Environment & Energy
Related: About this forum'We're changing the clouds.' An unforeseen test of geoengineering is fueling record ocean warmth
By dramatically reducing the number of ship tracks, the planet has warmed up faster, several new studies have found. That trend is magnified in the Atlantic, where maritime traffic is particularly dense. In the shipping corridors, the increased light represents a 50% boost to the warming effect of human carbon emissions. Its as if the world suddenly lost the cooling effect from a fairly large volcanic eruption each year, says Michael Diamond, an atmospheric scientist at Florida State University.
It appears that sulfur pollution was masking how potent CO2 actually is as a greenhouse gas.
Drum
(9,197 posts)sorryI meant do you have a link?
Sorry, my bad. That's what happens when you post as you're dozing off.
RockRaven
(14,998 posts)Evergreen Scholar
(3 posts)A possible source of the text above:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/23/08/02/232204/pollution-cuts-have-diminished-ship-track-clouds-adding-to-global-warming
The study it seems to be based on:
https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2023/egusphere-2023-813/
Think. Again.
(8,392 posts)...seem to attempting to say that human activity is the natural positive default and that nature itself is somehow wrong without the pollution we cause?
Random Boomer
(4,168 posts)This wording was especially problematic:
Ship tracks masked the full heat expression created by the greenhouse gases we have poured into our atmosphere.
Progressive dog
(6,918 posts)Just keep pumping that pollution out and all will be well. I wonder which fossil fuel companies are behind this spin.
Think. Again.
(8,392 posts)NickB79
(19,258 posts)Because he asked the same question, and predicted this effect, 3 yr ago.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/08062020/sulfate-emissions-coronavirus-arctic-heatwaves/
Progressive dog
(6,918 posts)to make it plain that the sulfate causes other problems.
to put them back . I understand that pollution in general is not good but cooking is worse. We better get very comfortable with the lesser evils if we want to survive
Donkees
(31,453 posts)Crisscrossing clouds known as ship tracks can be seen off the coast of Spain in this 2003 satellite image. With the phasing out of high-sulfur ship fuel, these reflective clouds have become scarcer, leading to ocean warming.ACQUES DESCLOITRES/MODIS LAND RAPID RESPONSE TEAM; MARK GRAY/MODIS
https://www.science.org/content/article/changing-clouds-unforeseen-test-geoengineering-fueling-record-ocean-warmth
However, when the team then looked at the effect of the IMO rules on these invisible tracks, they received a shock: The decline in pollution didnt make the cumulus clouds any less puffy, they report in a new preprint in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP). It suggests these clouds have a saturation point, after which added pollution does little to increase their depth, Watson-Parris says. We removed 80% of the aerosols, but thats still not taking us close to the preindustrial state.
OKIsItJustMe
(19,938 posts)You may have heard skeptics cite that in the 70s everybody was worried about Global Cooling. Well, that isnt really true, but it was pointed out that sulphur pollution did have the effect of blocking the suns rays, leading to cooling.
In 2001, George W. Bush, explained:
https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/06/20010611-2.html
Office of the Press Secretary
June 11, 2001
President Bush Discusses Global Climate Change
11:10 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. I've just met with senior members of my administration who are working to develop an effective and science-based approach to addressing the important issues of global climate change.
For example, our useful efforts to reduce sulfur emissions may have actually increased warming, because sulfate particles reflect sunlight, bouncing it back into space. And, finally, no one can say with any certainty what constitutes a dangerous level of warming, and therefore what level must be avoided.