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Scientists Identify Another Source of Dangerous Greenhouse Gases: Reservoirs (popsci.com)
A team of researchers from Canada, Holland, China, the U.S. and Brazil "found that greenhouse gas emissions from man-made reservoirs were likely equal to the equivalent of one gigaton of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere every year...a little less than one-sixth of the United State's greenhouse gas emissions." An anonymous Slashdot reader quotes Popular Science:
A reservoir is usually created by damming a river, overflowing the banks and flooding the surrounding area, creating a man-made lake...the perfect conditions for microbes to generate greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane (a gas that is about 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide)... "When reservoirs are first flooded there's organic matter in the soil and vegetation that can be converted by microbes into methane and carbon dioxide," John Harrison, a co-author of the paper, tells Popular Science.
"Also, reservoirs because they are in line in rivers, they receive a lot of organic matter and organic sediment from upstream that can fuel the production of methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide." Harrison says that reservoirs also tend to occur in areas where fertilizers are used on the surrounding land. Runoff from those fertilizers into bodies of water can cause algal blooms that can also produce more methane and carbon dioxide.
If the world's reservoirs were a country, they'd be #8 on a list of polluters -- right behind Brazil, China, the EU and the U.S.
"Also, reservoirs because they are in line in rivers, they receive a lot of organic matter and organic sediment from upstream that can fuel the production of methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide." Harrison says that reservoirs also tend to occur in areas where fertilizers are used on the surrounding land. Runoff from those fertilizers into bodies of water can cause algal blooms that can also produce more methane and carbon dioxide.
If the world's reservoirs were a country, they'd be #8 on a list of polluters -- right behind Brazil, China, the EU and the U.S.
Wow, what a surprise. Once again, the EnvironmentaLuddites come out to announce yet another form of renewable energy is bad and evil. They hate wind because it kills "thousands" of birds, hate solar because it disorients birds, hydrothermal causes earthquakes, wave and tidal power kills fish, nuclear is the incarnation of Satan himself, and now, even though we're building dams to not kill migratory fish, they've found another reason why hydroelectric is evil. The greenies won't be happy until 90% if the population is dead and we're hunter-gatherers again.
FFS the planet is NOT going to die, there's nothing to 'save' it from. Evidence abounds proving there's been *huge* climate changes in the past prior to mankind doing jack shit like farming, storing water or cooking our meals the Earth has continued to live on and support life and will continue to do so despite a single degree shift in global temperatures. Animals, insects and plants will adjust and continue on like they have through greater changes the last several *Billion* years.
You need to be reminded that we are also indigenous to the planet and have every right to live on it just like every creature you mentioned.
If you feel like mankind must be removed from the planet then please prove the conviction of your position by starting with yourself.
~ People that think they are better than anyone else for any reason are the cause of all the strife in the world.