Israeli forest fire sign of climate change: study
Israel’s worst-ever forest fire earlier this month confirms predictions on the impact of global warming in the Mediterranean basin, according to one of Israel’s leading climate experts.
“The fire disaster in the Carmel Mountains near Haifa is a taste of the future,” Guy Pe’er, co-author of Israel’s National Report on Climate Change, said on Wednesday.
Nearly a decade ago, Pe’er and other scientists warned that warming would create conditions such as heat waves, decreased and delayed rainfall, leading to a higher risk of intense forest fires.
The recent four-day blaze, which destroyed some five million trees across 12,000 acres (4,800 hectares), arose from these very conditions, he said.
The national report predicted that a temperature increase of only 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to pre-industrial times would cause the region’s desert to expand northward some 300-500 kilometers (200-30 miles).
Without deep cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions, the temperature increase by century’s end will be closer to 3.0 C (5.4 F), scientists say.
In either scenario, such a change would spell the end of Mediterranean-type ecosystems in Israel, Pe’er said.
The fire that raged in the Carmel mountain range, which rises more than 500 metres (1,500 feet) above sea level, was preceded by eight months of drought and occurred during a heat wave with temperatures around 30 C.
Normally, first rainfall should have come in September or October, and the maximal daily temperature at this time of year should be around 15-20 C.
Pe’er, currently a fellow at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, said it would be decades before the region began to recover.
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently announced that 24 projects are receiving a total of $21 million in technical assistance to reduce the energy used in their commercial buildings.
This initiative, supported with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will connect commercial building owners and operators with multidisciplinary teams including researchers at DOE’s National Laboratories and private sector building experts. The teams will design, construct, measure, and test low-energy building plans, and will help accelerate the deployment of cost-effective energy-saving measures in commercial buildings across the United States.
Teams comprised of private sector experts and personnel from National Laboratories will help guide projects to achieve 30 percent measured energy savings in existing buildings and 50 percent energy savings in new construction projects. About half of the two dozen projects focus on energy efficiency upgrades for existing buildings. The three-year projects will provide business and technical case studies for publication, including actual energy performance data from the completed projects, to help spur adoption of energy-efficient building practices.
The projects are funded with a public/private cost-sharing agreement, where the building owners and operators contribute at least 20 percent. Building owners and operators do not receive direct funding through the project, but instead get access to state-of-the-art technical guidance to implement energy efficiency technologies throughout the design, construction, and evaluation phases of their building and retrofit projects. This technical expertise includes energy modeling and energy performance verification by laboratory researchers and private sector experts.
Three DOE National Laboratories-Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)-will manage the effort and provide technical assistance for the selected projects. The energy efficiency design goals for each project include returns on investment and must meet other business criteria established in collaboration with the partners.
Each project will receive technical assistance valued at between $200,000 and $1.2 million, depending on the scope and nature of the plan.
The World’s Best Green Technology?
Fluctuating energy prices, new regulations, employee satisfaction and market opportunities are prompting large and small businesses to adopt green technologies. But where do you get the most bang for your buck?
At the Palo Alto campus of SAP, the answer turns out to be videoconferencing. The company, as part of an overall energy retrofit, installed three telepresence systems from Cisco Systems in Palo Alto for a cost of $300,000. The units will save $300,000 in reduced travel costs in the first year alone. Besides that, they boost productivity.
“No one wants to fly every few weeks to Germany,” said Rami Branitzky, the managing director of SAP Labs North America. SAP has 28 installed worldwide and more could follow.Solid state lighting came in second place. SAP installed 337 LED fixtures from Lunera and connected them through a network from Redwood Systems. Total cost: $434,000. Annual savings: $80,000.
“It is the best business case except telepresence,” said Peter Graf, SAP’s chief sustainability officer.
Retrofitting the data center to run on DC power came in fourth place, right behind a $1.2 million solar array, but the best part has yet to come for DC. The retrofit””which largely revolved around installing a rectifier that can convert high voltage AC power from the grid into high voltage DC to run computers and storage equipment–cost $128,000 and saves $24,000 a year. (DC rectifiers save power by reducing the number of times power gets converted from AC to DC and vice versa before it powers a server””we’re huge fans of DC power these days).
That’s a 5.3 year payback. Overall, the DC data center reduces power consumption in the data center by 15 to 20 percent, said Branitzky.
