Canada Set To Miss Out On A Massive LNG Opportunity

By Alex Kimani - Aug 25, 2022, 7:00 PM CDT

• Despite Canada's huge gas reserves, the country does not own a single LNG export terminal.
• 
  
• Canada’s energy regulatory framework is notorious for scaring away oil and gas projects.
• 
  
• At current prices, just one facility for exporting superchilled gas could be adding nine figures to the Canadian GDP each day.

Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, dozens of Eurozone countries pledged to heavily cut Russian natural gas imports or halt them completely as soon as they could afford to. These countries took several aggressive measures to replenish their natural gas stockpiles ahead of the winter season, including reaching a political agreement to cut gas use by 15% through next winter. It’s, therefore, little wonder that Germany--the country’s worst hit by the Russian energy crisis-- is currently on a mad dash to secure alternate sources of gas before the onset of winter. But here’s the biggest irony of them all: Germany and Europe are more likely to secure future gas supplies from Mozambique, one of the world’s poorest nations with scant infrastructure, riddled with terrorism and located 8,140km away from Germany, than Canada, one of the biggest producers of the stuff, with more than a dozen potential LNG sites and a ‘mere’ 6,400km away.

Indeed, this might turn out to be one of the biggest missed opportunities in Canadian history considering that at current prices, just one Canadian port exporting superchilled gas could be adding nine figures to the Canadian GDP each day. 

Love-Hate Relationship

Canada is the planet’s fifth largest producer of natural gas and ranks 15th in the world for proven natural gas reserves. The country’s biggest problem simply is lack of infrastructure--and political goodwill.

It’s somewhat shocking to learn that Canada does not own a single LNG export terminal, with virtually all the country’s natural gas exports delivered to the United States via pipeline. It’s not for lack of trying though. In recent years, Natural Resources Canada says it has received proposals for 18 LNG export projects, including five on the East Coast. Currently, just one terminal is under construction, with a second not quite poised to break ground.

In sharp contrast, Mozambique is gearing up for a $100B LNG windfall, with the country poised to ship its first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) overseas at a time when prices have soared to record highs with Europe desperately trying to cut energy ties with Russia. 

According to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg, the BP-operated LNG tanker British Mentor was slated to arrive this week at a new floating terminal that Italian energy giant Eni S.p.A. is completing off Mozambique’s northern coastline. Eni has said that commissioning activities at the Coral-Sul FLNG vessel were progressing well, with first exports to be communicated in due course. The Italian company is already planning a second floating export platform in the southern African country that could be completed in less than four years. 

All that progress despite the fact that Mozambique has been plagued by terrorism, civil strife and rampant systemic corruption for decades, to a point where it has been unable to exploit its vast fossil fuel reserves leading to its status as the world’s third poorest nation.

You can blame this state of affairs on Canada’s love-hate relationship with fossil fuels.

Despite the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement in 1988, a sense of ambivalence towards fossil fuels prevails to this day. In the current geopolitical climate, oil and gas are both hated and adored. Hated because of their outsized role as the number one climate change pariah. Adored as an alternative source of natural gas, especially since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the attendant threat that Moscow might cut off gas supplies to Europe.

Back in March, Canadian Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson announced that Canada has the capacity to increase oil & gas exports by up to 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) by the end of this year to help improve global energy security. He also added that Canada is looking at ways it may be able to displace Russian gas with liquified natural gas (LNG) after requests for help from Europe. Currently, a Shell-led consortium is building a large LNG facility on the west coast at Kitimat which is due for completion around 2025, but the country exports zero LNG.

But it need not be this way. Canada’s energy regulatory framework is notorious for scaring away oil and gas projects, and in February turned down a $10-billion LNG export facility planned for Saguenay, Quebec largely on the grounds that it would increase greenhouse-gas emissions. All five of the now-languishing East Coast projects were in the planning stages as early as 2015 but have been held back by a hostile and byzantine regulatory climate.

At this stage, it’s not 100% clear whether Canada is ready to relax its attitude towards fossil fuels. 

