How then, do we move backwards? How does a society, with most of the people having no clue of future events, move from being dependent on a vast and intertwined network of goods and services produced by the indigenous people of whereever, to a local resource and renewable energy based society, and do so in the timeframe available (20-30 years using the most liberal extimates, 10-20 with resonable estimates, 5-10 with worst case scenarios), all the while prices on everything increasing, world politics getting more militaristic, governments continuously reducing civil liberties, shortages of goods on the market and weather patterns resembling bad Hollywood movies?
Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 6:13 pm Post subject: Re: Global Warming News links
Graeme and Iaato back to back. This is like coming out of
Graeme's high tech, stainless steel, sauna and jumping
into the Iaato arctic snow. It is at first exhilarating and
tingly but then you realize you are in trouble and your
gadget is frozen. Right as you come to the realization
that the gadget is not really going to save you the
bear happens along.
I think the planet is the root gadget and when it stops
working correctly the child process gadgets are pretty
much *** up on steroids with a cherry on top.
"Yeah, looks like the bears ate him all up except for that
Spongelike Air-Capture Gadget."
Joined: Mar 12, 2007 Posts: 821 Location: As close as I can get to the beginning of the pipe.
Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 6:43 pm Post subject: Re: Global Warming News links
hornofhubris wrote:
Graeme and Iaato back to back. This is like coming out of Graeme's high tech, stainless steel, sauna and jumping
into the Iaato arctic snow. It is at first exhilarating and
tingly but then you realize you are in trouble and your
gadget is frozen. Right as you come to the realization
that the gadget is not really going to save you the
bear happens along.
I think the planet is the root gadget and when it stops
working correctly the child process gadgets are pretty
much *** up on steroids with a cherry on top.
"Yeah, looks like the bears ate him all up except for that
Spongelike Air-Capture Gadget."
Ha. Welcome, Hubris. Yeah, then we'll take the dead polar bears that have wandered off and stick them in the phone booth, and spray them with chemicals, and preserve them for the Natural History Museum. Put them in deep freeze along with everybody's brains, and wait for technology to fix it all so we can live forever. We'll stick cherries on top of the phone booths, too. Give the bears something to eat when they wake from the dead. _________________ "For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst and provide for it." --Patrick Henry
Anchorage scored 8.2 on their scale. _________________ "For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst and provide for it." --Patrick Henry
Joined: Mar 04, 2005 Posts: 2542 Location: New Zealand
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 7:41 am Post subject: Re: Global Warming News links
Climate change: Is Branson the next Churchill?
Quote:
Richard Branson has called for a global ‘War Room’ to win the fight against climate change. But where are the leaders to fill it?
In an address at the United Nations General Assembly on 11 February, Richard Branson – no virgin in either politics or PR – formally put climate change and war on the same footing.
In order to fight climate change, the Virgin boss said, we needed to recognise that it was a war: “The first war that truly threatens almost all human life”. In a speech clearly intended to echo Sir Winston Churchill’s prescient 1934 warnings about the dangers of ignoring German rearmament before the Second World War, Branson proposed a number of measures.
These included the creation of a Global Warming “War Room”, which would include high-level representatives of government, business and civil society, and would be led by “someone of the stature of Churchill”. Its tasks would include encouraging innovative technological ideas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or adapt to climate change.
In some respects, however, Branson was probably not really concerned about details. One senses that his main concern was to throw down the gauntlet to government to show some sadly lacking initiative and institutional innovation.
Whether this is in the form of implementing existing emission reduction commitments, creating government ministries for climate change, providing state-backed support for the mass production of wind turbines and solar cells, or reprioritising international institutions, it seems increasingly clear that we’re still far from ready to combat climate change successfully.
ethicalcorp _________________ Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. H. G. Wells.
Fatih Birol's motto: leave oil before it leaves us.
Joined: Mar 04, 2005 Posts: 2542 Location: New Zealand
Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 8:32 pm Post subject: Re: Global Warming News links
CO2 emission reduction assumptions overly optimistic, says study
Quote:
Reducing global emissions of carbon dioxide this century is going to be more challenging than society has been led to believe, according to a new research commentary article appearing April 3 in Nature.
