food probably will not be exacerbated by DAC - using solid sorbents.

Swiss Carbon Capture Startup Raises $76 Million in Funding Round 0620

Guide to Negative Emissions Technologies - Focus on Direct Air Capture 0320

New Industry Develops around Sucking CO2 Out of the Atmosphere 1219

MIT Engineers Develop a New Way to Remove CO2 from Air 1019

Reverse Engineering the Climate Crisis Is Not Only Possible—It's Necessary 1019

The Future of Carbon Capture - Old Idea to Fight Climate Change Gets New Look 1019

Carbon Engineering to Double Capacity at Its Direct Air Capture Plant 0919

Pulling CO2 Out of the Air and Using It Could Be a Trillion-Dollar Business 0919

CO2 Solutions Commissions Its 1st Commercial Carbon Capture Unit 0419

Powerful ‘Mechanical Trees’ Can Remove CO2 from Air at Scale 0419

CO2 Removal Factories Slowly Gain Ground 0419

Billionaires Back Carbon Engineering to Build 1st ‘Negative Emissions’ Plant 0319 - take 1

New Facility Aims to Capture 40 Million Trees’ Worth of CO2 Every Year 0319 - take 2

BHP Invests US$6 Million in Emissions Reduction Company, Carbon Engineering 0319 - take 3

One Man’s 2-Decade Quest to Suck Greenhouse Gas Out of the Sky 0219

Oil Industry Makes Landmark Investment in CO2 Air Capture 0119

How One Company Pulls Carbon from the Air, to Avert Climate Catastrophe 1218

Can 12 Billion Tonnes of Carbon Be Sucked from the Air? 1118

Could Carbon-Capture Technology Be a Silver Bullet to Stop Climate Change? 1018

Could Oil Nation Norway Help Save the Climate? 1018

This Gel Grows and Heals by Gobbling Carbon from the Air 1018

Carbon Removal Firms See Opportunity in U.N. Climate Report 1018

Climeworks Opens a 3rd Plant Capturing CO2 from the Air 1018

Huge Fans, Burning Biomass May Help Store Carbon for Climate Fight 0918

Moniz Group Launches ‘Substantial' CO2 Air Capture Project 0918

Sucking Carbon from Air, Swiss Firm Wins New Funds for Climate Fix 0818

Scientists Find Way to Make Mineral to Remove CO2 from the Air 0818

Pioneers of CO2 Removal See Boon for Renewables 0418

Saving the World with CO2 Removal 0118

Can CO2 Removal Save the World? 1117

World’s 1st “Negative Emission” Plant Will Turn CO2 to Stone 1017

Carbon-Sucking Technology Needed by 2030s, Scientists Warn 1017

Healthy Climate News – 7 Technologies That Could Scale 0317 - 3 are Direct Air Capture.

It’s Time to Start Talking about “Negative” CO2 Emissions 0817

Scientists Dim Sunlight, Suck Up CO2 to Cool Planet 0717

World’s Young Face $535 Trillion Bill for Climate Change 0717

Swiss Firm Climeworks Starts Sucking CO2 from the Air, to Fight Climate Change 0617

Focus on Carbon Removal a ‘High-Stakes Gamble’ 0517

A Cheaper Way to Pull CO2 from the Air, Turn It into Crystals 0117 - Guanidine, lower temp outgassing than amines.

Report from Global Thermostat Tour 1216 - Blow air thru 6-inch cubes.  They use amines in ceramic honeycomb to capture CO2, heat to 80°C to release it for disposal.  Capture 1 ton of CO2 / year.  $70 / ton now, projected fall to $20 / ton.  [Use billions of such cubes.]

Trapping Carbon Works, but High Cost to Limit Its Use to Essential Processes 1116

Could Mutant Plants Save Us from Global Warming? 1116

Climate Change Killing East Africa’s Water Resources, UN Warns 1016

CO2, Climate Change Seen As Waste Disposal Challenge 0916

Artificial Leaf Turns CO2 Emissions Into Fuel 0816

Can Pulling Carbon from Air Make a Difference on Climate? 1215

Nanoscale Carbon Capture Strategy Pays Off 0815

Startups Have Learned How to Remove Carbon from the Air.  Will Anyone Pay Them? 0715

Pragmatic Ways to Capture Carbon from Ambient Air & Smokestacks 0615

Does Air Capture Constitute a Viable Backstop Against a Bad CO2 Trip? - Broecker 1213

Carbon Capture and Renewable Energy Generation by Pyrolysis 0913

Carbon Capture from Air Needed to Fight Climate Change 0813

Chemical Plant Would Turn Emissions into Useful Products 0813

Way to Remove CO2 from the Air 0613 

US Lab Removes CO2 from Air at Low Cost 0513  

Canada Lab Hopes to Turn Emissions into Algae 0513  

Suck Carbon Emissions Right Out of the Air 0413  

Pulling CO2 Out of Thin Air 0113  

New Holey Material Soaks Up CO2 0612 

Cheap Material Can Scrub CO2 from Air 0112 

Scrubbing CO2 from Air for Centuries 0710 

CCS No Remedy For Warming 0410

Sequestering Carbon in Rocks - Lackner 2002 - PDF, 42 pp
from Abstract: "Sequestration of waste carbon dioxide will require methods that can safely store several trillion tons of carbon dioxide.  Long-term storage of a gaseous substance is fraught with uncertainty and hazards, but carbonate chemistry offers permanent solutions to the disposal problem.  Carbonates can be formed from carbon dioxide and metal oxides in reactions that are thermodynamically favored and exothermic, which result in materials that can be safely and permanently kept out of the active carbon stocks in the environment.  Carbonate sequestration methods require the development of an extractive minerals industry that provides the base ions for neutralizing carbonic acid."
     Among many topics addressed are alkalinity, magnesium carbonates, molten salts, serpentine and olivine.

 

Rising Carbon Sinks - Sequestration (with Direct Air Capture, etc.)

The Midwest Is Ground Zero for the Fight Over Carbon Capture Pipelines 0823

Frontier Carbon Removal Fund Just Inked a $53 Million Deal 0523  

Low-Carbon Concrete Could Bring a ‘Radical Change’ to the Industry 0523

EU’s Green Plan Will Force Oil Majors to Store CO2 Underground 0323

How to Suck Up CO2, Turn It into Baking Soda, and Store It in the Oceans 0323

Denmark Hopes to Pump Some Climate Gas beneath the Sea Floor 0323

Colorado Ponders Storing Carbon in Defunct Oil and Gas Wells 0223

Carbon Negative Building Materials 0223

Concrete Traps CO2 Soaked from Air in Climate-Friendly Test 0223

A Blue State Asks - Is Carbon Capture Part of Climate Agenda? 0223

Can Clay Capture CO2? 0223

This Startup Captures CO2 by Injecting It Straight into Volcanic Rock 0123

Calpine & Blue Planet Transform Captured Carbon into High-Grade Limestone 0922

Rock Dust in UK Agriculture Could Absorb 45% of CO2 Needed for Net-Zero 0522

Chevron Joins Project to Store Carbon Emissions Off Texas Coast 0522

Companies Can Soon Start Paying the Bahamas to Store Carbon in the Ocean 0522

Let's Bury Our CO2.  What Could Possibly Go Wrong? 0522

The Most Popular Material on Earth Is Great for Storing CO2 - 0821

Pumping CO2 Deep Under the Sea Could Help Korea Hit Net Zero 0521

Praise for Basalt Potential - In Situ Mineral Carbonation 0321

Your Next Roadside Attraction - Carbon Storage 0714

Fracked Shale Could Sequester CO2 0913

This is a 3rd key way to reduce CO2 levels in the air.

