MIT News March 28, 2023 According to the researchers at MIT one potential option to move towards the 2050 carbon neutrality goal is the direct gaseous sequestration and storage of anthropogenic CO2 in concrete through forced carbonate mineralization in both the cementing minerals and their aggregates. They investigated the underlying mechanisms and chemomechanics of cement carbonation over time scales ranging from the first few hours to several days using bicarbonate-substituted alite as a model system. They showed that the carbonation of transient disordered calcium hydroxide particles at the hydration site led to the formation of a series of calcium carbonate […]
Category Archives: Global warming
Scientists Discover Intense Heatwaves Lurking at The Bottom of The Ocean
Science Alert March 20, 2023 While surface marine heat waves can have dramatic impacts on marine ecosystems, extreme warming along the seafloor can also have significant biological outcomes. A team of researchers in the US (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, University of Colorado, National Center for Atmospheric Research) has developed a new model which shows that marine heatwaves can unfold deep underwater, too. The analysis focused on the west and east coasts of North America, using data spanning three decades, from 1993 to 2019, to produce simulations with a resolution of 8 kilometers or about 5 miles, fine enough to […]
Space dust as Earth’s sun shield
Phys.org February 8, 2023 A team of researchers in the US (University of Utah, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory) explored the potential of using dust to shield sunlight. They analyzed different properties of dust particles, quantities of dust and the orbits that would be best suited for shading Earth. They found launching dust from Earth to a way station at the “Lagrange Point” between Earth and the sun (L1) would be most effective. To achieve sunlight attenuation of 1.8%, equivalent to about 6 days per year of an obscured Sun, the mass of dust in the scenarios they considered must exceed 1010 […]
Scientists unveil least costly carbon capture system to date
Science Daily January 23, 2023 Rigorous process modeling and techno-economic analyses are limited for emerging carbon capture technologies. A team of researchers in the US (PNNL, industry, Washington State University) has developed four CO2-Binding Organic Liquids (CO2BOLs), all water-lean solvents, as promising options towards energy-effective and low-cost carbon capture from point sources. CO2BOLs can capture up to 97–99% CO2 from coal fired plant. The estimated carbon capture cost is about 12–23% less expensive than the conventional aqueous amine technology. In addition to vapor liquid equilibrium and kinetics (key properties for aqueous solvents), viscosity, volatility, and hydrophobicity, also have strong impacts […]
Scientists sound alarm as ocean temperatures hit new record
Phys.org January 11, 2023 In 2022, the world’s oceans, as given by changes in ocean heat content (OHC), were again the hottest in the historical record and exceeded the previous 2021 record maximum due to the emission of greenhouse gasses and other anthropogenic substances by human activities, driving pervasive changes in Earth’s climate system. An international team of researchers (China, USA – University of St. Thomas, NCAR, NOAA, University of Pennsylvania, University of Maryland, New Zealand, Italy) recorded the highest OHC since the 1950s among seven regions, four basins (the North Pacific, North Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea, and southern oceans). […]
Seeding the oceans with iron-rich fertilizer nanoparticles to store excess carbon dioxide
Nanowerk November 29, 2022 Artificial ocean fertilization (AOF) carbon sequestration efficiency appears lower than natural ocean fertilization processes due mainly to the low bioavailability of added nutrients, along with low export rates of AOF-produced biomass to the deep ocean. An international team of researchers (UK, Thailand, USA – University of South Carolina, industry, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) explored the potential application of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) to overcome these issues. Data from 123 studies showed that some ENPs may enhance phytoplankton growth at concentrations below those likely to be toxic in marine ecosystems. ENPs may also increase bloom lifetime, boost phytoplankton […]
Stripping carbon from the atmosphere might be needed to avoid dangerous warming—but it’s a deeply uncertain prospect
Phys.org November 25, 2022 The target to limit global warming to 1.5℃ this century remains but it is unlikely we’ll meet it. Attention is turning to other options for climate action, including large-scale carbon removal. Proponents argue carbon removal is required at a massive scale to avoid dangerous warming. However, successfully stripping carbon from the atmosphere at the scale our planet requires is a deeply uncertain prospect. The IPCC said in a report this year that large-scale deployment of carbon dioxide removal was “unavoidable” if the world is to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. According to the IPCC report in […]
Underwater tsunamis created by glacier calving cause vigorous ocean mixing
Phys.org November 24, 2022 Researchers in the UK took ocean measurements close to the William Glacier, situated on the Antarctic Peninsula. It has one or two large calving events per year, and the team estimated this one broke off around 78,000 square meters of ice. Before it broke away, the water temperature was cooler at around 50-100 meters in depth, and warmer below this. After the calving temperature was much more even across different depths. Glaciers that end up in the sea cause big waves at the surface and create waves inside the ocean causing the sea to mix. This […]
Unabated Carbon Is Shrinking Earth’s Upper Atmosphere, Scientists Warn
Science Alert November 22, 2022 A team of researchers in the US (NASA Langley Research Center, industry, NCAR, University of Colorado, Catholic University of America, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton University) examined the thermal structure of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) using observations from 2002 through 2021 from the NASA satellite. They showed that the MLT has significantly cooled and contracted between the years 2002 and 2019 due to a combination of a decline in the intensity of the 11-year solar cycle and increasing CO2. During this time the thickness of atmosphere between approximately 48 and 105 km has […]
Study: Four major climate tipping points close to triggering
Phys.org September 11, 2022 Climate tipping points (CTPs) occur when change in large parts of the climate system become self-perpetuating beyond a warming threshold. Triggering CTPs leads to significant, policy-relevant impacts, including substantial sea level rise from collapsing ice sheets, dieback of biodiverse biomes such as the Amazon rainforest or warm-water corals, and carbon release from thawing permafrost. An international team of researchers (Sweden, UK, Germany) provides a comprehensive reassessment of all the nine policy-relevant tipping elements and their CTPs that were originally identified by Lenton et al. (2008). The team updated assessment of the most important climate tipping elements […]