“New Study by Left Says Climate Change is “Greatly Overestimated”

“Climate models have greatly overestimated the solar radiation actually reaching the Southern Ocean, largely because they are not capable of correctly simulating clouds.“

New Study by Left Says Climate Change is “Greatly Overestimated”

ANTI-DRILLING/FOSSIL FUEL | INDUSTRYWIDE ISSUES | RESEARCH

December 18, 2024

“The science is settled on climate change” is not so settled after all. Researchers in Spain have found that global emissions of a sulfur gas produced by marine life have a previously unknown cooling effect on temperatures. It has long been known that oceans capture and redistribute the sun’s heat. However, there is more to the story. A study published Nov. 29 in the journal Science Advances noted that oceans, notably in the Southern Hemisphere, produce gases known as marine sulfur. And one of these gases, methanethiol, influences the climate in a way that has gone unnoticed. Until now. The study finds that our fear over the planet’s health may be “greatly overestimated” given the cooling effects of methanethiol.

The methanethiol discovery will help create more accurate climate models. So much for “settled” science with respect to “climate change.”

Adding weight to this study is that it was published by the University of East Anglia, the university that was caught red-handed in lying about (overstating) climate change back in 2009—the so-called Climategate episode. So, this research and its publication by leftwing scientists makes it all the more remarkable.

We have several articles to share and a copy of the study.

First up, from the StudyFinds website:

When it comes to climate change, a new study finds that our fear over the planet’s health may be “greatly overestimated.” For the first time, researchers have found oceans help cool global temperatures more than anyone previously thought.

Specifically, sulfur gas produced by marine life emits a second compound that significantly cools the planet. The discovery will help create more accurate climate models and provide another tool to slow global warming.

With almost three-fourths of Earth covered by oceans, the waters capture and redistribute the Sun’s heat. The latest study in Science Advances shows the process goes much deeper than that. The oceans also create sulfur gases that create particles to cool the Earth, such as brightening clouds that reflect heat.

The new compound released from sulfur gas is known as methanethiol. It has not been detected before because it is extremely hard to measure. Additionally, much research has been done on warmer oceans, while polar oceans are the emission hotspots. Microscopic plankton living on the seas’ surfaces emit a type of sulfur gas known as dimethyl sulphide. This gas is the one responsible for the stinky smell in shellfish.

Once sulfur gas reaches the atmosphere, it oxidizes and produces small particles called aerosols. These aerosols reflect solar radiation back into space, lowering the heat on Earth.

Plankton also releases methanethiol. The authors quantified the amount of methanethiol released into clouds over the Southern Ocean and observed an even greater cooling effect. The cooling impact on the climate is bigger than expected and works the opposite of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, which absorb heat.

“This is the climatic element with the greatest cooling capacity, but also the least understood. We knew methanethiol was coming out of the ocean, but we had no idea about how much and where. We also did not know it had such an impact on climate,” says Dr. Charel Wohl, a researcher at the University of East Anglia’s Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, in a media release. “Climate models have greatly overestimated the solar radiation actually reaching the Southern Ocean, largely because they are not capable of correctly simulating clouds. The work done here partially closes the longstanding knowledge gap between models and observations.”

The authors note that the new research helps create more accurate climate models, refining their understanding of the ocean’s role in cooling the planet. These models include those that predict what would happen to the Earth when the global temperature rises by 1.5 ºC or 2 ºC, with results influencing current climate change policies.

The researchers grouped up all measurements of methanethiol in seawater and added them to measurements made in the Southern Ocean and the Mediterranean coast. Using seawater temperature collected from satellite data, they then used statistics to calculate their results. Yearly, methanethiol increases marine sulfur emissions by 25%.

“It may not seem like much, but methanethiol is more efficient at oxidizing and forming aerosols than dimethyl sulfide and, therefore, its climate impact is magnified,” says Dr. Julián Villamayor, a researcher at the Blas Cabrera Institute of Physical Chemistry in Spain.

The team also added marine methanethiol emissions to a climate model to measure their effects on the planet’s radiation. The impact is more visible in the Southern Hemisphere, where there are more oceans and fewer humans burning fossil fuels. While sulfur aerosols are important in cooling the planet, the authors note that human behavior will determine whether the planet continues to warm.

Paper Summary

Methodology

The research team embarked on a comprehensive study of methanethiol (MeSH), a little-known sulfur compound in the ocean. They collected seawater samples from diverse marine regions, including the Atlantic Ocean, Nordic Seas, Northeast Pacific, Southern Ocean, and Mediterranean Sea. By carefully measuring the concentrations of MeSH and dimethyl sulfide (DMS) in these samples, the researchers developed a sophisticated statistical model to predict MeSH concentrations.

This model took into account various environmental factors such as sea surface temperature, water depth, and chlorophyll concentration. After creating global maps of MeSH emissions, they used an advanced climate model called CAM-Chem to simulate how this compound interacts with the atmosphere.

Key Results

The study uncovered fascinating insights into ocean chemistry and climate regulation. Researchers discovered that MeSH, previously overlooked, is a significant player in the Earth’s climate system. This compound represents approximately 19% of ocean-emitted sulfur compounds, and when incorporated into climate models, it increases atmospheric sulfur by 34%.

The Southern Ocean emerged as a particularly important region for MeSH emissions, especially during summer months. The most groundbreaking finding was MeSH’s role in creating more reflective aerosols, which can help cool the planet by reflecting sunlight back into space.

Study Limitations

The team acknowledged the scarcity of historical data on MeSH concentrations, with most measurements taken during the summer months. Their global emissions estimates relied on statistical models, which inherently carry some uncertainty. The researchers also recognized potential variations in the chemical reaction rates and MeSH production by marine microorganisms. These limitations don’t invalidate the research but provide important context for understanding the study’s scope and potential areas for future investigation.

Discussion & Takeaways

The study challenges previous understanding of how oceans regulate climate. It reveals that MeSH is more than just a simple byproduct – it’s an important climate agent. The research suggests that ocean microorganisms produce a more complex array of sulfur compounds than scientists previously believed. By including MeSH in climate models, researchers might better explain existing discrepancies in Southern Ocean climate simulations.

The findings lend additional support to the long-standing CLAW hypothesis, which proposes that marine life plays a crucial role in climate regulation through the emission and transformation of volatile sulfur compounds.

Funding & Disclosures

This international research effort was supported by a diverse array of funding sources, including the European Research Council, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, Argentine research institutions, the US National Science Foundation, Alfred Wegener Institute, French research programs, and the Indian Ministry of Earth Sciences. Despite the multiple funding sources, the researchers emphasized their commitment to scientific integrity by declaring no competing interests.

The study was a collaborative effort involving researchers from multiple international institutions, with a special acknowledgment to Ron Kiene, a pioneering researcher in marine sulfur compounds. (1)

From Bonner Russell Cohen, Ph.D., a senior policy analyst with the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT):

Putting another nail in the coffin of the mantra that “the science is settled on climate change,” researchers in Spain have found that global emissions of a sulfur gas produced by marine life have a hitherto unknown cooling effect on temperatures.

It has long been known that oceans capture and redistribute the sun’s heat. But there is more to the story. A study published Nov. 29 in the journal Science Advances noted that oceans, notably in the Southern Hemisphere, produce gases known as marine sulfur. And one of these gases, methanethiol, influences the climate in a way that has gone unnoticed.

Microscopic plankton living on the surface of the oceans “produce sulfur in the form of a gas, dimethyl sulphide, that once in the atmosphere, oxidizes and forms small particles called aerosols,” the University of East Anglia (UEA) said in a news release.

“Aerosols reflect part of the solar radiation back into space and therefore reduce the heat retained by the Earth,” UEA explained. “Their cooling effect is magnified when they become involved in making clouds, with an effect opposite to, but of the same magnitude as, that of the well-known warming greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide or methane.”

The study is “Marine Emissions of Methanethiol Increase Aerosol Cooling in the Southern Ocean.” It is, UEA noted, based on measurements of methanethiol the researchers gathered in seawater, added those they had made in the Southern Ocean and the Mediterranean coast, “and statistically related them to seawater temperature, obtained from satellites.”

“Climate models have greatly overstated the solar radiation actually reaching the Southern Ocean, largely because they are not capable of correctly simulating clouds,” Charel Wohl, of UEA’s Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Science and one of the study’s lead authors, said. “The work here largely closes the longstanding knowledge gap between models and observations.” Wohl acknowledged that scientists knew that “methanethiol was coming out of the ocean, but we had no idea about how much and where. We also did not know it had such an impact on climate.” That effect is more visible in the Southern Hemisphere, UEA points out, where there is more ocean and less human activity.

“Until now we thought that the oceans emitted sulfur into the atmosphere only in the form of dimethyl sulphide, a residue of plankton that is largely responsible for the evocative smell of shellfish,” said Dr. Marti Gali, one of the study’s authors.

UEA is no stranger when it comes to breaking climate news. In November 2009, the university was embroiled in a scandal known as “Climategate.” UEA’s Climate Research Unit (CRU) was the source of a trove of emails “suggesting,” in the words of climatologist Patrick Michaels, “some of the world’s leading climate scientists engaged in professional misconduct, data manipulation and jiggering of both the scientific literature and climatic data to paint what scientist Keith Briffa called ‘a nice, tidy story’ of climate history.” It was never determined whether the emails were leaked or hacked, but they showed climate scientists colluding to suppress scientific findings questioning the narrative of manmade global warming. An investigation launched by UEA reached no definitive conclusions. But, as Michaels noted, the British university received generous climate-research grant money that gave it a disincentive to investigate the matter too closely.

