Home/Posts Tagged ‘carbon dioxide’
Posts Tagged ‘carbon dioxide’
Nature, Science & Technology, Weird & Wonderful, Dec 1st, 2011,
Apart from being a really cool video that shows you quite clearly how massive the amount of carbon dioxide trapped under the permafrost is, this video should be an eye-opener for anyone concerned about climate change. As cool as it may be to see the gasses trapped under the permafrost burning up; the sad thing is this is happening at an extremely high rate all over lakes and ice packs in the frozen Arctic ground. According to Katey Walter Anthony (the scientist playing with greenhouse gasses and fire in the video) the amount of greenhouse gasses that will emerge from…
Tags: carbon dioxide, global warming, greenhouse gas emissions, Katey Walter Anthony, permafrost
Climate & Change, Wildlife & Flora, Jun 13th, 2011,
I have seen the future and it stings. Climate change, overfishing and agricultural runoff are all possible factors in the rise of jellyfish populations in seas around the globe. Jellyfish invasions such as those experienced by Spain last summer are actually population booms and/or mass migrations attributed to warmer waters, a reduction of predators and an increase of oceanic pollution from organic fertilizers. Besides wreaking havoc on Spain’s beaches, jellyfish have been blamed for wiping out salmon stocks in Northern Ireland and disrupting the running of coastal power and desalination plants in Africa, the Middle East and Japan. New research,…
Tags: acidic, carbon, carbon dioxide, climate change, jellyfish, laser, oceans, Pollution, population
Climate & Change, Politics, Science & Technology, Sustainable living, Nov 8th, 2010,
Biofuel production is an odd thing. At least that’s how I look at it. As a derivative of biomass, biofuel is created using plants, trees, grass and any other natural component that can ferment and produce bioethanol. But now there’s the first real problem. Although the idea sounds great – “let’s use natural waste to produce fuel” – the impact on the environment could be catastrophic, as where money and business is concerned it’s hard to imagine waste material alone will do. This is precisely what the IEEP concludes in their study. By studying the indirect land use change or…
Tags: 2020 targets, bioethanol, biofuel production, biofuels, carbon dioxide, climate change, co2, European biofuel industry, European carbon reductions, IEEP, natural waste
Climate & Change, Science & Technology, Jun 23rd, 2010,
I’ll bet when you think of all the studies being done on CO2 and Global Warming, you probably figure a lot of it has to do with the atmosphere or the ocean or plants of some kind—since that’s what it seems to affect the most. However, scientists have recently developed a method for finding and tracking CO2 underground. Why underground? Well, consider that a lot of emissions come from power plants—coal plants and the like—so, scientists started investigating underground caverns, fissures and coal beds to find places where those emissions can be stored; thus reducing the amount of greenhouse gases…
Tags: atmosphere, carbon dioxide, co2, coal beds, coal seam, global warming, greenhouse gases, New Mexico, perfluorocarbon, tracing, tracking, underground
Climate & Change, Science & Technology, sustainable living, Weird & Wonderful, Jun 9th, 2010,
There are 3 basic things that are generally considered bad in the green world: plastics, BPA in plastics, and excessive CO2 emissions. Imagine if some of these things could be combined and used for the greater good. It seems unlikely, right? Well, guess what? Scientists are currently working on this very thing and they are making progress. Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore have identified classes of organic chemicals that are capable of capturing CO2 from the atmosphere and then be used to make BPA-free plastics. They discovered that “the coupling of epoxide with CO2 to…
Tags: BPA-free, capture, carbon dioxide, climate change, co2, global warming, imidazolium, petroleum, plastic, research, Singapore
Business, Climate & Change, Science & Technology, Sustainable living, sustainable living, May 31st, 2010,
You’ve probably heard all the reports about how Climate Change will damage our crops and livelihoods via drought, flooding (from rising sea levels), and so forth. However, I’ll bet you haven’t heard about the latest threat climate change poses to crops: decreased nutritional value. A study, published in Science magazine, shows that increased levels of CO2 in the atmosphere could reduce crop protein by 20%. Scientists tested the 2 main types of soil nitrogen available to plants (nitrate and ammonium) and the affect they had on 2 major types of plants (monocotyledons and dicotyledons) that were exposed to an atmosphere…
