Carbon Brief weekly update 4 October 2012
- 04 Oct 2012, 16:00
- Carbon Brief Staff
Arctic ice melt in context - and polar
bears
Two weeks after Arctic sea ice extent reached a
record low, the National Snow and Ice Data Center
has written a post putting the melt - and Antarctica's
simultaneous increase in sea ice extent - into context.
News also broke that academic Dr Charles Monnett, whose work first
highlighted polar bears drowning as a result of melting ice in the
Arctic, has been cleared of scientific misconduct. The United
States Department of the Interior launched an investigation into
Monnet on charges related to
his 2006 study, which linked drowned polar bears to ice loss in
the Arctic.
Climate skeptics - including former politician Ann
Widdecombe - have argued the investigation showed Monnet's
research was
suspect. Instead, Monnett has received what appears to be a
fairly minor reprimand for "improper
release of government documents", and no criticism of his
research. Some of the leaked documents were used in court to force
the US government to revoke its approval of Shell's drilling plan.
We covered the story here.
US Climate silence
The first US presidential debate took place on Wednesday - and
Mitt Romney seems to have come out ahead. Unfortunately,
despite a
60,000 signature petition calling for a question on climate
change, the subject didn't come up.
Some
US media outlets are highly critical of the candidates' silence on climate change
- particularly as polling has
suggested it's an issue voters care about. US
blog Grist has given its view on some of Mitt Romney's
statements about energy issues in the debate.
Counting the cost of Antarctic research
Facing cuts to its funding, the Natural Environment Research
Council (NERC) has announced plans to merge two of its research
bodies. The
British Antarctic Survey looks set to join forces with the National Oceanography
Centre.
Media
coverage of NERC's plans has been critical, reflecting
researchers' worries that the merger will hamper their ability to
study the Antarctic. But NERC
told Carbon Brief it had ring-fenced funding for polar
research.
Also on the blog this week:
Can we estimate the tipping point into irreversible climate change?
We assess the science behind the One Hundred Months
campaign
Our rundown of the evidence base underpinning the New Economics
Foundation's One Hundred Months campaign
Carbon Brief's pick of the climate and energy events at the
Conservative conference
The Conservative party conference kicks off this Sunday in sunny
Birmingham. Here's our roundup of the energy and climate fringe
events.
A pinch of salt for new carbon storage modelling
Although salt marshes may be able to store carbon short-term, the
net impact of climate change on salt marshes' ability to sequester
carbon dioxide doesn't look too good in the long run.
You can sign up to receive Carbon Brief's weekly climate and
energy news in your inbox. Just pop your email address in the 'Get
our weekly briefing' box on our homepage.