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9 May 2014
New study brings weaknesses of Southern Ocean geoengineering to the surface
A plan to reduce carbon from the atmosphere by adding large amounts of iron to the Southern Ocean around Antarctica may not be as effective as previously thought, according to new research.
3 April 2014
Cutting back on refrigerants could drop greenhouse gas emissions
Research published this month in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, calculates the environmental impact of phasing down hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, under the Montreal Protocol. The landmark 1987 agreement phased out the use of ozone-depleting refrigerants, like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), leading to increased used of replacements that include HFCs.
16 October 2013
Making Martian clouds on Earth
If you want to understand the atmosphere of a planet, it helps to think big. That’s just what scientists did recently when they created conditions in the world’s largest cloud chamber mimicking those in the thin veil of gases that surrounds Mars. Experiments by the researchers within the three-story shell of a former nuclear reactor confirmed earlier runs in tabletop setups that have shown how the most common clouds on Mars form.
22 July 2013
Busy beavers capture carbon
A few environmental problem-solvers have proposed drawing carbon out of the air and burying it to reduce greenhouse gasses and curb climate change. Maybe they could take some tips from nature’s own geoengineers – beavers – which have been sequestering carbon for thousands of years in the ponds and meadows created by their dams. A new study finds that, due to decreasing populations, much less carbon is getting tucked away by beavers than in the past.
13 May 2013
AGU Video: Prospects dim for ice-free Arctic Ocean helping slow global warming
The surface waters of a major portion of the Arctic Ocean are becoming saturated with carbon dioxide sooner than many scientists expected, all but halting the watery region’s ability to sop up more of the greenhouse gas from Earth’s atmosphere, new research finds.
7 December 2012
Cosmic ray muons watch for carbon leaks
Out of sight, out of mind – that’s the essence of carbon sequestration, an emerging technology designed to fight climate change by packing liquefied carbon dioxide in underground rock formations. But rocks have cracks, wells, holes, and other surprises that could let that carbon, so painstakingly injected, bubble back up to the surface again. Engineers and scientists need a way to watch for leaks that’s reliable and inexpensive. The solution, one scientist says, is already falling from the skies.
24 August 2012
Underground bubbles could help keep unwelcome carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere
Pour yourself a flute of champagne and bubbles of carbon dioxide will rise, bursting when they reach the surface. A question troubling some researchers is whether carbon dioxide behaves similarly underground. They’d like to know whether the gas, stored beneath the surface to cut down on greenhouse emissions, would make its way through cracks in the rock, and bubble out into the atmosphere.
2 July 2012
Scientists gauge carbon dioxide impact of suburban greenery
Despite having more carbon-dioxide-absorbing vegetation than cities, suburbs contribute to rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. To find out how a suburb’s greenery influences its carbon dioxide emissions, two scientists have conducted continuous measurements of the uptake and release of carbon dioxide by the vegetation of a suburban landscape. They report that lawns and trees detectably reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of the area – in summer absorbing nearly all carbon dioxide released from fossil fuel use such as from traffic and natural gas consumption in homes.
29 May 2012
Massive biofuel production could affect ozone layer
Already in doubt as an alternative to fossil fuels, biofuels might also contribute to destruction of the protective layer of ozone in the upper atmosphere, a new study says.
9 December 2011
Storing carbon dioxide underground impacts microbial communities
The threat of ballooning carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere puts us between a rock and a hard place, which is exactly where some people propose the gas should go.
GeoSpace is a blog on Earth and space science, managed by AGU’s Public Information staff. The blog features posts by AGU writers and guest contributors on all sorts of relevant science topics, but with a focus on new research and geo and space sciences-related stories that are currently in the news.