Recent changes in “carbon intensity” -- CO2 emissions per unit of energy consumption -- already are higher than those predicted by the IPCC because of rapid economic development, said lead author and CU-Boulder Professor Roger Pielke Jr. of the environmental studies program. In Asia, for instance, the demands of more energy-intensive economies are being met with conventional fossil-fuel technologies, a process expected to continue there for decades and eventually move into Africa.
Stabilization of atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and other greenhouse gases was the primary objective of the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change approved by almost all countries, including the United States, said Wigley.
“Stabilization is a more daunting challenge than many realize and requires a radical ‘decarbonization’ of energy systems,” said Wigley. “Global energy demand is projected to grow rapidly, and these huge new demands must be met by largely carbon-neutral energy sources -- sources that either do not use fossil fuels or which capture and store any emitted CO2.”
Calculations by the Nature authors show that at least two-thirds of the amount of carbon that has to be removed from the energy supply in order to stabilize atmospheric CO2 concentrations at roughly 500 parts per million is assumed to occur automatically by the IPCC authors. Atmospheric CO2 levels are currently at about 390 parts per million.
“In the end, there is no question whether technological innovation is necessary -- it is,” the authors wrote in Nature. “The question is, to what degree should policy focus explicitly on motivating such innovation?
greencarcongress _________________ Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. H. G. Wells.
Fatih Birol's motto: leave oil before it leaves us.
Last edited by Graeme on Mon Apr 07, 2008 12:17 am; edited 1 time in total
Joined: Mar 04, 2005 Posts: 2542 Location: New Zealand
Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 11:51 pm Post subject: Re: Global Warming News links
NY Sues EPA Over Global Warming Regulations
Quote:
New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, joining with the Attorneys General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and 15 other states has filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency, demanding that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) comply with the Supreme Court’s decision holding that the Agency has the authority to regulate global warming pollution under the Clean Air Act.
“Despite clear directions a year ago from the highest court in the land, the EPA has failed to move forward on combating global warming. The EPA’s foot-dragging would not be tolerated from any other defendant that failed to comply with a court order,” said Cuomo. “Global warming is one of the most critical environmental problems of our generation, posing huge risks to our environment, health, and economy, both globally and right here in New York. We all know that global warming is dangerous — it’s beyond dispute. But a year after the Supreme Court’s decision, the EPA refuses to acknowledge even this simple truth.”
northcountrygazette _________________ Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. H. G. Wells.
Fatih Birol's motto: leave oil before it leaves us.
Joined: Mar 04, 2005 Posts: 2542 Location: New Zealand
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 7:20 pm Post subject: Re: Global Warming News links
Harmful algae taking advantage of global warming
Quote:
You know that green scum creeping across the surface of your local public water reservoir" Or maybe it’s choking out a favorite fishing spot or livestock watering hole. It’s probably cyanobacteria – blue-green algae – and, according to a paper in the April 4 issue of the journal Science, it relishes the weather extremes that accompany global warming.
Hans Paerl, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Institute of Marine Sciences Professor and co-author of the Science paper, calls the algae the “cockroach of lakes.” It’s everywhere and it’s hard to exterminate – but when the sun comes up it doesn’t scurry to a corner, it’s still there, and it’s growing, as thick as 3 feet in some areas.
Warmer weather has also created longer growing seasons, and it’s enabled cyanobacteria to grow in northern waters previously too cold for their survival. Species first found in southern Europe in the 1930s now form blooms in northern Germany, and a Florida species now grows in the Southeastern U.S. Others have appeared recently places as far north as Montana and throughout Canada.
physorg _________________ Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. H. G. Wells.
Fatih Birol's motto: leave oil before it leaves us.
Last edited by Graeme on Thu Apr 03, 2008 8:30 pm; edited 2 times in total
Joined: Apr 28, 2005 Posts: 3302 Location: West shore Lake Eire, MI, USA
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 7:26 pm Post subject: Re: Global Warming News links
Graeme wrote:
Harmful algae taking advantage of global warming
Quote:
You know that green scum creeping across the surface of your local public water reservoir" Or maybe it’s choking out a favorite fishing spot or livestock watering hole. It’s probably cyanobacteria – blue-green algae – and, according to a paper in the April 4 issue of the journal Science, it relishes the weather extremes that accompany global warming.
