Discussions around plankton.

first this one It's a nice introduction to Antarctica, in it it says
http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%2...bal_warming.htm

" Krill numbers may have dropped by as much as 80% since the 1970's - so today's stocks are a mere 1/5th of what they were only 30 years ago "

which bring us to this
http://environment.newscientist.com/articl...ctic-abyss.html

Now that may seem positive, it is positive :) actually.
Shows us that mother nature have hidden resources.

But, it hinges on the water temperature. So is the water heating up?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/...80217220939.htm

Yoron,

The warming of the ATMOSPHERE over the last 100 years has been but 0.6 C.

But even so there is a HUGE lag in the oceans.

Which is why changes in the overall ocean temps are a small fraction of the increase in global air temp.

The Southern Oceans might be warming up, but if so, its NOT due to AGW, its due to CHANGES IN OCEAN CURRENTS.

Note your first source points out:



Yes, its gone up 400% more than the Global mean rate, which means the cause is ocean currents, not AGW.

As to the Southern Ice.

Currently the Southern Sea Ice is a MILLION sq kms MORE than the average.

http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/IM...t.365.south.jpg

Interesting the article talks about the drop in krill populations from the 70s might hinder the recovery of the great balleen whales.

What the article SHOULD mention is that that was right at the time that Whaling was halted and the population of these whales (huge eaters of krill) were at their lowest levels.

The whales HAVE recovered.

And have done so in significant numbers.

Any guess what these increased populations of whales are eating?

Arthur

Hi Arthur :)

STYLE OF HEALTHY LIFE “VALENS”

Srečko Šorli,
srecko.sorli@terme-ptuj.si
GRAND HOTEL PRIMUS, SLOVENIA


Psychotherapy based on humanistic psychology is finding out that self-awareness is an important element of health (Ščuka). As we are aware about outer world, about our body, mind and emotions, we can also be aware about ourselves. Self-awareness is giving us inner power, motivation and perseverance to realize our life mission. “Valens” is a life style awakening self-awareness and creating harmony between body, mind and consciousness. Symbol of Valens is “Wheel of health” with six spokes that are complementary. Center of Wheel of health is symbolizing self-awareness and assures that wheel turns good also by big burdening. Stile Valens makes possible that we successfully carry trough difficult situations in our private and business life.


Let see in detail seven elements of Valens:

- Full breathing:
Stress causes the inhalation to become shallow, and exhalation incomplete. Emotionally painful experiences make breathing shallow as well. Full breathing consists of three phases: full exhalation, abdominal inhalation, chest Inhalation. Full breathing brings a lot of oxygen into the organism, strengthens the muscles of the abdomen, provides exercise for the thorax and spine, and helps maintain the proper poise.
Nowadays, only very few people breathe fully. Mostly people breathe only with their chest; the exchange of air takes place only in the middle part of the lungs, while the diaphragm remains passive. Others breathe only with the lower part of the lungs, i.e. with the diaphragm, while the chest is blocked, and there is little exchange of air in the middle and upper parts of the lungs. Diaphragmatic breathing improves with thoracic breathing and vice versa, thoracic breathing improves when we start breathing with the diaphragm as well.
Full breathing is the basis for the relaxation technique called "conscious breathing", during which our attention is focused on breathing. An exercise in full and conscious breathing takes 30 minutes. Lie down on a comfortable surface, plug out the phone and switch off the cell phone. After 15 minutes of full breathing let the body breathe by itself, do not interfere with the depth and rhythm of breathing, become a pure watcher: the air is entering the body, holds still for a moment, and then returns into space. In Buddhism "conscious breathing" is called “vipassana”. Attention to breathing activates the consciousness, brings the mind to the present moment, and harmonizes it with the body. The result is a deep psychophysical relaxation, which calms down the mind, restores its strength, and enriches it with originality, creativeness, the feelings of ethics and aesthetics.