Recently, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went on record saying that exporting LNG  from Canada’s east coast to Germany could ease Europe’s gas crunch: “It’s doable, we have infrastructure around that,” he said at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz though he failed to offer a timeline when asked for one. 

However, as Politico notes, doable doesn’t necessarily mean realistic, especially given that Europe wants to slash Russian gas purchases by two-thirds by the end of the year. 

In the same vein, Trudeau conceded that weak business cases have kept proposed export facilities from moving forward: “Right now our best capacity is to continue to contribute to the global market to displace gas and energy that then Germany and Europe can locate from other sources,” Trudeau has conceded.

Recent comments by Canadian gas producers are also quite telling. In an interview this week, Enbridge Inc. (NYSE: ENB) CEO Al Monaco hinted at Canada’s infamous industry red tape when he said the country needs to “get out of our own way when it comes to energy and building infrastructure.”

Perhaps not even sky-high natural gas and LNG prices are enough to persuade Trudeau's administration to change its stance on oil and gas. But as they say, you never really know, considering that the U.S. only began exporting LNG in 2016, and has managed to become the world’s leading LNG exporter in such a short space of time.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

Samarco mine disaster settlement talks irk Brazil officials as deadline approaches

Bloomberg News | August 24, 2022 

Reconstruction efforts at Samarco’s Fundão tailings dam in 2017. (Image courtesy of BHP)

The latest talks over a multibillion-dollar settlement for a 2015 mining disaster failed to yield a deal, with Brazilian officials signaling the two sides are still far apart with time running out.


“We don’t have an agreement and no perspective that we’ll have one,” Minas Gerais State Planning Secretary Luisa Barreto said in an interview Wednesday after a new round of conversations in Brasilia with representatives of the Samarco iron ore mine and its owners Vale SA and BHP Group.

Without saying how much the companies are offering, Barreto said their proposal falls short of the required environmental and social compensation for a tailings dam collapse that killed as many as 19 people and contaminated waterways in two states. Minas Gerais Attorney General Jarbas Soares Jr. said on Twitter that authorities won’t return to the negotiating table unless there’s a “minimally worthy” new offer.



The companies previously offered 52 billion reais ($10 billion), people with knowledge of the matter said earlier this month. That compares with a 155 billion-real public civil action for reparation.

Brazil’s Supreme Court President Luiz Fux has been acting as mediator in the renegotiation process after an initial arrangement failed to address many of the needs, with allegations of shortfalls in the foundation created to manage payments.

Fux has committed to resolving the case before stepping down on Sept. 9 in an attempt to give affected communities a clear framework for reparations and replace other lawsuits. After that, authorities would undertake the necessary measures to obtain reparations, Barreto said, without elaborating.

Samarco, Vale and BHP said they remain committed to repairing the damage caused by the dam collapse, and to the negotiation process. BHP said the Renova Foundation, which was created to compensate for and repair damages, has disbursed 23 billion reais and provided aid for more than 389,000 people.

Samarco has been under bankruptcy protection since April 2021 as it seeks an agreement with creditors.

The Inflation Reduction Act Falls Short On Emissions Regulation

By Leonard Hyman & William Tilles - Aug 25, 2022

• The inflation reduction act gives the EPA the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
• 
  
• Projections show that decarbonization of the US electric sector alone will cost over $4 trillion.
• 
  
• The electric sector will have to more than double capital spending starting literally tomorrow if it intends to reach decarbonization within 20 years.

When, early this year, the U.S. Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS)  throttled the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to reduce carbon emissions on the grounds that Congress should pass a law specifically addressing the problem, we imagine that lobbyists who worked for the electric utility industry, so assiduously skilled in delaying any climate action, took the cynical advice offered by the Financial Times’ resident PR expert, Rutherford Hall. He advised clients to “position fossil fuel stuff as concern about global energy security. Keep stressing the commitment to your long-term green goals even as you slide away from them.” (Financial Times, 21 August 2022, “Can I go back to being an uncaring boss yet?”) Of course, our utility executives pushed the need for a carbon bridge to the future driven by base load, gas-fired power plants— a supposedly “reasonable” glide path to lower CO2 emissions yet nothing that would cause disruption to a monopoly's business. But the idea, no doubt, was to remain plausibly “green” while stalling as long as possible.   