Hans Paerl, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Institute of Marine Sciences Professor and co-author of the Science paper, calls the algae the “cockroach of lakes.” It’s everywhere and it’s hard to exterminate – but when the sun comes up it doesn’t scurry to a corner, it’s still there, and it’s growing, as thick as 3 feet in some areas.
Hans Paerl, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Institute of Marine Sciences Professor and co-author of the Science paper, calls the algae the “cockroach of lakes.” It’s everywhere and it’s hard to exterminate – but when the sun comes up it doesn’t scurry to a corner, it’s still there, and it’s growing, as thick as 3 feet in some areas.
Oh PUH-LEEZE! Everything that happens is NOT the result of Global Warming! The AVERAGE temp is barely up one degree Celsius, which is nothing compared to what the Tropics have day in and day out 24/7/365! Tropical resevoirs are not 'choked' by cyanobacterial algea! _________________ Oxygen: - An intensely habit-forming accumulative toxic substance. As little
as one breath is known to produce a life-long addiction to the gas, which addiction invariably ends in death.--Isaac Asimov
Joined: Mar 04, 2005 Posts: 2542 Location: New Zealand
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 8:39 pm Post subject: Re: Global Warming News links
Tanada, I have great respect for your contributions but in this instance I don't accept your criticism. The article is written by a professor of marine and environmental science and published in Science. Note he says that algae are now growing in northern waters. _________________ Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. H. G. Wells.
Fatih Birol's motto: leave oil before it leaves us.
Joined: Mar 04, 2005 Posts: 2542 Location: New Zealand
Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 5:03 am Post subject: Re: Global Warming News links
Global temperatures 'to decrease'
Quote:
Global temperatures this year will be lower than in 2007 due to the cooling effect of the La Nina current in the Pacific, UN meteorologists have said.
The World Meteorological Organization's secretary-general, Michel Jarraud, told the BBC it was likely that La Nina would continue into the summer.
This would mean global temperatures have not risen since 1998, prompting some to question climate change theory.
But experts have also forecast a record high temperature within five years.
BBC _________________ Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. H. G. Wells.
Fatih Birol's motto: leave oil before it leaves us.
Joined: Mar 04, 2005 Posts: 2542 Location: New Zealand
Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 11:43 pm Post subject: Re: Global Warming News links
World Health Day: The Hazards of Global Warming to Your Health
Quote:
As a result of global warming, mosquitoes, ticks, rodents and other vectors are expanding their geographic range and altering long-established patterns of disease. Climate changes worldwide are also causing serious problems with food and water supplies, increasing mental health concerns, and exacerbating air pollution, which elevates chronic disease risk.
Global temperature increases of 0.9°F (0.5°C) over the past century have led to an estimated 150,000 deaths and the loss of 5.5 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) annually, with the rates expected to double over the next several decades. The World Health Organization (WHO) has documented 39 new or re-emerging diseases since the 1960's, many linked to global warming -- an explosion of illnesses that has not been seen since the Industrial Revolution when masses of people moved to cities, increasing the spread of disease.
Changes to the earth's water supply have threatened populations around the globe with new diseases and sanitation concerns. 1.1 billion people worldwide lack safe drinking water and 2.6 billion people do not have access to adequate sanitation infrastructure. In the United States alone, more than 750,000 cases of diseases associated with unsafe drinking water occurred between 1980 and 1996. Moreover, changes in the quality and distribution of water in the aftermath of extreme weather events are linked to increased malnutrition and food poisoning, increased rates of child and infant mortality, and elevated morbidity and deaths from diarrheal diseases. Flooding, in particular, causes upsurges in rodent-borne illnesses, such as leptospirosis, tularemia, plague, viral hemorrhagic diseases and cholera.
Along with changes to water supplies and temperature patterns, global warming has dramatically affected the quality and safety of the very air we breathe. Air pollution is linked to 2 million deaths worldwide. Global warming enhances smog formation, which contributes to an increased risk for chronic diseases including lung cancer, heart disease, asthma and allergies (the rates of which have increased fourfold in the U.S. alone since 1980). Recent studies have found that carbon dioxide stimulates the production of pollen and of the spores of some fungi found in the soil. These allergens are carried into the lungs of humans by diesel particles found in urban areas, contributing to an increased risk for acute and chronic disease. These illnesses are further exacerbated by ground level ozone formation emanating from traffic emissions, increases in particulate matter, pollen and mold, and exposure to greenhouse gases like nitrous oxide. A study extrapolating the effects of air pollution suggests that a 1.8°F rise in temperature could increase global deaths by another 21,600 per year.
yahoo _________________ Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. H. G. Wells.
