Update: Airline Traffic & Climate

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“Hong’s work doesn’t prove that the contrails have no effect on temperature, just that they are unlikely to have a major role, says Ulrich Schumann, director of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the German Aerospace Center in Oberpfaffenhofen, near Munich.”

“Because Hong’s analysis studied high-level clouds in general-and not contrails in particular-Travis says that specific conclusions cannot be drawn about the role of contrails from the survey.”
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Nature 31 December 2008
doi:10.1038/news.2008.1335

Can aircraft trails affect climate?

Grounding planes after the 11 September attacks may not have caused unusual temperature effects.

Anna Barnett

When all commercial air traffic in the United States was grounded after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, scientists got an unexpected opportunity to test ideas about the climate effects of the condensation trails left behind by jets.

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CO2, Oceans, Human Extinction Risk

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“Quite a lot is known, and very little is reassuring.”

“The remedies are not hard to grasp. Politicians, however, are supine.” “Yet the mass extinction, however remote, that should be concentrating minds is that of mankind. It is not wise to dismiss it where CO2 emissions, the other great curse of the oceans, are concerned.”
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The Economist Dec 30th 2008

The oceans

A sea of troubles

Man is assaulting the oceans. They will smite him if he does not take care

NOT much is known about the sea, it is said; the surface of Mars is better mapped. But 2,000 holes have now been drilled in the bottom, 100,000 photographs have been taken, satellites monitor the five oceans and everywhere floats fitted with instruments rise and fall like perpetual yo-yos. Quite a lot is known, and very little is reassuring.

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