The brilliantly misnamed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), however, specifically gives the EPA the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. It also provides a raft of subsidies, loans, and tax breaks (several hundred billion dollars over 10 years) to hasten and enable the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. However, projections show that decarbonization of the US electric sector alone will cost over $4 trillion. To us, that means the electric sector will have to more than double capital spending starting literally tomorrow if it intends to reach decarbonization within 20 years. The recently passed IRA won’t pay for this job, but it will pay to develop new technology, some of which will work, and it will encourage more demand for electricity (via increased penetration of electric vehicles, as an example). It might also lead to some spectacularly unsuccessful loans, too. But keep in mind the old bank loan officer maxim: if you don’t have any bad loans, you haven’t made enough loans.  

So, let’s look at the IRA act’s impact on the ability of the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases (GHGs). In terms of regulatory or statutory enhancements, Congress did amend the Clean Air Act (specifically section 135) to specifically affirm the EPA’s authority to regulate GHGs like CO2. And this probably strengthens the agency’s regulatory authority in the future. But the IRA did nothing to reverse the impact of the recent Supreme Court decision in W.Va vs EPA. The high court stated the EPA lacked authority to require a broad, economy-wide shift to cleaner sources of power generation. Thus far there has been no change to this ruling. And the EPA received no new authority to regulate power plant-specific emissions.

We view the above as the “Manchin compromise”. Senator Manchin, an ardent coal advocate and Democrat from W. Va, ultimately supported a bill to name a problem - greenhouse gases - while providing little enforcement authority for the EPA with respect to coal-fired power plants, ensuring the status quo for a bit longer. No conventional big coal-fired plant in West Virginia has gone into service since 1980, and there is no rush to build more. So it looks like a wait as the plants age out, and produce a lot of carbon dioxide in the meantime. 

The industry was counting on a slow slide into decarbonization, set for a date beyond the retirement of its current top executives and it might still get its wish, but we don’t think that schedule will hold, because servicing the demands caused by the implementation of IRA will look too much like the next big thing to ignore.

By Leonard Hyman and William Tilles for Oilprice.com

Environmentalists Have Turned On The Lithium Industry

By Felicity Bradstock - Aug 25, 2022

• The global minerals and metals market is expected to explode over the next decade as the energy transition takes place, and lithium is set to lead the way.
• As the lithium industry grows, the environmental concerns associated with it are gaining more attention and could provide a significant headwind for producers.
• The lithium industry will need significant investment if it is to keep up with demand and will need to focus on solving its environmental issues if it is to maintain its current positive image.

The world is preparing for a lithium boom, mainly due to the anticipated increase in EV production and uptake over the coming decades. Several celebrities and tech billionaires are backing lithium mining in a bid to support a green transition. In addition, many countries are rapidly developing their mining capabilities to establish their place in the global minerals and metals market, which is expected to expand significantly over the next decade. 

However, environmentalists are concerned with the damage the rapid expansion that mining operations could cause to the environment. In addition, a spate of viral social media posts has brought negative attention to a mineral that the public knows little about, beyond hearing it in the context of lithium-ion batteries. If we are to expect substantial development in the lithium industry in the coming years, greater awareness must be raised around the minerals industry so producers and manufacturers can gain public support and encourage consumer market expansion. Furthermore, mining and energy companies must address environmental concerns to ensure their operations are in line with the aims of a green transition, as countries and companies around the world strive for net-zero and to do less environmental harm.

In 2021, Australia was the biggest miner of lithium, producing 55,000 metric tonnes, with reserves totaling around 5.7 million metric tonnes. It was followed by Chile, which produced 26,000 metric tonnes, China, Argentina, Brazil, Zimbabwe, and Portugal. Although these figures could shift significantly as Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia invest heavily in the development of a lithium triangle in South America. 

