The eighth edition of the CO2 Newsletter, (Vol. 2, no. 2), published bi-monthly by American geologist William N. Barbat between 1979 and 1982, is now up. You can download a pdf and see the full text here.
The eight page issue has a front page story pointing out that “Polar Ice Caps: ‘Sword of Damocles’ to a Warming World.” The sword of Damocles is a Greek myth, where a sword, aimed at Damocles’ throat, is suspended by a very thin (and getting thinner) thread. It’s means a massive danger that might happen at any time. Like, er, now.
And here is the first two paragraphs
While the debate continues whether a warmer world climate will be better or worse on the whole, the anticipated destruction of glacial ice which is now perched above sea level can only bring a worldwide loss of coastal land areas.
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is considered to be the most vulnerable to a warming of the oceans and atmosphere in polar regions because the large ice streams which are grounded far below sea level are protected and buttressed by ice shelves whose temperatures are not far below freezing in summer.
The rest of the issue is the usual (as in superlative) mix of editorial, excerpts from recent reports and also a piece on hard versus soft energy paths.
Please do share these newsletters. They are horrifying indictments of our species’ inability to organise itself to respond to clear and present threats. Oh well, here we are fifty years later, at the beginning of the Fafocene.