The most productive volcanic systems on Earth are hidden under an average of 8,500 feet (2,600 m) of water. Beneath the oceans a global system of mid-ocean ridges produces an estimated 75% of the annual output of magma. An estimated 0.7 cubic miles (3 cubic kilometers) of lava is erupted. The magma and lava create the edges of new oceanic plates and supply heat and chemicals to some of the Earth’s most unusual and rare ecosystems.
Les chiffres clés de l’énergie dans le monde
by Connaissance des Energies, 26 septembre 2017
Les énergies fossiles toujours omniprésentes dans le mix mondial
La consommation mondiale d’énergie primaire a encore reposé à 81,4% sur les énergies fossiles en 2015 selon les dernières données de l’AIE. En 1973, cette part atteignait 86,7% (dont 46,2% pour le seul pétrole) et les énergies décarbonées ont ainsi légèrement progressé dans le mix énergétique mondial.
Notons que les productions mondiales de gaz naturel et de charbon ont respectivement triplé et plus que doublé depuis 1973. Les émissions mondiales de CO2 relatives à la combustion d’énergie ont pour leur part doublé durant cette période.
See also here (.pdf 151 pages)
Are cold winters in Europe associated with low solar activity?
by M. Lockwood et al., April 2010, in EnvironmResLetters
Solar activity during the current sunspot minimum has fallen to levels unknown since the start of the 20th century. The Maunder minimum (about 1650–1700) was a prolonged episode of low solar activity which coincided with more severe winters in the United Kingdom and continental Europe. Motivated by recent relatively cold winters in the UK, we investigate the possible connection with solar activity. We identify regionally anomalous cold winters by detrending the Central England temperature (CET) record using reconstructions of the northern hemisphere mean temperature.
Le hiatus ? Pas de quoi en faire un fromage, ni une publi
in Benoît Rittaud, 26 septembre 2017 in M,M&M
L’incroyable nouvelle a été annoncée par Mathieu Vidard dans l’émission La Tête au carrésur France Inter, le 20 septembre 2017 (ici, très brièvement, à partir de 10’, il faut bien viser) :
Maintenir le réchauffement climatique en dessous de 1,5°C, c’est encore possible, c’est l’objectif qui avait été fixé par les Accords de Paris à l’issue de la COP 21. La bonne nouvelle vient d’une équipe de recherche internationale. D’après leurs analyses, l’ampleur du réchauffement climatique qui a déjà eu lieu a été surestimée et la quantité de carbone que l’humanité peut émettre à partir de 2015 en restant en-dessous de ce seuil de 1,5°C serait trois fois supérieure à ce qui avait été annoncé.
Magmatic pulse driven by sea-level changes associated with the Messinian salinity crisis
by P. Sternal et al., 2017 in NatureGeoscience
Significant and fast reductions in sea level unload the lithosphere, which can increase the production and eruption of magma. Here we calculate variations in surface load associated with the Messinian salinity crisis and compile the available time constraints for pan-Mediterranean magmatism.
‘Game-Changing’ new research on prolific Permian Basin estimates 60 billion to 70 billion barrels remain, IHS Markit says
by PennEnergy Editorial Staff, September 25, 2017
Energy researchers at IHS Markit have completed the first, three-year phase of a massive Permian Basin research project that models and interprets the giant basin’s key geologic characteristics to better estimate its remaining hydrocarbon potential, and initial results indicate the giant basin still holds an estimated 60 billion to 70 billion barrels of technically recoverable resources.
To conduct this new analysis, researchers used the IHS Markit historical well and production database that includes more than 440,000 Permian Basin wells, and a new proprietary software tool that, for the first time, enables them to leverage interpreted formation ‘tops’ data to identify accurate formations for completion intervals on hundreds of thousands of wells
Climate change predictions — what went wrong?
by Paul Homewood, September 25, 2017 in ClimateChangeDispatch
A good analysis in the Times, following up last week’s story about how climate models had grossly overestimated global warming
L’ACCORD DE PARIS COP21 – SEULEMENT LES FAITS, SVP
by Robert Lyman, 9 juin 2017, in FoS
“Les faits, et seulement les faits” doivent nous éclairer et nous préserver de malentendus entourant toute discussion, alors que l’administration Trump a pris la décision de se retirer de l’Accord de Paris COP21 (2015) qui traite du changement climatique.