Argentina accounts for around 21 percent of the world’s lithium reserves, and while it’s relatively new on the scene compared to Chile, which already has a well-established lithium mining industry, it is now investing heavily in the sector. Greater demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and lithium-ion batteries for electronic products is expected to lead to a lithium boom, with international pressure for a boost in mining activities already mounting. At present, Argentina has two lithium mines in operation, but a further 13 are planned with dozens more under consideration, making it the world’s largest lithium pipeline. 

The International Energy Agency (IEA) anticipates a 40-fold increase in lithium demand by 2040. Traditionally, lithium mines require a two-year-long evaporation process, where lithium is separated from salty brines. At present, the production of one metric tonne of lithium requires 500,000 gallons of water, with Chile’s lithium mining consuming around 65 percent of the region’s water. However, several mining firms are investing in the development of alternative methods that require less time and water to be used in the extraction process, through direct lithium extraction (DLE), to make it more profitable and less harmful to the environment.  

As mining firms and governments around the world invest in expanding their lithium operations, many question whether there is enough of the mineral to produce the number of batteries required to achieve net zero. Estimates suggest that around 2 billion EVs need to be produced to reach this goal. Lithium production totaled around 90.7 million kg worldwide last year, and one EV battery holds around 8kg of lithium. Meanwhile, global reserves are thought to total around 22 million tonnes (20 billion kg). Approximately enough lithium to manufacture 11.4 million EV batteries was produced in 2021. If all of the world’s lithium were used for EVs, it could contribute to the production of around 2.5 billion batteries. However, it will also be used for several other lithium-ion battery-powered devices, from laptops to mobile phones. This presents a huge challenge to the development of the number of batteries required in the coming decades. 

While several prominent public figures are backing lithium mining, such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk, environmentalists around the globe are concerned about what impact the rapid development of the lithium industry may have on the environment. The huge amount of water required in lithium production is concerning for areas without an abundant water supply. Produced on salt flats of Chile, campaigners worry that mining may take vital water resources away from local communities, flora, and fauna. In addition, the artificial ponds used in production leach lithium, which could potentially contaminate community water supplies.

Further, a recent viral social media post showing the bright colors of artificial lithium ponds came with the statement: “This is what your Electric Car batteries are made of. It is so neuro-toxic that a bird landing on this stuff dies in minutes. Take a guess what it does to your nervous system? Pat yourself on the back for saving the environment.” While viral posts criticizing energy operations are no new thing, it is a concern when the public has little knowledge of the energy source, meaning their judgment can be easily swayed. At a time when governments should be educating the public on the importance of a green transition and the types of energy and mineral resources that will be used in that transition, instead, we are seeing an increasing level of misinformation. With the rollout of EVs requiring consumer interest in investing in battery-powered cars instead of ICE vehicles, this is worrying. 

The lithium boom is nigh, and yet there is still a long way to go to make it a reality. Not only is a major investment required to mine the levels of lithium needed to support a major green revolution, but greater public education campaigns must be carried out to increase consumer understanding of the new commodities entering the market. Further, mining and energy firms will have to fund greater research and development to improve environmental practices, while addressing concerns to gain greater project approval worldwide. 

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

Energy Executives Warn The UK Could Face Civil Unrest As Power Bills Rise

By ZeroHedge - Aug 25, 2022, 

• Soaring electricity costs could leave many Brits unable to afford their bills this winter.
• Energy bosses are warning that the UK could face mass civil unrest/
• Energy bills are set to soar to £6,522 by next April, a level that threatens to push a third of the country into poverty.

Energy executives in the UK have warned the government that the country faces the prospect of mass civil unrest as a result of people being unable to afford their heating and electricity bills this winter.

The government is being asked to approve “radical” COVID-style bailouts for small businesses which face total ruination as a result of soaring energy costs.

“Energy company bosses have warned ministers they fear civil unrest if nothing is done to cushion the blow of rising bills,” reports the Telegraph.

One senior industry figure said that when people “realize how bad this is going to get,” they could take their anger to the streets in the form of violent demonstrations.

The comments are similar in nature to those made by campaigner Tom Scott, who is urging people to refuse to pay their bills, and says social disorder is on the horizon.

“There was a major riot in London [in 1990],” said Scott, referring to the poll tax riots.