Graf, however, added that SAP will study ways to deliver power from the solar array at the campus straight to the data center. Solar panels inherently produce DC power. A roof-to-computer rack could thus eliminate two more AC-DC conversions: solar DC power wouldn’t have to go through an inverter to become AC and the AC-DC rectifier at the data center gate could take a nap.Such as system could reduce power consumed by the data center by a total of 30 to 40 percent. SAP also installed technology from Sentilla and OSISoft in its data center to curb power. Meanwhile, a fleet of EVs and 16 chargers cost $250,000 and saves $21,000, a distant 12 year payback.
The retrofit””shown at an open house for customers, partners and reporters””helps SAP cut its own operating costs, but more importantly it will serve as a test bed to show what the company can accomplish for its customers. Like rivals IBM and Oracle, SAP wants to provide software and services that will help large corporations better manage their operations.
For years, SAP’s software mostly focused on parameters like factory productivity, cost-per-unit, etc. Now, the idea is to highlight building energy consumption, fuel costs and other direct and indirect factors tied to energy and resources. Right now, large companies largely estimate those figures through extrapolation. But in the future, soft drink managers will, ideally, be able to more easily mine data on changes to the water or fuel footprint of a canned soda over different energy pricing scenarios.
Regulations and rising energy costs are prompting large companies to try to better track resources. But price volatility is also a huge concern. In the last decade, commodity pricing has been 40 percent more volatile than it was in the previous decade, Graf noted. The uncertain future surrounding China’s exports of Rare Earth elements underscores the problem.
A number of start-ups participated in the retrofit: Lunera, Redwood Systems, Coloumb Technologies (car charging), Sentilla. Will these companies partner with SAP on larger corporate deals? Are they possible acquisition targets?
Don’t read too much into it, Graf cautioned me. Most of these companies make technologies that directly impact operations: their software helps control lights or manage data centers. SAP typically makes software that manages these management systems.
Still, SAP, like Oracle, IBM and Cisco, is a serial acquirer, so keep your eyes peeled.Results like this will vary with the circumstances. SAP is a multinational with an aggressive sales culture. It probably has more execs on the road in a given month than the U.S. military has people combing the ground in the Tora Bora region. Not everyone will see those results. (Cisco has dodged hundreds of millions in travel costs through video.) By contrast, anyone can benefit from solar. Still, the figures underscore that energy strategies can be fluid and unpredictable.
Farming the Future: GM Crops Recommended as Key Part of Obama’s “Evergreen Revolution”
Agricultural innovation has long sustained the world’s masses with an abundance of low-cost food, thanks to the success of the mid-20th century’s Green Revolution, which brought industrialization and high-yield grains to India, Mexico and many other developing countries.
A prosperous global population however, has blazed the way for burgeoning new mouths to feed that, by 2050, will nearly double food demand. At the same time, farmers face unprecedented challenges of climate change, high oil prices driving demand for biofuels, and rising costs of land and water.
The 2008 surge in food prices portended ominous and volatile times ahead. Just recently the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations warned of more food supply shocks in 2011.
While on his Asia tour in November, President Obama announced that the U.S. and India would create a partnership to “spark a second, more sustainable ‘Evergreen Revolution’”"”a sequel to the Green Revolution, an endeavor advanced previously by Nobel laureate Norman Borlaug.This intention to improve global agricultural productivity and extend food security to Africa is welcomed by former U.S. Department of Agriculture Chief Scientist and Undersecretary for Research, Education and Economics Gale A. Buchanan. And if the president’s plan is to have any “real, revolutionary” impact, he said, then it must capitalize on the value of genetically modified (GM) crops. In a November 11 keynote address at Sigma Xi’s “Food Safety and Security: Science and Policy” symposium, Buchanan charted out several examples of how GM crops could improve agricultural productivity.
Advocates argue that GM crops could also play an indispensable role in addressing the world’s most serious agricultural challenges like climate change.
“The world has got to accept genetically modified plants because not to is to fail to acknowledge one of the most important discoveries of the 21st century,” Buchanan said.
Critics argue otherwise. Some environmental activists raise concerns about displacement of biodiversity, jeopardizing native plants through cross-pollination or effects on wildlife. The Organic Consumers Association is concerned about health risks and commodity price manipulation by corporate giants such as Monsanto. According to a position statement from the Union of Concerned Scientists, GM foods may pose harm to human health or the environment. The organization calls for thorough risk assessment before introductions of all biotechnology products. Others cite the lack of long-term data on these and other possible impacts.