UEA is still in the business of spreading climate alarm. While its press release on the Spanish study accurately summarizes its findings, it claims the study highlights “the magnitude of the impact of human activity on the climate and that the planet will continue to warm if no action is taken.” Yet it is the action that UEA insists be taken that that has crippled economies in the United Kingdom, Germany and elsewhere in Europe, and has led to soaring energy costs and undermined the stability of the electric grid in California, New York, Illinois and other states, where climate-centric energy policies have been adopted.

At the same time, the acknowledgement that there still are gaps in our understanding of the myriad variables that lie behind fluctuations in the Earth’s climate should give pause to those intent on imposing life-changing policies on the rest of us. Policies based on a still-evolving understanding of the climate and adopted with little regard for their consequences for ordinary people are an open invitation to calamity. (2)

Press release from the University of East Anglia:

Researchers have quantified for the first time the global emissions of a sulfur gas produced by marine life, revealing it cools the climate more than previously thought, especially over the Southern Ocean.

The study, published in the journal Science Advances, shows that the oceans not only capture and redistribute the sun’s heat, but produce gases that make particles with immediate climatic effects, for example through the brightening of clouds that reflect this heat.

It broadens the climatic impact of marine sulfur because it adds a new compound, methanethiol, that had previously gone unnoticed. Researchers only detected the gas recently, because it used to be notoriously hard to measure and earlier work focussed on warmer oceans, whereas the polar oceans are the emission hotspots.

The research was led by a team of scientists from the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC) and the Blas Cabrera Institute of Physical Chemistry (IQF-CSIC) in Spain. They included Dr Charel Wohl, previously at ICM-CSIC and now at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in the UK.

Their findings represent a major advance on one of the most groundbreaking theories proposed 40 years ago about the role of the ocean in regulating the Earth’s climate.

This suggested that microscopic plankton living on the surface of the seas produce sulfur in the form of a gas, dimethyl sulphide, that once in the atmosphere, oxidizes and forms small particles called aerosols.

Aerosols reflect part of the solar radiation back into space and therefore reduce the heat retained by the Earth. Their cooling effect is magnified when they become involved in making clouds, with an effect opposite to, but of the same magnitude as, that of the well-known warming greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide or methane.

The researchers argue that this new work improves our understanding of how the climate of the planet is regulated by adding a previously overlooked component and illustrates the crucial importance of sulfur aerosols. They also highlight the magnitude of the impact of human activity on the climate and that the planet will continue to warm if no action is taken.

Dr Wohl, of UEA’s Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences and one of the lead authors, said: “This is the climatic element with the greatest cooling capacity, but also the least understood. We knew methanethiol was coming out of the ocean, but we had no idea about how much and where. We also did not know it had such an impact on climate.

“Climate models have greatly overestimated the solar radiation actually reaching the Southern Ocean, largely because they are not capable of correctly simulating clouds. The work done here partially closes the longstanding knowledge gap between models and observations.”

With this discovery, scientists can now represent the climate more accurately in models that are used to make predictions of +1.5 ºC or +2 ºC warming, a huge contribution to policy making.

“Until now we thought that the oceans emitted sulfur into the atmosphere only in the form of dimethyl sulphide, a residue of plankton that is mainly responsible for the evocative smell of shellfish,” said Dr Martí Galí, a researcher at the ICM-CSIC and another of the main study authors.

Dr Wohl added: “Today, thanks to the evolution of measurement techniques, we know that plankton also emit methanethiol, and we have found a way to quantify, on a global scale, where, when and in what quantity this emission occurs.

“Knowing the emissions of this compound will help us to more accurately represent clouds over the Southern Ocean and calculate more realistically their cooling effect.”

The researchers gathered all the available measurements of methanethiol in seawater, added those they had made in the Southern Ocean and the Mediterranean coast, and statistically related them to seawater temperature, obtained from satellites.

This allowed them to conclude that, annually and on a global average, methanethiol increases known marine sulfur emissions by 25%.

“It may not seem like much, but methanethiol is more efficient at oxidising and forming aerosols than dimethyl sulfide and, therefore, its climate impact is magnified,” said co-lead Dr Julián Villamayor, a researcher at IQF-CSIC.

The team also incorporated the marine emissions of methanethiol into a state-of-the-art climate model to assess their effects on the planet’s radiation balance.

It showed the impacts are much more visible in the Southern Hemisphere, where there is more ocean and less human activity, and therefore the presence of sulfur from the burning of fossil fuels is lower. The work was supported by funding from organisations including the European Research Council and Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.

‘Marine emissions of methanethiol increase aerosol cooling in the Southern Ocean’, Charel Wohl, Julián Villamayor and Martí Galí et al, is published in Sciences Advance on November 27. (3)

Copy of the study unsettling the settled science of global warming:

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(1) StudyFinds/Jocelyn Solis-Moreira (Dec 10, 2024) – Climate change ‘greatly overestimated’? Oceans cooling Earth far more than we thought

(2) Daily Caller (Dec 6, 2024) – BONNER COHEN: Study: Marine Life In Oceans Has A Cooling Effect On Climate

(3) University of East Anglia (Nov 27, 2024) – Oceans emit sulfur and cool the climate more than previously thought