“That’s not something I would like to see, but I think it’s almost inevitable that unless the Government does take much more effective action to help people, there will be widespread civil unrest.”

Despite the warnings, Prime Minister Boris Johnson continues to insist that Brits should maintain their support for ‘the current thing’ – by prolonging the war in Ukraine.

“We also know that if we’re paying in our energy bills for the evils of Vladimir Putin, the people of Ukraine are paying in their blood,” said Johnson.

“And that’s why we know we must stay the course. Because if Putin were to succeed, then no country on Russia’s perimeter would be safe, and… (that) would be a green light for every autocrat in the world that borders could be changed by force,” he added.

Even as many Brits struggle to pay for basic necessities, with food inflation also soaring, Johnson just approved a further £54 million of taxpayer money to be sent to Ukraine to buy new weapons systems.

Energy bills are set to soar to £6,522 by next April, a level that threatens to push a third of the country into poverty.

“Consultancy Auxilione said the price cap will be three times the current limit of £1,971-a-year,” reports the Daily Mail, with bills having been closer to £1,000 a year before the start of the war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the UK continues to pursue disastrous ‘net zero’ green energy policies that are unfit for purpose while refusing to allow fracking, which would solve the country’s energy crisis in a heartbeat.

Perhaps many Brits will choose to keep warm this winter by lighting fires on the streets instead of paying their heating bills at home.

By Zerohedge.com

Chile warns area around sinkhole at high risk of further collapse


SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chilean authorities warned that the area around a copper mine where a sinkhole suddenly appeared is at high risk of further collapse and has set up a security perimeter.

 A sinkhole is exposed close to Tierra Amarilla town, in Copiapo

© Reuters/STRINGER

Government agencies and the mine's owners are studying what caused the appearance in late July of the mysterious hole that spans 36.5 meters (120 feet) in diameter.

The area is at high risk of further cracks or sinking near the Alcaparrosa mine, about 665 km (413 miles) north of Santiago, the Committee for Disaster Risk Management of Chile's northern Atacama region determined on Saturday night.

"Considering that the said scenario presents a threat to the life and physical integrity of people, access to said zone has been restricted until the technical studies warrant it," the emergency office said on its website 

https://www.onemi.gov.cl/informate/se-declara-perimetro-de-seguridad-por-amenaza-de-subsidencia-comuna-de-tierra-amarilla-region-de-atacama/

Canada's Lundin Mining Corp owns 80% of the property, while the remaining 20% is held by Japan's Sumitomo Metal Mining and Sumitomo Corp.

Although the government has accused the mining company of being responsible for the phenomenon through overexploitation of the deposit, a senior executive of the company recently told Reuters that further studies are needed to determine its origin.

Related video: Giant sinkhole opens up in Chile

Duration 0:47 View on Watch

Operations at the mine remain suspended.

Both the government and the company have said that so far no danger has been detected to the nearby town of Tierra Amarilla.

(Reporting by Fabian Cambero; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

More study needed to explain origin of Chile sinkhole, says Lundin unit president
Reuters | August 25, 2022 | 

Sinkhole at the Alcaparrosa mine. (Image by Sernageomin, Twitter).

Multiple factors could have caused a sinkhole near a copper mine in Chile owned by Canada’s Lundin Mining, the president of the miner’s local unit said, disagreeing with a government assessment that it was likely responsible for the phenomenon.


Chile’s environmental regulator SMA last week issued a series of measures against the Ojos del Salado mine, run by Lundin’s local unit, alleging its “over-extraction of material” could have caused the sinkhole.

Ojos del Salado’s president, Luis Sanchez, said the assessment only takes into account nearby mining activity, which alone could not explain the formation of the sinkhole that has grown to a diameter of 36.5 meters (39.9 yards).

“This phenomenon is clearly due to multiple factors in our opinion and in order to elucidate the origin it is necessary to analyze all these factors,” said Sanchez in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday.

The executive said Lundin had conducted its own geophysical, topographic, hydrographic and other studies.

“While it is true that we cannot be sure of the cause, we can indicate through these studies that there are relevant factors like soil composition, climatic episodes like 2017 mudslides, July’s rains and, of course, the mining activity under the sinkhole,” he said.

