Author: Neville

Lava Erupting On Sea Floor Linked to Deep-Carbon Cycle

May 2, 2013 — Scientists from the Smithsonian and the University of Rhode Island have found unsuspected linkages between the oxidation state of iron in volcanic rocks and variations in the chemistry of the deep Earth. Not only do the trends run counter to predictions from recent decades of study, they belie a role for carbon circulating in the deep Earth.

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Earth & Climate
•Global Warming
•Earth Science
•Geochemistry
•Forest
•Air Quality
•Oceanography

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•Igneous rock
•Basalt rock
•Mantle plume
•Volcanic rock

The team’s research was published May 2 in Science Express.

Elizabeth Cottrell, lead author and research geologist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, and Katherine Kelley at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography measured the oxidation state of iron, which is the amount of iron that has a 3+ versus a 2+ electronic charge, in bits of magma that froze to a glass when they hit the freezing waters and crushing pressures of the sea floor. Due to the high precision afforded by the spectroscopic technique they used, the researchers found very subtle variations in the iron-oxidation state that had been overlooked by previous investigations.

The variations correlate with what Cottrell described as the “fingerprints” of the deep Earth rocks that melted to produce the lavas — but not in the way previous researchers had predicted. The erupted lavas that have lower concentrations of 3+ iron also have higher concentrations of elements such as barium, thorium, rubidium and lanthanum, that concentrate in the lavas, rather than staying in their deep Earth home. More importantly, the oxidation state of iron also correlates with elements that became enriched in lavas long ago, and now, after billions of years, show elevated ratios of radiogenic isotopes. Because radiogenic isotopic ratios cannot be modified during rock melting and eruption, Cottrell called this “a dead ringer for the source of the melt itself.”

Carbon is one of the “geochemical goodies” that tends to become enriched in the lava when rocks melt. “Despite is importance to life on this planet, carbon is a really tricky element to get a handle on in melts from the deep Earth,” said Cottrell. “That is because carbon also volatilizes and is lost to the ocean waters such that it can’t easily be quantified in the lavas themselves. As humans we are very focused on what we see up here on the surface. Most people probably don’t recognize that the vast majority of carbon — the backbone of all life — is located in the deep Earth, below the surface — maybe even 90 percent of it.”

The rocks that the team analyzed that were reduced also showed a greater influence of having melted in the presence of carbon than those that were oxidized. “And this makes sense because for every atom of carbon present at depth it has to steal oxygen away from iron as it ascends toward the surface,” said Cottrell. This is because carbon is not associated with oxygen at depth, it exists on its own, like in the mineral diamond. But by the time carbon erupts in lava, it is surrounded by oxygen. In this way, concludes Cottrell, “carbon provides both a mechanism to reduce the iron and also a reasonable explanation for why these reduced lavas are enriched in ways we might expect from melting a carbon-bearing rock.”

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Numbers shaping up for carbon tax repeal

DateMay 3, 2013 – 1:43PM 197 reading now

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Jonathan Swan

Jonathan Swan

National political reporter

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Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.
The numbers are lining up for Tony Abbott to fulfil his pledge to repeal the carbon tax. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is looking more likely to be able to make good on his oft-repeated assertions to scrap the carbon tax should the Coalition win government in September.

Analysis of voting trends shows that should the present pattern continue to the election, the Coalition would effectively control both houses of parliament, making it powerful enough to repeal the carbon tax.

While Prime Minister Julia Gillard has previously claimed Mr Abbott will not have the numbers to honour his ”blood pledge” to scrap the carbon tax, an analysis of Senate seats up for re-election reveals a majority will likely fall into conservative hands.

Senior lecturer in politics at Griffith University Paul Williams said ”there should be no electoral or numerical obstacles to Tony Abbott repealing the act early in his first term”.

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”The numbers would probably align to repeal the carbon tax,” agreed ABC election analyst, Antony Green.

”Whether the minor parties would agree to the withdrawal of the compensation measures could be another matter.”

If current polling trends continue, and Mr Abbott wins a majority in the House of Representatives, then to repeal the carbon tax he would need 39 votes in the Senate. Currently the Coalition controls 34 out of the 76 seats. The Coalition will win another seat in Tasmania and is likely to get an extra South Australian seat at the expense of Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, Mr Green said.

