18

May. ’12

The “Ring of Fire”

Thousands of people are planning viewing parties for the solar eclipse on May 20, a rare event in which the sun appears as a thin ring behind the moon. The eclipse will start in Asia on Monday morning, when it will be visible in southern Japan and southern China. In the U.S., the eclipse will be visible in northeast Texas through New Mexico, northeastern Arizona, southern Utah and Nevada, northern California and southwestern Oregon on Sunday night.

“I encourage anyone who has the opportunity to see this, because although it happens occasionally, is a fairly rare event,” said Jeffrey Newmark, a specialist in solar physics at NASA.

During an annular eclipse, the moon does not block the entire sun but leaves a bright ring of light visible at the edges, according to NASA.

“For the eclipse of May, the moon will be as far away from Earth than ever achieved, which means it blocks the smallest possible portion of the sun, and leaves the largest possible bright ring around the outside,” says the agency on its website. An annular eclipse last appeared in the U.S. in 1994. The next solar eclipse will be on November 13 and is expected to be visible in northern Australia, according to NASA.

In the western United States, more than 1,000 people could flood the small town of Kanarraville, Utah, a town of 300 inhabitants, to achieve one of the best views of the event on Sunday, said Bonnie Char, spokeswoman for the tourist office Cedar City. The people are calling eclipse “Ring of Fire”.

 

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17

May. ’12

Global Warming Affects the Climate Cycle

The earth’s capacity to absorb carbon dioxide emissions are at risk, said the Nature Geoscience journal.

The analysis of the bubbles in the Antarctic containing ice samples 610 thousand years ago, showed that the climatic cycle is affected by emissions of gases blamed for global warming.

The research, carried out by experts from the University of Hawaii, provides the first evidence that there is a natural mechanism called feedback, altered by carbon dioxide emissions, said Richard Zeebe, one of the authors.

“These feedbacks operate so slowly, that they help us in terms of climate change we see in the next hundred years. Now, we have the whole system out of balance,” said the scientist.

For 25 years, researchers suspect that there is a mechanism that regulates the Earth’s temperature and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The old high concentrations of this gas came from the volcanoes, but the rain took them to the mountains and was dragged through the hills and ended in marine sediments, said the scientist. Zeebe and his team studied the carbon dioxide trapped in Antarctic ice to determine the concentrations of this gas in various stages and found that the variation corresponded to the Earth’s temperature.

The results were found that when atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide were low, the temperature was cold and the Earth passed through a glacial and interglacial  periods.

Since the Industrial Revolution, with the excessive burning of fossil fuels, concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rose to 100 parts per million.

That means that man releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere 14,000 times faster than natural phenomena.

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16

May. ’12

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault

The risks that the planet is facing is so high that it is forced to take serious precautions. In 2008, launched a “Noah’s Ark” or “Doomsday Vault”, to store more than 4.5 million samples of 2,000 million seeds and ensure the survival of a number of key species. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a project initiated by the Norwegian Government, the Global Crop Diversity Trust and the Nordic Gene Bank.

So far, more than 100 countries have submitted 100,000,000,268,000 specific seed samples, each from a different farm or field.

Dug into a mountain of Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, the vault was opened in the presence of dozens of guests.

The site is 800 kilometers from the North Pole. The Svalbard archipelago has an area twice the size of Belgium and has a population of 2,300 inhabitants. Paradoxically, nothing grows there. For that reason, it has been considered the ideal location: isolated but accessible, and cold all year.

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15

May. ’12

Alumina Tax by Indonesia Risks China Shipments

Chinese domestic alumina prices are expected to rise as Indonesia is planning to implement a 20% export tax on bauxite. Due to the prevailing weak domestic aluminum market and high stock levels of imported alumina at Chinese ports, the rise in the price will be limited.

According to the new policy, the permits of the holders whoever fails to exhibit a commitment to invest in local refining facilities by 2014 will be cancelled. A rise in the ex-works alumina spot prices in eastern Shandong province and central Henan province from Yuan 2,700-2,720/mt to Yuan 2,750-2,800/mt is expected within the next
one or two months.

Going by what Shandong Refiners state, the new tax policy of 20% has increased the cost of alumina products by slightly more than Yuan 100/mt but the decision to increase a rise in the alumina prices by Yuan 100/mt will not be good enough, as it will be too much for the smelters.

The minimum expected price rise is Yuan 30-50/mt. An increase in the costs will naturally result an rise in the prices but no one expects a sudden leap in the price now when there are so much stocks of imported alumina at the ports.

The imported alumina inventory at Chinese ports is estimated around 700,000-800,000 mt and offers for these are around Yuan 2,700/mt currently, sources said.

Smelter and trade sources agree that there will be a rise in the domestic prices to around Yuan 2,750-2,800/mt in the near term. China will have to rely on more alumina imports if that happens.

Many of the alumina refineries are expecting a set back while many have closed down. As costs continue to rise more are expected to slow down.

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15

May. ’12

Ecuador Rapidly Loses Glaciers Due to Global Warming

Glaciers in Ecuador are reduced rapidly by global warming to the point that the area covered by ice on the Cotopaxi volcano, one of the highest in the country, was reduced by 31 percent between 1976 and 1997. The Cotopaxi volcano stands in 5,897 meters, and is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Its height is covered by an imposing mass of ice, making it a challenge for fans of extreme sports. The Cotopaxi volcano is considered as a jewel for the ecotourism industry the country.

The Cotopaxi volcano, whose last eruption occurred in 1877, is one of the victims of climate change mainly due to the consumption of fossil fuels and rising gas, producing greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2), according to experts . The area of ​​the glacier at Cotopaxi went from 21.2 to 14.6 square kilometers between 1976 and 1997, according to a report by the Institute of Development Research of France and Ecuadorian organizations, such as the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology.

The surface of the glacier even fell to 13.9 square kilometers in 2003, according to preliminary reports. The situation would be more acute in other mountains of Ecuador, so that within 10 to 20 years, the country would lose at least 4 of its 8 major glaciers.

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14

May. ’12

What is Climate Change?

Climate change is defined as a stable and durable change in the distribution of weather patterns over periods of time ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around this average (i.e., more or less extreme weather events). Climate change may be limited to a specific region, such as covering the entire surface.

The term sometimes refers specifically to climate change caused by human activity, unlike climate change caused by natural processes on Earth and the solar system. In this regard, especially in the context of environmental policy, the term “climate change” has become synonymous with “anthropogenic global warming”. In scientific journals, global warming refers to surface temperature increases, while climate change includes global warming and all other aspects that influence an increase in greenhouse gases.

The evidence of climate change is based on observations of increases in air temperature and the oceans, melting ice and glaciers around the world and rising sea levels worldwide.

Indisputable facts: 11 of the last 12 years have been among the warmest years on record since 1850. The average temperature rise over the past 50 years is nearly twice that of the last 100 years. The average global temperature increased 0.74 ° C during the twentieth century.

More CO2 is in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is the main and dominant contributor to current climate change. Its atmospheric concentration has increased from a value of 278 parts per million in preindustrial times to 393 ppm today.

Scientists have determined that global temperature increase should be limited to 2° C to prevent irreversible damage to the planet and the consequent disastrous effects on human society. To get around this irreversible climate change and its effects, greenhouse gas emissions should reach its peak in 2015 and gradually decreasing thereafter to reach a 50% reduction by 2050.

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13

May. ’12

The Cryosphere

The cryosphere consists of the regions covered by snow or ice, whether land or sea. Including Antarctica, the Arctic Ocean, Greenland, Northern Canada, Northern Siberia and most of the highest peaks of mountain ranges.

The cryosphere plays an important role in regulating global climate.

The snow and ice have a high albedo, therefore, parts of the Antarctic reflect up to 90% of incident solar radiation, compared to the overall average of 31%. Without the cryosphere, the overall albedo would be considerably lower. More energy would be absorbed at the earth’s surface and consequently, the air temperature would be higher.

The cryopsphere also has a role in disconnecting the atmosphere with the oceans, reducing moisture transfer and momentum. It stabilizes the transfer of energy into the atmosphere. Finally, its presence markedly affects the volume of the oceans and global sea levels. Changes in the cryosphere can affect the energy budget of the climate.

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12

May. ’12

How to Deal With Climatic Change or Global Warming

We all want to achieve awareness of how important it is to repair the damage that has been done to our planet and understand that this is a problem for us all. We fight climate change by:

Caring for Water

  • Avoid drips and leaks in faucets. The drips and leaks in faucets mean losing more than 100 liters of water a month.
  • Prefer low-energy showers. Low-energy showers allow a comfortable shower and spend less water and energy.
  • Do not leave water to run unnecessarily, especially during washing, shaving and brushing our teeth.

Using Energy Efficiently

  • Prefer low-energy light bulbs, and avoid leaving lights on when you are not using it.
  • Instead of using the dryer, use the hot sun to dry your clothes.
  • Cook with the lid on, keep the oven closed and clean the burners.
  • Open the refrigerator and freezer as little as possible.

Choosing Public Transportation

  • Private cars emit 38 times more carbon monoxide than buses for each person carried.
  • Instead of using multiple cars, share your car with friends or family members by taking them to their destination that is near yours.

 

 

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11

May. ’12

The Crucial Role of China and the U.S.

China and the U.S., the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world.

The Asian giant is the largest coal producer in the world and also the largest emitter of CO2 ( 24% of the total in 2009 ). Last 2009, its greenhouse gases rose by 9% (the U.S. fell 7% in the same year).

Its rapid and strong economic growth in coming years, with consequent emission of greenhouse gases, can jeopardize the efforts of other party states to the Kyoto Protocol to combat climate change.

But China also wants a chance to reach its full industrial development , just as had the United States or the European Union before they began to worry about reducing emissions.

It also requires rich countries as a whole and MTO to reduce their emissions by 2020 at least up to 40% (compared to the levels of 1990).

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08

May. ’12

Plants’ Cycles Through Climate Change

Plants are overtaking their life cycles to accommodate the overall increase in temperature. But the research methodology used so far had underestimated the magnitude of these changes, according to a scientific team from the University of California, led by biologist Elizabeth M. Wolkovich.

Wolkovich analyzed the phenology-relationship between climatic factors and plant-cycles of 1,634 plant species from four continents, through a combination of long-term observations, small-scale experiments and collecting the results of 50 previous studies.

The cycles of plants are crucial for the rest of the environment, for example, the activity of insect pollinators and nutrient cycles of the land or rainfall. Their study has become more important over the last twenty years.

Five days ahead of flowering

In the long-term observations, flowering plants were carrying an average of five to six days for every degree Celsius that the temperature was increased, which happened in different habitats and species, the researcher explained.

“In temperate systems, most of the species advanced the appearance of its leaves and flowering in response to warming. Some delay it and a few remained unchanged,” said Wolkovich.

According to their research, the species most likely to change their cycles are plants that germinate and succumb within a year and those that bloom in early spring, while perennials and flowering later are more resistant.

In the last twenty years, the most common method to study the response of plants to increasing temperatures were short-term experiments in which different species are subjected to artificial heating. Extrapolating their reaction was the method for long term experiments.

The results indicated that plants were carrying their cycles between 1.9 and 3.3 days for every degree Celsius that the temperature rose.

 

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