COP21 ou l’hypocrisie de l’industrie
by Prof. Dr. Istvan Marko, 31 octobre 2015, in FoS
Si vous pensez que la conférence sur le climat qui se tiendra à Paris en décembre 2015 (COP21) a quelque chose à voir avec le climat ou la protection de la nature, révisez votre copie. Vous avez tout faux. Les premiers qui s’en rendront compte, après avoir vainement fouillé dans les derniers recoins de ces futurs accords, minimalistes et non-contraignants mais présentés par les politiques comme une grandiose réussite pour l’environnement et le climat, seront les écolos et certaines ONG environnementales.
The Impact of Elevated CO2 on a Widespread Ectomycorrhizal Fungi
by McCormack et al., 2017, September 18, 2017 in FungalEcology
In light of the above findings, it would appear that, given the near-global distribution of this EM fungi and its importance in stimulating ecosystem productivity, the positive impact of elevated CO2 on C. geophilumproduction (~50% increase for a 200 ppm rise) represents a welcomed benefit for the future of Earth’s forests.
Sea Ice Extent Sinks to Record Lows at Both Poles
by Maria-José Vinas, August 4, 2017 in Nasa.gov
“It is tempting to say that the record low we are seeing this year is global warming finally catching up with Antarctica,” Meier said. “However, this might just be an extreme case of pushing the envelope of year-to-year variability. We’ll need to have several more years of data to be able to say there has been a significant change in the trend.”
Climate / Energy: What if we come back down to Earth?
by Drieu Godefridi, September23, 2017, in FoS
Important information has emerged in the field of energy, and yet it is as if European politicians ignore it. Judge for yourself based on just the following facts (…)
Inevitable Disaster: Why Hurricanes Can’t Be Blamed On Global Warming
by Roy W. Spencer, September18, 2017, in GlobalWarming
Partly in response to the crazy claims of the usual global warming experts (Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lawrence, Mark Ruffalo, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Pope Francis), I decided to write another Kindle e-book. This one is entitled, Inevitable Disaster: Why Hurricanes Can’t Be Blamed On Global Warming.
Egalement voir ici
See also here
Techniques d’exploitation des mines de charbon
by Connaissance des Energies, 16 mars 2015
Les gisements sont des zones généralement profondes où l’on trouve de grandes quantités de charbon. Il faut forer des puits pour y accéder et extraire le minerai. Lorsque les réserves de charbon sont relativement proches de la surface de la terre, une exploitation à ciel ouvert peut être mise en place. Il existe également des gisements de charbon sous les océans, pour le moment inexploités.
Puerto Rico’s Hurricane History
by P. Homewood, September 22, 2017 in NotaLotofPeopleKnowThat
As Hurricane Maria heads north as a Cat 3 storm, much is being made of the fact that it is the strongest hurricane to hit Puerto Rico since 1928. The implication is that Maria must have been exceptionally strong.
But the reality is that Puerto Rico is little more than a speck in the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean. The odds of the eye of a major hurricane, often just 10 or 20 miles wide, making a direct hit on Puerto Rico are probably hundreds to one, given that there are thousands of miles of ocean through which hurricanes can commonly travel.
See also here
Study: plants are globally getting more efficient thanks to rising carbon dioxide
by University of California, September 12, 2017 in WUWT
A trend toward greater discrimination under higher CO2 levels is broadly consistent with tree ring studies over the past century, with field and chamber experiments, and with geological records of C3 plants at times of altered atmospheric CO2, but increasing discrimination has not previously been included in studies of long-term atmospheric 13C/12C measurements. We further show that the inferred discrimination increase of 0.014 ± 0.007‰ ppm−1 is largely explained by photorespiratory and mesophyll effects.
