tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1367053740188758246.post7012723560887658620..comments2023-06-21T00:39:34.443-07:00Comments on Dosbat: Lake El'gygytgyn and Arctic Warming.Chris Reynoldshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16843133350978717556noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1367053740188758246.post-46276901822100713122012-12-16T15:58:10.883-08:002012-12-16T15:58:10.883-08:00Ah, okay. Fair enough; I'm likewise certainly...Ah, okay. Fair enough; I'm likewise certainly not keen on Earth going through something like the End Permian again (not keen on it going through something PETM-ish either, of course, but that'd be preferable to Great Dying Part II).Dromicosuchusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1367053740188758246.post-32225721546571440472012-12-16T12:15:17.927-08:002012-12-16T12:15:17.927-08:00Hi Dromicosuchus,
The point with regards Azolla i...Hi Dromicosuchus,<br /><br />The point with regards Azolla is not that it could help us now. It is that if the PETM wasn't another End Permian only because of the accident of Azolla and the geography that facilitated it, then what we are doing could be far more dangerous than I had thought. <br /><br />It seems possible that during the PETM the oceans were kept from reaching equilibrium warming by Azolla drawing down CO2. If that is the case then the PETM analogue for the present day is incomplete - precisely because there will be no Azolla CO2 draw down this time. There's a lot of concentration on Arctic methane, but if we face a more persistent warming than the PETM then lower latitude hydrates may come into play.<br /><br />As I've said many times, I think this will be a slow process over thousands of years. The fact that I will be long dead, is comfort only from a purely selfish standpoint.Chris Reynoldshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16843133350978717556noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1367053740188758246.post-66412151067460833652012-12-16T08:31:06.979-08:002012-12-16T08:31:06.979-08:00Does it make a difference for us whether another A...Does it make a difference for us whether another Azolla event is or is not possible? I mean, I imagine that there's an upper limit to how rapidly such an event can sequester CO2, and considering the insanely rapid pace of our own emissions, I'd be very surprised if an Arctic "lake" were able to do much to draw down CO2 on our timescales. It might make a difference over tens or hundreds of thousands of years, and from the perspective of life on Earth Azolla vs. No Azolla might well mean the difference between catastrophe and unpleasantness, but on the timescales of human civilization...I can't see how it makes any difference one way or another.Dromicosuchushttp://dejerara.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.com