 Rising Carbon Sinks - Rock (Weathering, etc.) & Sequestration

Warmer, Wetter World Could Make Enhanced Rock Weathering More Useful to Slow Climate Change 0123

Exxon to Buy Denbury for $4.9 Billion, in CO2 Pipeline Push 0723 - Denbury's pipeline network, to move captured CO2, is the draw.

Can ‘Enhanced Rock Weathering’ Help Combat Climate Change? 0523

Speeding Up Rock Weathering Can Help Decarbonize the Atmosphere 0323

This Startup Uses Volcanic Rock Dust to Capture Carbon on Farms 1022

Measuring Enhanced Weathering on Croplands Is Really Hard To Do 0622

Using Alkaline Rock Minerals to Combat Climate Change 0522

Iowa Pipelines to Sequester CO2 from Ethanol Production – Climate Impacts? 0122

Could Crushed Rocks Absorb Enough Carbon to Curb Global Warming? 1221

Will Rock Dust Put a Drain on Atmospheric Carbon? 0921

Praise for Basalt Potential - In Situ Mineral Carbonation 0321

Accelerated Rock Weathering in Ag Soils Can Remove Billions of Tons of CO2 - 0221

Project Carbdown’s 1st Enhanced Weathering Aims to Remove CO2 from the Air 0121

Asbestos Could Be a Powerful Weapon against Climate Change 1020

How Iceland Is Undoing Carbon Emissions for Good 0620

Rise of CO2–Absorbing Tropical Mountains May Set Global Climate’s Thermostat 1218

How Oman’s Rocks Could Help Save the Planet 0418

Can Slag Heaps Help Save the Planet? 0417

Oman's Mountains Holds Peridotite from Mantle to Reverse Climate Change 0417

Pacific Northwest Lab Pumps CO2 Down into Basalt, Turning It to Stone 1116

Scientists Found a Way to Turn Our Carbon Emissions into Rock 1116

Experiment 'Turns Waste CO2 to Stone’ 0616
     CO2 & H2O injected 1,000 meters deep into volcanic rock.  It turned to carbonate rock over weeks to months.

Why CO2 'Air Capture' Could Be Key to Slowing Global Warming 0516 - artifical trees, also by Klaus Lackner (see above).  In dry conditions, they suck CO2 from the air many times as fast as natural tree leaves.  When wet, they release the CO2, which is sucked out of the chamber for disposal.

Massive Tree Farms, Soil Carbon Sequestration May Be Really Bad Climate Ideas 0216
     Darkening soils and forests, from carbon sequestration, especially biochar, increases solar radiation absorbed.
$60 trillion ($30 trillion?) price tag to cut 50 ppm via rock dust / gravel is a lot of money (but less than warming damages?).
Dedicating soils to carbon sequestration may (probably not) make them unavailable for farming.
Problems with farming the oceans to sequester carbon via algae.

‘Last Ditch’ Climate Change Remedies Olivine & Biochar Remove CO2 from Air 0615

Methane-Munching Microbes Hit Rock Bottom 1014

CO2 Removal Letter from Prof. Olaf Schuiling to the Dutch Government 0114

Understanding How Rocks Weather, Remove CO2 - 0713 - key overveiw article

Flat Weathering 0213

Olivine to Fertilize Oceans Gets Thumbs Down 0113

Throwing Rocks at CO2 - 0112

Peridotite Can Soak Up CO2 1108 

Moving CO2 into Crushed Rock 0308

 

GO TO Top. .Permafrost 1. .2. .3. .PETM. .Hydrates. .Other+. .Soil:Farm. .Ranch. .Scrub-Rock-. .Forest+ -. .Ocean+. .Other 2+

Rising Carbon Sinks - Ocean Algae+

Transporting Farm and Forest Residue to Anoxic Bottom of the Black Sea 0123

Ocean Fertilization Revived as Climate Change Alarm Grows 1122

Reanalyzing Seaweed Ecosystems’ Role as Carbon Sinks 0522 - Seaweeds directly can sequester carbon, but creatures that come with seaweed may have the opposite effect, and perhaps somewhat larger.  More research is needed.

Why Using the Oceans to Suck Up CO2 Might Not Be as Easy as Hoped 0322

Plankton May Have Unexpected Resilience to Warming Ocean Waters 0322

U.S. Experts Endorse Research on Ocean Carbon-Removal Strategies 1221 - some involve algae and Kelp

Tweak Ocean Ecosystems?  Maybe Not, Study Says. 0220

Humans May Be Accidentally Geo-engineering the Oceans 0719

Mysterious Green Antarctic Icebergs Might Be Fertilizing the Southern Ocean 0319

Biogenic Iron Dust for Ocean Iron Fertilization to Remove CO2 from Air at Scale 0219

Trends in Ocean Colour and Chlorophyll Concentration, 1889-2000, Worldwide - less chlorophyll in Pacific and Indian Oceans, but more in the North Atlantic

Healthy Climate News – 7 Technologies That Could Scale 0317 - 3 involve ocean capture, 2 with algae.

Massive Tree Farms, Soil Carbon Sequestration May Be Really Bad Climate Ideas 0216
     Darkening soils and forests, from carbon sequestration, especially biochar, increases solar radiation absorbed.
$60 trillion ($30 trillion?) price tag to cut 50 ppm via rock dust / gravel is a lot of money (but less than warming damages?).
Dedicating soils to carbon sequestration may (probably not) make them unavailable for farming.
Problems with farming the oceans to sequester carbon via algae.

Antarctic Icebergs Have Surprise Role in Slowing Warming 0116

Plankton Poo Clue Could Aid Climate Predictions 1015

Scientists Urge Global ‘Wake-up Call' to Deal with Climate Change 0215

Secrets of the Shelf Seas – One of Earth’s Most Important Ecosystems 0115

Models ‘Underplay Plant CO2 Absorption' 1014

Impact of Last Year’s Rouge Ocean Fertilization Experiment Still Unclear 1213

Ocean Iron Study Means Climate Rethink 0713 

Australia Bid to Stop 'Ocean Fertilization' 0513 

Seeding Ocean with Volcanic Iron Did Little to Lower CO2 0313

Olivine to Fertilize Oceans Gets Thumbs Down 0113

Seeding the Ocean to Capture Carbon 0113 

Patented Thermocline Can Upwell & Plankton Sequester CO2 1112

Climate Ocean Tech Fix 0712  

Ocean Algae to Remove CO2 Are Major Toxic 0310 

Hungry Plankton Scuttle Ocean Fertilization 0309  

Scientists Urge Caution in Ocean 1208  

Rising Carbon Sinks - Ocean - Raise Alkalinity & Other

How Seeding the Oceans with Minerals Could Grab Carbon from the Atmosphere 0923

Shopify, Startup Running Tide Tout Ocean Carbon Removal Breakthrough 0823 - bury logs covered in limestone on seabed.

