We know much about the long term history of carbon dioxide from ice core samples and a combination of atmospheric sampling and calculations based on known levels of industrial carbon consumption. For example, any high school chemistry text book will tell you that that approximately 2.6 tons of CO2 is produced for every ton of coal burned. The world coal association estimates that approximately 7.6 billion tons of coal are consumed every year, so ignoring oil, gas and other significant CO2 producers, humans release approximately 20 billion tones of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere every year.

An optimist might assume that nature quietly absorbs all of this CO2 without any harmful side-effects such as ocean acidification. But the scientists at NASA’s Goddard research center don’t want to bet our future on polyanna assumptions. Instead, they are using a supercomputer model called GOES-5. Similar computational models are used to predict the behavior of hurricanes and other weather patterns. This particular GOES-5 model is designed to calculate where this carbon dioxide goes. It reveals the release, sequestering and movement patterns of this otherwise invisible gas. I’d suggest watching this video first with the sound turned down and knowing only that redder colors represent higher CO2 concentrations.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1SgmFa0r04[/youtube]

Now that you’ve seen it, watch it again with narration and look for the following:

• High concentrations of CO2 from northern hemisphere populations in Asia, Europe and North America but relatively little CO2 in the southern hemisphere.
• Carbon Monoxide (CO), represented in shades of blue and gray, is released from fires in Africa and South America.
• As northern hemisphere spring moves into summer, plants remove some of the highest concentrations of CO2.
• Carbon dioxide follows weather patterns similar to moisture, concentrating in swirling patterns which move from west to east.
• Carbon dioxide moved from population centers to concentrate in the high arctic where there are few trees to absorb it.

This visualization is a tool to help people understand the scope of the world’s invisible carbon dioxide problem. The complexity of CO2 flow demonstrates how difficult it is to measure this simple parameter. No doubt, part of the money each of us spend on fossil fuels is redirected to marketing propaganda designed to assure the status status-quo. As the northern hemisphere enters another high CO2 season, NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO2) satellite will soon provide real-time readings of global CO2 that we can compare with these supercomputer models. In the end, science will reveal a truth that won’t bend to politics, slick marketing or wishful thinking.

The post NASA visualizes unfortunate truths about our atmosphere appeared first on Green Prophet.

This month’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP18) will be hosted by Qatar, the tiny peninsula nation in the Persian Gulf that holds the world record for per capita CO2 emissions.

According to a report entitled Indicators of Sustainable Development 2011 released by Qatar’s statistics’ authority, the state has experienced a 27% annual increase in ozone-depleting substances, 9.3% increase in nitrogen oxides (NO_x), and 3.6% increase in carbon dioxide (CO2). Qatar has held the emissions world record for two decades. To understand the scale of these figures, consider that Qatar doubles the next highest per-capita emitting country, Kuwait, and trebles the United States.

In Doha, particulate air pollution is also increasing from 128.7 micrograms per square meter (μg/m²) in 2007 to 155.7 μg/m² three years later. Cars are the likely culprit behind the damning data: in the last decade, the number of registered vehicles in country doubled from approximately 280,000 cars to 660, 000 (as per 2010 records).

Qatar possesses the third largest natural gas reserve worldwide after Russia and Iran.  Stratospheric emissions are likely due to high energy consumption by natural gas processing, water desalination, and electricity production to support ubiquitous air conditioning.

Creating habitable conditions for large urban populations in such an inhospitable natural environment comes with a big price tag.  Qataris do not pay for water or electricity supplies, which further encourages a high rate of use.  They’re also one of the highest consumers of water, consuming about 400 liters per capita per day.

Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, director of the authority in charge of administrative control and transparency in Qatar and president of COP 18, has said that hosting the UN conference in Qatar is an occasion for Qatar to show its progress in protecting the environment, according to a report on ANSAMed.

According to Doha daily Gulf Times, over 17,000 people from 195 country will travel to Doha for the event, which will be an opportunity for the Emirate to publicize its long-term strategy.

Forward-thinking Qatar, with its vast financial resources, is in a unique position to capitalize on the green economic revolution. Let’s watch to see if this nation often tagged as the richest, fattest, and most polluting place on earth can also emerge as the fastest to convert to the cleanest and leanest on planetary resources.

Image of Doha skyline by Shutterstock

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The UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP 18) conference will take place between November 26 and December 7th 2012 in Doha, Qatar. The Kyoto agreement is facing even more challenges than it did during the 2011 climate conference in Durban. But there is some hope that the Qatar climate conference will spark off the second phase of the Kyoto protocol agreement even as Kyoto’s 2012 deadline approaches.

