Mysterious Methane Release from the Arctic Ocean

From 2009 to 2010 NASA has performed five flights over the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas at high and low altitudes.  Methane was measured during these flights and it was found to be .5% higher than background levels.  The origin of this methane seepage is unaccounted for though it is obviously coming from the ocean since the higher levels are concentrated around leads in the ice.  Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 72 times greater than carbon dioxide over 25 years and 20 times more potent over 100 years.

More information is available at http://bit.ly/IbbmcK and the original source is  Atmospheric observations of Arctic Ocean methane emissions up to 82° north from Nature Geoscience published online on April 22.

Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Concentrations for 2011

The Scripps Institute of Oceanography, located in Mauna Loa, Hawaii, announced that atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations rose from 388.56 ppm to 391.3 ppm in 2011.  According to the IPCC carbon dioxide levels can not pass 450 ppm in order to maintain a 90% chance of averting dangerous climate change, which means emissions must cease growing by 2015.  Emissions levels in most countries are increasing however with countries in the Organization of Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries increasing emissions by 3.4%, and outside nations averaging 7.6%.  (The OECD has 34 member states, wikipedia.org/wiki/OECD.)  Some blame the Chinese for stalled talks on emissions reductions at the recent Conference of Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).  While China had more total emissions than any other emitter the United States (the world’s number 2 emitter of greenhouse gases or GHGs) has the highest emission rates per capita.  The US also has emitted more GHGs over a longer period of time giving it the historical burden for the development of climate change.

You can read more about this at http://bit.ly/IvTrjt.