Page 28 - aruba-today-20171016

A28 SCIENCE
Monday 16 october 2017

Another El Nino problem: More carbon dioxide in air

By SETH BORENSTEIN per million, the largest since
AP Science Writer scientists started tracking
WASHINGTON (AP) — A emissions in Hawaii in 1959.
new NASA satellite has Normally about 25
found another thing to percent of the human-
blame on El Nino: A recent caused carbon emissions
record high increase of are sucked up by plants
carbon dioxide in the air. on land, but during this
The super-sized El Nino a powerful El Nino that was
couple of years ago led to only 5 percent, said Junjie
an increase of 3 billion tons Liu, a NASA scientist and
of carbon in the air, most study lead author.
from tropical land areas. Oceans took out more than
The El Nino made it more normal amount of carbon
difficult for plants to suck out of the atmosphere,
up man-made carbon but it wasn’t enough to
emissions and sparked fires compensate for the land
that released more carbon deficit, Eldering said.
into the atmosphere. Jonathan Overpeck, a
The effect was so large that University of Michigan
it was the main factor in scientist who was not
the biggest one-year jump part of the study, said the
in heat-trapping gas levels research revealed that
in modern record, NASA the regional links between
scientists said. carbon dioxide and El Nino
Scientists have long known are more complex than
that carbon dioxide levels previously thought, and
spike during an El Nino, raised concern about how
the natural occasional the earth will respond to
warming of parts of the In this Sept. 16, 2014, file photo, firemen spray water in an attempt to extinguish bush fires on a more future warming.
central Pacific that causes peat land in Siak Riau province, Indonesia. As the world warms, the
droughts in some places, Associated Press tropics could add to
floods in others and Carbon Observatory-2, happens and by continent. Colorado State University carbon to the atmosphere
generally adds to warmer which was launched Researchers found that atmospheric scientist. in the future instead of
temperatures worldwide. in 2014, provides more in drought-struck parts Study co-author Annmarie taking it out of the air
Data from NASA’s Orbiting specifics on how that of South America plants Eldering, NASA’s deputy and wildfire emissions are
grew less, there were more project scientist for the likely to get more severe,
fires in Asia, and there was satellite, said the new Overpeck said.
an increased rate of leaf results show how El Nino And some computer
decay in Africa. can counteract efforts to simulations say the
The findings were published reduce carbon emissions. frequency of El Nino will
Thursday in the journal Human-caused carbon increase in the future with
Science. dioxide emissions were climate change, Denning
That 3 billion tons of carbon, roughly flat in 2014, 2015 said during a NASA press
Tour to the Red Light Lipstixaruba@outlook.com while significant, is still and 2016, but National conference.
District with a Private dwarfed by the 10 billion Oceanic and Atmospheric “In this sense, the 2015-16 El
Guide & a FREE bottle (297) 630-5329 tons a year that comes from Administration figures show Nino is a glimpse of what is
of wine... the burning of coal, oil and that 2015 saw a rise in to come,” Overpeck said in
gas, said Scott Denning, a carbon in the air 3.03 parts an email.q