"One should doubtless keep an open mind...though open at both ends, like the food pipe, and have a capacity for excretion as well as intake." -- Northrop Frye, 'The Great Code'
...Delta is the largest tract of urban land to be exposed to sea level rise. Without a carbon price, I'm not sure how to fund a very labour-intensive (for Boreal Forest and North) AGW mitigation concept: afforest sphagnum fuscum peat. Fuscum naturally creates perched water tables over centuries that keep carbon sequestered. This can maybe be recreated using a layer of clay to impede drainage (not necessary where impermeable bedrock), and then a larger layer of silt (has same hydraulic conductivity as peat), followed by a living intact acrotelm layer or shredding. This could employ every Province and territory except NS,PEI,BC. I need to know clay and silt deposits. Existing peat research is funded by NSERC, Provincial and peat industry Grants. Isn't enough. Doesn't compete with tar except the petro brainwashing limits likelyhood of public funding to prevent this #1 human extinction threat (people can't read Bibles in a runaway AGW world).
The evidence for AGW being a significant threat is weak; and there is no evidence at all that there's a threat of "a runaway AGW world". It's never happened before even though atmospheric carbon dioxide has been up to 25 times greater in the past than current levels.
On the other hand, no one disputes that there have been many extremely destructive ice-ages, the last one ending about 15,000 years ago. That one covered most of Canada with an ice-pack up to several km thick. Another one of similar extent would scrape and crush all vestitages of human civilization (not to mention animal and vegetable life) from existence here.
Using the same precautionary principle that AGW alarmists like to quote we should be doing everything possible to forestall the all but inevitable new ice-age. So, if you believe that human generated CO2 is causing significant warming then you should be advocating generating more of it, not less.
I agree with you about ice ages. Though an ice age might mitigate designer pandemics a bit. Runaway Warming might literally happen if we consume our oceans, like in the best movie I've seen recently. I had to turn Pandorum volume down. Maybe about 500 yrs from now given unchecked GDP expansion.
A further warming of 2-3C (1C so far and +1C ensured) might break us even regarding crop supplies, rending things like ending corn subsidies and veggie/fungi protein more important. But beyond that it looks like our crops will fail and our nations will wage war (obviously Canada and maybe Russia would still break even from an internal food/water supply perspective). If we warm +5C, which is about the median estimate for 2100, based on 2011 science, everyone will want our wheat and freshwater, or burn coal to get freshwater. I really meant warming sufficient to kill crop harvests and render coal CCS-less desalination politically practical (for every nation but us, including our armed neighbour military suppliers who sell us and everyone else purposefully bugged Jets/arms). If USA will experience crop failures and freshwater shortages, let's buy stuff off of Russia so at least we can protect ourselves. Grasses only evolved 6M years ago. They will die off in most existing agri areas... I meant +4 to +20C warming. Sorry.
All speculative around a bunch of "ifs" of unknown likelihood. You can dream up any apocalyptic scenario. Less speculative and backed up by the geological record is the likelihood of a new ice age. Play it safe - burn carbon fuels.
But if you're hooked on apocalypses read this book. The author makes a good case that renders all the above climate horror stories completely irrelevant.
I'm unsatisfied with the speed of research through Universities, Grants, and careers. Permafrost will be melted by end of century; I can research faster but don't know how to attain some grants or get others to take the ball... One problem with afforesting fuscum peat using silt over clay or rolled silt under silt, is that flooding silt might bury acrotelm. If looking towards drier areas; sub 600mm. Don't know if it is a problem but a bathtub experiment might help. Cranberries are the only artificial perched aquifers I've found so far. http://info.ngwa.org/gwol/pdf/952964063.PDF This paper troubles me. The "klei" 1/2m soil layer doesn't contain the water table. Is a 1m water table during dry periods, yet 700mm+/yr precipitation. 35% clay, 55% silt (3% organic)...shouldn't the water table be closer to surface? Is it the remaining sand amount that is acting as macropores? Silt has a similiar hydraulic conductivity as catotelm (10^7-ish m/s), yet for that level of precipitation peat hold water closer to surface. Is the VWC of peat higher by nature? Peat moss needs 30cm or so to stay alive...Rolling soil in EU cost $60/ha, maybe cheaper than laying clay. Why not alternate clay and other similiar layers when making garbage dumps and nuke waste sites instead of homo clay?
Y'know, for the $50M AB is spending on marketing tar, they could make a Trust that probably triples this AGW-averting R+D path. AB has good peat researchers.