A Brief History of the Kyoto Agreement

The Kyoto protocol agreement was first signed on December 11, 1997.  One hundred and ninety one countries went on to ratify the agreement and committed themselves to various greenhouse gas emission targets. The targets were to be measured in comparison to a baseline year, usually 1990, and varied according to circumstances of individual countries including industrial development and wealth. So-called Annex I countries committed to a target which would be measured at the end of 2012 in preparation for the next phase of the agreement. As this deadline approaches, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has made a pre-release version of CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion 2012 – Highlights available. This annual publication contains estimates of CO2 emissions by country, region and sector from 1971 to 2010.

Now for the Complicated Part

Anthropogenic greenhouse warming is controversial, but at least this debate breaks down to a simple yes or no answer. The question of whether a nation is making progress towards its Kyoto protocol greenhouse gas (GHG) emission target is somewhat more complicated. Some countries such as the United Kingdom were committed to GHG reductions from a baseline year (typically 1990.) Others committed to a reduction in the increase of greenhouse gasses from a baseline year. Other countries (e.g. China) were not required to commit to a greenhouse gas emission target at all over this first measurement period.

To complicate matters further, the Clinton administration signed the agreement after the US senate had unanimously voted for the Byrd-Hagel resolution which rendered this signature meaningless.  This resolution said that the Senate would not support any climate ratification that excluded the developing world or that could harm the US economy.  President George W. Bush clarified this position with a terse withdrawal from the Kyoto protocol in the spring of 2001.

CO2 Emissions per capita show a drop in the high baseline of North America. Per capita carbon dioxide emission in the Middle East and Asia/Oceania has surpassed the global average as well as the European average.

Others Threaten to Drop out of the Game

Canada, Russia and Japan announced their intention to withdraw from the Kyoto agreement. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev explained that Russia had received no benefit from the Kyoto protocol.  And Japan, the birthplace of the Kyoto agreement, has had to adjust its priorities as 48 of its 50 nuclear reactors were shut down after the March 2011 tsunami and Fukushima meltdown. Even New Zealand, a progressive country with enormous potential for geothermal and hydro-power, is considering dropping the Kyoto agreement as the carbon credits it had hoped to benefit from have been devalued by the Kyoto exodus.

The Silver Lining Behind Kyoto’s Cloudy History

While the best hopes of the Kyoto agreement seem to be fading, there is a silver lining behind the cloud that hangs over this historic agreement. The European Union met its reduction target and went on to reduce its carbon emissions by an additional 8.8%.  After carbon trading adjustments by Spain, Luxemburg, Italy and seven other EU nations, only Italy is expected to fall short of its target. Germany, Denmark, Sweden and the UK performed especially well proving that GHG reduction is possible and that it is compatible with the strongest economies in Europe. It must have come as a terrible embarrassment that after years of political wrangling, excuses and gnashing of teeth over the Kyoto agreement that the US came nearer to its unratified Kyoto target than some signatories.

The Qatar Climate Conference: The End or a Turning Point?

The Qatar conference comes at a critical time in the Kyoto agreement. EU members have proven that GHG reduction and prosperity can go together. The 700% rise in oil prices since 1997 means GHG is no longer the only compelling reason for weaning ourselves from fossil fuels. Technology and climate science have come a long way since 1997. China developed  rapidly since 1997 and its GHG emissions rose as much as 10% annually during parts of the last decade.

China now leads the world in carbon emissions so its carbon footprint can no longer be written off as inconsequential. The United States has seen that without its participation and leadership, Kyoto did not follow the same highly successful trajectory as the Montreal protocol on CFC emissions did.

The Qatar climate conference could very well mark the end of the Kyoto protocol.  It could be the beginning of Kyoto 2.0. But it could also be the beginning of something so innovative and progressive that it deserves a new name. How many nations will fully participate in the Doha Qatar Protocol?

Graphs by Brian Nitz for Green Prophet using data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) pre-release version of CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion 2012 – Highlights

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Rising acid levels in the world’s oceans now threatens everything from coral reefs to global food security, Jane Lubchenco, the head of America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Monday. The level of acid in oceans now rivals climate change as its “equally evil twin,” she told AP.

“We’ve got sort of the perfect storm of stressors from multiple places really hammering reefs around the world.”

This was announced at the International Coral Reef Symposium in the northeast city of Cairns, near the Great Barrier Reef: “It’s a very serious situation,” she added.

As humans pump excessive carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from industry, travel, consumption of meat, and heating and cooling their homes, the oceans absorb it, leading to an increased acidity in the water. This acidity literally melts the bodies of animals made from shells, and it prevents coral from laying down new exoskeleton.

Rising acidity has also found to impair the sense of smell of some fish, like in salmon and clown fish. It’s not known what will happen to the ecology of the sea should reefs die-off altogether.

While there is no quick fix to removing carbon dioxide gas from the seas and oceans, we can do our part by finding ways to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide pollution, Lubchenco noted.

Seas with coral reef to lose in the Middle East include the Red Sea, and the Arabian Sea.

The news is depressing and if you are not a politician you can fight in other ways by supporting Greenpeace or by starting or joining a sustainable sea circus. 

Read about some other ways of rejuvenating coral reefs:
Underwater Art Heals Coral Reefs
EcoReef Antlers to Heal the Sea

The post Acid Oceans Scares Scientists as Much as Climate Change appeared first on Green Prophet.

Think Egypt’s White Desert meeting Mont Blanc. 

Three days of heavy snowfall hit downtown Amman, fat flakes screaming for clothes not found in our closets.  Schools shut and offices closed.  Icy roads wrought havoc on the annual Dead2Red bike and running race. Park aside historical significance, religious connotation, and cultural pride: I say this waterbody’s main value is as an organic stress-reducer for Egyptians and Jordanians, and for tourists from everywhere else drawn to its salt-encrusted shores. 

Wade, float, gaze at its gorgeousness and feel your muscles go slack, your pulse settle into a kitten’s purr at the Dead Sea. So with local weather so unpredictable and a school break looming, I poked around for alternative de-stress-tinations with a warm water theme. Say hello to Pamukkale, Turkey.

Natural relaxation’s most excellent Plan B. Pamukkale is a surreal natural hot tub growing in southwestern Turkey. It’s a series of brilliant white travertine steps, fanning across a hilltop, filled with a continual stream of heated mineral water from 17 natural hot springs. It promises to be as revivifying to the body as it is to the soul.

For over 14,000 years, calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) contained in the flowing waters has coated the outcropping in a sparkling white icing. This mineral is the main ingredient in pearls and eggshells, and it supersaturates these waters.

The water off-gasses carbon dioxide when it hits the surface, in turn depositing the CaCO₃ on the pool beds. The CaCO₃ solidifies over time, expanding the terraced structure. Pool temperatures vary from tepid to boiling.

People have bathed here for millennia: the water has therapeutic qualities and since antiquity has been used to treat eye and skin diseases, high blood pressure and heart disease.  Unlike the Dead Sea, here you can splash with abandon, dunk your head, and open your eyes underwater.

Tourism is big business in Pamukkale, whose name means “cotton castle” in Turkish. Located about 12 miles north of the town of Denizli, it’s also home to the Byzantine/Greco-Roman city Hierapolis which was built in the 6^th century BCE.  The ruins cover an extensive area.  Over time, as the pools enlarge,  they slowly encase the archeology in a crystalline white crust.

The site had been largely unprotected until 1988 when it was declared a World Heritage site.  Previous development had caused considerable damage to both the archeological ruins and the travertine pools. Cars and motorcycles were allowed to traverse the hills and hotels were built on top of the ancient’ remains.

Vehicles are now prohibited and the intrusive hotels demolished.  Restorative work continues and protections are in place.

As example, shoes are prohibited when bathing,  and many areas are off-limits to foot traffic altogether.

Stark white objects in nature make for arresting visuals.  Think Egypt’s White Desert, and Mont Blanc: riveting viewing, but hardly body-friendly. I’ve scraped knees on pale salt-caked boulders edging the Dead Sea, and had Dover Cliffs’ chalk fall on my head. Here’s hoping that Pamukkale proves as easy on my body as it will be on my eyes.

And please, no more freak snow in Jordan.

First and third image by www.ilostravel.con.tr ; second image by www.crainium.net 

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Drop a teabag in a mug, add boiled water, and in the time it takes to brew, you can calculate your carbon weight. Trust me – you’ll need a comforting drink when you see your results. A  free and simple to use carbon calculator is available on the Carbon Footprint website that tabulates your carbon imprint in a matter of minutes, and benchmarks it against performances of your country, of industrial nations, and of the entire world.

I tried it and got a footprint of 9.88 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Low for an American, but astronomical for a resident of Jordan.

I don’t drive a car (use an employee bus) and my family lives simply in a small-ish apartment. With too-easy access to amazing local food, we aren’t tempted by pricey ex-pat import stores. We recycle to the limited extent possible in Amman but I blow the bank on air travel.  Are you curious to see how you measure up?

Your carbon footprint is the sum of all carbon dioxide (CO2) gas emissions caused by your daily activities in a given time frame. The figure’s usually expressed in tons and calculated over a year.  Most everyday actions use energy and produce CO2 emissions, simple stuff like showering, cooking, reading this article on a computer. Sipping that cuppa is carbon-neutral; shipping the tea to your market and heating the kettle are not.

I’ll show you my footprint if you’ll show me yours.

Here’s what resulted when I pressed “calculate”:

“Your footprint is 9.88 metric tons per year.

• The average footprint for people in Jordan is 3.07 metric tons.
• The average for the industrial nations is about 11 metric tons.
• The average worldwide carbon footprint is about 4 metric tons.
• The worldwide target to combat climate change is 2 metric tons.”

Compared to calculators I’ve used on the job, this freebie is fairly sophisticated. It calculates primary emissions based on a broad array of conversion factors sourced from carbon research powerhouses like the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA); the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Energy (DOE); Canada’s Standards Association (CSA) Greenhouse Gas Registries; and the World Resource Institute (WRI) Greenhouse Gas Protocol.

A total footprint sums your primary and secondary emissions. Primary are the fossil fuels we burn to heat and cool our buildings and power our travel; secondary are associated with the lifecycle of products and services we use (the energy used to produce, package, transport, and dispose of them).  

This calculator bases secondary emissions on generalized estimates, so your true figures will differ from the numbers produced here.  But it’s still a great indicator of where you stand in your own zip code, against your industrialized cousins, and in the world.

My guess is your number won’t incite you to reforest a tundra or build a windfarm, but increased awareness of our individual carbon performance might prompt a tiny shift in how we live.  And (insert Green groan) every big journey begins with a few small steps.

Carbon Footprint Ltd. is a private consultant offering carbon management services.

The post Run Your Carbon Footprint Against the World’s appeared first on Green Prophet.

The United States Department of Energy has pledged to match Masdar’s $700,000 carbon capture research program with $3 Million of US taxpayer money. In collaboration with RTI International, an independent, international non-profit organization that has worked closely with the DoE for 25 years, Penn State University and two other American companies, Masdar intends to revolutionize the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) space so that the world can continue to burn coal, gas, and oil without worrying about the impact that doing so will have on escalating climate changes.

How CCS works:

CCS involves capturing the carbon dioxide released during the combustion of fossil fuels such as coal and oil, which would be transferred through a network of pipes as high-pressure liquid carbon dioxide into deep underground geological formations.

Such a system would require the development of a massive new infrastructure including pipes and pumps that could capture, pressurize, transport, and then inject carbon dioxide underground in order to divert emissions from our atmosphere.

According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), this technology has a lot of potential. On their website, the UN claims that:

Because the geologic storage capacity of CO₂ is hundreds of times greater than current global levels of emission, carbon sequestration could, in principle, nearly eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sources. Carbon capture and storage technology is also compatible with the existing energy infrastructure, and could therefore enable a flexible transition to a low-carbon future.

The UN also notes that this technology is in the early stages of development and that much more research is required before it can be implemented.

We would need 6000 CCS programs storing 1 million tons of CO2 each

Masdar intends to use a solid sorbent technology (developed by Penn State University), which will significantly reduce the costs of CCS. Masdar Carbon’s Associate Director Badr Al Lami told Gulf News, “Carbon capture technologies allow the continued use of oil, gas, and coal resources without the climate change impact.”

Naturally the coal and gas industry is very eager to develop CCS because it would give them the green light to carry on with business as usual, but two professionals from the American Medical Association, John Fogarty, MD, MPH and Michael McCally, MD, PhD, wrote a paper last year in order to call attention to a variety of problems associated with this technology that have been less visibly addressed.

They note that, “the International Energy Agency estimates that for CCS to have a significant effect in slowing global warming, there must be 6000 CCS projects each storing a million tons of carbon dioxide per year in operation by the year 2050.” With research in its infancy stages, and the amount of construction necessary to implement it, surely it’s folly to think we can make a measurable difference in time.

Delirium, somnolence, and coma

Fogarty and McCally also point out significant health threats associated with CCS:

High concentrations of carbon dioxide interfere with cellular metabolism and are lethal to humans and animals. Un- der normal circumstances, carbon dioxide is a trace gas composing less than 0.04% of gases in ambient air. Concentrations of carbon dioxide of more than 7% to 10% pose an mimediate threat to human life. Elevated partial pressures of carbon dioxide in the blood cause carbon dioxide narcosis with delirium, somnolence, and coma.