Chile will apply harsh sanctions to those responsible for the huge sinkhole that appeared in late July in the mining area in the country’s north, Mining Minister Marcela Hernando said earlier this month.

Sanchez said Lundin’s studies show the subsoil in the area has a clay-calcareous composition, which “could have caused a progressive degeneration” that leads to sinkholes.

Sanchez also pointed to heavy rains two weeks prior to the sinkhole’s formation that in three days dropped more precipitation than in 2017, last decade’s wettest year.

Lundin owns 80% of the mine near the sinkhole, and 20% is held by Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining and Sumitomo Corp.

Sanchez said Lundin has not been notified of any sanctions or responsibility over the sinkhole and continues to work on studies requested by Chile’s environmental regulator SMA.

(By Fabián Andrés Cambero; Editing by Tom Hogue)

The 1.5 Billion Year Old Discovery That Sat Deep In A Canadian Mine

Michael Dawson - Yesterday 

GRUNGE

Back in 2013, something groundbreaking was discovered by researchers. Approximately 1.5 miles beneath the surface in Timmins, Ontario, Canada at the Kidd Mine, rocks containing trapped water were recovered and analyzed. As National Geographic explains, this wasn't any ordinary water, however, as it was soon discovered that it was over a billion years old. That's a fairly long time for water to be trapped somewhere, which means it might contain some sort of geological or biological record of Earth from eons ago. The study of ancient, unearthed microbial communities is a fascinating one, as it helps paint a picture of how life developed and lived on the planet before humans existed. But even bigger than that is that it could actually tell scientists if life on other planets is possible.


abandoned mine in timmins ontario© Lester Balajadia/Shutterstock

Flash forward to 2022 and researchers have actually found even older water. As the BBC reports, researchers at the same mine were able to find even older water. How much older? According to estimates, it is around 500 million years older. But how was this discovery even made? What does it say for the future of science? And what could it potentially reveal about the Earth and other planets like Mars?

How The World's Oldest Water Was Found


Photo of isotopes and Iodine© pang_oasis/Shutterstock

Determining the age of water depends on a few scientific methods, which had to be developed over time. As the Los Angeles Times explains, the researchers behind the oldest water basically measured noble gas isotopes captured within the substance. Here is a quick science lesson for those who may not have attended chemistry class. As Britannica states, an isotope is essentially when two or more atoms have the same element and atomic number, which is essentially the amount of protons that an atom has in its nucleus, thus determining its periodic table position (per a separate Britannica entry). Isotopes will generally have extremely similar chemical behavior, though can differ in physical properties and in their atomic mass.

This was a big reason why researchers were able to measure the age of the water. As National Geographic reports, noble gases ( which are gases with low reactivity and lots of stability) allowed scientists to investigate the number of years that the water was underground. From this noble gas analysis, researchers were able to conclude that little mixing occurred between the surface and the trapped water.
Ancient Water Tastes Horrible


Cenote in Mexico with water© ecstk22/Shutterstock

Many questions come to mind when one thinks about the world's oldest water. For example, what kind of bacteria or other forms of life might be present in the water. As The Indian Express states, chemolithotrophic microbes have been found in incredibly ancient water deposits, like those found in Kidd Mine. This raises significant questions about whether life can survive even the most extreme of conditions, like those on Mars. These discoveries are crucial to the scientific understand of life in the extreme and just might help scientists learn more about potential life elsewhere in the universe.

A less serious, more playful question, however, is this: How does ancient water taste? For those who had high hopes that it would be like liquid ambrosia, consider them crushed. As the Los Angeles Times reports, ancient water tastes very awful and quite salty. Unlike modern water, it's far less palatable. Barbara Sherwood, a University of Toronto researcher, told the Los Angeles Times that she tasted it on more than one occasion, which led to her startling findings. Here's hoping that will be the first and last time someone attempts to drink it.