...Delta is the largest tract of urban land to be exposed to sea level rise. Without a carbon price, I'm not sure how to fund a very labour-intensive (for Boreal Forest and North) AGW mitigation concept: afforest sphagnum fuscum peat. Fuscum naturally creates perched water tables over centuries that keep carbon sequestered. This can maybe be recreated using a layer of clay to impede drainage (not necessary where impermeable bedrock), and then a larger layer of silt (has same hydraulic conductivity as peat), followed by a living intact acrotelm layer or shredding.
ReplyDeleteThis could employ every Province and territory except NS,PEI,BC. I need to know clay and silt deposits. Existing peat research is funded by NSERC, Provincial and peat industry Grants. Isn't enough. Doesn't compete with tar except the petro brainwashing limits likelyhood of public funding to prevent this #1 human extinction threat (people can't read Bibles in a runaway AGW world).
The evidence for AGW being a significant threat is weak; and there is no evidence at all that there's a threat of "a runaway AGW world". It's never happened before even though atmospheric carbon dioxide has been up to 25 times greater in the past than current levels.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, no one disputes that there have been many extremely destructive ice-ages, the last one ending about 15,000 years ago. That one covered most of Canada with an ice-pack up to several km thick. Another one of similar extent would scrape and crush all vestitages of human civilization (not to mention animal and vegetable life) from existence here.
Using the same precautionary principle that AGW alarmists like to quote we should be doing everything possible to forestall the all but inevitable new ice-age. So, if you believe that human generated CO2 is causing significant warming then you should be advocating generating more of it, not less.
I agree with you about ice ages. Though an ice age might mitigate designer pandemics a bit. Runaway Warming might literally happen if we consume our oceans, like in the best movie I've seen recently. I had to turn Pandorum volume down. Maybe about 500 yrs from now given unchecked GDP expansion.
ReplyDeleteA further warming of 2-3C (1C so far and +1C ensured) might break us even regarding crop supplies, rending things like ending corn subsidies and veggie/fungi protein more important. But beyond that it looks like our crops will fail and our nations will wage war (obviously Canada and maybe Russia would still break even from an internal food/water supply perspective). If we warm +5C, which is about the median estimate for 2100, based on 2011 science, everyone will want our wheat and freshwater, or burn coal to get freshwater.
I really meant warming sufficient to kill crop harvests and render coal CCS-less desalination politically practical (for every nation but us, including our armed neighbour military suppliers who sell us and everyone else purposefully bugged Jets/arms). If USA will experience crop failures and freshwater shortages, let's buy stuff off of Russia so at least we can protect ourselves. Grasses only evolved 6M years ago. They will die off in most existing agri areas...
I meant +4 to +20C warming. Sorry.
All speculative around a bunch of "ifs" of unknown likelihood. You can dream up any apocalyptic scenario. Less speculative and backed up by the geological record is the likelihood of a new ice age. Play it safe - burn carbon fuels.
ReplyDeleteBut if you're hooked on apocalypses read this book. The author makes a good case that renders all the above climate horror stories completely irrelevant.
I'm unsatisfied with the speed of research through Universities, Grants, and careers. Permafrost will be melted by end of century; I can research faster but don't know how to attain some grants or get others to take the ball...
ReplyDeleteOne problem with afforesting fuscum peat using silt over clay or rolled silt under silt, is that flooding silt might bury acrotelm. If looking towards drier areas; sub 600mm. Don't know if it is a problem but a bathtub experiment might help. Cranberries are the only artificial perched aquifers I've found so far.
http://info.ngwa.org/gwol/pdf/952964063.PDF
This paper troubles me. The "klei" 1/2m soil layer doesn't contain the water table. Is a 1m water table during dry periods, yet 700mm+/yr precipitation. 35% clay, 55% silt (3% organic)...shouldn't the water table be closer to surface? Is it the remaining sand amount that is acting as macropores? Silt has a similiar hydraulic conductivity as catotelm (10^7-ish m/s), yet for that level of precipitation peat hold water closer to surface. Is the VWC of peat higher by nature? Peat moss needs 30cm or so to stay alive...Rolling soil in EU cost $60/ha, maybe cheaper than laying clay. Why not alternate clay and other similiar layers when making garbage dumps and nuke waste sites instead of homo clay?
Y'know, for the $50M AB is spending on marketing tar, they could make a Trust that probably triples this AGW-averting R+D path. AB has good peat researchers.
They're right! Global warming does cause mental illness. AGW fanatics have all gone nuts!
ReplyDelete