[GWSG] More C from soil; permafrost warning; solid new battery; oceans hotter; meditating dark possibilities

[Tilley, Al]

1.  The soil harbors three times as much organic carbon as the atmosphere.  When soil is heated to a depth of a few feet, it releases significantly more carbon than we had expected, strengthening a positive feedback for global warming.  https://phys.org/news/2017-03-soils-carbon-climate.html



2.  VICE's When the Earth Melts on HBO is an excellent 16-minute description of the threat posed by melting permafrost, and of a project to bring back mammoths to keep the permafrost frosty.    http://flixreel.club/episodes/vice-5x3-when-the-earth-melts-the-displaced/



3.  The 94-year old co-inventor of the lithium ion battery has led a team at UT-Austin in developing a noncombustible solid battery with triple the energy density of the lithium-ion battery.  It charges in minutes instead of hours, lasts longer, works in sub-freezing weather, and is low-cost to boot.  https://news.utexas.edu/2017/02/28/goodenough-introduces-new-battery-technology



4.  A comprehensive analysis of data from the Argo float system indicates that the oceans have heated 13% more than we had thought.  The study found the rate of heating has accelerated.  The climate appears to be more sensitive to greenhouse gasses than previously estimated; our estimates of sea level rise will increase.  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/mar/10/earths-oceans-are-warming-13-faster-than-thought-and-accelerating



5.  With our environmental safeguards and initiatives collapsing, and given the central position of our country in the array of dangers to the planet, we must face the possibility that we will fail to take adequate action in time to preserve a livable climate.  In his essay "Denial and consequences-advice for scholars and scientists" Stephen Mulkey looks squarely at the risks we run and gives his advice about how we should conduct ourselves in our knowledge of possible failure.  His is not a counsel to despair.  https://environmentalcentury.net/2017/03/11/denial-and-consequences-advice-for-scholars-and-scientists/  ?

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