Ways To Save The Planet

Ways To Save The Planet

A new documentary series kicked off on the UK Discovery Channel yesterday. ‘Ways to Save the Planet‘ explores what happens when, in the channel’s own words, “what if?” meets “why not?”, as “some of the world’s leading scientists” put the most ambitious geo-engineering ideas to the test in order to tackle global climate change. The [...]

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Scramble For Soil

Scramble For Soil

Environmental Photographer of the Year Award 2008, Natural World, runner up: ‘Green Steps’, Ly Hoang Long, Vietnam
A scary article in last Saturday’s Guardian outlines the extent to which rich nations are flexing their financial muscles around the globe to secure their food supplies. This week, Daewoo Logistics of South Korea has announced plans to acquire [...]

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Composting For All

Composting For All

Well, not quite all. The London Borough of Bromley’s (LBB) trial of weekly kitchen waste collections continues its lumbering progress. The Composting For All trial has been running since September 2007, with 4,500 participating households (or 5,000 depending on which piece of LBB propaganda you happen to read). Its original remit was to evaluate the [...]

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“Grow Your Own” Guidance For Eco-towns

"Grow Your Own" Guidance For Eco-towns

Urban paradise: ‘A place for everything’ by Justin Coombes

All residents of proposed new eco-towns should have access to land where they can grow their own food, according to new guidance drawn up by the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA).
The guidance, just published in the TCPA’s latest worksheet ‘The essential role of green infrastructure’, makes [...]

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Flood Simulation Game

Flood Simulation Game

An online simulation game has been launched to help families understand the risk of flooding, and the policy decisions needed to make sure the UK is protected against floods.
Floodsim.com, developed by London-based computer game company PlayGen, puts the player in charge of all flood policy decisions.
In the game, floods hit the UK each year, and [...]

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Lack Of Joined-up Thinking For Eco-towns

Lack Of Joined-up Thinking For Eco-towns

The East of England Regional Assembly has voiced concern over proposals for four eco-towns in the region, involving nearly 50,000 new houses. The body is worried that the planning system will be bypassed and that the schemes themselves are unsustainable.
Responding to the eco-towns public consultation, the Assembly raised concerns that the new homes are not [...]

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My New Toy

My New Toy

Following on from an interesting conversation about Peak Oil and manual tools started by Earthpal over at The Coffee House (’Renewable Energy: the power of the human body‘), I started thinking about how I could reduce my use of powered tools around the house. At this time of year, one of the most frequent routine [...]

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Fellowtravellers

Fellowtravellers

Fellowtravellers is a radical new concept in mass transport which claims to offer an environmentally-friendly, economical and reliable alternative to the stresses and strains of traditional public transport and a genuine non-car travel option. It is an alternative, local, and responsive public transport system which puts the needs of the traveller at the heart of [...]

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End Of The Line: All Change, All Change!

End Of The Line: All Change, All Change!

Back from our traditional Whitsun break, and time to take stock. After a surprisingly small amount of soul-searching I’ve decided to put Change Alley out of its misery. There are other projects that are more deserving of my attention right now.
The Change Alley brand may make a reappearance in a new form in the future, [...]

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Permafrost Meltdown Threatens Climate

Climate change Comments (2)

A report published recently in the journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles says that the amount of carbon locked away in frozen soils in high Northern Hemisphere latitudes could be as much as double previous estimates.
The paper, ‘Soil organic carbon pools in the northern circumpolar permafrost region”, was written by scientists from research units in Canada, USA, Australia, Sweden and Russia. The abstract is available here, and the full report here.
Soils in the northern permafrost region comprise approximately 16% of global soil area. Previous studies’ estimates of the size of carbon pools have not accounted for deeper layers and pools. A four-year study of the latest research on permafrost, data from new drilling projects as well as the release of previously unpublished data from the Russian Academy of Sciences has led to a rethink of carbon levels. The total quantity of organic carbon in the northern permafrost region is now estimated to be 1672 Pg, of which approximately 88% occurs in what are currently perennially frozen soils and deposits. This 1672 Pg of organic carbon accounts for approximately 50% of the estimated global belowground organic carbon pool. [1 Pg, or petagram, is 1 billion metric tonnes]

In a statement to Reuters, Pep Canadell, report co-author and executive director of Australia’s Global Carbon Project, said:

“Massive amounts of carbon stored in frozen soils at high latitudes are increasingly vulnerable to exposure to the atmosphere.
“Projections show that almost all near-surface permafrost will disappear by the end of this century exposing large carbon stores to decomposition and release of greenhouse gases.”

Canadell claims that the melting of only 10% of the permafrost could lead to the release of an additional 80 parts per million of CO2 equivalent into the atmosphere, equivalent to a ‘global warming’ of about 0.7 degrees Celsius according to current models.

Climate processes  such as this are a minefield of non-linear systems, and however much care is devoted to devising our computer models, new variables can always throw a spanner in the works. Heat generated by increased microbial activity in the soil could lead to sustained long-term emissions of CO2 and methane. In addition, lakes formed as the permafrost thaws would draw heat to deeper layers and bring methane to the surface from subterranean pockets.

OK, yes, I know. The word ‘estimate’ crops up a lot in all this. How could it not? Unless you know of a way of weighing the permafrost precisely and accurately, it’s inevitable. These figures are huge, and I’m sure there are people out there who don’t care to believe them. But even if this report is out by a factor of 10, this is still scary stuff, the sort of information that should be made available promptly to a wide audience. The abstract tells us that the report was submitted on 13th August 2008, accepted 3rd April 2009 and published 27th June 2009. Why does it take so long to perform peer reviews of important work like this?


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Pete Smith @ July 1, 2009