Re: [asa] Global Warming on Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto, Venus, ...?

Its not the plants we have to worry about. What will we
do when this stuff starts to bubble up?

http://geosci.uchicago.edu/~archer/reprints/buffett.2004.clathrates.pdf

If the deep seawater temperature rises 3 degrees C,
methane will be released much faster than it will be
precipitated by carbonate deposition.

On Tue, 27 Jun 2006 12:06:05 -0500
  "David Campbell" <pleuronaia@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> It appears that every living thing emits gases that
>>contribute to the
>> problem - so there is no Kyoto sink. We need to find a
>>sink or else.
>>
>> Trees produce methane and as they rot, they release the
>>carbon dioxide
>> that they stored.
>>
>> Can we produce a means of removing greenhouse gases
>>without creating more
>> than we take out in the process? Or is this a perpetual
>>machine problem?
>>
>
> Growing plants can take up more carbon dioxide than they
>release, though
> plants doing little growth do not; I would guess a
>similar situation would
> apply for methane-consuming bacteria, etc. In the
>natural balance of
> things, carbon is removed from easy availability through
>burial of organic
> material and by precipitation of carbonate minerals.
> Over geologic time,
> these will eventually return to the surface, but
>probably slowly enough for
> organisms to maintain a balance. I don't know how
>practical it is to try to
> bury more carbon. It might be feasible to bubble power
>plant exhaust
> through a calcium-rich, basic solution and thereby
>precipitate out some of
> the carbon dioxide.
>
> Gas hydrates can sequester greenhouse gases somewhat out
>of the way, but the
> long-term stability, the environmental impacts, and the
>practicality of
> trying to transform extra gases from the atmosphere into
>such are not
> known.
>
> It's probably a lot easier from a chemistry/physics
>perspective to produce
> less of the stuff, but rather harder from a human
>behavior perspective.
>
>
>
>
>
>> --
>> Dr. David Campbell
>> 425 Scientific Collections
>> University of Alabama
>> "I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of
>>clams"
>>

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Received on Tue Jun 27 13:29:45 2006