That takes the Coalition to 36 votes – three shy of the majority it would need to repeal the tax.

While the Coalition is unlikely to win any more seats in the Senate, it is likely the three extra seats it needs will be held by conservatives who oppose the carbon tax. Democratic Labor Party Senator John Madigan told Fairfax Media he opposes the tax and would not hold the Coalition to ransom over it – they can count on his vote. That leaves Mr Abbott needing only two more votes to repeal it.

”The key benefit of minor right-wing parties being elected to the Senate is it gives the new Coalition government a negotiation path for legislation through the Senate that doesn’t involve talking to the Greens or Labor,” Mr Green said.

To get his way, Mr Abbott needs minor right-wing parties to swap preferences tightly and in several states he needs the left-wing vote to plummet to historically low levels.

To control an extra Senate seat in Western Australia, Queensland or NSW, conservatives need the combined first preference vote for Labor and the Greens to fall below 43 per cent.

Such a plunge in the progressive vote almost never happens but Mr Green says it is likely to occur in Western Australia and Queensland.

Western Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlum looks set to lose his seat to a minor right-wing party and in Queensland, Labor will probably lose a seat to Bob Katter’s Australian Party. A spokeswoman for Mr Katter confirmed he remains a climate change sceptic and opposes the carbon tax.

Dr Williams said that Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party is also gaining traction in Queensland ”no doubt about it” and the party could threaten Katter’s party to take a seat from Labor in that state.

If those results occur, Mr Abbott will have the power to remove the carbon tax and the result in NSW would become academic.

Still, the Coalition could find itself in the luxurious position of having 40 conservative votes in the Senate. Left-wing parties almost always win three Senate seats in NSW but the results of the last state election raise prospects of Labor losing its third seat to a conservative party.

The new Senate comes into effect on July 1, 2014 – making this the earliest date Mr Abbott can hope to repeal the carbon tax.

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Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/numbers-shaping-up-for-carbon-tax-repeal-20130503-2ixcd.html#ixzz2SDBGBkxz

MPs to vote on disability levy after Abbott indicates support

By chief political correspondent Emma Griffiths, ABCUpdated May 2, 2013, 8:23 pm

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MPs to vote on disability levy after Abbott indicates support
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Legislation to pass a disability care levy will be brought before Parliament before the election, with the Prime Minister welcoming the Opposition’s apparent support for the new tax.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said earlier today that the Coalition was prepared to “consider supporting” the 0.5 percentage point increase to the Medicare levy and would not “quibble” over it.

Julia Gillard has welcomed his apparent support and says she will bring the levy legislation to Parliament this term.

“The Leader of the Opposition has changed his mind on this matter and I welcome that change of mind,” Ms Gillard said.

“On the basis of that change of mind by the Leader of the Opposition, I will bring to the Parliament the legislation to increase the Medicare levy by half a per cent.”

Mr Abbott has previously said it would be better to fund the scheme through general government revenue.

But today he emphasised the Coalition’s bipartisan support for the scheme and conditional support for the proposed levy.

“We are prepared to consider supporting a modest increase in the Medicare levy to make sure that this happens as soon as possible,” he said.

“We do want to see this come into the Parliament in this term.

“There are five weeks of Parliament remaining, and I don’t see why we can’t get this dealt with so that this Parliament does have a substantial monument.

“This is not a day to be quibbling over something which is very, very important to the future of our country.”

Ms Gillard announced the levy yesterday, saying voters would be asked to give her a mandate and “make their choice” in the September 14 federal election.

But after Mr Abbott challenged her to bring the matter before Parliament this term, she declared she would immediately if Mr Abbott backed it.

The Opposition Leader has still not given his unconditional support to the levy, repeating his call for more detail.

“It is important the Prime Minister come clean with all the details,” he said.

“How is this scheme going to be fully funded and who exactly will be covered?”

“At the moment we’ve got a half-funded scheme, what we don’t want is half a scheme to go with half the funding.”

The levy will raise $3.2 billion a year. However when it is fully operational in 2018-19, the scheme is estimated to cost $8 billion a year.

