Sediment Trapped Behind Dams Makes Them ‘Hot Spots’ for Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The large reservoirs of water behind the world’s 50,000 large dams are a known source of methane. Methane has a warming effect 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. That knowledge led to questions about hydroelectric power’s image as a green and nonpolluting energy source.
Climate Change Occurring Ten Times Faster Than at Any Time in Past 65 Million Years
The planet is undergoing one of the largest changes in climate since the dinosaurs went extinct. But what might be even more troubling for humans, plants and animals is the speed of the change.
Glacial Outwash Plain Shoreline, South-Central Iceland; By Albert C. Hine, Jon C. Boothroyd & Dag Nummedal
Iceland is an island hot-spot built up by abnormally high volcanic activity on the North Atlantic mid-ocean ridge probably resulting from a mantle plume that detached from the Earth’s outer core/mantle boundary millions of years ago.
Grenada, Museo Subacuatico Del Arte, off the coast of Cancún; By Jason deCaires Taylor
Grenada, is an image from Jason deCaires Taylor.