David Tribe of the University of Melbourne disagrees. The food scientist and safety expert is co-creator of Academics Review, a Web site that seeks to clear confusion about GM food safety by responding to unsubstantiated anti-GM claims. “Technological innovation is being straitjacketed by excessive and scientifically unjustified precaution. By delaying our ability to respond in time to climate change, it’s doing more harm than good,” he says.
Yet, the disagreement goes beyond questions about GM crop’s safety””they are really not what poor farmers in developing countries need. In Africa, for example, the tried-and-true technologies of the Green Revolution are still lacking, along with access to good roads and fertilizer.
GE Hits Target of $6 Billion in Renewable Energy Investments
It has become a trend over the last year for companies and governments to set renewable energy goals and targets, but meeting those targets has been an entirely different scenario. In this sense, with its latest announcement, GE Energy Financial Services , a unit of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), seems to be ahead of the curve.
GE has announced that it has hit its multi-year target of US$6 billion in renewable energy investments by the end of 2010.
With projects spanning 14 countries, 95 wind farms, 40 solar installations, six hydroelectric projects, 12 landfill gas facilities, and 15 projects involving other technologies, across a wide spectrum of capital, GE claims to have helped grow the US renewable energy manufacturing industry while reducing the world’s carbon footprint by 23 million tons a year.
The company has almost exclusively invested in states where policy supports renewable energy. Reaching their target was helped by the U.S. Treasury grant renewable energy created under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. With the grant’s expiration just three weeks away, the company is strongly urging US government to extend the program.
“Consistent policy provides the certainty investors need to provide long-term capital, which drives new technology and creates jobs,” said Kevin Walsh, managing director and leader of power and renewable energy at GE Energy Financial Services. “We are specifically calling on the US government to extend the US Treasury grant renewable energy program, which has played an important role in financing renewable energy projects during the past two years.”
Previous in TP Climate Progress
Language Intelligence: Lessons on persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga
Snowstorm brings down Metrodome roof
by Elizabeth Dunbar, Minnesota Public Radio,
Tim Nelson, Minnesota Public Radio
December 12, 2010
St. Paul, Minn. — The snowstorm that dumped more than 20 inches of snow on parts of Minnesota brought down the roof of the Metrodome on Sunday morning.
…
Witnesses, including the security director at the Holiday Inn Metrodome, said the roof is no longer visible above the dome’s concrete bowl.
“We went up to the 14th floor to look at it. It looks kind of like a big dish of sugar,” the director, Chris Cowles, said.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/12/12/snowstorm-sunday-metrodome-roof/
————————
I don’t know if this much snow is extreme for Minnesota and I don’t know if this snow is “just weather” or part of climate change.
GM crops are less capable to cope with climate change and at the same time they pose a significant long term threat to fertility and the human organism.
GM genes could be found in nearly all human organs and potential may combine with human DNA. It is impossible to assess the impacts without decades/centuries of study. For example one scenario is that artificial pesticide genes combine with human digestive bacteria and keep producing pesticides inside the human.
Further GM crops threaten native plant species, one recent study have shown that beside other statements GM genes travel throughout the entire continent and elsewhere due to globalization.
GM crops are less drought resistant, yield less and are a current/everlasting threat to the basics of nature.
I could imagine that some wacko thought out to manipulate crops to defuse the population growth time bomb – with so many ill-advised operations, this is particular of concern. Or it is just pure recklessness of an utopian dream to control nature.
The biggest potential of climate change adaptive species lies inside the native species spectrum and within the amazonian jungle and elsewhere. Everywhere where the climate changes conditions, evolution accelerates.
“The fire disaster in the Carmel Mountains near Haifa is a taste of the future,” Guy Pe’er, co-author of Israel’s National Report on Climate Change, said on Wednesday.
1 Kings 18: 20 – 21
So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions?
Climate warming on a personal scale (on front page of CBC for nation to share)
Panama mudslide devastates Winnipeg man
Last Updated: Saturday, December 11, 2010 | 6:35 PM CST Comments27Recommend35
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2010/12/11/mb-panama-mudslide-greg-coy-update-101211.html
Eliyahu, the Drought, Rain and Mt Carmel – A drought in Israel…. prayers for rain…. and fire on Mt. Carmel.