How Shocking the Ocean Could Turn It into a Carbon Removal Powerhouse 0523

Startups Turn to Ocean to Capture More Carbon off Southern California Coast 0223

Pulling CO2 from the Ocean Might Be More Efficient than Direct Air Capture 0223

Ocean-Assisted Carbon Removal 0123 - ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) and electrochemical direct ocean capture

Testing of Carbon Removal by Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement Is About to Start 0123 

The Eastern Mediterranean Sea Is So Hot, It’s Forming Carbonate Crystals 1022

Using Alkaline Rock Minerals to Combat Climate Change 0522

Mysterious Deep-Ocean Creatures May Help Combat Climate Change 0222  exotic tiny creatures on deep seabed

An Ocean of Optimism to Trap Emissions 0122

CO2 Capture by Pumping Surface Acidity to the Deep Ocean 0122 

Southern Ocean Is Absorbing Carbon, Net 0122 - Lots of wave action mixes oxygen down.  Plus cold water absorbs gases better than warmer water.

U.S. Experts Endorse Research on Ocean Carbon-Removal Strategies 1221

How the Humble Salp Is Helping to Fight the Climate Crisis 0621 - Salps, jellyfish and other gelatinous creatures such as comb jellies remove up to an estimated 6.8 billion tonnes of carbon each year from seas around the world.  Of that, some 2 billion tonnes of the carbon is thought to fall to the seafloor, where it stays locked up and out of harm’s way.

Petrifying Climate Change 0621 - Seawater contains a lot of calcium and magnesium.  When the calcium or magnesium ions combine with CO2, they form calcite or magnesite.  This changes CO2 to a mineral, rock as it were.  The chemical reaction is similar to how many marine organisms build their shells.  The research team is using electricity to drive this reaction.

Prairies of the Sea 1120 -Sea grassees store up to 18% of the ocean’s carbon sequestration, even though they cover only about 0.1% of the ocean floor.

Can the Kelp Forests of the World’s Oceans Help Solve the Climate Crisis? 0620

The Ocean Is Part of the Climate Change Solution 1019 - 

Seaweed ‘Forests' Can Help Fight Climate Change 0819 - iron fertilization, shoreline mangroves & marshes, offshore wind

Slow Climate Change by Protecting Creatures That Store Carbon in the Ocean 0419

Wetland Mud Is ‘Secret Weapon' against Climate Change 0319

The 7 Positive Externalities of Negative Emissions from OTEC 1218 - OTEC, send surface water deep

Deep Water Seagrass Meadows Are Untapped Carbon Sinks 1218

Invading Plants Boost Blue Carbon 1018

Mangroves May Store Way More Carbon than We Thought 0518

Climate Scientists Unlock Secrets of ‘Blue Carbon’ 0118 - wetlands, mangroves, kelp - C density / hectare equal

Healthy Climate News – 7 Technologies That Could Scale 0317 - 1 involves de-acidifying the ocean..

How to Make Coastal Mangrove Habitats Sequester Even More Carbon 0517

Could Elusive Deep-Sea Microbes Help Fight Climate Change? 0916

How Northern European Waters Soak Up CO2 - 0216

Southern Ocean Showing ‘Remarkable' Revival in Carbon Absorption Ability 0915

How Fjords Are Helping Curb Global Warming 0515

Eelgrass Could Save the Planet 1114

Storm Warning - the Winds of Climate Change 0714

Sea Urchin Nickel Soaks Up CO2 0213  

Mangrove Conservation Is Economic 0812  

Coastal Carbon Sinks in Dire Need of Protection 1209  

Rising Carbon Sinks - Misc.

Can Moss, a Powerful Carbon Storage Solution, Help Fight Climate Change? 0523

Capturing Carbon with Giant Algae Ponds in the Middle of the Desert 1122

Climate Week Congregants Should Address Methane 0922

Re-Planting Wetlands Could Help Stave Off Climate Catastrophe 0622

U.K. Startup Launches Drywall Made from Absorbed CO2 - 0322

Protecting the Beasts of the Land and Sea Could Help Fight Climate Change 0322

Carbon Capture Takes Center Stage 0322 - from smokestacks, generally for re-use rather than sequestration

Engineered Bacteria Eat CO2, Release Valuable Carbon-Negative Acetone and Isopropyl 0322

As Carbon Emissions Rise Unabated, Scientists Eye a Methane Removal Fix 1121 - 1. Iron Salt Aerosols, 2. Dual Greenhouse Gas Direct Air Capture, 3. Iron Chloride Spray from Container Ships, 4. Ultraviolet Light with Titanium Dioxide Paint, on Moving Surfaces

Weird Ideas to Fix the Climate Crisis Might Be All We Have 1021

Oslo’s Plan to Sequester Incinerator CO2 - 0721

Swift Action to Cut Methane Emissions Could Slow Earth’s Warming 30% - 0421

This Canadian Startup Wants to Make Our Buildings Out of CO2 - 1120

Scientists Just Engineered Bacteria to Eat CO2 - 1219

Green Cement?  Captured Carbon May Fuel New Markets and Help Climate 1119

Climate Change Solution - Convert Atmospheric Methane to CO2 - 0519

Concrete Breakthrough Can Reverse Climate Change, Restore a Healthy Climate 0419

How to Convert CO2 into Furniture, Drugs, and Plastics - Cheaply and Efficiently 1218

Would Flooding the Deserts Help Stop Global Warming? 1118

Latitudinal Limits to Predicted Increased Peatland Carbon Sink with Warming 0918

Storing Billions of Tons of Carbon Could Start with CCS for Ethanol 0418

Can California’s Carbon Queen Recycle Pollution? 0318

This Startup Turns CO2 Pollution into Fish Feed 1017

Extreme New Zealand Bugs Could Help Fight Climate Change 0917 - methane-munching bugs in hot springs

Siberian Wildlife Park Aims to Restore Arctic Ecosystem, Slow Climate Change 0417

Scientists Hope Wetland Carbon Storage Experiment Is Everyone's Cup of Tea 0217 Tea rot rate measures sequestration.

Surprising Carbon Sink - Cement Absorbs, Stores CO2 - 1116

We’re Placing Far Too Much Hope in Pulling CO2 from the Air, Scientists Warn 1016

CO2, Climate Change Seen As Waste Disposal Challenge 0916

Pump CO2 into Rocks, Report Urges 0916

Michigan Scientists See Urgency for Negative Emissions 0816

Paris Climate Goals Mean Emissions Need to Drop Below Zero 1215 - repeat of CCS from biomass-fired power plants

Is the 2°C World a Fantasy? 1115 - carbon capture & storage from smokestacks of biomass-fired power plants

Could Diesel Made from Thin Air Help Tackle Climate Change? 0915

Crop Dusters Seed Mangroves by Air, to Save Louisiana Wetlands 0815

Underground Desert Aquifers Could Hold Missing Carbon 0815

Salty Lakes Across Prairies Storing Carbon from the Atmosphere 0215

Wetlands, Swamps ‘Hold Great Potential' to Store Carbon, Fight Climate Change 0215

Can Ants Save the World from Climate Change? 0814

Your Next Roadside Attraction - Carbon Storage 0714

Strategies to Mitigate Climate Change in Agriculture 0414 - PDF, 146 pp

World May Have to Remove Carbon from Air to Meet Climate Goals 0114

U.N. Says Lag in Confronting Climate Woes Will Be Costly 0114

Carbon Storage Studies Grapple with Politics, Geology 0913

Carbon Cycle Gets More Extreme as Climate Changes 0813 

Great Lakes Wetlands May Mitigate Climate Change 0413 

 

