no plan b for oceans
Last Updated : GMT 05:17:37
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
Last Updated : GMT 05:17:37
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

Slow global warming

No 'Plan B' for oceans

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice No 'Plan B' for oceans

Coral reef
Paris - Arab Today

Technology to drain heat-trapping CO2 from the atmosphere may slow global warming, but will not reverse climate damage to the ocean on any meaningful timescale, according to research published Monday.

At the same time, a second study reported, even the most aggressive timetable for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions will need a big boost from largely untested carbon removal schemes to cap warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

Above that threshold, say scientists, the risk of climate calamity rises sharply. Earth is currently on a 4 C (7.2 F) trajectory.

Both studies, coming months before 195 nations meet in Paris in a bid to forge a climate pact, conclude that deep, swift cuts in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are crucial.

Planetary-scale technical fixes -- sometimes called geo-engineering -- have often been invoked as a fallback solution in the fight against climate change.

But with CO2 emissions still rising, along with the global thermostat, many scientists are starting to take a hard look at which ones might be feasible.

Research has shown that extracting massive quantities of CO2 from the atmosphere, through intensive reforestation programmes or carbon-scrubbing technology, would in theory help cool the planet.

But up to now, little was known about the long-term potential for these measures for restoring oceans rendered overly acidic after two centuries of absorbing CO2.

Increased acidification has already ravaged coral, and several kinds of micro-organisms essential to the ocean food chain, with impacts going all the way up to humans.

Scientists led by Sabine Mathesius of the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany used computer models to test different carbon-reduction scenarios, looking in each case at the impact on acidity, water temperatures and oxygen levels.

If humanity waited a century before sucking massive amounts of CO2 out of the atmosphere, they concluded, it would still take centuries, maybe even a thousand years, before the ocean would catch up.

In the meantime, they researchers say, corals will have disappeared, many marine species will have gone extinct and the ocean would be rife with dead spots.

"We show that in a business-as-usual scenario, even massive deployment of CO2 removal schemes cannot reverse the substantial impacts on the marine environment -- at least not within many centuries," Mathesius said.

Even in a scenario in which large-scale carbon removal begins in 2050 -- assuming such technology is available -- the ocean does not fare well.

"Immediate and ambitious action to reduce CO2 emissions is the most reliable strategy for avoiding dangerous climate change, ocean acidification, and large-scale threats to marine ecosystems," the researchers conclude.

Scientists commenting on the study said it should sound an alarm.

"The threat of ocean acidification alone justifies dramatic and rapid reduction of CO2 emissions," said Nick Riley, a research associate at the British Geological Survey (BGS).

The second study, led by Thomas Gasser of the Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, near Paris, uses state-of-the-art models to measure the trade-off between reducing emissions and carbon-removing technologies.

They show that even if nations strike a deal in Paris adhering to the most aggressive CO2-slashing pathway outlined by UN scientists, it may not be enough to keep Earth on a 2 C trajectory.

"Our results suggest that negative emissions" -- the use of carbon removing technology -- "are needed even in the case of very high mitigation rates."

To have a chance of meeting the 2 C target, 0.5 to 3.0 gigatonnes of carbon -- up to a third of total annual CO2 emissions today from industry -- would need to be extracted every year starting more-or-less immediately, they calculate.

The study exposes "an elephant in the room," says Riley.

"The target to keep warming within the 2 C rise is looking increasingly unattainable."  
Source: AFP

GMT 10:58 2018 Tuesday ,23 January

Hong Kong engulfed in smog

GMT 10:54 2018 Friday ,19 January

Six dead as huge storms batter Europe

GMT 08:58 2018 Thursday ,18 January

China says Iranian oil tanker wreck located

GMT 11:28 2018 Wednesday ,17 January

for Great Barrier Reef rescue ideas

GMT 11:26 2018 Wednesday ,17 January

for Great Barrier Reef rescue ideas

GMT 08:11 2018 Tuesday ,16 January

Philippines' Mayon volcano alert raised

GMT 08:03 2018 Sunday ,14 January

Fossil fuels blown away by wind

GMT 10:23 2018 Saturday ,13 January

1.5 C climate goal 'very unlikely' but doable
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

no plan b for oceans no plan b for oceans

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

no plan b for oceans no plan b for oceans

 



GMT 09:54 2018 Wednesday ,24 January

'Friendly and kind' N. Korean skaters

GMT 10:31 2014 Tuesday ,23 December

Mirages of failure: Lebanon cannot wait

GMT 04:33 2017 Wednesday ,22 March

Penelope to play Versace

GMT 11:26 2017 Friday ,03 February

Member of criticizes Egypt’s government

GMT 07:23 2017 Wednesday ,23 August

Hot, humid weather on Wednesday

GMT 19:56 2017 Monday ,18 September

Hail lashes parts of UAE, dust warnings issued

GMT 09:40 2017 Saturday ,30 December

UAE cancels Tunisia handball games amid row

GMT 11:40 2017 Tuesday ,17 October

Al Naqash confident of his team’s ability

GMT 14:41 2017 Saturday ,27 May

Spaniard Casado storms

GMT 07:57 2011 Monday ,19 September

Last 4 clubs set in African Champions League

GMT 04:11 2012 Thursday ,15 March

History to air auction show \'Sold!\'

GMT 19:40 2011 Thursday ,29 September

Arab American comedians unwind at New York festival

GMT 18:23 2017 Wednesday ,15 March

Williams Stays Ahead in Unchanged WTA Top 10

GMT 23:26 2015 Sunday ,22 February

Egyptian concert to be held in Austria
 
 Emirates Voice Facebook,emirates voice facebook  Emirates Voice Twitter,emirates voice twitter Emirates Voice Rss,emirates voice rss  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

emiratesvoieen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen
emiratesvoice emiratesvoice emiratesvoice
emiratesvoice
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice