Global warming with increasing carbon dioxide predicted by Svante August Arrhenius
Swedish chemist, Nobel laureate, Svante August Arrhenius recognized the disproportionate warming capacity held by small quantities of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. He was first to connect atmospheric CO2 with climate change. Arrhenius summarized scientific opinion about the effect of CO2 (carbonic acid) in the atmosphere, predicting a global temperature increase of 8 or 9 degrees F for a doubling of CO2 in the atmosphere. In future publications, Arrhenius was first to predict global warming must result from widespread combustion of fossil fuels causing build-up of CO2 in the
atmosphere.
On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the Air upon the Temperature of the Ground by Svante August Arrhenius. Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, Series 5, Volume 41, April 1896, pages 237-276
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Friday, March 8, 2013
Environmental History Timeline September, 1847
George Perkins Marsh delivers a foundational speech inspiring the new philosophy of managing human impacts and a
cascade of founding conservation efforts in North America.
George Perkins Marsh, polymath, intellectual leader, "Prophet of Conservation"*, a US Congressman form Vermont, at the time, gave this foundational speech about the impacts of agriculture and human activity on climate, forests, soil and water to the Agricultural Society of Rutland County, Vermont. Marsh's acclaimed speech later was published in 1848.
Marsh developed his human impacts material further for his seminal book Man and Nature; or, Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action 1864. Marsh's book, still in print, is a foundational work of the conservation movement and presaged modern environmental science.
*"Prophet of Conservation" is the title of David Lowenthal's 2000 biography, George Perkins Marsh: Prophet of Conservation. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
But though man cannot at his pleasure command the rain and the sunshine, the wind and frost and snow, yet it is certain that climate itself has in many instances been gradually changed and ameliorated or deteriorated by human action. George Perkins Marsh, "Address Delivered Before the Agricultural Society of Rutland County, Sept. 30, 1847," page 11.
George Perkins Marsh, polymath, intellectual leader, "Prophet of Conservation"*, a US Congressman form Vermont, at the time, gave this foundational speech about the impacts of agriculture and human activity on climate, forests, soil and water to the Agricultural Society of Rutland County, Vermont. Marsh's acclaimed speech later was published in 1848.
Marsh developed his human impacts material further for his seminal book Man and Nature; or, Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action 1864. Marsh's book, still in print, is a foundational work of the conservation movement and presaged modern environmental science.
*"Prophet of Conservation" is the title of David Lowenthal's 2000 biography, George Perkins Marsh: Prophet of Conservation. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Environmental History Timeline July, 1802
Invasive jimsonweed plagues Ohio pioneers
The European plant jimsonweed Datura stramonium is found invading disturbed ground at Alexandria (West Portsmouth), Ohio and other small towns along fertile terraces of the Ohio River and at the mouth of the Scioto River. Traveling French Botanist F. A. Michaux* reports...
The European plant jimsonweed Datura stramonium is found invading disturbed ground at Alexandria (West Portsmouth), Ohio and other small towns along fertile terraces of the Ohio River and at the mouth of the Scioto River. Traveling French Botanist F. A. Michaux* reports...
At Alexandria, and the other little towns in the western country, which are situated upon a very rich soil, the space between every house is almost entirely covered with Stramonium. This dangerous and disagreeable plant has propagated surprisingly in every part where the earth has been uncovered and cultivated within twelve or fifteen years; and let the inhabitants do what they will, it spreads still wider every year. It is generally supposed to have made its appearance at James-Town in Virginia, whence it derived the name Jamesweed. Travelers use it to heal the wounds made on horses' backs occasioned by the rubbing of the saddle.*Thwaites, Reuben Gold, 1853-1913 (1904); Michaux, Andre, 1746-1802; Michaux, Francois Andre, 1770-1855; Harris, Thaddeus Mason, 1768-1842. Travels west of the Alleghanies: made in 1793-96 by Andre Michaux, in 1802 by F.A. Michaux, and in 1803 by Thaddeus Mason Harris. A.H. Clark company Cleveland.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Icy beauty beyond snowflakes
The tension between geothermal warmth carried by groundwater and winter chill carried in Arctic air masses forms a delicate balance in the icy bridges that span groundwater fed streams in the Hocking Hills of southeast Ohio and in moist rocky ravines throughout the Midwest.
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| Fragile latticework of feathery ice bridging groundwater fed stream, Hocking Hills. |
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| Delicate radiating ice crystals interlock for accidental strength, suspended above flowing water. |
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Rocky outcrops, biodiversity hotspots
Bedrock outcrops in the Midwest are local biodiversity hotspots: Its the geology--the geoecology.
Outcrops along steep ravines and in monumental rocky landscapes force openings in forest canopies revealing the foundations of terrains and opening unique habitats; ecotones in the vertical dimension, landforms offering novel opportunities for unique living things--outcrop ecosystems. Bedrock controls include: increased surface area, increased harborage in rocky openings, extremes of moisture and dessication from moist low seeps to elevated sun-parched rock faces, recesses and aspects permanently shaded, groundwater chemistry not buffered by soil, and groundwater's energy inputs and impacts--warming and increasing humidity in winter and evaporative cooling in summer.
Erosion-resistant rock outcrops obtain steep inclines that surrender soil cover, litter and duff, to unrelenting gravity. Even as a cliff face slowly weathers and erodes, newly exposed bedrock renews the outcrop. New cracks and crevices, cavities and rocky shelters open. Outcrops outlast forests and stream channels, they sustain lasting habitats in changing modern landscapes. Outcrops offer abundant stable spaces and surface area supporting life processes, they are riddled with openings exploited by living things dependent upon access to geothermal energy and moisture or shelter. Outcrops open epilithic (rock surface) niche opportunities. Outcrops catalyze biodiversity. Outcrops are ecosystem multipliers.
Bedrock outcrops offer endolithic (interior rock) niche opportunities exploited by diverse microorganisms, from algae living in tiny spaces in the rock surface, to microorganisms in deep rock, to extremophiles--bacteria species living among sand grains millimeters below the surface of sun-baked southern rock exposures. Endolithic life is barely explored by modern investigators. The sandstone image below captures more than a spider. The gray, green, and blue hues and the bits and flakes that are not sand grains, are living things; algae, fungi, lichens, plus unseen microorganism diversity. The surface abundance only hints at the subsurface abundance. Extremophile bacteria have been found deep inside rocks of many types. The stability of geothermally supported micro-ecosystems in bedrock interiors and bedrock recesses support micro-biodiversity hotspots. The impact of endolithic life on larger ecosystem elements; plants, insects, animals, is a new field of inquiry. Does endolithic bacteria fuel independent shallow rock ecosystems that interact with exterior sun-supported ecosystems?
Groundwater, along with the thermal energy impacts it holds, moves under gravity toward local base levels intersected by bedrock outcrops. Permeable rock delivers the moisture and its energy impacts to bedrock openings and outcrop surfaces through pour spaces in permeable layers and zones, through cracks and crevices and through rock joints, the large cracks that fissure entire bedrock formations. Soft permeable layers conduit moisture to the rock surface while tightly cemented resistant layers impede water movement and protrude from the outcrop face, lending surface texture and casting shade over moist recesses, large and small.
Conserve bedrock outcrops,* insist that forest buffer zones surround outcrops in logged landscapes, insist that substantial undisturbed bedrock buffers surround outcrops near anthropogenic bedrock exposures in quarry operations.
*Bedrock is revealed in naturally occurring outcrops along streams, ravines, and promontories, and by anthropogenic exposures excavated along roadsides and railroads and in quarries. Naturally occurring outcrops support outcrop ecosystems.
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| Black Hand Sandstone outcrop, southern aspect, Hocking County, Ohio. A harsh vertical environment tackled by epilithic (rock surface) life forms, and more. |
Outcrops along steep ravines and in monumental rocky landscapes force openings in forest canopies revealing the foundations of terrains and opening unique habitats; ecotones in the vertical dimension, landforms offering novel opportunities for unique living things--outcrop ecosystems. Bedrock controls include: increased surface area, increased harborage in rocky openings, extremes of moisture and dessication from moist low seeps to elevated sun-parched rock faces, recesses and aspects permanently shaded, groundwater chemistry not buffered by soil, and groundwater's energy inputs and impacts--warming and increasing humidity in winter and evaporative cooling in summer.
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| Black rat snake escaping September heat on a double-stack Eastern Phoebe nest in a recess under a nature bridge formed by Sharon Sandstone, Pike County, Ohio. |
Bedrock outcrops offer endolithic (interior rock) niche opportunities exploited by diverse microorganisms, from algae living in tiny spaces in the rock surface, to microorganisms in deep rock, to extremophiles--bacteria species living among sand grains millimeters below the surface of sun-baked southern rock exposures. Endolithic life is barely explored by modern investigators. The sandstone image below captures more than a spider. The gray, green, and blue hues and the bits and flakes that are not sand grains, are living things; algae, fungi, lichens, plus unseen microorganism diversity. The surface abundance only hints at the subsurface abundance. Extremophile bacteria have been found deep inside rocks of many types. The stability of geothermally supported micro-ecosystems in bedrock interiors and bedrock recesses support micro-biodiversity hotspots. The impact of endolithic life on larger ecosystem elements; plants, insects, animals, is a new field of inquiry. Does endolithic bacteria fuel independent shallow rock ecosystems that interact with exterior sun-supported ecosystems?
 |
| Cobweb spider anchored with its egg sack inside a pebble cavity in a Sharon Sandstone outcrop in January, Lake Katherine State Nature Preserve, Jackson County, Ohio. |
Groundwater, along with the thermal energy impacts it holds, moves under gravity toward local base levels intersected by bedrock outcrops. Permeable rock delivers the moisture and its energy impacts to bedrock openings and outcrop surfaces through pour spaces in permeable layers and zones, through cracks and crevices and through rock joints, the large cracks that fissure entire bedrock formations. Soft permeable layers conduit moisture to the rock surface while tightly cemented resistant layers impede water movement and protrude from the outcrop face, lending surface texture and casting shade over moist recesses, large and small.
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| Long-tailed salamander prowling a moist sandstone ravine ledge during a warm morning in Wayne National Forest. |
Conserve bedrock outcrops,* insist that forest buffer zones surround outcrops in logged landscapes, insist that substantial undisturbed bedrock buffers surround outcrops near anthropogenic bedrock exposures in quarry operations.
*Bedrock is revealed in naturally occurring outcrops along streams, ravines, and promontories, and by anthropogenic exposures excavated along roadsides and railroads and in quarries. Naturally occurring outcrops support outcrop ecosystems.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Ninth warmest year since 1880
2012 recorded the ninth warmest global temperature since 1880--anyone surprised?
Hot off the press: NASA's annual global temperature measurement analysis finds that 2012 joined the top ten hottest years on record, taking ninth place.
Sadly, these announcements surprise no one. The personal experience and the expectations of most everyone center on measurable increasing warmth year after year.
It will be BIG news if and when we have a cool year that falls outside the top ten. Don't hold your breath. Get used to the hot air. Before you can mix up a cool drink, the counter-claims of conspiracy and poor science will hit the news cycle, take it over, and overwhelm the science with doubt in a cloud of noxious gas.
Global responses toward ameliorating CO2 inputs and adapting to inexorable warming are held hostage by the burgeoning Chinese economy screaming, It's our turn. Like you, we will fuel growth with cheap coal!
Economic interests in the West need no better excuse to stall cooperation through global agreements.
Adaptations to warmth and to weather extremes will be big business, soon!
Hot off the press: NASA's annual global temperature measurement analysis finds that 2012 joined the top ten hottest years on record, taking ninth place.
WASHINGTON -- NASA scientists say 2012 was the ninth warmest of any year since 1880, continuing a long-term trend of rising global temperatures. With the exception of 1998, the nine warmest years in the 132-year record all have occurred since 2000, with 2010 and 2005 ranking as the hottest years on record.A week earlier we heard that North America had exceeded its heat record again, 2012 was the warmest year measured in Yankeedom since measurements began in the 1880's. More importantly, the level of temperature anomaly greatly exceeded any year on record.
 |
| Coolest and warmest years since 1895, USA |
Sadly, these announcements surprise no one. The personal experience and the expectations of most everyone center on measurable increasing warmth year after year.
It will be BIG news if and when we have a cool year that falls outside the top ten. Don't hold your breath. Get used to the hot air. Before you can mix up a cool drink, the counter-claims of conspiracy and poor science will hit the news cycle, take it over, and overwhelm the science with doubt in a cloud of noxious gas.
Global responses toward ameliorating CO2 inputs and adapting to inexorable warming are held hostage by the burgeoning Chinese economy screaming, It's our turn. Like you, we will fuel growth with cheap coal!
Economic interests in the West need no better excuse to stall cooperation through global agreements.
Adaptations to warmth and to weather extremes will be big business, soon!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Black Hand Sandstone terrains, scenery and refugia
Soft hemlock boughs swathe coarse sandstone walls throughout Black Hand Sandstone terrains in eastern Ohio. The Hocking Hills (Hocking County), the most extensive outcrop area of this sandstone, offers some of the best of this unique scenery.
The Black Hand Sandstone forms unique ravine and gorge topography, here and there, wherever it outcrops in central eastern Ohio counties trending north-south from the hills surrounding Mansfield, Ohio and the Mohican Gorge parks region in Richland and Ashland Counties, south to the Hocking Hills region in Hocking County and northern Vinton County. Ohio state parks and natural areas, Mohican State Park, Blackhand Gorge State Nature Preserve, and Hocking Hills State Park, offer rewarding access to beautiful scenery year 'round. Our favorite scenery is formed by the gigantic rock shelter at Ash Cave in Hocking Hills State Park. Nearby Rock House is a blast for kids and parents together.
Winter is a great time to find open vistas. Every winter, giant icicles gleam along seeps and delicate streamside ice crystal formations can be found near ravine heads. Uncommonly cold and wet winters in Ohio produce extraordinary ice formations wherever water flows along or seeps from Black Hand Sandstone formations. Rarely, giant frozen waterfalls connect cliffs to bottoms with giant columns of ice.
Black Hand Sandstone terrains offer much more than great scenery, unique qualities make Black Hand Sandstone terrains important refugia for plants and wildlife including disjunct populations of northern breeding bird species, Canada Warbler is a beautiful example.
All bedrock outcrops offer epilithic (stone surface) niche opportunities for unique living things from bacteria extremeophiles living among sand grains millimeters below the surface of sun-baked southern rock exposures, to abundant clinging lichens adapted to dry and moist rocky surfaces, to ancient liverworts' colonies plastering dripping moist recesses under rock overhangs, to mosses and ferns of ledges including fibrous-rooted spleenworts and cliffbrake ferns found clinging along the tiniest crevices. Beneath shady hemlock groves growing in the acidic sandstone soil of steep slopes or clinging to crags and rocky bluffs in Black Hand Sandstone terrains, moist ravine cliffs and headwalls mingle groundwater with atmosphere, significantly modifying the microclimates of ravines year 'round. Moist sandstone ravines are special places, they are local biodiversity hotspots.
Geologists describe this type of sandstone deposit as "massive" due to its tendency to form large uniform blocks of homogeneous sandstone. Narrow bands of pebbly sand called conglomerate, and cross-bedding of sand layers, and absence of marine fossils suggest the deposits originally collected in a sediment-choked braided stream environment.
Quartz sand forms the backbone of the stone, more than 90 percent of grains are composed of sturdy quartz, iron oxide cement holds most of the sand grains together forming the erosion resistant rock of the steep ravine walls and formations.
Geological weathering and erosion produced the scenery and rock features including the fine scale surface patterns of Black Hand Sandstone outcrops. Differential erosion; softer, poorly cemented lower levels of sandstone eroding more deeply than firmly cemented upper levels, caused formation of outcrop features, the overhangs and rock shelters and other large scale features of Black Hand Sandstone terrains. Weathering and grain by grain erosion of high angle surfaces of the sandstone outcrops forms intriguing honeycomb surface patterns. Both the large scale features and the honeycomb surface patterns result from properties inherent in the sandstone bedrock.
The Black Hand Sandstone is porous and permeable, groundwater moves through it: groundwater is key. Groundwater dissolves and moves minerals in solution through the matrix of the permeable bedrock toward lower crevices, seeps, and rock surfaces. Near open water where humidity is high condensation moistens rock surfaces. Abundant moisture from rain, groundwater, and condensation dissolves and carries away the bedrock's mineral cement ions, drop by drop, and where evaporation outpaces flow, it redeposits oxides and sulfides among the sand grains of exposed surfaces.
Evaporating water delivers much of the magic. Evaporation of mineral rich ground water, moved through the bedrock matrix by gravity and by capillarity, leaves behind surface precipitated mineral coatings on exposed surface grains. Ions leave solution as surface moisture evaporates and must recrystallize as precipitate between surface sand grains. The push of millions of ions drawn into crystal lattice positions around grains of sand is powerful. Collectively, this pressure of crystallization wedges sand grains outward loosening them from the rock surface, water and wind under gravity carry the dislodged grains away, one by one. Freezing water between sand grains obtains the same result during winter freeze-thaw events, though freeze-thaw processes are far less important at the small scales of sand grains. This grain by grain erosion process deflates stone faces and forms the intriguing honeycomb weathering patterns* common on steep rock surfaces in Black Hand Sandstone terrains. This unique grain by grain erosion process is called granular sapping. Constant sapping, aided by seasonal freeze-thaw loosening rock layers (called spalling) and blocks of stone (slump blocks), under gravity, carves the topography and unique features of Black Hand Sandstone terrains.
The characteristic U-shape, high walls and flat bottoms, of deep ravines of Black Hand Sandstone terrains is a result of differential erosion processes: the downward cutting by ravine streams is outpaced by the sapping and slumping of ravine walls once the ravine bottom becomes choked with sandy sediment. This pattern repeats in numerous ravines, a unique and interesting landscape phenomenon.
Evaporation does much more, evaporation at seeps and along surfaces of steep walls cools air and raises humidity in ravines during summertime. During winter, groundwater warmth ameliorates the chill in ravines. This microclimate influence supports uncommon biological diversity. More on the Black Hand Sandstone refugia in future posts...
More on sandstone terrains in GeoEcology
More on sandstone terrains at our blog Earth InsightCache
*Honeycomb weathering is commonly called tafoni. Tafoni results from weathering processes on steep to vertical surfaces of granular stone where humidity is sustained in splash zones or where surface and groundwater mingle. Tafoni is common in coastal areas where it forms as a result of salt weathering, recrystalization of salt from sea spray on surfaces of granular rock particles. Inland sandstone provinces form tafoni due to recrystalization processes supported by groundwater movement and by humidity-driven mobilization of mineral solutions on granular stone surfaces in microclimates of some outcrops.
 |
| Contorted hemlocks cling to Black Hand Sandstone walls. |
The Black Hand Sandstone forms unique ravine and gorge topography, here and there, wherever it outcrops in central eastern Ohio counties trending north-south from the hills surrounding Mansfield, Ohio and the Mohican Gorge parks region in Richland and Ashland Counties, south to the Hocking Hills region in Hocking County and northern Vinton County. Ohio state parks and natural areas, Mohican State Park, Blackhand Gorge State Nature Preserve, and Hocking Hills State Park, offer rewarding access to beautiful scenery year 'round. Our favorite scenery is formed by the gigantic rock shelter at Ash Cave in Hocking Hills State Park. Nearby Rock House is a blast for kids and parents together.
Winter is a great time to find open vistas. Every winter, giant icicles gleam along seeps and delicate streamside ice crystal formations can be found near ravine heads. Uncommonly cold and wet winters in Ohio produce extraordinary ice formations wherever water flows along or seeps from Black Hand Sandstone formations. Rarely, giant frozen waterfalls connect cliffs to bottoms with giant columns of ice.
Black Hand Sandstone terrains offer much more than great scenery, unique qualities make Black Hand Sandstone terrains important refugia for plants and wildlife including disjunct populations of northern breeding bird species, Canada Warbler is a beautiful example.
