Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction caused by >16,000 Gt methane – from clathrates

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

Scientists of Utrecht University have investigated fossil leaves found in terrestrial late Triassic sediments and discovered a large carbon-13 depletion. That means 200,000,000 years ago The Methane Bomb went off.

Soils don´t need warming to add another positive climate feedback

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

We recently reported on a possible negative carbon feedback of forest soils in higher latitudes: when such soils warm, nutrient availability may increase, as would (therefore) biomass production and CO2 uptake. But not all climate feedbacks operate through temperature. It … Continue reading →

Current CO2 rise 10 times as fast as PETM climate disaster

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

For the layman paleoclimatology is ‘proof’ that any climate change is natural. For educated thinkers the lessons from the long ago contain the biggest warnings for the current artificially created state of our planet.

No evidence bacteria ate methane at end of Snowball Earth

Posted on May 29, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

Same story as yesterday, but now 635 million years earlier. This time again no evidence can be found that it were microbes that ate climate-disrupting amounts of methane, at the end of the Marinoan ice age, better known as ‘Snowball … Continue reading →

‘No evidence’ bacteria ate methane BP spill

Posted on May 28, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

A group of 13 marine scientists* from 12 different institutions in the United States and Germany have in Science criticised a January publication in that same journal, which stated ‘almost all’ of the spilled methane had been consumed by microbes, … Continue reading →

Methane breakdown in Gulf suddenly 3,000 times slower

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

Despite a bloom in methane-consuming bacteria – and despite us saying last month all BP methane had been eaten – in fact the spilled gas is still present in large quantities, underwater.

Methane burps important, but sometimes eaten

Posted on January 9, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

Fast forward through last week’s methane news: Wetland methane is probably bigger GHG source than previously thought That one big BP methane burp never made it to the surface

Hydroxyl proves stable atmospheric cleaner

Posted on January 7, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

Good news in Science from an international team of atmospheric chemists, including researchers from NOAA and the Dutch universities of Wageningen and Utrecht. Hydroxyl, atmosphere’s enthusiastic cleaning agent, proves to be produced in quite stable quantities from year to year.

Bits of Science

Tag Archives: methane