GO TO Top. .Permafrost 1. .2. .3. .PETM. .Hydrates. .Other+. .Soil:Farm. .Ranch. .Scrub-Rock-. .Ocean-. .Ocean+. .Other 2+

Rising Carbon Sinks - Forests & Trees

Republicans Want to Plant a Trillion Trees. Scientists Are Skeptical. 0823

Peatland Restoration in Temperate Nations Could Be Carbon Storage Bonanza 0223

More than 90% of Rainforest Carbon Offsets by Biggest Provider Are Worthless 0123

Brazil, Indonesia and Congo Sign Rainforest Protection Pact 1122

Why Old-Growth Forests Matter So Much in the Fight Against Climate Change 0422

CO2 Removal with Pickled Trees 0322

We Need a Bigger Planet to Fix the Climate with Trees 1121

Florida Is Ditching Palm Trees to Fight the Climate Crisis 1021

Mangrove Restoration Done Right Has Clear Economic and Ecological Benefits 0821

Reforestation Holds Promise for Europe’s Increasingly Drier Summers 0821

Will Russia’s Forests Be an Asset or an Obstacle in Climate Fight? 0721

Forests as Big as France Have Grown Back since 2000 - 0521

There Will Never Be Enough Trees in the World to Offset Our CO2 Emissions 0421

Re-Wilding Is Key to Averting Mass Extinctions and Reducing Carbon Emissions 1120

China's Forest Carbon Uptake ‘Underestimated' 1020

Healthy Mangroves Can Protect against Climate Change 1219

'Green Gold' Tree Offers Brazil Deforestation Hope 1019

Empress Trees Are Already World’s Most Efficient Carbon Capture Technology 0819
    11 to 80 x the CO2 / acre / year as other trees

Planting ‘Billions of Trees’ Isn’t Going to Stop Climate Change 0719 -
     one of many blowback articles on the tree-palnting study

Tree Planting ‘Has Mind-Blowing Potential' to Tackle Climate Crisis 0719

Forests Scramble to Absorb Carbon, as Emissions Continue to Increase 0319

Young Forests Have a Huge Climate Impact 0219

Massive Worldwide Reforestation Would Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emissions 0219

Natural Climate Solutions, Including Farm Conservation, Can Reduce Global Warming 1118

Natural Climate Solutions Could Cancel Out 1/5 of U.S. Emissions 1118

Urban Trees Can Store Almost as Much Carbon as Tropical Rainforests 0618

Sweeping New Estimate of How Much Humans Have Transformed Earth 1217

The Largest Ever Tropical Reforestation Is Planting 73 Million Trees 1017 - Brazil

Nature Is One of the Most Under-Appreciated Tools for Reining in Carbon 1017

Why the Way We Manage the Carbon Bio-Flux Matters 1017

Estonia Cuts Carbon Emissions by Replanting Bogs 0817

Stop Hoping We Can Fix Climate Change by Using Bioenergy Forests, Scientists Warn 0517

Focus on Carbon Removal a ‘High-Stakes Gamble’ 0517

Drylands Greener with Forests than Previously Thought 0517

Global Greening May Soak Up Less CO2 than Projected 0317

White House Releases Climate Change Plan Before Trump Takes Office 1116

Morocco Plants Millions of Trees along Roads to Fight Climate Change 1116

Global ‘Greening' Has Slowed Rise of CO2 in the Atmosphere 1116

African Mangrove & Wetlands Project - Win for the Climate and the People? 1116

India Plants 50 Million Trees in 1 Day, Smashing World Record 0716

Negative Emissions Key to Meeting 2°C Threshold 0716 - bio-energy with carbon capture and storage.  Just cutting emissions under the Paris agreement may not be enough to keep global warming from blasting past 2°C. - NCAR study

Pay Forest Owners to Not Cut Down Trees, to Slow Deforestation Cheaply 0716

Thanks to Climate Change, the Arctic Is Turning Green 0616

Norway Becomes 1st Nation to Ban Deforestation.  How Will That Work? 0616

Warming Could Boost Carbon Storage in Alaska Forests 0616

Forests Re-Grown on Cleared Latin American Lands Key for Climate, Land Rights 0516

Teak Absorbs Max CO2 from Air, Helps Check Global Warming 0416

These Tiny Mangroves Hold Vast Stores of Carbon 0316

China's Forest Conservation Program Shows Proof of Success 0316

Trees Deal with Climate Change Better than Expected 0316

Massive Tree Farms, Soil Carbon Sequestration May Be Really Bad Climate Ideas 0216
     Darkening soils and forests, from carbon sequestration, especially biochar, increases solar radiation absorbed.
$60 trillion ($30 trillion?) price tag to cut 50 ppm via rock dust / gravel is a lot of money (but less than warming damages?).
Dedicating soils to carbon sequestration may (probably not) make them unavailable for farming.
Problems with farming the oceans to sequester carbon via algae.

Rainforest Regrowth Boosts Carbon Capture 0216

Paris Climate Goals Mean Emissions Need to Drop Below Zero 1215

Crop Dusters Seed Mangroves by Air, to Save Louisiana Wetlands 0815

UK to Build World’s 1st Power Plant with Negative Emissions 0815 - wood pellets with CCS

Vietnam Ready to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions 0815

Brazil Beef Industry Pledges Are Cutting Amazon Deforestation 0515

Sri Lanka 1st Nation to Protect All Mangrove Forests 0515

China's 'Green Great Wall' Takes the Prize for Planting the Most Trees 0415

Despite Deforestation, the World Is Turning Greener 0315

Best Technology to Save the World Is Trees, Biochar and More Soil Carbon 0215

Tropical Forests May Inhaling 1/3 of Fossil Fuel CO2 Emissions 0115

Could Forests Help States Offset Coal Plant Emissions under EPA Rule?  Probably Not 0115

Going Green - Pakistan to Get $39 Million to Preserve Forests 1214

Restored Forests Breathe Life Into Efforts Against Climate Change 1214

Time Is Right for Global Focus on Forest Land Rights 0914

With Warming, Eastern Forests Inhale More CO2 Than They Exhale 0514

Guatemala’s Ambitious Project to Capture 1.8 Million Tons of Carbon 1113

In Carbon Sequestration, Money Grows on Trees 1213

Carbon Cycle Gets More Extreme as Climate Changes 0813

Study Questions Nature’s Ability to ‘Self-Correct’ Climate: Soil vs Above-Ground Carbon 0813  

Desert 'Carbon Farming' to Curb CO2 0813  

Australian Plants Soaking Up Carbon Pollution 0213

NASA Map Reveals Tropical Forest Carbon Storage 0511

Forest Loss Slows as Asian Nations Plant Trees 0211

How Much Carbon Does a Tropical Tree Sequester? 0710 

Nobel Laureate Says Plant Trees in Africa 0909

 

Fading Carbon Sinks - Forests

Deforestation Surged in 2022, despite Pledges 0623

More than 800 Million Amazon Trees Felled in 6 years, to Meet Beef Demand 0623

Deforestation Inc. - How 'Green' Firms Prevent Climate Action 0323

Finance Is Failing the World’s Best Defense against Climate Change 0223

A $39 Trillion Investor Alliance Gives Warning on Carbon Offsets 0223

Has the Amazon Reached Its ‘Tipping Point(s)’? Savannah? Scrubland? 0123

Multi-Million $ Forest Regeneration Carbon Credits Yielded Fewer Trees 1122

Global Deforestation Pledge Will Be Missed without Urgent Action 1022

Forest Loss in East Brazil Changes How Close the Amazon Is to a Tipping Point 0922

