Demand for residences that produce as much energy as they consume is being spurred by climate concerns, consumer appetite and more affordable solar technology.
Category: climatology – Page 109
Volcanic Eruptions Contributed To The Collapse Of Chinese Dynasties
Volcanic eruptions contributed to the collapse of dynasties in China in the last 2,000 years by temporarily cooling the climate and affecting agriculture, according to a news release by Rutgers University.
In a study published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, scientists reconstructed the magnitude of 156 explosive volcanic eruptions from 1 A.D. to 1915 by examining elevated sulfate levels in ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica. They also analyzed historical documents from China on 68 dynasties and examined warfare there between 850 and 1911.
Scientists found that smaller volcanic “shocks” to the climate may cause dynasties to collapse when political and socioeconomic stress is already high. Larger shocks may lead to collapses without substantial pre-existing stress. Other factors include poor leadership, administrative corruption and demographic pressures.
NVIDIA to Build Earth-2 Supercomputer to See Our Future
NVIDIA plans to build the world’s most powerful AI supercomputer dedicated to predicting climate change, named Earth-2.
The earth is warming. The past seven years are on track to be the seven warmest on record. The emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities are responsible for approximately 1.1°C of average warming since the period 1850–1900.
What we’re experiencing is very different from the global average. We experience extreme weather — historic droughts, unprecedented heatwaves, intense hurricanes, violent storms and catastrophic floods. Climate disasters are the new norm.
We need to confront climate change now. Yet, we won’t feel the impact of our efforts for decades. It’s hard to mobilize action for something so far in the future. But we must know our future today — see it and feel it — so we can act with urgency.
How We’ll Control The Weather In 100 Years
Climate change can cause dramatic shifts in global temperatures and weather patterns. And while scientists won’t be able to reverse all of the negative impacts of these changes, they are looking for ways to lessen the effects by controlling the weather.
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A 75-Foot Vessel Is Being Converted to Run Almost Entirely on Ammonia
Green energy company Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) is collaborating with MMA Offshore to convert a 75-meter (246-feet) vessel, the “MMA Leveque”, so that it can run almost entirely on green ammonia by 2022, a press statement from FFI explains.
In the same statement, the company reveals that its chairman, billionaire Andrew Forrest, called for an industry-wide push for shipping to reach net-zero by 2040 during a keynote for ‘Transport Day’ at the COP26 conference in Glasgow this week, a United Nations summit aimed at accelerating action on climate change.
The MMA Leveque is one of several Fortescue Metal Group’s vessels and vehicles that will be transformed to operate on green fuels, as the company also says it is gradually working on converting its fleet of trucks, locomotives, and ships. Earlier this year, FFI successfully demonstrated the combustion of a blended ammonia fuel in a locomotive, and it says it will soon be able to power trains on one hundred percent green ammonia.
NVIDIA Thinks we Live Inside a Simulation — Earth 2.0 Supercomputer
The Hardware Giant NVIDIA is now working on one of the craziest projects I’ve ever seen. They’re attempting to build the fastest supercomputer ever made in hopes of simulating the entire earth in real time for climate research and potentially even more. They call this super computer Earth 2 and it’s going to feature their most powerful next generation GPU’s in the world. It’ll feature multiple exaflops of performance and be supported by the government. I can’t wait to see how this crazy project works out. It was announced by Jensen Huang at NVIDIA GTC 2021.
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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 The Simulation Hypothesis.
01:29 What is Nvidia attempting to do?
03:10 What are supercomputers usually used for?
05:54 What is NVIDIA doing differently now?
07:02 Last Words.
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#nvidia #gtc #supercomputer
The reinvention of the Saudi economy is going slower than planned
The same goes for the broader economy. Lower subsidies, higher taxes and pricier labour have eroded some of Saudi Arabia’s traditional selling points for firms. It is unclear what will replace them.
Until the government banned the practice, residents of Abha would chop down juniper trees for firewood, to stave off the winter chill. As part of the regional tourism project, developers plan to plant 1m trees to reforest the mountains. It will be a long time before visitors can appreciate them: they grow just 5cm a year in the region’s dry climate, says Turki al-Bishri, a local guide. For all the talk of rapid change, the slow-growing juniper may offer a better glimpse of Saudi Arabia’s economic future. ■
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “No tourist Mecca”.
Carbon Map
*To date, most studies have focused on understanding how much carbon is stored above ground (in trees and other plants, for example). This research, however, revealed that when you look below ground and get into deeper levels of soil, there are massive deposits of carbon.*
Canada’s first-ever national carbon map reveals the location of billions — yes, billions — of tonnes of carbon stored in ecosystems across the country. This data, and how we use it, could alter the pace of climate change.
Over the span of two years, researchers fed data from existing soil samples collected from across the country, as well as long-term satellite data and topographic and climate variables, into a machine-learning algorithm. Researchers were able to estimate carbon at a 250-metre spatial resolution in different carbon pools (soils and plant biomass), as well as at multiple depths (1−2 metres).
Tens of thousands of field measurements were fed into a machine-learning algorithm to train satellite observations, including space-based laser scanning data, to estimate carbon stocks in plant biomass and soils across Canada. The resulting national carbon map will have a huge impact on the way conservation activities and policies are approached to prioritize nature-based climate solutions.
## ORIGINAL PAPER
Large soil carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems of Canada