ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE

Japan Whaling Back In Business

Hunters have set sail to go whaling as the country withdraws its participation from the International Whaling Commission.

Carbon Dioxide Emissions May Trigger a Devastating Reflex in the Carbon Cycle, Study Finds

Surpassing a “carbon threshold” could lead to mass extinction. Daniel Rothman, professor of geophysics and co-director of the Lorenz Center in MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, has found that when the rate at which carbon dioxide enters the oceans pushes past a certain threshold - whether as the result of a sudden burst or a slow, steady influx - the Earth may respond with a runaway cascade of chemical feedbacks, leading to extreme ocean acidification that dramatically amplifies the effects of the original trigger.

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