A study released today provides some of the first solid evidence that warming-induced changes in ocean circulation at the end of the last Ice Age caused vast quantities of ancient carbon dioxide to belch from the deep sea into the atmosphere. Scientists believe the carbon dioxide (CO2) releases helped propel the world into further warming. The study, done by researchers at the University of Colorado, Kent State University and Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, appears in the May 10 advance online version of the leading journal Science.
Atmospheric CO2, also produced by burning of fossil fuels, is thought to be largely responsible for current warming. However, scientists have known for some time that the gas also goes through natural cycles. By far most of the world's mobile carbon is stored in the oceans - 40 trillion metric tons, or 15 times more than in air, soil and water combined. But how this vast marine reservoir interacts with the atmosphere has been a subject of debate for the last 25 years. The study indicates what many scientists have long suspected, but could not prove: sometimes the oceans can release massive amounts of CO2 into the air as they overturn. "The lesson is that abrupt changes in ocean circulation in the past have affected the oceans' ability to keep carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere," said geologist Thomas Marchitto of the University of Colorado, a co-lead author. "This could help us understand how that ability might be affected by future global warming."
Bees, swarmed on a fire hydrant in NW Washington, DC, were safely removed and relocated to a friendlier environment.
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| ©NBC 4 Washington DC
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John Miller
APMon, 07 May 2007 13:35 UTC
About 250,000 rainbow trout died in a sudden disease outbreak at a southwestern Idaho fish hatchery, a loss of about 8 percent of Idaho's annual output of catchable-sized trout.
Subtropical Storm Andrea dissipated off the U.S. Atlantic Coast on Thursday and promised only scant rainfall in Florida, where brush fires burned throughout the parched state.
Geneva- Up to 110,000 people have been affected by the
worst floods in Uruguay since 1959, with more torrential rain
forecast, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported Friday.
Some 12,000 people have been forced to leave their homes with this number expected to rise. Thousands of homes have been destroyed or damaged.
Comment: The generosity knows no bounds. $30,000 or 25 cents per person in relief supplies.
Had this happened in a Western country, that number might just have looked a tad different.
A Cyprus Airways (CY) flight to Athens was forced to abort and return to Larnaca airport yesterday morning after its right engine was struck by lightning.
The Airbus A319, carrying 118 passengers and seven crew, took off from Larnaca at 9.30am and was struck by lightening over Paphos. As a precaution, the captain decided to turn the plane around and head back to Larnaca.
Jessica Gresko
APWed, 09 May 2007 11:25 UTC
The first named storm of the year formed Wednesday off the southeastern U.S. coast, more than three weeks before the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season, forecasters said.
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| ©NASA
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| Subtropical storm Andrea, the first named storm of the year, off Florida and Georgia at 11 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 8, 2007.
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Its a hot one.
San Franciscans sizzled on Monday in 88-degree heat. At SFO, temperatures came in at 93 degrees, almost 30 degrees warmer than the average high temperature for this time of year, said George Cline, a forecaster with the National Weather Service.
David Dishneau
APThu, 03 May 2007 13:04 UTC
The state Department of Natural Resources destroyed 20,000 hatchery trout today, bringing to at least 156,000 the number of fish the agency has destroyed this year in hopes of curbing the spread of whirling disease, an illness fatal to trout.
APTue, 08 May 2007 12:59 UTC
An Arctic seal found in a Fort Lauderdale canal - far from its habitat near the North Pole - died Tuesday, a day after it was captured.
Comment: The generosity knows no bounds. $30,000 or 25 cents per person in relief supplies.
Had this happened in a Western country, that number might just have looked a tad different.