The Prime Minister has said the extra money would have to come from federal, state and territory coffers.

In a statement, the Opposition outlined further conditions to its support for the levy.

It wants legislation introducing the levy to also explain how the scheme will work and who will be eligible.

The Coalition has called on the Government to release all the details of bilateral agreements with states and territories, and it also wants the fund that holds the levy proceeds to be steered by the guardians of the Future Fund.

However, a spokesman for Mr Abbott said the conditions were “not about setting the bar so high they can’t be leapt over” and that Mr Abbott wanted to be “genuinely constructive”.

‘Let’s do it right’

Ms Gillard brushed aside Mr Abbott’s list of conditions as mere “matters of detail”.

“I understand the Leader of the Opposition has raised some matters of detail,” she said.

“In those areas the Government was already working prior to my announcement about the Medicare levy yesterday.

“On the question of savings to support DisabilityCare, we have been outlining long-term savings.

“What I’ve announced with the increase in the Medicare levy would fully fund what we need to do with DisabilityCare over the next five years.”

It is clear Mr Abbott wants to neutralise disability funding as a potential election issue, and has repeatedly highlighted his long-standing support for an insurance scheme.

“I am, as all of you know, profoundly committed to the NDIS. I’ve been calling from the beginning for a bipartisan approach to this,” he said.

John Della Bosca, the head of the group lobbying for an NDIS, says the two sides of politics have inched towards a bipartisan position on the funding of a scheme.

“It’s very important, I think, to give credit where credit is due and say that Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott have respectively shown great leadership and great compassion in arriving at the positions they have as of today,” he said.

Meanwhile, another state has signed up to the full rollout of the scheme.

Ms Gillard has reached agreement with the Labor Government in Tasmania, with the state set to provide $232 million and the Commonwealth contributing $245m by 2018-19.

South Australia, the ACT and New South Wales have also signed up to the scheme in full.

DisabilityCare will begin at launch sites around the country, except for Western Australia, from July.

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Abbott supports Medicare levy rise

Tony Abbott has all-but supported an increase to help fund Julia Gillard’s Disability Insurance Scheme, but stressed there were some conditions.

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UN sounds alarm on record Arctic ice melt

DateMay 2, 2013 – 8:39PM 85 reading now

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The Arctic’s sea ice melted at a record pace in 2012, the ninth-hottest year on record, compounding concerns about climate change underscored by extreme weather such as Hurricane Sandy, the UN weather agency says.

In a report on the situation in 2012, the World Meteorological Organisation said on Thursday that during the August to September melting season, the Arctic’s sea ice cover was just 3.4 million square kilometres.

That was a full 18 per cent less than the previous record low set in 2007.

WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud dubbed it a “disturbing sign of climate change.”

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“The year 2012 saw many other extremes as well, such as droughts and tropical cyclones. Natural climate variability has always resulted in such extremes, but the physical characteristics of extreme weather and climate events are being increasingly shaped by climate change,” he said.

“For example, because global sea levels are now about 20 centimetres higher than they were in 1880, storms such as Hurricane Sandy are bringing more coastal flooding than they would have otherwise,” he added.

October’s Hurricane Sandy killed almost 300 people and caused major destruction in the Caribbean before developing further strength and causing tens of billions of dollars in damage and around 130 deaths in the eastern United States.

Typhoon Bopha, the deadliest tropical cyclone of the year, hit the Philippines twice in December, sparking floods and landslides which killed more than 1,000 people.

The WMO said that the 2012 global land and ocean surface temperature was estimated to be 0.45C above the 1961-1990 average of 14.0C.

That marked the ninth warmest year since records began in 1850 and the 27th consecutive year that the global land and ocean temperatures were above the 1961-1990 average, it underlined.

Jarraud noted that the rate of warming varies from year to year due to a range of factors, including the El Nino and La Nina weather phenomena – which see warming and cooling, respectively, in the Pacific Ocean – as well as volcanic eruptions.

Last year’s warming came despite a cooling La Nina at the beginning of the year.

“The sustained warming of the lower atmosphere is a worrisome sign,” said Jarraud.

