NOAA’s Climate.gov Says Natural Wetlands, Tropical Agriculture Responsible For Methane Increases, Not Oil and Gas

Posted on July 21, 2017 by Rashid Faridi

From the NOAA global air sampling network are plotted since the beginning of 1979

by Michael Sandoval July 18, 2017

“Agricultural and wetland emissions” from the planet’s tropical areas, not oil and gas activities in the United States, are more than likely responsible for a post-2007 global increase in methane levels, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate.gov.

But regulating or mitigating those methane sources could be difficult or impossible.

“Both of the likely contenders for the recent increase in emissions could be tricky to mitigate,” wrote Climate.gov’s Rebecca Lindsey and Michon Scott. “In developing countries with burgeoning populations, methane control could wind up pitted against the need to expand food production. If natural wetlands are the main source of the increase, control may not even be possible,” the authors wrote.

According to Climate.gov, following a 1999 to 2006 global methane plateau scientists attempted…

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People You Meet

Posted on June 22, 2017 by Rashid Faridi

Orlando Espinosa

We meet so many people throughout our lives. Some become vital, while others become obsolete. But in the end we will learn lessons from everyone we meet.

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A Fantasy Subway Map of Ancient Roman Roads

Posted on June 11, 2017 by Jenny Bleiholder

From The Atlantic CITILAB by John Metcalfe:

“They say all roads lead to Rome, but they also lead outward to a number of intriguing places. There’s Antinoopolis in northern Africa, Londinium in what we now know as the U.K., and—should funding from the mighty Emperor Hadrian arrive—the yet-built Panticapaeum station along the Pontus Euxinus, or Black Sea.

Or so says this wonderfully thought-out fantasy transit map from Sasha Trubetskoy, showing the major thoroughfares of the Roman Empire circa 125 A.D. as dozens of stops along multicolored subway lines. Trubetskoy, who when not dabbling in history has explored the judgmental cartography of the Bay Area, started poking into the idea after noticing there was a dearth of good maps of Rome’s old road network, let alone train-themed ones. So he decided to go for it, pouring about 50 hours of research and design work into his sprawling “Roman Roads.” ”

https://www.citylab.com/design/2017/06/a-fantasy-transit-map-of-the-roads-of-ancient-rome/529404/?utm_source=nl__link6_060817

Thank you, Duane, for pointing out this article. — Jenny

Indonesia’s Trying to Figure Out How Many Islands It Contains

Posted on June 11, 2017 by Jenny Bleiholder

From Smithsonian Magazine by Erin Blakemore:

“How many islands are in Indonesia? You might think that the answer “a lot” is a bit glib, but it turns out that the Republic of Indonesia itself doesn’t really know, either. The nation of many islands consists of so many small land masses that they have never been officially counted. Until now: As the BBC reports, Indonesia is embarking on an ambitious island census.”

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/indonesias-trying-figure-out-how-many-islands-it-contains-180963606/

New Online Database Catalogues 20,000 Threatened Archaeological Sites

Posted on June 3, 2017 by Jenny Bleiholder

From Smithsonian Magazine by Brigit Katz:

“The endangered archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa Database includes an interactive map and a detailed search function.”

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-online-database-catalogues-20000-threatened-archaeological-sites-180963451/

Found: Giant Mounds and Craters Across the Arctic Seafloor

Posted on June 3, 2017 by Jenny Bleiholder

From Atlas Obscura by Sarah Laskow:

“In the polar reaches of the Arctic Ocean, in northern Bjørnøyrenna, the seafloor is bumpy, pockmarked mess. Much of the seabed in the region is smooth, but not in the area that’s the subject of a new paper published in Science, where it is dotted with giant mounds and craters.”

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/found-arctic-seafloor-mounds-craters-methane-burps