All bedrock outcrops offer epilithic (stone surface) niche opportunities for unique living things from bacteria extremeophiles living among sand grains millimeters below the surface of sun-baked southern rock exposures, to abundant clinging lichens adapted to dry and moist rocky surfaces, to ancient liverworts' colonies plastering dripping moist recesses under rock overhangs, to mosses and ferns of ledges including fibrous-rooted spleenworts and cliffbrake ferns found clinging along the tiniest crevices. Beneath shady hemlock groves growing in the acidic sandstone soil of steep slopes or clinging to crags and rocky bluffs in Black Hand Sandstone terrains, moist ravine cliffs and headwalls mingle groundwater with atmosphere, significantly modifying the microclimates of ravines year 'round. Moist sandstone ravines are special places, they are local biodiversity hotspots.
 |
| Honeycomb weathering. |
Quartz sand forms the backbone of the stone, more than 90 percent of grains are composed of sturdy quartz, iron oxide cement holds most of the sand grains together forming the erosion resistant rock of the steep ravine walls and formations.
Geological weathering and erosion produced the scenery and rock features including the fine scale surface patterns of Black Hand Sandstone outcrops. Differential erosion; softer, poorly cemented lower levels of sandstone eroding more deeply than firmly cemented upper levels, caused formation of outcrop features, the overhangs and rock shelters and other large scale features of Black Hand Sandstone terrains. Weathering and grain by grain erosion of high angle surfaces of the sandstone outcrops forms intriguing honeycomb surface patterns. Both the large scale features and the honeycomb surface patterns result from properties inherent in the sandstone bedrock.
The Black Hand Sandstone is porous and permeable, groundwater moves through it: groundwater is key. Groundwater dissolves and moves minerals in solution through the matrix of the permeable bedrock toward lower crevices, seeps, and rock surfaces. Near open water where humidity is high condensation moistens rock surfaces. Abundant moisture from rain, groundwater, and condensation dissolves and carries away the bedrock's mineral cement ions, drop by drop, and where evaporation outpaces flow, it redeposits oxides and sulfides among the sand grains of exposed surfaces.
Evaporating water delivers much of the magic. Evaporation of mineral rich ground water, moved through the bedrock matrix by gravity and by capillarity, leaves behind surface precipitated mineral coatings on exposed surface grains. Ions leave solution as surface moisture evaporates and must recrystallize as precipitate between surface sand grains. The push of millions of ions drawn into crystal lattice positions around grains of sand is powerful. Collectively, this pressure of crystallization wedges sand grains outward loosening them from the rock surface, water and wind under gravity carry the dislodged grains away, one by one. Freezing water between sand grains obtains the same result during winter freeze-thaw events, though freeze-thaw processes are far less important at the small scales of sand grains. This grain by grain erosion process deflates stone faces and forms the intriguing honeycomb weathering patterns* common on steep rock surfaces in Black Hand Sandstone terrains. This unique grain by grain erosion process is called granular sapping. Constant sapping, aided by seasonal freeze-thaw loosening rock layers (called spalling) and blocks of stone (slump blocks), under gravity, carves the topography and unique features of Black Hand Sandstone terrains.
The characteristic U-shape, high walls and flat bottoms, of deep ravines of Black Hand Sandstone terrains is a result of differential erosion processes: the downward cutting by ravine streams is outpaced by the sapping and slumping of ravine walls once the ravine bottom becomes choked with sandy sediment. This pattern repeats in numerous ravines, a unique and interesting landscape phenomenon.
Evaporation does much more, evaporation at seeps and along surfaces of steep walls cools air and raises humidity in ravines during summertime. During winter, groundwater warmth ameliorates the chill in ravines. This microclimate influence supports uncommon biological diversity. More on the Black Hand Sandstone refugia in future posts...
More on sandstone terrains in GeoEcology
More on sandstone terrains at our blog Earth InsightCache
*Honeycomb weathering is commonly called tafoni. Tafoni results from weathering processes on steep to vertical surfaces of granular stone where humidity is sustained in splash zones or where surface and groundwater mingle. Tafoni is common in coastal areas where it forms as a result of salt weathering, recrystalization of salt from sea spray on surfaces of granular rock particles. Inland sandstone provinces form tafoni due to recrystalization processes supported by groundwater movement and by humidity-driven mobilization of mineral solutions on granular stone surfaces in microclimates of some outcrops.
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