Fatih Birol's motto: leave oil before it leaves us.
Joined: Mar 04, 2005 Posts: 2542 Location: New Zealand
Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 12:24 am Post subject: Re: Global Warming News links
A Shift in the Debate Over Global Warming
Quote:
Leaders of the Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change — the scientists awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year with former Vice President Al Gore — have emphasized that market-based approach. All three presidential candidates are behind it. And it has framed international talks over a new climate treaty and debate within the United States over climate legislation.
But now, with recent data showing an unexpected rise in global emissions and a decline in energy efficiency, a growing chorus of economists, scientists and students of energy policy are saying that whatever benefits the cap approach yields, it will be too little and come too late.
The economist Jeffrey D. Sachs, head of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, stated the case bluntly in a recent article in Scientific American: “Even with a cutback in wasteful energy spending, our current technologies cannot support both a decline in carbon dioxide emissions and an expanding global economy. If we try to restrain emissions without a fundamentally new set of technologies, we will end up stifling economic growth, including the development prospects for billions of people.”
What is needed, Mr. Sachs and others say, is the development of radically advanced low-carbon technologies, which they say will only come about with greatly increased spending by determined governments on what has so far been an anemic commitment to research and development. A Manhattan-like Project, so to speak.
In an article in the journal Nature last week, researchers concerned with the economics, politics, and science of climate also argued that technology policy, not emissions policy, must dominate.
[see above]
Proponents of treaties and legislation that would cap emissions don’t disagree with this call to arms for new, low-carbon technologies. But they say the cap approach should not be ignored, either.
One of them is Joseph Romm, a blogger on climate and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a nonprofit group pushing for federal legislation to restrict greenhouse gases.
But Professor Pielke and his co-authors say that a recent rise in emissions — particularly in fast-growing emerging powers — points to the need for government to push aggressively for technological advances instead of waiting for the market to force reductions in emissions.
Mr. Sachs pointed to several promising technologies — capturing and burying carbon dioxide, plug-in hybrid cars and solar-thermal electric plants. “Each will require a combination of factors to succeed: more applied scientific research, important regulatory changes, appropriate infrastructure, public acceptance and early high-cost investments,” he said. “A failure on one or more of these points could kill the technologies.”
In short, what is needed, he said, is a “major overhaul of energy technology” financed by “large-scale public funding of research, development and demonstration projects.”
nytimes _________________ Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. H. G. Wells.
Fatih Birol's motto: leave oil before it leaves us.
Joined: Mar 04, 2005 Posts: 2542 Location: New Zealand
Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 10:21 pm Post subject: Re: Global Warming News links
'Revolutionary' CO2 maps zoom in on greenhouse gas sources
Quote:
A new, high- resolution, interactive map of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels has found that the emissions aren't all where we thought.
"For example, we've been attributing too many emissions to the northeastern United States, and it's looking like the southeastern U.S. is a much larger source than we had estimated previously," says Kevin Gurney, an assistant professor of earth and atmospheric science at Purdue University and leader of the project.
The maps and system, called Vulcan, show CO2 emissions at more than 100 times more detail than was available before. Until now, data on carbon dioxide emissions were reported, in the best cases, monthly at the level of an entire state. The Vulcan model examines CO2 emissions at local levels on an hourly basis.
"Ten years ago there might have been resistance to the notion of examining who is responsible for the CO2 emissions in such a visually detailed way," Gurney says. "However, what Vulcan makes utterly clear is that CO2 emissions cannot be exclusively affixed to SUV drivers, manufacturers or large power producers; everybody is responsible. We need to look for real solutions, and have a deeper discussion about energy use. It's not about politics. It's about doing good science and solving the problem, and we can all be a part of that."
physorg _________________ Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. H. G. Wells.
Fatih Birol's motto: leave oil before it leaves us.
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