When released in large quantities, carbon dioxide accumulates at ground level in natural depressions and closed spaces because it is heavier than air. A large inadvertent release of carbon dioxide (as must be considered in a nationwide, full-scale CCS program) would pose significant risks for asphyxiation to humans and animals in surrounding areas. A number of case reports document human fatalities in atmospheres of high carbon dioxide concentration.

Masdar and the Dicey Science of Carbon Credits

The post Masdar’s Carbon Capture Program Could Lead to Mass Delirium and Comas appeared first on Green Prophet.

Just yesterday we reported on a floating Olympic stadium that could offset the sometimes heavy environmental costs associated with what we almost all love: sport. In preparation for 2022, Qatar will have to build several stadiums for a country that barely registers on the football talent scale, and the influx of visitors is bound to take its toll on energy and water resources.

There is some talk that the new stadiums will be deconstructed and used elsewhere, thereby reducing its environmental footprint. But what about car racing. I don’t mean the goofy Ferarri theme park in the UAE, but the real deal – Formula One racing. Can new regulations mitigate this adrenalin-pumping hobby’s environmental impact?

The National published some fascinating statistics on their news site. Formula One vehicles consume a whopping three miles per gallon – more then twenty miles below what is considered environmentally responsible. And the fuel used to power these beasts has to be shipped great distances, further increasing its CO2 output.

Throughout the 19 race season, the average F1 car travels 160,000 km (off the track), which equates to roughly 100,000 miles (using, we assume, different kinds of transportation methods.) We did a quick calculation. If the 3 mpg vehicle travels just 100,000 miles, its carbon footprint amounts to: 647,333 lbs CO2!

Last year, F1’s “overlord” Bernie Ecclestone – as The National calls him – dismissed the environmental concerns of racing and has recently even proposed spraying water onto the tracks in order to up the ante during races.

Even so, regulations are being put in place that will somewhat improve the sport’s environmental image.

In 2009, certain vehicles were outfitted with a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), a device that captures the kinetic energy latent in the heat created when cars brake. Not merely an altruistic move, the stored energy can also boost acceleration when the driver takes over other vehicles.

Also, the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council announced that as of 2013, 2.41l V8 engines will be replaced with 1.6 V4 engines, which will result in a 35% efficiency increase in fuel consumption.

Some fans welcome the move, while critics claim the smaller engines will ruin the sport by shutting out the noise.

:: The National

More on cars and transportation in the Middle East:

Solar-Powered Cars Roll Around the World – and In Palestine

Better Place Unveils Its Mammoth Recharging Plan

Ride Abu Dhabi’s Electric Stretch Limo Electric Bus

The post Formula One Is Going Green. Ish. appeared first on Green Prophet.

Coral reefs are more than just a pretty place for divers to pass their time. They are absolutely essential to the proper functioning of international marine ecosystems, and to the communities who rely on fishing and other marine activities for their living. Development, agricultural runoff, overfishing, and increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are just a few of the factors that have threatened coral reefs to such an extent that US government and non-government organizations have issued a very stern warning: if we don’t fix our behavior, we could lose all of our reefs as early as 2050.

Up 15% since 1998, the report “Reefs at Risk” found that 75% of the world’s coral reefs are currently threatened.

Jane Lubchenco with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that land, coastal and water pressures are converging to create a perfect storm of threats, which have gone from worrisome to dire.

In addition to attracting tourism, coral reefs provide an essential haven to fish and otherwise preserve marine biodiversity. More than 500 million people worldwide depend on them for their food and livelihood.

By 2030, 90% of the world’s reefs could be completely destroyed. Reefs provide $30 billion each year in benefits, benefits that we will lose entirely by 2050 if we don’t take measures to combat the factors contributing to their decline.

Both carbon dioxide emissions that alter the chemical composition of oceans and warmer temperatures are detrimental to coral growth. Other pressures include over-fishing, destructive fishing methods,  agricultural run-off, unsustainable development, ships that drag anchors and chains across the reefs, and  tourism.

:: Khaleej Times

More on coral reefs throughout the Middle East:

Israeli Researchers Find Coral Reefs Deep In The Mediterranean

Rebuilding Abu Dhabi’s Coral Reefs One Disc At A Time

EU Gives $4 Million To Med and Red Sea Coral Reef Studies

image via Margaret Wertheim

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