- Healthy diet:
The Essence recommends the Montignac diet, which is based on medicinal research that showed that the basis of a healthy diet is carbohydrates with a low glycemic index, aminoacid-rich protein and food which contains unsaturated fats. The dishes are made from ecological foodstuffs. Researches done within the framework of the European Union confirm that ecological foodstuffs are an important health factor.
It is also important to distinguish between a physical and a mental need for food. When we are ill at ease, are emotionally excited or have problems at our workplace, we often exaggerate in food. The best way of reaching a perfect body weight is to discover the reason why do we crave for food and eliminate the cause. A conscious lifestyle ensures an ideal body weight.

- Daily exercise:
The universe and nature are in constant movement. Well-being is not something static; it is an on-going process of interaction between the body, mind, and consciousness. To function properly, our bodies need daily exercise, and everybody is free to make a choice of their choosing: jogging, walking, yoga, tai-chi, gymnastics, swimming etc.


- Daily relaxation:
Relaxation supplements movement. Today we have forgotten how to relax and rest. We live for the most part of time in our minds, our heads are full of thoughts about the future or the past at all times, while the body is neglected. One of the consequences of the split of the mind and body is stress. In our wellness program you will learn to relax through "conscious breathing", in which consciousness is focused onto breathing. Breathing is always taking place in the present moment, and being attentive to breathing brings the mind to the present and connects it with the body. The result is a deep psychophysical relaxation. Another important relaxation technique is "conscious thinking", in which we bring our consciousness to the observation of thought processes and emotions. "Conscious thinking" helps us to create negative mechanisms of the mind, such as self-condemnation and faulting others. Relaxation techniques activate self-awareness that also increases awareness about how our thoughts and emotions are creating our life.

- Good interpersonal relations:
Valens develops creativity and friendship with awakening of self-awareness. Self-awareness is raising awareness of our emotions and also of emotions of other people. This gives us capacity to guide emotions into positive way. Research shows (Goleman), that self-awareness is fundamental for happy and successful life.
Important element of interpersonal relations is clear communication. Between people that talk one, thing other and feel third is communication almost impossible. Valens is developing Conscious Communication which means that we talk what we thing and our words are supported with our present emotions. Conscious communication enables integration of an individual into family and working environment. It is strengthening creativity, flexibility, success of different groups including business, politics, sport….

- Healthy nature: Healthy nature reflects health of the human being; damaged nature reflects his/her illness. Valens is deepening human relation with nature. It is awakening awareness that what we do to the nature we do to ourselves. We are integral part of nature and universe. Healthy nature is the basis of our existence and further development on this planet. Valens is supporting development of biological agriculture and industry which makes profit without damaging nature.

- Self-awareness: Evolution of human being leads to the self-awareness. We are on the passage from “I think and fell, so I’m” into “I’m aware of my thoughts and emotions, so I’m”. Situation on the planet shows that reason has no power to resolve health and social problems of today society; in last few years more people is ill, poverty is increasing, religious, racial and tensions between nations are increasing. Self-awareness is a basis of conscious individual that will take responsibility for his/her health as well as for the health of the nature.





SOURCES:

- Ščuka V.(2007). Šolar na poti do sebe, Didakta, Radovljica

- Ščuka V.(2008). Izgorelost managerjev (strokovno gradivo)

- Goleman D.(2001). Čustvena inteligenca na delovnem mestu, Založba Mladinska knjiga, Ljubljana

- Herberst Benson (1993). Wellness Book: The Comprehensive Guide to Maintaining Health and Treating Stress-Related Illnes. Schribner

- John Randoplph Price (1998). The Wellness Book. Hay House

- Sorli S., Fiscaletti D. (2007). Conscious communication into politics, Scientific Inquiry,
Vol 8. Num 1. pp 61-64 http://www.iigss.net/Scientific-Inquiry/Ju...-Fiscaletti.pdf
- Šorli S. (2007). Aktivni elementi wellnessa za zdravo življenje, Wellness, št 1, november 2007
- Šorli S.(2008). Vloga in pomen čustev v wellnessu, Wellness št. 2. Pomlad 2008
- Šorli S. (208). Meditacija proti sindromu izgorelosti, Wellness št.3. Poletje 2008
- Sorli S., Sorli I. K. (2004). The Scientific Basis For The Development Of Human Consciousness. Episteme, Perugia, Italy, Number 8, http://www.cartesio-episteme.net/ep8/ep8-sorli2.htm
- Sorli S., Klinar D. Kern N. (2007) Integral Ecology – The Way into Sustainable, Healthy and Peaceful Civilization http://www.wbabin.net/philos/amrit.pdf

Ah Amrit?