“The continued upward trend in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and the consequent increased radiative forcing of the Earth’s atmosphere confirm that the warming will continue,” he added.

Above-average temperatures were observed across most of the globe’s land surface areas, most notably North America, southern Europe, western Russia, parts of northern Africa and southern South America, the WMO noted.

Nonetheless, cooler than average conditions were observed across Alaska, parts of northern and eastern Australia, and central Asia, it said.

Precipitation also varied, with drier-than-average conditions across much of the central United States, northern Mexico, northeastern Brazil, central Russia, and south-central Australia.

Northern Europe, western Africa, north-central Argentina, western Alaska, and most of northern China were meanwhile wetter than average.

AFP

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/un-sounds-alarm-on-record-arctic-ice-melt-20130502-2iw07.html#ixzz2S8Drk9Pp

RELEASE : 13-127

NASA Rover Prototype Set to Explore Greenland Ice Sheet

WASHINGTON — NASA’s newest scientific rover is set for testing May 3 through June 8 in the highest part of Greenland.

The robot known as GROVER, which stands for both Greenland Rover and Goddard Remotely Operated Vehicle for Exploration and Research, will roam the frigid landscape collecting measurements to help scientists better understand changes in the massive ice sheet.
This autonomous, solar-powered robot carries a ground-penetrating radar to study how snow accumulates, adding layer upon layer to the ice sheet over time.

Greenland’s surface layer vaulted into the news in summer 2012 when higher than normal temperatures caused surface melting across about 97 percent of the ice sheet. Scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., expect GROVER to detect the layer of the ice sheet that formed in the aftermath of that extreme melt event.

Research with polar rovers costs less than aircraft or satellites, the usual platforms.

“Robots like GROVER will give us a new tool for glaciology studies,” said Lora Koenig, a glaciologist at Goddard and science advisor on the project.

GROVER will be joined on the ice sheet in June by another robot, named Cool Robot, developed at Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., with funding from the National Science Foundation. This rover can tow a variety of instrument packages to conduct glaciological and atmospheric sampling studies.

GROVER was developed in 2010 and 2011 by teams of students participating in summer engineering boot camps at Goddard. The students were interested in building a rover and approached Koenig about whether a rover could aid her studies of snow accumulation on ice sheets. This information typically is gathered by radars carried on snowmobiles and airplanes. Koenig suggested putting a radar on a rover for this work.

Koenig, now a science advisor on the GROVER Project, asked Hans-Peter Marshall, a glaciologist at Boise State University to bring in his expertise in small, low-power, autonomous radars that could be mounted on GROVER. Since its inception at the boot camp, GROVER has been fine-tuned, with NASA funding, at Boise State.

The tank-like GROVER prototype stands six feet tall, including its solar panels. It weighs about 800 pounds and traverses the ice on two repurposed snowmobile tracks. The robot is powered entirely by solar energy, so it can operate in pristine polar environments without adding to air pollution. The panels are mounted in an inverted V, allowing them to collect energy from the sun and sunlight reflected off the ice sheet.

A ground-penetrating radar powered by two rechargeable batteries rests on the back of the rover. The radar sends radio wave pulses into the ice sheet, and the waves bounce off buried features, informing researchers about the characteristics of the snow and ice layers.

From a research station operated by the National Science Foundation called Summit Camp, a spot where the ice sheet is about 2 miles thick, GROVER will crawl at an average speed of 1.2 mph (2 kilometers per hour). Because the sun never dips below the horizon during the Arctic summer, GROVER can work at any time during the day and should be able to work longer and gather more data than a human on a snowmobile.

At the beginning of the summit tests, Koenig’s team will keep GROVER close to camp and communicate with it via Wi-Fi within a three-mile (4.8-kilometer) range. GROVER will transmit snippets of data during the trial to ensure it is working properly but the majority of data will be recovered at the end of the season. The researchers eventually will switch to satellite communications, which will allow the robot to roam farther and transmit data in real time. Ideally, researchers will be able to drive the rover from their desks.

“We think it’s really powerful,” said Gabriel Trisca, a Boise State master’s degree student who developed GROVER’s software. “The fact is the robot could be anywhere in the world and we’ll be able to control it from anywhere.”

