THE BLAME THE EARTH CROWD:

Ancient eruptions of carbon dioxide traced to oceans: Researchers say the gas may have accelerated Earth's warming after an ice age. (Alan Zarembo, May 11, 2007, LA Times)

The oceans burped … twice.

About 13,000 and 18,000 years ago, carbon dioxide poured into the atmosphere in two giant belches that drove concentrations of the greenhouse gas from 180 to 265 parts per million, where it held relatively steady until the Industrial Revolution.

Scientists have long known about the jump in gas levels from looking at ice cores. They suspected the carbon dioxide originated in a deep, carbon-rich reservoir in the oceans but had no way to explain how the gas could accumulate and then be released so suddenly.

Reporting in the journal Science today, researchers said they found the answer in a sample of sediment drilled in the Pacific Ocean.

"This new study nails it," said J.R. Toggweiler, an oceanographer at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, who was not involved in the study. "If there were any doubters, I don't think they have a leg to stand on."

As if sweet, loving Gaia would really do such a thing. It's Man, Man, Man!

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 11, 2007 5:38 AM