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To: TimF who wrote (5184)11/27/2006 4:21:28 PM
From: one_less  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 10087
 
Global Warming Sinks

Greenhouse gases could go undersea.

By Anne Casselman

DISCOVER Vol. 27 No. 12 | December 2006 | Environment

The discovery of a vast lake of liquid carbon dioxide beneath the ocean floor off Taiwan has startled earth scientists and raised hopes for a new strategy against carbon dioxide–related global warming. That such a lake can even exist lends empirical support to a seemingly blue-sky proposal: Inject excess atmospheric CO2 deep into the ocean, where the high pressure would trap the gas in a liquid form.

Fumio Inagaki from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, who made the discovery, says the lake probably formed when carbon dioxide seeped out through the ocean floor from a deep-sea volcano and pooled under a blanket of solid, icelike CO2 hydrate and deep-sea sediment.

Researchers who have floated the idea of sequestering carbon-dioxide at the ocean bottom have worried that the submerged gas—which is damaging to cell membranes (as its use as a solvent in "green" dry cleaning attests)—could harm deep-sea organisms. But core samples from the newfound lake reveal a rich microbial life around its periphery. Moreover, finding a self-contained lake of carbon dioxide at a relatively shallow 4,600 feet below sea level "is highly suggestive that if you went down a further 4,900 feet you could actually inject liquid CO2 and it would be quite stable," says Ken Nealson, a geobiologist at the University of Southern California.



A hydrothermal field in the East China Sea holds the world's first known liquid CO2 lake (red star).



Carbon dioxide bubbles emerge from an entire lake of carbon dioxide under the floor of the East China Sea, apparently causing no harm to deep-sea organisms (above). Could oceans serve as storehouses for excess atmospheric carbon dioxide? The answer to global warming may lie beneath the ocean. (photo: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology)



To: TimF who wrote (5184)11/29/2006 11:55:12 AM
From: one_less  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 10087
 
China tells Pakistan to settle Kashmir and look for Asian solidarity to counter Western threats
Balaji Reddy
Nov. 25, 2006

China is clear in its vision 2015. It would like to see united India-China-Pakistan the three nuclear powers in Asia. Pakistan should not feel dominated either by India or China in the Asian strategic unity. Even a European style union is possible to counter the Western heavy weights.

China told Pakistan to look towards economic prosperity instead of old-fashioned land disputes with neighbors. China decisively distanced itself from Pakistan Kashmir ‘push’.

While the Kashmir issue has remained on the backburner during the current visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao, sections of Pakistani media felt that Hu was not forthcoming, as it might have been expected on the Kashmir issue where the Chinese support has been traditionally unequivocal. Asked what role China could play in resolving the Kashmir issue between Pakistan and India, Hu, addressing a joint press conference with President Pervez Musharraf, said that Pakistan and India were "China's close neighbors and Beijing sincerely hoped to see peace and stability in the subcontinent."

indiadaily.com