A second asteroid may have struck Earth after the one that killed the dinosaurs

Matthew Rozsa, Salon
August 26, 2022

Asteroid hitting Earth (Solarseven / Shutterstock)

Approximately 66 million years ago, an asteroid collided with Earth and caused a mass extinction known as the Cretaceous–Palaeogene (K-Pg) extinction. This event — which, among other things, wiped out the dinosaurs — is one of the most important in geological history. After all, how often do giant asteroids from outer space slam into our planet?

As it turns out, perhaps more often than you think. Indeed, if the theory posited by a new study in the journal Science Advances is correct, it is entirely possible that a second asteroid collided with Earth at roughly the same time as the one that we already know about. That could have huge implications for explaining the history of the evolution of life on Earth.

The known asteroid — that is, the one that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs — landed in what is now the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, and left an impact site known as the Chicxulub crater. The speculative asteroid would have landed in what is now West Africa's Guinea Plateau and left what is known as the Nadir crater, which is located more than 1,300 feet beneath the sediments of the sea.

"At the moment, we cannot definitively state that this is an impact crater – we cannot do that until we recover physical samples of shocked minerals (formed at extreme pressures) from the crater floor by drilling," Uisdean Nicholson, an assistant professor at Heriot-Watt University, told Salon by email. Yet the evidence, Nicholson said, was persuasive: "the geophysical characteristics are, however, very compelling and hard to explain any other way," he added.

So are the two meteors related? Were they perhaps part of the same chunk of matter, riven in two some time before striking Earth?

Nicholson's team has a number of hypotheses about how the Nadir crater may be related to the Chicxulub crater. One possibility is that a "flux of asteroids" may have been caused by an earlier collision in the asteroid belt, and these two impacts were merely part of that. Or, the second impact could be unrelated — "part of the background asteroid cratering process that has occurred through Earth history," Nicholson says. Moreover, given that Nicholson's team acknowledges an uncertainty window of "around 1 million years," the asteroid may not have even collided with Earth at the same time as the one that killed the dinosaurs.

"The geophysical characteristics are, however, very compelling and hard to explain any other way."

"Distinguishing between these hypotheses will require us to obtain high-precision dates from the crater, again only possible through scientific drilling," Nicholson concluded.

Nicholson was clear that, even if a second smaller asteroid hit Earth at the same time as the famous one, "it would have been dwarfed by the effects of Chicxulub." Yet that doesn't dwarf the potential significance of Nicholson's find.

"The discovery of a terrestrial impact crater is always significant, because they are very rare in the geologic record," Mark Boslough, a research professor in Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of New Mexico, told CNN. (Boslough was not involved in the study.) "There are fewer than 200 confirmed impact structures on Earth and quite a few likely candidates that haven't yet been unequivocally confirmed."

Perhaps that is why — regardless of what other scientists learn about the Nadir crater once they are able to drill — Nicholson was able to recall a feeling of joy when he realized what had been discovered.

"You realize that, for just a few moments, you are the only person who knows this and understands the implications," Nicholson told Salon. "But you also want to share it and test the idea. I was so excited by this discovery that I abandoned most of my other responsibilities and wrote a proposal to go and drill it straight away — submitted a few months later (back in April 2021), but then went back to do the modeling and write the paper while we matured that."

Nicholson added, "I should also note that this was really serendipity – I wasn't looking for craters when I came across this. But the more data/information you look at, the more chance that you get lucky."

Arctic has not been as warm as today in over 7,500 years, study says
DPA
August 25, 2022

Ice sheet float on the water of the Arctic Ocean. The Arctic has never been as warm in the last 7,500 years as it is today, a study published on Thursday in the journal Nature Communications declared. 

picture alliance / dpa

The Arctic has never been as warm in the last 7,500 years as it is today, a study published on Thursday in the journal Nature Communications declared.

The scientists used an analysis of the annual growth rings of trees going back to the year 5618 BC to "find the industrial-era warming to be unprecedented in rate and to have elevated the summer temperature to levels above those reconstructed for the past seven millennia."

The reconstruction of the climate was possible because erosion on the Yamal Pennisula has unearthed ancient tree trunks, the annual rings of which can be used to read summer temperatures, which impact a tree's growth.

More than 3,500 tree trunks have been exhumed in Siberia, with 1,425 of them analysed in the study.