Hardly had he finished praying when a flame of fire came down from G-d and consumed the offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the earth, and licked up even the water that was in the trench. Seeing this, the amazed and overawed people prostrated themselves and exclaimed: “The L-rd He is G-d! The L-rd He is G-d!” Then, at Elijah’s command, they seized the prophets of Baal, led them to the brook of Kishon, and slew them, http://shiratdevorah.blogspot.com/2010/12/eliyahu-drought-rain-and-mt-carmel.html
More on the Metrodome
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that this was the third time the Metrodome roof has collapsed, most recently in 1983.
Steve Maki, the director of facilities and engineering for the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, told the Star Tribune that there were no structural concerns with the building, but that high winds prevented workers from removing snow before the roof fell in under the weight of it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/sports/football/13giants.html?_r=1&hp
Climate change or weather event?
This is not just a scientific distinction, but a perception which forms the definition.
A few months ago we were struggling with the concept of how to distinguish a climate driven event.
Well not anymore. Many of the extreme events now occurring in the latter half of this year are now being perceived by the public as caused by the warming climate. And rightly so.
A brief history of knowledge about Antarctic temperatures http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2010/12/a-brief-history-of-knowledge-about-antarctic-temperatures/
Feedback on Cloud Feedback by Andrew Dessler
I have a paper in this week’s issue of Science on the cloud feedback that may be of interest to realclimate readers. As you may know, clouds are important regulators of the amount of energy in and out of the climate system. Clouds both reflect sunlight back to space and trap infrared radiation and keep it from escaping to space. Changes in clouds can therefore have profound impacts on our climate.
A positive cloud feedback loop posits a scenario whereby an initial warming of the planet, caused, for example, by increases in greenhouse gases, causes clouds to trap more energy and lead to further warming. Such a process amplifies the direct heating by greenhouse gases. Models have been long predicted this, but testing the models has proved difficult.
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2010/12/feedback-on-cloud-feedback/
Re Mike, last winter heavy snow amounts, from cc induced precipitation uptake and the MSM reported
Snow causes multiple roof collapses around region
“This is one of our worst fears,” says D.C. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin. “If the roof systems begin to collapse it’s going to take a lot of resources and is going to be very difficult.”
Emergency workers have been called to a half dozen partial collapses of buildings in D.C. on Saturday, Piringer says.
Rubin says that there needs to be preventative maintenance done to roofs before major storms like this.
“A mere 250 gallons of water, which is not a lot of water, equals one ton of weight,” says Rubin.
The Archdiocese of Washington says the roof of St. John School in Hollywood, Md., collapsed destroying six classrooms, the computer lab, library and offices.
In Virginia, a hangar roof collapsed at the Dulles Jet Center around 8 a.m. Saturday morning, according to Rob Yingling, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority spokesman. http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1882549
I don’t know if this snow is “just weather” or part of climate change.
Mike, it’s just weather if you live in Minn. this week, it’s climate if you live in Minn. this year. That part of the country has been pounded with flooding rains for months on end. Now it is snow, but the continued dumping of water from the sky there hasn’t slowed one bit.
I fully expect to see one of these warm storms to come in, and rain all over that snow, then turn to freezing rain as it goes by. It rained for 36 hours in Fairbanks 3 weeks ago, 1 inch ice came at the end.
The exact same sort of storm 2 years ago today -
More Than a Million Without Power in New England After Ice Storm
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,465880,00.html#ixzz17v1FTCws
That’ll tear a snow plow up.
Another thing about these ice storms, we’re moving north. These ice events used to be much nearer the Gulf of Mexico. Now with the Great Lakes losing their ice cover & at record temps, that’s another water tap feeding into the system.
Leaked reports reveal US government pushing hard for GMOs in Africa
the main thrust seems to indicate a clear agenda by certain government agencies to take whatever steps necessary to expand GMO use both in Africa and around the world.
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/030683_GMOs_Africa.html
GMO canola contaminates majority of land on organic farm
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/030686_GMOs_canola.html
Obama’s Evergreen Revolution a ploy to push GMOs
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/030695_GMOs_Obama.html
Yeah well, weather and climate are just words. ..But the burning bush, wait a minute, what is the burning bush supposed to mean?
Climate Change will kill more people, in a shorter time frame then any human secret program could.
A population bottleneck (or genetic bottleneck) is an evolutionary event in which a significant percentage of a population or species is killed or otherwise prevented from reproducing.
Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins has postulated that human mitochondrial DNA (inherited only from one’s mother) and Y chromosome DNA (from one’s father) show coalescence at around 140,000 and 60,000 years ago respectively. In other words, all living humans’ female line ancestry trace back to a single female (Mitochondrial Eve) at around 140,000 years ago. Via the male line, all humans can trace their ancestry back to a single male (Y-chromosomal Adam) at around 60,000 to 90,000 years ago.[2]
This is consistent with the Toba catastrophe theory which suggests that a bottleneck of the human population occurred c. 70,000 years ago, proposing that the human population was reduced to perhaps 15,000 individuals[3] when the Toba supervolcano in Indonesia erupted and triggered a major environmental change. The theory is based on geological evidences of sudden climate change, and on coalescence evidences of some genes (including mitochondrial DNA, Y-chromosome and some nuclear genes)[4] and the relatively low level of genetic variation with humans http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_bottleneck
James Lovelock – Population Reduction “max 1 billion” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBUvZDSY2D0
Maybe the students of the world will see whats happening with climate change and get motivated…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/10/15yearold-goes-off-on-bri_n_795180.html
Lovelock’s optimism regarding greenland and nordic countries is flawed, because the entire northern hemisphere will be hardly more habitable, because of geosphere activity, clathrates outgassing and chaotic weather patterns.
“Our approach to existential risks cannot be one of trial-and-error. There is no opportunity to learn from errors. The reactive approach — see what happens, limit damages, and learn from experience — is unworkable. Rather, we must take a proactive approach. This requires foresight to anticipate new types of threats and a willingness to take decisive preventive action and to bear the costs (moral and economic) of such actions.”
Nick Bostrom
“We cannot rely on trial-and-error approaches to deal with existential risks… We need to vastly increase our investment in developing specific defensive technologies… We are at the critical stage today for biotechnology, and we will reach the stage where we need to directly implement defensive technologies for nanotechnology during the late teen years of this century… A self-replicating pathogen, whether biological or nanotechnology based, could destroy our civilization in a matter of days or weeks.”
Ray Kurzweil
http://lifeboat.com/
Biblical proportions, but it’s just the very beginning of what human lifestyle commit us to. Imagine your country had a leader who cites Genesis and concludes that climate change is a hoax.
Winter takes Israel by storm; services down, property damaged, flights disrupted
100 km/h winds and massive rains knock out trees and power throughout the country.
The Environmental Protection Ministry has issued an air pollution warning due to the sandstorms that the heavy winds originating in Egypt had whipped up. The ministry recommended that people with heart conditions, pregnant women and young children refrain from being outdoors for extended periods of time.
According to ministry estimates, the proportion of sand particles in the air is between three and four times the normal rate in the Tel Aviv area, and approximately eight times normal levels in Jerusalem.
A great deal of property damage was reported on the boardwalk in Tel Aviv, where large waves demolished whatever lay in their path. “I have lived on the ocean for 27 years, and what is happening right now is just crazy,” said Kinneret Avivi-Bloch, a resident of the marina in Tel Aviv.
“This is a hair breadth’s away from a catastrophe,” said her husband Amos Bloch. “We’re lucky that the marina is new. Before the renovations, the marina would not have stood up to this.”
Tel Aviv City Hall issued a public warning to residents to avoid the coastal area and the cliffs that line the length of it. “The city is unable to provide lifeguard services [at this time], therefore all lifeguard stations… will be closed until further notice.”
At this time efforts are being made to save the jetties, which are at risk of collapse due to the weather conditions. Many businesses on the beach had their windows smashed and suffered financial losses. Beaches from Tel Aviv to Jaffa are completely flooded.
Due to 100 kilometer per hour winds, traffic signals stopped working and fallen trees blocked roads in many places across the country. In Tel Aviv, outside the Dizengoff Center mall, a woman was injured when strong winds lifted her off the sidewalk and into the street, where she was struck by a passing taxi.
In the north of the country, strong winds blew a wall over onto three cars that were parked alongside it. No one was injured in the collapse.
The Electric Corporation reported power failures across the country, due to the weather conditions. Thousands of people in the areas of Hadera, Samaria, Petah Tikva, and other towns were cut off from electrical services. Power outages were also experienced on Saturday throughout the country.
In Acre, a house and a synagogue were flooded, with water reaching levels of up to half a meter high. Aid workers are evacuating residents and attempting to pump water out of the flooded buildings. http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/winter-takes-israel-by-storm-services-down-property-damaged-flights-disrupted-1.330229
Moldovan ship sinks in stormy weather off Israel coast http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1605130.php/Moldovan-ship-sinks-in-stormy-weather-off-Israel-coast-Roundup
6th december
Lebanese Army, Civil Defense contain most forest fires raging across country
Hariri calls for urgent meeting of ministers, officials to discuss issue at Grand Serail
Baroud said lack of rain has created tinder box conditions, which facilitates the proliferation of fires. “Global warming and extremely dried out soil are the main factors behind the weekend fires,” he said. Asked whether the scenario of arson was being examined, the interior minister said: “I really cannot tell but I have my doubts.” He said 120 fires erupting over a period of two days only “raises serious questions.”
