Author Adjunct Professor of Environmental Geography, CQUniversity Australia
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What is Arctic amplification? Do we know what is causing this phenomenon? What effects is it having, both in the region and for the world? Is Antarctica experiencing the same thing?
Human civilisation and agriculture first emerged about 12,000 years ago in the early Holocene. Our ancestors benefited from a remarkably stable climate during this time as carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere remained near 280ppm until the beginning of the industrial revolution in the 1800s.
The Arctic region is warming much faster than the rest of the planet. The rapid loss of ice affects the polar jet stream, which influences weather patterns across the northern hemisphere.
But the key point to note is that we simply cannot continue to produce greenhouse gases and the demand for natural gas, as for coal and oil, will soon have to decline rapidly. In its draft package of recommendations to the Government, New Zealand’s Climate Change Commission has called for a stop to new connections to the natural gas grid for commercial and residential buildings after 2025. In that context, comparing the retail price of gas with electricity is not useful unless all other costs and likely future trends are considered.
American power association
Natural gas is extracted from gas fields and processed to scrub out other gases and condensates. The resulting gas, mainly methane, is then distributed through pipelines. (File photo)
Climate explained: is natural gas really cheaper than renewable electricity? theconversation.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theconversation.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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The gravitational changes when Antarctica melts do indeed affect sea levels all over the world – but not enough to save New Zealand from rising seas. “First, the addition to the sea occasioned by the melting of the ice from off the Antarctic land would tend to raise the general level of the sea. “Secondly, the removal of the ice would also tend to shift the Earth’s centre of gravity to the north of its present position – and as the sea must shift along with the centre, a rise of the sea on the northern hemisphere would necessarily take place.”