Satellites cast their wide gaze
At night, on the bright Bakken blaze;
Bright as a large, sparkly city,
Up close, it’s not quite as pretty.
What fate might this appetite bring?
In government halls, squabbles ring.
Key to the carbon debate
Is the last Termination’s change rate.
What’s our scenario worst?
Was warming or CO2 first?
New ice core studies profess
A 200-year lag — or less.
A puzzle to solve ere we burn:
The process of compacting firn.
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Further reading:
Synchronous Change of Atmospheric CO2 and Antarctic Temperature During the Last Deglacial Warming, Parrenin et al., Science 2013
Leads and Lags at the End of the Last Ice Age, Brooks, Science 2013
Study of Ice Age Bolsters Carbon and Warming Link, Gillis/NYT 2013
A Mysterious Patch Of Light Shows Up In The North Dakota Dark, Krulwich/NPR 2013
The New Oil Landscape, Dobb/National Geographic 2013
This is one in a series of poems based on science news, written by Katherine Allen, a researcher in geochemistry and paleoclimate at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. First posted 3/1/13 on Allen’s website.