Europe Is Sacrificing Its Ancient Forests for Energy 0922

Wildfires Are Destroying California's Forest Carbon Credit Reserves 0822

How Deforestation Is Pushing the Amazon toward a Tipping Point 0722

Amazon Deforestation Hits New Record in Brazil 0722

Let’s Not Pretend Planting Trees Is a Permanent Climate Solution 0622

In an Increasingly Warmer World, Trees Are Not a Climate Change Cure-All 0522

Climate, Carbon-Cycle Effects of Fossil-Fuel Use vs Deforestation Disturbances 0522

The World Has Been Losing 10 Soccer Fields of Tropical Forest Per Minute 0422

Tropical Trees’ Growth and CO2 Intake Hit by More Extreme Dry Seasons 0422

Amazon Rainforest Hurtles toward a Tipping Point, Can't Recover from Droughts, Logging 0322

Tipping Points Passed? (4) Forests and the Amazon - a Faltering Carbon Sink 0122

Brazil’s Cerrado Tracker Records 6-year Deforestation High 0122

Brazil’s Amazon Hit by Worst Deforestation since 2006 - 1121

How Your 401(k) Is Helping Destroy the Amazon Rainforest 1121

Brazil Reports Increase in Amazon Logging 1021

Regrowing Forests Offset Only 10% of Amazon Deforestation’s CO2 Emissions 0821

Cerrado Desertification - Savanna Could Collapse within 30 Years 0721

Bolsonaro’s 1,000 km Amazon Railway Will Cause Climate Chaos. We Must Stop It 0721

Planting Trees “Doesn't Make Any Sense" in Fight against Climate Change 0721 - Forests need to have a permanence of 100 years to be effective carbon stores.  They don’t, with wildfires, drought, etc.  Carbon sequestration underground is more durable.   Plant trees in a smart way, not a monoculture.  Etc.

One of Canada’s Biggest Carbon Sinks Is Circling the Drain 0521

A Climate “Solution” Actually Adds Millions of Tons of CO2 to the Atmosphere 0421 - semi-phantom forest offsets in California: use average tree carbon / sq meter nin a zone, buy land that’s above average and take credit for the difference

Large-Scale Deforesters Emboldened under Brazil’s Bolsonaro, Data Indicate 0421 - typical size of a newly deforested parcel grows , by a good bit, as enforcement is cut back and even disappears

Why Dead Trees Are ‘the Hottest Commodity on the Planet’ 0421 - Lumber prices tripled as pandemic’s stay-at-home workers want more DIY indoor space, but mountain pine bark beetles have decimated British Columbia forests, the prime home of lumber traditionally.

Huge Forest Accounting Problem Could Hamper World’s Push to Cut Emissions 0421 - Who gets credit for a forest preserved as an offset?  Buyer, seller, both or neither?  Many nations use different rules from independent evaluators.  Large-emitting nations with large forests wind up with phantom benefits unless rules are changed.

Paris Climate Agreement Overlooks Wood Pellet Loophole 0421 - In Europe, wood pellets are deemed carbon neutral.  However, it takes decades to recoup the carbon in new growth from trees that are felled.  If the replanted trees survive fire and other hazards.  Meanwhile, more carbon is in the air over the sooner years, when we most need to cut carbon in the air.

Tropical Forest Destruction Accelerated in 2020 - 0321

We’re Killing Those Tropical Trees We’re Counting On to Absorb CO2 - 0221

Trees That Live Fast, Die Young, and Mess with Climate Models 0121

Net, Land Absorbs Carbon Now, but It Could Emit It in Just a Few Decades 0121 - forests AND soils

Wave of Infrastructure Projects to Cause Widespread Deforestation in Coming Decades 1120

Shorter Lifespan of Faster-Growing Trees Will Add to Climate Crisis 0920

‘Zombie Fires’ in the Arctic Pump Out Carbon at Record Pace 0720

Planting Non-Native Trees Accelerates Carbon Release Back into the Atmosphere 0620

Planting New Forests ‘Can Do More Harm than Good' 0620

Asynchronous Carbon Sink Saturation in African and Amazonian Tropical Forests 0620

Mangrove Forests Won't Survive Expected Sea-Level Rise by 2050 if CO2 Emissions Aren't Reduced 0620

Amazon under Threat - Fires, Loggers and Now Virus 0520

Deforestation Boosts Brazil Greenhouse Gas Emissions, as Global Emissions Fall 0520

Forests Are Vanishing More Slowly, but Not Slowly Enough 0520

Why ‘Carbon-Cycle Feedbacks’ Could Drive Temperatures Even Higher 0420

Amazon Rainforest Reaches Point of No Return 0320

Record-High Global Tree Cover Loss Driven by Agriculture 0320

Tropical Forests Losing Their Ability to Absorb Carbon 0320

Early Deforestation Numbers for 2019 Reveal Trends in the Amazon 0220

Forest Loss Moves Swiftly, Once 50% Deforestation ‘Tipping Point’ Reached 0120

Wildfires Are Changing Canada's Boreal Forests 0120

Paris Accord ‘Impossible to Implement’ if Tropical Forest Loss Not Stopped 1219

Top Scientists Warn of an Amazon ‘Tipping Point’ 1219

Preserving Western Forests Is Crucial in Fight against Climate Change 1219

Climate Emissions from Tropical Forest Damage Underestimated by a Factor of 6 - 1019

In the Fight Against Climate Change, Not All Forests Are Equal 1019 - Old growth are best; read this to learn why.

What Happens When the Amazon Forest Disappears? 1019 - It becomes savanna, with frequent fires, cerrado trees

Alaska’s Tongass Forest Eats a Ton of Carbon, but Trump Aims to Cut It Down 1019 - Its 3 GT of carbon = 2 years’ US use

Why Keeping Mature Forests Intact Is Key to the Climate Fight 1019 - soil carbon, US Southeast pellets feed Europe power plants

‘It’s Really Close’ - How the Amazon Rainforest Could Self-Destruct 0819 - 20-25% deforestation would drive runaway dieback, fueld by ever less rainfall due to less forest.  19.3% is Brazil’s government’s estimate of deforestation.

If Carbon Offsets Require Forests to Stay Standing, What Happens When the Amazon Is on Fire? 0819

What Indigenous Rights Have to Do with Fighting Climate Change 0819

Charred Forests Not Growing Back as Expected in Pacific Northwest 0719

Amazon Rainforest on Fire 0719

Why Carbon Credits for Forest Preservation may Be Worse than Nothing 0519
     Many forest “offsets” may exist only on paper.  Or worse, existing “offset” forests may be cut down for farming.