Tags: ammonium, carbon dioxide, climate change, co2, crops, global warming, nitrate, nutritional value, protein, science, soil nitrogen, study
Climate & Change, Nature, Science & Technology, Wildlife & Flora, Apr 26th, 2010,
Many people love going to the beach. I’m actually heading there tomorrow. There are so many things you can do at (or in) the ocean, such as swimming, surfing, scuba diving, snorkeling, sailing, kayaking, whale watching, and so forth. It is an extremely vast ecosystem with so many life forms that scientists still haven’t finished counting them all yet and they’re still discovering more! However, it’s also changed a lot. According to the National Research Council, the chemistry of the oceans is changing faster now than it did hundreds of thousands of years ago, because of all the CO2 being…
Tags: acidity, carbon dioxide, changes, chemistry, climate change, co2, emissions, global warming, measurement, ocean, pH, study
Business, Climate & Change, Politics, Science & Technology, Apr 3rd, 2010,
Residents of Canada and the US can expect some changes in future vehicles and their emissions. What kind of changes? Well, check this out: All cars and trucks are required to have an average of 35.5 miles per gallon (15 km per liter) by 2016. Average vehicle emissions will be limited to 295 grams of CO2 per mile by 2012 and then down to 250 grams by 2016. The US will save 1.8 billion barrels of oil and 960 million tons of CO2 emissions over the life of the vehicles—that would be like taking 58 million cars off the road…
Tags: Canada, carbon dioxide, co2, driving, greenhouse gases, new emissions standards, US, vehicles
Climate & Change, Science & Technology, Feb 21st, 2010,
Greenhouse gases are a big issue, especially when it comes to carbon dioxide. How do we deal with them? How do we lessen or eliminate them? Well, check this out: UCLA scientists developed a synthetic crystal, or “gene”, capable of trapping gasses. In particular, these crystals can be used to trap CO2 emissions. According to a statement made by chemistry and biochemistry professor, Omar M. Yaghi : “We created three-dimensional, synthetic DNA-like crystals. We have taken organic and inorganic units and combined them into a synthetic crystal, which codes information in a DNA-like manner. It is by no means as…
Tags: carbon dioxide, CO2 emissions, greenhouse gases, science, synthetic crystals, synthetic genes capable of trapping emissions, UCLA
Climate & Change, Science & Technology, Wildlife & Flora, Feb 6th, 2010,
Longer growing seasons and higher concentrations of CO2 may encourage faster growth rates in trees, according to a 22-year scientific study of mixed hardwoods in the eastern United States. During the study average temperatures increased by 0.3 degrees while the growing season was extended by 7.8 days. Furthermore, the CO2 concentration in the forest air went up 12%. Higher concentrations of carbon dioxide and extended growing seasons could be favourable for agriculture in some parts of the world, mainly in the northern hemisphere. The study in Maryland suggests that the extra growth in trees could help to act as a…
Tags: carbon, carbon dioxide, climate change, co2, forest, global warming, Maryland, study, temperatures, tree, United States, waterfowl, wetlands
climate change, Science & Technology, Wildlife & Flora, Jan 27th, 2010,
Research by scientists in the U.S. state of Wisconsin is pointing to some surprising evidence concerning greenhouse gases. But this is not exactly a study on climate change: the research is an attempt to find out how rising greenhouse gas emissions will affect local forests in about 50 years time. So far, results show that plants ‘eat’ more when exposed to higher levels of carbon dioxide, giving the trees a thicker canopy with larger leaves. However, increases in another greenhouse gas – ozone (O3) – showed rises in mortality, disease and insect attacks among the trees. First the ozone pollution…
Tags: carbon dioxide, forest, greenhouse gas, greenhouse gases, National Geographic, ozone, research, scientists, Wisconsin
Climate & Change, climate change, Dec 13th, 2009,
Over the years, you may have read a number of articles on global warming, climate change and carbon dioxide emissions. You may have compared reports, studied the statistics, and done your own bit of research into the matter. Then, right when you adapt to the information and become used to the fact that, “okay, right now things are this bad and they have until that year before they get worse” you get slammed with more information, which basically states that, whoops, scientists were wrong and things are worse now. Initiate panic mode now. Yeah, this would be one of those…
