Pleiades sent in this article. It's not a great news.
The study, which appears in this week´s Science Express, a feature of Science magazine, reveals that Earth´s current energy imbalance is large by standards of Earth´s history. The current imbalance is 0.85 watts per meter squared (W/m2) and will cause an additional warming of 0.6 degrees Celsius (1 degree Fahrenheit) by the end of this century. This is equal to a 1-watt light bulb shining over an area of one square meter or 10.76 square feet. Although seemingly small, this amount of heat affecting the entire world would make a significant impact. To put this number in perspective, an imbalance of 1 W/m2 maintained for the last 10,000 years is enough to melt ice equivalent to 1 kilometer (6/10ths of a mile) of sea level.
The Earth´s energy imbalance is an expected consequence of increasing atmospheric pollution, especially carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), ozone (O3), and black carbon particles (soot). These pollutants block the Earth´s radiant heat from escaping into space, increasing absorption of sunlight and trapping heat within the atmosphere. "This energy imbalance is the ´smoking gun´ that we have been looking for," says James Hansen, director of NASA´s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, part of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, and the lead author of the study.
"It shows that our estimates of the human-made and natural climate forcing agents
are about right, and they are driving the Earth toward a warmer climate."
So if you thought global dimming was masking the glogbal warming, it turns out there's a big delay effect as well. Soon it won't just be babyboomers regretting the excesses of the 60s, 70s & 80s.
Combat Wombats
My fantasy baseball team is called the Combat Wombats. It's my team name that goes back to the late 1990s when I started partaking in this techno-geek pastime. Today, 'Walk-Off HBP' sent in this article about a solar-powered musical group.
"Basically, when I record I have a studio in a silver caravan with solar panels and a wind generator ... and there's a big battery pack under the axle," says Monkey Marc, the man behind the music on Combat Wombat's new album, Unsound $ystem. "It means we can do gigs in the desert, we have a mobile recording studio. It's like an extension cord to the sun."
Creating an emissions-free album is just part of the political picture for the Combat posse. MCs Izzy and Elf Tranzporter, formerly of Sydney hip-hop supergroup Meta Bass 'n' Breath, crash-tackle topics from mandatory detention to police brutality. Monkey Marc supplies the tunes and DJ Wasabi cuts it all up to complete a truly revolutionary sound.
In a world of saccharine Idol covers, it's rare to see such political fire. It's even rarer for it to get significant airplay outside community stations. But within a week of release, Unsound $ystem was getting a workout on Triple J, with the single Qwest riding high on the Net 50.
Man, they sound right up my alley. :)
Thanks to Walk-Off HBP.
- Art Neuro
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