Climate Change May Make trees Live Fast and Die Young 0519

Canada Forests Haven’t Absorbed Carbon than They Released since 2001 - 0519

Canada's Forests Actually Emit More Carbon than They Absorb 0219

Earth’s Ability to Take Up Carbon Could Decline after 2060 - 0119

Extreme Weather Events Could Worsen Climate Change 0119

Haiti May Lose All Primary Forest by 2035, Mass Extinction Underway 1118

Congo Basin Rainforest May Be Gone by 2100 - 1118

Tropical Deforestation Now Emits More CO2 than the EU 1018

Scientists Say Halting Deforestation ‘Just as Urgent' as Reducing Emissions 1018

Deforestation Continues to Climb in the Brazilian Amazon 0918

Soggier Forest Soils Thwart the Uptake of Climate-Warming Methane 0818

Grasslands May Be More Reliable Carbon Sinks than Forests in California 0718

Some Forests Are Not Growing Back after Wildfires, Research Finds 1217

Sweeping New Estimate of How Much Humans Have Transformed Earth 1217

Tropical Deforestation Is Getting Bigger 1117 - esp. in Indonesia & SE Asia, also S America outside Brazil

Why the Way We Manage the Carbon Bio-Flux Matters 1017

Record Amazon Fires Stun Scientists; Sign of Sick, Degraded Forests 1017

Why the Forest Carbon Sink Is Disappearing - Death by 1,000 Cuts 0917

World’s Tropical Forests Are Huge Carbon Emission Source 0917

Deforestation Has Double the Global Warming Effect as Previously Thought 0917

Brazilian Court Blocks Abolition of Vast Amazon Reserve 0817

What Indonesia Is Doing about Its Deadly Haze from Forest and Peatland Fires 0817

A Nebraska-Sized Area of Forest Disappeared in 2015 - 0717

Paying People to Not Cut Down Trees Pays Off, Study Finds 0717

War-Torn South Sudan at Grave Risk on Climate Change 0717

Deforestation Soars in Colombia, after FARC Rebels' Demobilization 0717

Europe's Contribution to Deforestation Set to Rise, despite Pledge to Halt It 0617

Deforestation in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest Rose Almost 60% in the Last Year 0617

Ending Land Clearing Would Compete with Renewables in Carbon Abatement 0517

The Strange Case of the Liana Vine and Its Role in Global Warming 0417

Amazon Jungle Faces Death Spiral of Drought and Deforestation, Warn Scientists 0317

Amazon Deforestation, Once Tamed, Comes Roaring Back 0217

Deforestation Rises with Incomes in Developing Economies 0117

We Are Destroying Rainforests So Quickly, They May Be Gone in 100 Years 0117

Humans Destroyed 7% of Earth’s Pristine Forest Landscapes Just since 2000 - 0117

Like U.S., Brazil Risks Falling Behind on Climate Change 1216

Amazon Rainforest Destruction Is Speeding Up, When Earth Can Least Afford It 1216

Deforestation Forces Up Brazil’s Carbon Emissions 1116

As Cities Warm, Trees Lose Some of Their Ability to Remove Carbon from the Air 1016

Indonesian Islamic Council Issues Fatwa on Forest Fires 0916

Alarming Number of Fires in the Brazilian Amazon 0916

Costa Rica’s Tapirs Have Surprising Link to Climate Change 0916 - Big frugivores spread seeds of largest tropical trees.

Drought Shut Down Amazon Carbon Sink 0716

California Redwoods Store More Carbon per Acre than Any Other Forests 0716

Dry Amazon Could See Record Fire Season 0616

Forest Fires Can Heat Up the Whole Planet 0616 - Northern (boreal) forest fires put carbon in the air not only from standing trees, but also from peat, while they thaw permafrost, for still more carbon emissions.

Norway Becomes 1st Nation to Ban Deforestation.  How Will That Work? 0616

Spike in Alaska Wildfires Is Worsening Global Warming 0616

Queensland's Mangrove Ecosystem Dying in Secret 0516

These Tiny Mangroves Hold Vast Stores of Carbon 0316

China's Success Regrowing Its Forests Has a Flip Side - Deforestation Elsewhere 0316

Satellite Data Suggests Forest Loss Is Accelerating 0316

Africa’s Forests ‘Threatened by Palm Oil Rush’ 0216

Rainforests May Store Less Carbon as Climate Changes 0216

Global Deforestation Is Decreasing.  Or Is It? 0116 - Contrast Indonesia (bad) with Brazil (mostly good).

Indonesia’s Fires Blamed for Potent Greenhouse Gases 0116

Eliminating Large Fruit-Eating Animals Wrecks Tropical Forest Carbon Storage 1215

After Errors, Congo Basin Forest Effort Restarts with New Scrutiny 1215

Destruction of Brazil's Amazon Forest Jumps 16% in 2015 - 1115

Forests Are Key to Climate 1115

Forest Dieback Could Undermine U.S. Plans to Cut CO2 Emissions 1115

Indonesian Fires Are Pouring Huge Amounts of Carbon into the Atmosphere 1015 - peat +.  CO2 > Germany's, Japan’s.

Alaskan Wildfires Could Make Global Warming Worse 1015.  Soils, permafrost too.

Rapid and Startling Decline of World’s Vast Boreal Forests 1015

Deforestation Halved over Past Decades 0915

Tree Loss Slows, but Covers Area Twice the Size of Portugal in 2014 - 0915

Earth Is on Track to Lose an India-Sized Chunk of Tropical Forests by 2050 - 0815

Massive Wildfires Transform Siberian Paradise (by Lake Baikal) into Disaster Area 0815

Drought Damages Trees' Ability to Store Carbon 0715

Hundreds of Millions of Acres of World's Forest Could be Lost by 2030 - 0415

World's Plants and Soils to Switch from Carbon Sink to Source by 2100 - 0415

Canada and Russia Beat Tropical Countries to Top Global Deforestation List 0415 - Boreal forest fires grew more, bigger.

Subsidies to Deforesting Industries Worth 100 Times the Aid to Prevent It 0315 

Indonesia Defends Deforestation for Palm Oil on Economic Grounds 0315

Brazil’s Deforestation Rates Are on the Rise Again 0315

Amazon Forest Losing Carbon-Storing Capacity 0315

Amazon Droughts Make 'Earth’s Lungs' Emit More CO2 Than They Capture 0315

Tropical Forests May Be Vanishing Even Faster Than Previously Thought 0215 - satellite data vs national reports

Zimbabwe Forests Under Threat 0215

Scientists - No, We Can't Fight Climate Change by Burning Trees 0215

Western Amazon Oil Boom Covers Chile-Sized Bloc of Rainforest 0215

Southern Forests' Ability to Suck Carbon From the Air May Be Slowing 0215

Obama's Climate Plan Could Threaten U.S. Forests 0115

Tropical Forests May Inhaling 1/3 of Fossil Fuel CO2 Emissions 0115

Tropical Deforestation Could Disrupt Rainfall Globally 1214       - take #1 on study