Tags: carbon dioxide, climate change, CO2 emissions, global warming, greenhouse gas, miscalculation
sustainable living, Dec 12th, 2009,
According to a recent announcement made by the EPA, greenhouse gases do, indeed, have a negative effect on human health. We already know the fumes from fossil fuels and the like can cause problems, ranging from asthma to migraines. Now, the EPA is pushing the fact that CO2 and other such pollutants should be regulated under the Clean Air Act. It’s a good thing they made this finding, too. According to a Supreme Court ruling, the EPA was required to find that CO2 and 5 other greenhouse gases are definitely an endangerment to human health before they were allowed to…
Tags: carbon dioxide, carbon emissions, co2, EPA, greenhouse gases harmful, human health
Climate & Change, Dec 10th, 2009,
‘Made up of decomposed trees and plants, sometimes as deep as 50 feet, the waterlogged land stores billions of tons of carbon dioxide. But once drained or cleared, the peat land releases many times more carbon dioxide than the deforestation of rain forests. Most experts believe that, as with rain forests, the protection of peat swamp forests will be eligible for carbon credits under the United Nations program.’ –New York Times In Indonesia, the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, the draining of peat swamps is perilously releasing CO2. Peat swamp forests trap CO2, but the building of canals…
Tags: carbon dioxide, carbon emissions, co2, cop15, deforestation, forest, greenhouse gas, Indonesia, Kampar Peninsula, peat, peat forest, peat swamp, REDD
Climate & Change, Politics, Dec 7th, 2009,
Sunday, December 6th, 2009, marked the final convergence of delegates to negotiate terms for a climate change treaty. Today—December 7th, 2009—marks the beginning of the biggest climate change conference in world history. Today we will begin to see if the last two years of talking will lead to serious action. Today we will start to see where the future of the environment lies. To quote a recent statement from the U.N.’s top climate official, Yvo de Boer: “Time is up. Over the next two weeks governments have to deliver.” The number of nations planning to attend the event has risen…
Tags: carbon dioxide, Climate Change Conference, co2, cop15, copenhagen, denmark, emission reduction targets, environment, greenhouse gases, united nations
Science & Technology, Dec 4th, 2009,
Researchers from Sandia National Laboratories are creating a prototype of a device that can turn carbon dioxide into a liquid fuel. Lead developer Rich Diver recently tested the Counter-Rotating-Ring Receiver Reactor Recuperator (CR5). This solar-powered machine is designed to convert carbon dioxide from power plants into fuels like gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Still in its early stages, more research is needed to boost the efficiency of CR5 and it would take more than a decade to have this technology adequately developed and implemented. Read the full article here By Maria Belgado
Tags: carbon dioxide, CR5, liquid fuel, Sandia National Laboratories, solar power
Uncategorized, Sep 4th, 2009,
Green start-up Anellotech was given the go-signal to begin producing various fuels and other chemical materials from biomass. The Huberis process, which was developed at The University of Massachusetts Amherst, uses catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) to produce useable biomass gases and fuels. This technology was designed by a faculty member, George Huber, and is also the co-founder of Anellotech. Unlike the conventional production of biomass fuels, the CFP quickly processes the materials to create a liquid that simulates gasoline. In fact, the final product is so similar to conventional fuel that users will be unable to tell the difference. Says…
Tags: anellotech, biomass fuel, car, carbon dioxide
Climate & Change, climate change, sustainable living, Jul 31st, 2009,
“Smoking can kill you,” said then-16-year-old model/actress Brooke Shields in a 1981 US Congressional hearing, “and if you’ve been killed, you’ve lost a very important part of your life.” Everybody knows that smoking is bad for you, even young Ms. Shields whose vacuous words have been circulating the Internet for years. Smoking can cause heart attacks, lung diseases and all kinds of cancers. Yes, smoking is harmful to your health, yet people continue to smoke. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 15 billion cigarettes are consumed each day. Smokers insist that they are not harming anyone else, except…
Tags: carbon dioxide, cigarettes, climate change, global warming, smoking, tobacco
