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West Antarctica Begins to Destabilize with ‘Intense Unbalanced Melting’

bloomberg.com

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Re: West Antarctica Begins to Destabilize with ‘Intense Unbalanced Melting’

#41

Post by CapitalistCartr »

ChrisBland wrote: post #36
ocschwar wrote: post #33

Grow bamboo. Harvest it. Bury it. That's the sort of thing we have to start thinking about.

It has been a while but I thought that algae grown in raceway farms was the most efficient way to remove carbon? Love to read more on the bamboo side of it if you have links.

Yes, I've come to the same conclusion. After growing bamboo, it was my first idea, too, but algae is unbeatable for rate of growth. Here in Florida, we could grow millions of metric tons easily. The food could be food waste and sewage.

Re: West Antarctica Begins to Destabilize with ‘Intense Unbalanced Melting’

#42

Post by jofer »

ocschwar wrote: post #33

Grow bamboo. Harvest it. Bury it. That's the sort of thing we have to start thinking about.

Burying bamboo or other biomass is not a particularly reliable or effective form of carbon sequestration. (Anywhere you bury it, it will decompose and most of the C02 removed from the atmosphere will wind up as CH4 + CO2.)

Carbon sequestration is a very active area of research, but for the most part, you're looking at injecting liquid C02 or water with a very large amount of dissolved C02 into deep reservoirs. Ideally, you want to inject it into a rock that will react with it to precipitate carbonate minerals over time, instead of dissolving what's already there.

At any rate, large-scale carbon sequestration is an interesting but difficult problem. It's been done successfully on small scales, but how do you do it on a global, carbon-neutral scale? It's surprisingly tough to figure out, and we're not putting anywhere enough focus on it. It's certainly better funded than a lot of things, but it needs more research and more funding.

Re: West Antarctica Begins to Destabilize with ‘Intense Unbalanced Melting’

#43

Post by ajmurmann »

oliv__ wrote: post #4
ajmurmann wrote: post #2

What's the best way to profit from rising sea levels? Investing in land that's higher up in our nearby coastal cities?

This better be sarcasm

I'm not saying I want to make climate change worse or lobby for it out anything. Unfortunately climate change is happening and there are indicators that we already crossed the line to runaway climate change (methane coming out of the permafrost). Why should I not try to make a profit from this fact as long as I don't make it worse? How is this different than running a funeral home?

Re: West Antarctica Begins to Destabilize with ‘Intense Unbalanced Melting’

#44

Post by ChrisBland »

CapitalistCartr wrote: post #41
ChrisBland wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has been a while but I thought that algae grown in raceway farms was the most efficient way to remove carbon? Love to read more on the bamboo side of it if you have links.

Yes, I've come to the same conclusion. After growing bamboo, it was my first idea, too, but algae is unbeatable for rate of growth. Here in Florida, we could grow millions of metric tons easily. The food could be food waste and sewage.

The plans I remember reading about (5 or so years ago) were about building large scale raceway ponds out in AZ, NM and that area as you had the ideal sun, cheap land, and it could be dried naturally further reducing energy consumption. I've also read a bit about them trying to use it for animal feed but I never could get the full story on that.

Re: West Antarctica Begins to Destabilize with ‘Intense Unbalanced Melting’

#46

Post by nonbel »

corey_moncure wrote: post #9
cardiac wrote: post #8

Yet another money grab by greedy bull shitting scientists and enabling media. Ice on the continent as a whole is growing.

Growing, in what dimension(s)? Mass? Area? Volume?

I didn't read the paper, but this got me wondering something. What are the units of "destabilization" being used?

Re: West Antarctica Begins to Destabilize with ‘Intense Unbalanced Melting’

#47

Post by evilduck »

Frompo wrote: post #39
rwmj wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if the carbon released by digging holes and cutting down the bamboo is greater than the carbon sequestered this way? At any rate I'd suggest not bothering to bury the bamboo, you can just pile it up somewhere.

Bamboo rots and emits methane.

Yeah, you'd have to bury it deep enough to prevent decomposition within a few hundred years. Holes that big are hard to do without heavy machinery which guzzle fossil fuels.

Re: West Antarctica Begins to Destabilize with ‘Intense Unbalanced Melting’

#48

Post by alanpca »

youeeeeeediot wrote: post #6

Investment in coastal flood prevention technology for major city centers that can legitimately be helped. Places below sea level today - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_places_on_land_with_el... - need to be abandoned.

Is water really going to make it into death valley, or other mountain-protected areas? It seems like the only real threat in the USA is New Orleans.
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