Tropical Deforestation Threatens Global Food Production 1214 - take #2 on study

Tropical Rainforests Not Absorbing as Much Carbon as Expected 1214

Indonesia Cracks Down on Deforestation, in Symbolic U-Turn 1114

Global Meat Demand Plows Up Brazil's 'Underground Forest’ 1114

New Amazon Carbon Maps May Help Limit Deforestation 1114

Drying Amazon Could Be Major Carbon Concern 1014

from US 2013 draft National Climate Assessment

Indonesia Surpasses Brazil in Deforestation Rate 0614

Rainforest Absorption of CO2 Becoming Erratic 0114

Urban Sprawl Threatens Water Quality, Land Conservation Gains 1213

Indonesia’s Forests Are Shrinking, Despite Reforms 1013

Dead Trees in Colder Areas Decay Only Slowly 0313

How Beijing Is Shaping the Amazon 0213

Deforestation Appears to Rise Again in Brazil 0113

Amazon Deforestation at Record Low 1112

Earth's Forest Carbon Sink Downsized 23% 1012

World Forest Area Still Declining 0812

We Can Reforest the Earth 0712  

Trees Absorb Less Carbon in Warming World Than Experts Have Assumed 0512 

Forest Change Risks Climate Goal 1211 

Forest Biofuel Production Will Raise Carbon Emissions 1011 

Drivers of Deforestation: Executive Summary 0611 - PDF

2nd 100-Year Amazon Drought in 5 Years Emitted More CO2 than China 0211  

Land Plant Carbon Uptake Reverses 0810 

Forest Loss Slows 0310 

Soybean Demand Attacks Amazon Rainforest 1209 

Climate Talks Near Deal to Save Forests 1209

Amazon Deforestation Rate Down 45% 1109

Amazon Forest Mostly Doomed 0809  

Amazon Forest Flips to Be a Carbon Source 0409  

Canada Forests Become Carbon Source 0409 

Forests Dying in Western US from Warming 0409 

Climate Change Could Shrink Amazon 85% 0309

US Forests Dying from Climate Change 0109 - WEB

Heat Turns Plants from Sinks to Sources 0908  

Warming to Cut Carbon Sink in Western US 1207  

2002 Drought Cut N America CO2 Sink 50% 1207

N America Drought Cut CO2 Uptake - Peters 1207 - PDF        below, red is drier soil, blue is moister

"Net terrestrial summer flux (Net Ecosystem Production + fires for weeks 20-34) anomaly for the 2 extreme years of our estimate.  2002 has a strong positive summer flux anomaly, due to droughts.  In contrast, 2004 showed high uptake during the summer.  …1° x 1° [resolution].
     Units are grams of carbon per square meter per year."

     Note from graph of US Droughts by Severity on "No Water" page for 2000-13: the drought peaked in 2002 and wound down especially during 2004.

US Forest Fire CO2 Can Exceed Cars' 1207

Western Wildfires Impact on Carbon Balance 1207 - PDF, 33 pp

Fading Carbon Sinks - Peat

For the Love of Peat - Our Best Defense against a Changing Climate 1021

Peatlands Store Lots of Carbon, but Warming and Development Could End That 1220

‘Zombie Fires’ in the Arctic Pump Out Carbon at Record Pace 0720

Climate Change May Turn Amazon Peatlands from Carbon Sinks to Sources 1118

What Indonesia Is Doing about Its Deadly Haze from Forest and Peatland Fires 0817

Tropical Peat Forests Risk Turning from Carbon ‘Drains' to Emitters 0617

Carbon Deposit in Congo Peat Swamp = 20 Years of U.S. CO2 Emissions 0117

Amazon Peatlands Are ‘Most Carbon-Dense Ecosystem’ 1214

 

GO TO Top. .Permafrost 1. .2. .3. .PETM. .Hydrates. .Other+. .Soil:Farm. .Ranch. .Scrub-Rock-. .Ocean-. .Forest+ -. .Other 2+

Fading Carbon Sinks - Oceans

Decline of Diatoms due to Ocean Acidification 0522

Kelp Won’t Help - Why Seaweed May Not Help Carbon Storage after All 0322

Sea Meadows Store More Carbon per Area than Forests.  How Much Is Left? 0421

The Ocean Carbon Sink Has Set the Next Political Hurdle 1120 - As we stop putting CO2 in the air, instead of the partial pressure difference pushing some of that into the oceans, it will reverse direction.  So the oceans will push some of their dissolved carbon back into the air, to establish a new equilibrium.  Thus, CO2 removal must extend beyond what’s in the air that we put there, to what’s in the ocean that we once put in the air, but is now returning to the air.

Waning Ocean CO2 Absorption Complicates Plans to Slash Climate Pollution 0620

Will Climate Change Threaten Earth’s Other ‘Lung’? 0420

Ocean Carbon Tipping Process, Point, and Peril 0719

The Southern Ocean May Be Less of a Carbon Sink than We Thought 0619

Climate Change is Altering the Composition of the World’s Plankton Communities 0519
     Zooplankton, notably the terribly common Foraminifera, shift 374 miles poleward on average.

Plastic Eaten by Plankton May Impair Oceans’ Ability to Trap CO2 - 0419

Invisible Scum on Sea Cuts CO2 Exchange with Air 'by Up to 50%’ - 0518

Threatened Blue Carbon Ecosystems Store Carbon 40 x Faster than Forests 0318

'Game Changer' - New Vulnerability to Climate Change in Ocean Food Chain 0318

Global CO2 Emissions Still Accelerating, even as Human Ones Level Off 0516

Phytoplankton Rapidly Disappearing from the Indian Ocean 0216 - 30% decline in 15 years.  satellite chlorophyll surveys

How Fast Will Rising Temperatures Shrink the Earth's CO2 Storage Spots? 0615

Secrets of the Shelf Seas – One of Earth’s Most Important Ecosystems 0115

Storm Warning - the Winds of Climate Change 0714

Warming World Caused Southern Ocean to Exhale 0113  

Rapid Decline in Phytoplankton 0710  

Acid Oceans & Seagrass Meadows 1209 

Acid Oceans Absorbing Less CO2 1109   

Acid Ocean Thinning Marine Shells 0309  

Warming Is Reducing Ocean CO2 Uptake 0109  

Ocean CO2 Sink Failing 1207 

N Atlantic CO2 Sink Down 50% - Schuster 1207 - PDF

World Ocean Plankton & CO2 Fall - Behrenfeld 1207 - PDF

Warm Seas Hurt Plankton 1206

 

GO TO Top. .Permafrost 1. .2. .3. .PETM. .Hydrates. .Other+. .Soil:Farm. .Ranch. .Scrub-Rock-. .Ocean-. .Forest+ -. .Ocean+.

Fading Carbon Sinks - General

Methane Emissions Much More Sensitive to Global Heating than Earlier Thought 0722

How Coastland Development ‘Blue Carbon' Contributes to Climate Change 0615

How Fast Will Rising Temperatures Shrink the Earth's CO2 Storage Spots? 0615

Carbon Sinks Changing #2 - Fung 0313 - PDF

Plants and Soils Could Accelerate Climate Warming 1112

CO2 Levels Accelerate, re Canadell, Take 2 - 1207

More on CO2 Sink Fading, re Canadell, Take 1 - 1207

CO2 Levels Accelerate: Emissions 67%, Sinks 33% - Canadell 1207 - PDF

Carbon Sinks Changing #1 - Fung 1107 - PDF

Fading Carbon Sinks - Biofuel Problems

Why Keeping Mature Forests Intact Is Key to the Climate Fight 1019

Biofuels Worse than Oil on GHGs 0208

Biofuels Boost GHGs - Searchinger 0208 - PDF

Biofuels & Carbon Debt - Fargione 0208 - PDF

Fading Carbon Sinks - Soils

Shaky Ground - Selling sequestration credits is shaky, for several reasons.  1. Carbon may only move from the lower solis layers to the top foot.  2. Carbon may not stay in the ground nearly as long (a century) as the soil credit is sold for.  3. The error bars for measurements or claims are very wide, and include zero. 4. Sampling is relatively costly, so samples from a few sampled fields are combined in a computer model to estimate savings for many more unsampled fields. 5. Other lesser issues.

No-Till May Not Be the Agricultural Panacea We Thought It Was 0822 - With no-till, more carbon is found in the top 10 cm of soil, but even less (than before) 10-60 cm down, for less carbon (0.28 to 2.29 tonnes / hectare) stored aross the whole soil profile.  Based on 144 studies over the last 50 years.  Un-tilled soil becomes compacted over time.

