Science: it works, bitches
Here is an incredibly useful model to help us understand the carbon cycle. It starts off bashing carbon credit buying, but then goes into some very interesting data analysis; the kind that revs my engine.
EnergyPulse - Insight Analysis and Commentary on the Global Power Industry:According to eminent scientists, the total energy reaching Earth from the Sun varies by only 0.1 percent across the solar cycle and scientists now think these ups and downs cause natural weather and climate variations other than the subtle effects from the larger pattern of human-caused global warming. Building on previous work, the NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) in Boulder, Colorado, researchers used computer models of global climate and more than a century of ocean temperature to answer longstanding questions about the connection between solar activity and global climate.
They found that, as the sun's output reaches a peak, the small amount of extra sunshine over several years causes a slight increase in local atmospheric heating, especially across parts of the tropical and subtropical Pacific where Sun-blocking clouds are normally scarce. That small amount of extra heat leads to more evaporation, producing extra water vapor. In turn, the moisture is carried by trade winds to the normally rainy areas of the western tropical Pacific, fueling heavier rains.
Carbon is composed of three different isotopes 14C, 13C and 12C of which 12C is the most common and 14C (used for dating purposes) is only about 1 in 1 trillion atoms. 13C is about 1% of the total.
Over the last few decades, isotope geochemists have worked together with tree rings experts to construct a time series of atmospheric 14C variations over the last 10,000 years. This work is motivated by a variety of questions, most having to do with increasing the accuracy of the radiocarbon dating method. A byproduct of this work is that we also have a very nice record of atmospheric 13C variations through time, and what we find is that at no time in the last 10,000 years are the 13C/12C ratios in the atmosphere as low as they are today. Furthermore, the 13C/12C ratios begin to decline dramatically just as the CO2 starts to increase - around 1850 AD. This is no surprise because fossil fuels have lower 13C/12C ratios than the atmosphere.
I love that this is so simple and so elegant. In layman's terms, he explains how carbon dating work and explains that fossil-fuel (Then Energy) burning has a different fingerprint than the normal carbon cycle (Now Energy), and clearly the burning of fossil fuels has changed this ratio.
I'm personally excited to be a part of this process of relying more on Now Energy than fossil fuels.
EnergyPulse - Insight Analysis and Commentary on the Global Power Industry:According to eminent scientists, the total energy reaching Earth from the Sun varies by only 0.1 percent across the solar cycle and scientists now think these ups and downs cause natural weather and climate variations other than the subtle effects from the larger pattern of human-caused global warming. Building on previous work, the NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) in Boulder, Colorado, researchers used computer models of global climate and more than a century of ocean temperature to answer longstanding questions about the connection between solar activity and global climate.
They found that, as the sun's output reaches a peak, the small amount of extra sunshine over several years causes a slight increase in local atmospheric heating, especially across parts of the tropical and subtropical Pacific where Sun-blocking clouds are normally scarce. That small amount of extra heat leads to more evaporation, producing extra water vapor. In turn, the moisture is carried by trade winds to the normally rainy areas of the western tropical Pacific, fueling heavier rains.
Carbon is composed of three different isotopes 14C, 13C and 12C of which 12C is the most common and 14C (used for dating purposes) is only about 1 in 1 trillion atoms. 13C is about 1% of the total.
Over the last few decades, isotope geochemists have worked together with tree rings experts to construct a time series of atmospheric 14C variations over the last 10,000 years. This work is motivated by a variety of questions, most having to do with increasing the accuracy of the radiocarbon dating method. A byproduct of this work is that we also have a very nice record of atmospheric 13C variations through time, and what we find is that at no time in the last 10,000 years are the 13C/12C ratios in the atmosphere as low as they are today. Furthermore, the 13C/12C ratios begin to decline dramatically just as the CO2 starts to increase - around 1850 AD. This is no surprise because fossil fuels have lower 13C/12C ratios than the atmosphere.
I love that this is so simple and so elegant. In layman's terms, he explains how carbon dating work and explains that fossil-fuel (Then Energy) burning has a different fingerprint than the normal carbon cycle (Now Energy), and clearly the burning of fossil fuels has changed this ratio.
I'm personally excited to be a part of this process of relying more on Now Energy than fossil fuels.