When Skeptics talk about this being an unscientific doomsday cult, this is a damned good example
Hidden ocean feedback loop could accelerate climate change
The world’s oceans may be quietly amplifying climate change in ways scientists are only beginning to understand. In a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, University of Rochester scientists—including Thomas Weber, an associate professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, and graduate student Shengyu Wang and postdoctoral research associate Hairong Xu in Weber’s lab—uncovered a key mechanism behind methane production in the open ocean. Their research indicates that this mechanism could intensify as the planet warms, providing an alarming feedback loop for global warming.
“Only beginning to understand” means they are as clueless as the 18 year olds signing loan forms for college money. “Could intensify” means we don’t know, but, we’ll scaremonger on it anyhow.
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, and for decades scientists have puzzled over a paradox: Surface ocean waters consistently release methane into the atmosphere, even though surface water is rich in oxygen. Traditionally, methane production has been associated with oxygen-free environments, such as wetlands or deep sediments.
Weber’s team set out to solve this puzzle using a global dataset and computer modeling. Their findings point to a specific microbial process that is responsible for methane production in the ocean environment: Certain bacteria generate methane as a byproduct when they break down organic compounds, but they only do this when the nutrient phosphate is scarce.
And, if true, this is all natural, and rather harms the “Mankind is killing the planet!!!!!!!” talking point. But, remember, computer modeling.
But the study extends further than explaining marine methane production in the present—it also offers a troubling glimpse into the future.
“Climate change is warming the ocean from the top down, increasing the density difference between surface and deep waters,” Weber says. “This is expected to slow the vertical mixing that carries nutrients like phosphate up from depth.”
Whoops, they are blaming you.
According to the team’s model, with less vertical mixing, surface waters could become increasingly nutrient-starved, creating ideal conditions for methane-producing microbes to thrive.
Could.
Crucially, this feedback is not currently included in major climate projection models. As researchers continue to refine climate models, incorporating feedback such as this may be essential for accurately predicting the pace and scale of future climate change.
So, include something that they are utterly unsure about into the doomsday Hotcoldwetdry models, and, hey, give us money.
Read: Unknown Ocean Mechanism Could Maybe Possibly Accelerate Climate Doom »
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