Soil-Science Revolution Upends Plans to Fight Climate Change 0721 - Many, more recent, studies indicate that, when soil carbon building practices (no-till, cover crops, etc.) are used, more carbon shows up in the top.  "When farmers skipped the tilling and instead drilled seeds into the ground, carbon stores grew in upper soil layers, but they disappeared from lower layers.  Most experts now believe that the practice redistributes carbon within the soil rather than increases it.”
     Moreover, what the researchers found — or, more specifically, what they didn’t find — was shocking: there were few or no long “recalcitrant” carbon molecules — the kind that don’t break down.  Almost everything seemed to be small and, in principle, digestible.

Net, Land Absorbs Carbon Now, but It Could Emit It in Just a Few Decades 0121 - forests AND soils

Could Changing the Way We Farm Rice Be a Climate Solution? 0420

Climate Change May Reduce Soil’s Ability to Absorb Water – a Key Store of CO2 - 0919

Organic Farming Can Be Much Worse for the Climate 1218 - lower crop yields / acre —> more forest acres to food crops

There’s a Climate Bomb Under Your Feet 1017

1/3 of Earth's Soil Is Acutely Degraded due to Agriculture 0917

Drylands Will Suffer if World Reaches 2°C 0417

Is Climate Change Putting the World's Micro-Biomes at Risk? 0316

Earth Has Lost 1/3 of Arable Land in Past 40 Years 1215

Why Scientists Are So Worried about Drylands (40% of Earth’s Land) 0915

California Rangeland Lost to Farms & Cities Poses Greenhouse Gas Risk 1214

Warning over Vulnerability of Soil Carbon to Warming 0914

Study Questions Nature’s Ability to ‘Self-Correct’ Climate 0813

Soil Carbon Is Just Blowing in the Wind 0813

 

Fading Carbon Sources

Progress in SE Asia & Brazil to Slow Deforestation Could Boost Climate Efforts 0823

Why Won’t Companies Use This Quick Fix to Reduce Cow Methane Emissions? 0623 - Feed additive cuts methane in burps 30%, but is not cheap enough for most.

Cheap Methane Fix to Global Warming Is Finally Gaining Support 0623

The High-Stakes Race to Reduce Emissions from Cement 0623

Brazil’s Lula Lays Out Plan to Halt Amazon Deforestation 0623

A Simple Way to Prevent Heaps of Methane Pollution - Composting 0523

New (Gas) Pipeline Agency Rule Aimed at Cutting Methane Leaks 0523

Price to Plug Old Wells in Gulf of Mexico Is $30 Billion 0523

What’s Needed to Reach Net-Zero This Century - IEA 0423

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon Falls in 1st Month under Lula 0223

Fixing Oil & Gas Industry Methane Leaks, a Climate Game Changer, Pays for Itself 1122

New Zealand to Tax Agriculture Emissions at the Farm, in World 1st 1022

1st Harvest of Methane-Reducing Seaweed Asparagopsis in Western Australia 1022

University of Queensland Looks to Drastically Cut Livestock Methane Emissions 1022

Reducing Beef’s Carbon Footprint Is Key to Net-Zero in Latin America, Caribbean 0922

Vultures Prevent 10s of Millions of Metric Tons of Carbon Emissions Each Year 0922

New Technology Could Help Air Conditioning’s Climate Problem 0922

Seaweed Feed Reduces Cow Methane Emissions, but Scaling Up Is Slow 0822

Plant-Based Meat Is by Far the Best Climate Investment, Report Finds 0722

Feeding Cows Seaweed Reduces Their Methane Emissions.  Scaling Up Needed 0622 - Average methane belch reduction was 52% for feed Brominata, made of a red seaweed, Asparagopsis taxiformis, at a dairy farm in California.

Cow and Sheep Burps to Be Taxed by New Zealand, in World 1st 0622

Thawing Permafrost in Sweden Releases Less Methane than Feared 0522

Cracking Down on Methane ‘Ultra Emitters’ Can Combat Climate Change Quickly 0222

States to Get $1.15 Billion from Feds to Plug Abandoned Wells Leaking Methane 0122

Biden Wants to Cut Methane Emissions.  We Must Get It Out of the Air, Too. 1121

Cow Feed That Cleans Potent Methane Burps Nears Europe Rollout 1121

The Cheap and Easy Climate Fix to Can Cool the Planet Fast - Methane Control 1021 

EPA to Slash Use of Powerful Greenhouse Gases in Grocery Freezers 0921

China Just Entered Major HFC Climate Pact.  Now Comes the Hard Part. 0921

A Techno-Economic Analysis of Carbon Capture Options in industry 0721

Capping Methane-Spewing Oil Wells, One Hole at a Time 0721

Manufacturers Are Now Providing Data for Buying Climate-Friendly Refrigerators 0421

Feeding Cows Seaweed Could Slash Their Methane Emissions a Staggering 82% - 0321

How Wetlands Are Linked to Our Climate 0221

Burger King Addresses Climate Change by Changing Cows' Diets 0720

Mootral’s Garlicky Supplements Solve Cow Methane Burps 0520

The Cheap and Easy Climate Fix to Can Cool the Planet Fast - Methane Control 1021

Carbon-Intensive Cement Industry Feeling the Heat 0919

America's Mega-Emitters Are Starting to Close 0819

Can Methane Burps Be Bred Out of Cows? 0719

Can We Grow Enough Seaweed to Help Cows Fight Climate Change? 0619

Dispose of Old CFCs to Help Fight Climate Change 0419

Companies Launch Plan to Capture Methane from Hog Manure Lagoons 1118

Termite Mounds Prevent 1/2 of Termite Methane Emissions 1118

How Eating Seaweed Can Help Cows to Belch Less Methane 0718

‘Farming’ Microbes to Feed Cows Could Save Land and Cut Emissions 0618

Negative Emissions Tested at World’s 1st Major BECCS Facility 0616

Rice Growers on the Front Lines of U.S. Carbon Markets 0116

Save More than 4 Million Lives a Year by Harnessing the Sun to Cook 0116

New Rice Could Help Reduce Global Greenhouse Gases 1215

Better Manure Management to Help Cut EU Farm Emissions by 2025 - 1215

Rice Farmers Now Eligible for California Carbon Offset Payments 0615

Replacing Old Gas Pipes Reduces Leaks 0915

Beef’s Impact on Argentina’s Emissions Scrutinized 0815

Diet Change Cuts Methane Emissions in Cow Burps 0815

Gas Utilities Reduce Methane Leaks 0315

Less-Gassy Cows Could Soon Be on Farms 1214

Misc.

Not Long to Wait Till Released CO2 Turns Up Temperature 1214

Flights in the Pacific Fingered as a Big Climate Culprit 0913

Carbon Cycle Gets More Extreme as Climate Changes 0813

Cutting Methane, Soot Soon Can Slow Climate Damage 1112

Natural Sinks Still Sop Up Carbon 0512

Columbus Cut Atmospheric CO2 Levels 1011

Cut Soot, Methane & Low Ozone 0211

Carbon Cycle Science Update Since IPCC AR-4 0710 - WEB

Global GHG Emissions Flat in 2009 - 0710

Atmosphere Ripe for Climate Disaster Now 1108

Approaching Tipping Points 0108            

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