Diamonds show Earth still capable of ‘superhot’ surprises
by Europlanet Media Centre, September 21, 2017 in ScienceDaily
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Diamonds may be ‘forever’ but some may have formed more recently than geologists thought. A study of 26 diamonds, formed under extreme melting conditions in the Earth’s mantle, found two populations, one of which has geologically ‘young’ ages. The results show that certain volcanic events on Earth may still be able to create super-heated conditions previously thought to have only existed early in the planet’s history before it cooled. The findings may have implications for diamond prospecting.
See also here
In times of climate change: What a lake’s color can tell about its condition
by Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. (FVB), September 21, in ScienceDaily
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With the help of satellite observations from 188 lakes worldwide, scientists have shown that the warming of large lakes amplifies their color. Lakes which are green due to their high phytoplankton content tend to become greener in warm years as phytoplankton content increases. Clear, blue lakes with little phytoplankton, on the other hand, tend to become even bluer in warm years caused by declines in phytoplankton. Thus, contrary to previous assumptions, the warming of lakes tends to amplify their richness or poverty of phytoplankton.
See also here
Fossil Fuel Powered Destruction – September 21, 1938
by Tony Heller, September 21, 2017 in TheDeplorableClimSciBlog
New England hasn’t had a major hurricane in over 60 years, but on this date in 1938, New Jersey, New York, New England and Quebec were hit by a major hurricane – which would have destroyed Lower Manhattan had it tracked 30 miles to the west
Climate Model Projections Significantly Diverge from Paleoclimate Analogs
by Renee Hannon, September 21, 2017 in WUWT
Results indicate climate models where the initiation of glaciation depends strongly on CO2concentrations over astronomical controls significantly overpredict the duration of the present-day warm period compared to past interglacial analogs.
Are the glaciers in Glacier National Park growing? Lysander Spooner University investigates climate claims
by Lysander Spooner University, September 2017
(…) Upon our return to the Hotel after visiting the Glacier, we noticed that our brand-new photos appear to show that the Grinnell Glacier has grown slightly from the 2008 images that are displayed on the Hotel walls. There has been no reporting of this in any newspaper or broadcast that we know of. (In fact, all news coverage reports the precise opposite.) The smaller Gem Glacier—which is visible from the valley miles below—also appears to be slightly larger than it is shown in 2008 pictures on display.
See also here
Trends In Atlantic Hurricanes
by Paul Homewood, September 20, 2017 in NotaLotof PeopleKnowThat
It is worth re-emphasising these points:
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Many storms were missed over the open ocean prior to hurricane hunter aircraft in 1944.
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Even then half of the Atlantic basin was not covered.
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Satellite coverage began to improve matters in 1966.
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But even then monitoring has considerably improved since 1966, particularly regarding short lived storms.
Is the world warming to clean coal?
by Sebastien Laye, September 18, 2017 in NotaLotofPeopleKnowThat
Those voices are the impetus behind what Subramanian calls a “green and clean coal coalition” spanning both the developed and developing worlds. Emerging markets in Asia and Africa will continue to build new coal-fired power stations for at least the next two decades. In that timeframe, coal-fired solutions are indispensable to meeting their demands for electrification and growth. As clean coal solutions emerge, new plants in the developing world can and should be far cleaner than previous generations of coal-fired plants in Europe and America.
CLIMATE CHANGE WILL TAKE LONGER, SAY SCIENTISTS
by Dr David Whitehouse, September 19, 2017 in GWPF
The study is published in the journal Nature Geoscience by a team of scientists led by Richard Millar of the University of Oxford. It has recalculated the carbon budget for limiting the Earth’s warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above temperatures seen in the late 19th century. It had been widely assumed that this stringent target would prove unachievable, but the new study would appear to give us much more time to act if we want to stay below it.
The Correlation of Seismic Activity and Recent Global Warming
by Arthur Viterio, 2016, in J Earth Science Climate Change
Earth’s climate is a remarkably “noisy” system, driven by scores of oscillators, feedback mechanisms, and radiative forcings. Amidst all this noise, identifying a solitary input to the system (i.e., HGFA MAG4/6 seismic activity as a proxy for geothermal heat flux) that explains 62% of the variation in the earth’s surface temperature is a significant finding.
See also here