Michael Comberiate, a retired NASA engineer and manager of Goddard’s Engineering Boot Camp said the Earth-bound Greenland Rover is similar to NASA missions off the planet.

“GROVER is just like a spacecraft but it has to operate on the ground,” Comberiate said. “It has to survive unattended for months in a hostile environment, with just a few commands to interrogate it and find out its status and give it some directions for how to accommodate situations it finds itself in.”

Koenig hopes more radar data will help shed light on Greenland’s snow accumulation. Scientists compare annual accumulation to the volume of ice lost to sea each year to calculate the ice sheet’s overall mass balance and its contribution to sea level rise.

For images and a video about GROVER, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/grover.html

Dear Inga ,

Right now there’s a brief window for real change on a new campaign before us, change capable of relieving unimaginable suffering for many Australians. Before we take any action, we’re looking to you, the members who make up the GetUp movement, for guidance on this important campaign.

Dying with dignity in the face of an unavoidable terminal illness and horrific suffering is something that many GetUp members have told us matters deeply to them.

Here’s the opportunity: there’s a bill about to be introduced into NSW State Parliament that would give patients the legal right to request a humane, medically-assisted death (voluntary euthanasia). This option includes robust legal safeguards and would only apply to individuals suffering from painful terminal illness.

Unfortunately we already know that too many Australians choose to end their suffering by the only legal means available to them. Options such as ending life support treatment, cutting off food and water or suiciding, often violently. These options are distressing, prolong suffering and cause further grief and anxiety. They can also push family, friends and medical support away when they’re needed most.

We would really like to hear from you regarding this important campaign. Please click here to take a few minutes to fill out a short survey to tell us your thoughts or share your personal story: www.getup.org.au/share-your-story

The most up-to-date polling shows that more than 80% of Australians support assisted dying where appropriate safeguards are in place. 1 For those who are faced with the choice to end their suffering on their own terms, it’s a difficult decision. In places such as Oregon in the United States (where assisted dying accounts for less than 1% of deaths) the knowledge that patients are able to end their suffering in the most dignified and controlled way possible has made provided great comfort to many approaching the end of their lives.

In researching and considering this campaign, we’ve heard from medical professionals, lawyers and academics about the critical safeguards in place, which will ensure people are capable of making the decision themselves and multiple doctors have affirmed their condition is indeed terminal.

We’ve heard from GetUp members who’ve been in that dire situation and their stories will stay with us forever. Stories like that of Gabrielle, who had to watch her mother die a slow and excruciating death from cancer at age 67, palliative care staff powerless to relieve her suffering.

We watched the video appeal from Angelique Flowers, who pleaded with then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to reconsider Australia’s assisted death laws before bowel cancer caused her horrific and unavoidable death, at just 31. We listened to members from all over the country about their experiences watching a loved one endure unimaginable suffering that can’t be cured, leaving them with no choice but to painfully wait for the inevitable. We have cried listening to their stories.

Now, we’re asking for your help, and your thoughts. While it’s something the majority of Australians support, and steps have already been taken in states and territories all over the country to change the laws, it’s here in NSW that a new bill stands the best chance of succeeding – if we decide to help politicians overcome the barriers. To do that, we need to bring this issue out of the shadows, summon the courage to talk about death openly and with compassion and launch a campaign with the support of the powerful GetUp movement that has the ability to bring about real change for the people who rely on our support.

We know your stories are powerful, and we honour and respect your views on this difficult subject. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts: www.getup.org.au/share-your-story

With gratitude,

The GetUp team

PS. If you’d rather not hear from us again on this issue, take the survey to share your thoughts, or reply to this email and let us know.

[1] Newspoll 2007, view here. GetUp is an independent, not-for-profit community campaigning group. We use new technology to empower Australians to have their say on important national issues. We receive no political party or government funding, and every campaign we run is entirely supported by voluntary donations. If you’d like to contribute to help fund GetUp’s work, please donate now! If you have trouble with any links in this email, please go directly to www.getup.org.au. To unsubscribe from GetUp, please click here. Authorised by Sam Mclean, Level 2, 104 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010.