Thanks for informing us on that global Awareness thingie :)
Not sure if it fits just here though.

Still, here's some news on Ocean acidification for those interested.

This one I found interesting :)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/...80521105251.htm

International Scientists Find ‘Acidified’ Water on the Continental Shelf from Canada to Mexico
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/2..._oceanacid.html
as well as this which are more 'informal'.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/loca...idocean22m.html

And this is another study.
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/est.../np_oceans.html

I've tried to find any conclusions made as for Leg 208 by the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP)...
"Runaway Climate: Methane, Extreme Global Warming, and Massive Deep-Sea Changes"

Which was a study made 2003 about "a hypothesis that 55 million years ago roughly 2000 Gigatons of methane was released to the ocean and atmosphere."
http://www-odp.tamu.edu/public/pressrel_html/leg208.html

Unfortunately I haven't found any conclusions being published about 'leg 208'.
Perhaps there was to few samples? But research continues, now as the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP).
http://www.oceanleadership.org/ocean_drill...xplorer2007-May

And hopefully we will learn more about our history and the implications it might have on our future.

health of human being is deeply elated to the health of the nature........my post is all about that

Your guess is right your on.

The Pentagon said we're in the beginning of an ice age.I agree with this.

It is funny how profit will make people 'one-eyed' sort of. There is as Adoucette points out a real problem with methane. Even though it only has a twelve year cycle in the atmosphere as its residence time (called atmospheric lifetime sometimes) its global warming potential (GWP) is estimated as being 25 as compared to CO2:s meager 1.

http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2008/02/26/ghg_lifetimes/
http://www.manicore.com/anglais/documentat...nhouse_gas.html

Now, we know that the 'big countries' already has tried to make deals over who gets what when the Arctic finally becomes ice-free, considering oil deposits etc etc. The same seems to go for those huge volumes of methane that lie locked up in deposits deep under the ocean and in the frozen ground. This methane is contained in structures formed in methane hydrate, an ice-like form of water, which has voids filled with methane from decayed biological material.

Read this.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/...51107083255.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/...70221180908.htm

and then this.
http://www.universetoday.com/2006/09/11/an...ent-of-methane/

The tundra is already releasing methane and accelerating the warming process. I can't help but wonder what more we will release in our hunt for 'cheap' energy.

OTOH there is good news too :)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2007/04...bal_warming.htm

As for the reliability of this solution I guess we will have to wait until someone funds a real full scale test. But the idea sounds real nice..

So let's take a look at what starts our global warming.
physics of the greenhouse effect
And to further get a good grip on it I found this one quite informative.
A grassy saturated argument

For now we are at around 380 ppm (heat measure). And climbing.

Greenland is melting as well as the the Antarctic Peninsula, but not the Antarctic mountain ice sheets. On the other tentacle we can't be sure what's happening under those ice sheets. The ice tunnels with freeflowing water that lubricates and allows the ice sheets to start moving as a whole to finally break up at deep water, is very difficult to foresee and follow.

There have recently been a try on Greenland to follow one of those tunnels with a camera, but it got stuck unfortunately. And it may also be so that not all tunnels goes down to the bottom. But on Greenland it is whole ice sheets that moves as one with a velocity (as of fastest) of about 40 meter/24 hours. It is the fastest movement anyone has measured as yet. And when they meet deep water they finally break up and starts to melt. If all of Greenland melts scientists expect water levels to rise about seven meters.

As a 'byside' it can be mentioned that glaciers is not ice all through. It seems that they are 'honeycombed' with small 'chambers' filled with water.
That may go some way to explain how the Glaciers can 'move around' obstacles in their path without breaking apart.

