From the esteemed Robert Scribbler blog. What you need to know here (even if you can’t grok all of the science as laid out) is that Methane (which is 100 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than C02) has spiked to 3096 ppb over its recent average of 1830. Historical baseline methane levels (pre-industrial era) are in the 700 PPB range. We could (if we wanted to) control carbon dioxide emissions. With the ice at the poles melting, the methane is being released and we have no mechanism to stop it. Events are in the saddle and ride mankind…
Update 3/6/2016–post updated to reflect correspondence from Robertscribbler. The 3096 ppB figure from his blog reflects a spike, not a permanent change. I’ve updated the paragraph above. The current average level of 1830 PPB is some 2.6 times the pre-industrial average.
It’s essential that policymakers begin to seriously consider the possibility of a substantial permafrost carbon feedback to global warming. If they don’t, I suspect that down the road we’ll all be looking at the 2°C threshold in our rear-view mirror. — Robert Max Holmes
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Unraveling the global warming puzzle is simple at its face, complex when you pierce the surface.
We know that burning fossil fuels, that the activity of mining coal, fracking for gas, and drilling for oil all result in dangerous greenhouse gas emissions. We know that the vast majority of these warming gasses are coming from fossil fuel based sources. We know that, now, the burning and mining and fracking and drilling have pushed atmospheric CO2 above 405 parts per million and the global concentration of all CO2 equivalent gasses to an amazing 485 parts per million CO2e (levels not seen in at least 15 million…
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The Brooklyn Culture Jam 