There has recently came a Paper from the climate scientist Jim Hansen with colleagues in which he suggests that the Earth System sensitivity is greater than the Charney sensitivity. The standard (Charney) sensitivity is defined as " the global mean surface temperature anomaly response to a doubling of CO2 --- with other boundary conditions staying the same. ---" and there it will be your choice of static boundary conditions that decide the outcomes. In the Hansen's scenario all of those conditions are allowed to vary and interact with the temperature and so allows for a much more fluid response by the weather/temperature to those feedbacks.

here is a link to a Preprint
And if you want the conclusions in a easier package :)
Try this instead.

The only thing to remember reading this article is that they talk about glaciations beginning at 450 ppm. That sounds like the reverse as to that which most scientists believe about what's happening today, but compared to our direction from colder to warmer climate, that epoch Hansen is discussing came from the absolute opposite direction, from a very hot condition towards a colder. What one can notice here if he is right is that there seems to be a lot of different 'forcings' involved in whatever direction the climate may choose to undertake, also feedbacks and interactions amongst them. Which make perfect sense to me at last. After all, we are talking about a non-linear system.

Some mechanisms behind the melting of ice shelfs.
"
Ice shelves are floating platforms of ice fed by mountain glaciers and ice sheets flowing from the land onto the ocean. The ice flows from the grounding line where it becomes floating to the seaward front, where icebergs calve. For a typical glacier when the climate warms the glacier merely retreats, reducing its low elevation, high melting area by increasing its mean elevation. An ice shelf is nearly flat and cannot retreat in this fashion. Ice shelves cannot persist unless the entire ice shelf is an accumulation zone, where snowpack does not completely melt even in the summer.

Ice shelves have long been recognized as keys in buttressing Antarctic Ice Sheets. In turn ice shelves rely on pinning points for buttressing. The pinning point are where the floating ice shelf meets solid ground, either at lateral margins or a subglacial rise meets the bottom of the ice shelf causing an ice rise on the shelf surface.

The recent collapse of Wordie Ice Shelf, Mueller Ice Shelf, Jones Ice Shelf, Larsen-A and Larsen-B Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula has made us aware of how dynamic ice shelve systems are. After their loss the reduced buttressing of feeder glaciers has allowed the expected speed-up of inland ice masses after shelf ice break-up. (Rignot and others, 2004). "

http://lightbulbs.org/what-links-the-retre...termann-glacier
It's an accelerating process.

And here are shortsighted dreams waiting for fulfillment.
http://geology.com/news/2008/east-greenlan...l-and-gas.shtml

Does it surprise you :)

Read this one.
It discuss mass extinctions that have happened on our Earth.
And new evidence points to new theories.

The mechanisms seem very similar to what we have now.
The only difference being us creating the circumstances instead of volcanoes:)

http://www.chicagocleanpower.org/ward.pdf

First this
Australia's Stern review warns of runaway global warming.
Which leads us to "risky action the only way to tackle global warming, say scientists"
And that will lead us to Kevin Anderson and Alice Bows rigorous analysis of where modern-day emissions might be heading under different scenarios.

Let us take a look at some of the political implications of the arctic meltdown according to those who primarily see its 'promises' of new wealth.

Then we have this report, also titled actic meltdown from 2007.
It take up the accelerated disappearing biological diversity of the arctic wild life.
Did you know that the only living Polar bears we are expected to have living in some forty fifty years are those inside a zoo?

So how does it goes with China and its coal driven power plants then?
Awh, they build for their bare lives:) ...One new plant every tenth day, wasn't it?
But they are worried though:)

According to Greenpeace.
"China's reliance on cheap coal to fuel its economy cost a hidden $248 billion last year through damage to the environment, strain on the health care system and manipulation of the commodity's price, according to a report released Monday by Greenpeace." And please understand that this study doesn't concern itself with the hidden costs pertaining the environmental impacts (climate changes) here.

And here we have a educated guess.
" Carbon Emissions Scenarios for China to 2100 "
By Dr Tao Wang and Dr Jim Watson
It may be somewhat conservative though:)

Also it seems that Arthur is becoming correct in his estimation about the possible threats of other greenhouse gases than CO2 sooner than expected.
Read this.