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=122239
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
Google News does not report the following …
2nd december
As crazy as it might sound currently at 3.15am local time in Greece, Falasarna in Crete is recording an amazing 28C temperature!This beats even Athenean July minimums…
.
The HNMS graph indicates that Thessaloniki airport was around 24C today!This means that Thessaloniki has recorded an all time December record.Last record was 22.6C for Thessaloniki in December
.
10th december
Greece is affected by a cold front as we speak.Temps have dropped an amazing 10-12C as we speak and snow or sleet is a possibility tomorrow both for Thessaloniki and Athens
Mind you that Thessaloniki has not seen settled snow in its center for almost a decade now….
.
Here (Portugal) the opposite is happening. We were with very low temperatures and this week we are getting warmer.
.
Sleet for the centre of Athens with 2C now in Thiseio,while in the extreme north suburbs 500 altitude around 2-3cm of snow.The temperature drop was amazing in Athens from 19.3C at 1pm yesterday to 0.4C 3 hours ago….
.
That’s exceptional, indeed !
Athens went from summer to winter in less that 5 days !
http://www.ukweatherworld.co.uk/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=36147&start=101&posts=108
Freak weather in Greece fell after weeks of summer temperatures on the weekend snow especially in the south of the country. Even in central Athens on Saturday came the day again and again down snowflakes. In the country there was a drop in temperature of up to 20 degrees Celsius within 48 hours.
Even in Crete, where ruled two days ago another 25 degrees, it snowed on the mountains. In the mountainous hinterland of the tourist towns of Rethymnon and Heraklion had to be used to save sick and hikers, according to media reports, tracked vehicles.
In northern Greece, it was even as low as minus 17 degrees cold. Meteorologists expected a rapid improvement in the weather until Monday afternoon. “It is a kind of roller coaster weather that we experience,” a meteorologist said on the radio. http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=de&tl=en&u=http://www.spiegel.de/reise/aktuell/0,1518,734197,00.html&rurl=translate.google.com&usg=ALkJrhiN3EtG1Us97LgJk4tpbkbuPiaoaQ
A short update on Greek -and Dublin- weather
Hi everyone,
I thought I’d give you an update on the weather in Greece over the
last couple of days. As you might imagine, since much of northern and
western Europe were enjoying widespread snowfalls in the last weeks,
Greece was under southerlies and temperatures were kept unseasonably
high in some areas. Only the northwestern areas of the country had
extreme amounts of rainfall in this period, with most weather stations
in the region of Epirus (the northwest) now reporting way above 3000
mm of precipitation for 2010 (some of them more than 700 mm for
November 2010 only); this includes low altitude stations.
With temperatures over 20C on 8th, 9th and 10th December, nobody was
really believing the warnings for a sharp drop in temperatures for
later on 10th December. As it had been forecast, temperatures indeed
dropped from the balmy 20C levels by more than 15 Centigrades in a few
hours and it …snowed later on the same day, as well as through most
of yesterday in Athens down to sea level, as well as the eastern and
southern windprone areas of the country. In Crete, people are trapped
in 4m of snow (smart of them to have visited the >2000m mountains with
a forecast for snow and the still very warm Cretan sea upwind). Low
elevation weather stations reported down to 0C in northern Crete, 1C
along the Libyan sea coast in the south of the island (snow was
reported there too). Widespread frost was reported across the island
further inland. Today’s temperature minima were down to -17C in
mountainous areas in the north of Greece, while areas of the
Dodecanese islands never made it below 8C.
I had the chance to see Dublin’s snow last week; there was still lying
snow through yesterday, though melting. There was a lot of black ice
everywhere, especially during the first days of my stay there. -2C in
Dublin felt very mild compared to the temperatures in Berlin, where I
had flied from.
All the best for a lovely afternoon,
Yannis.
http://groups.google.com/group/uk.sci.weather/browse_thread/thread/25b0715a840a3c96/ea856766f1e4f38d?show_docid=ea856766f1e4f38d
Manatees, fish at risk as temperature dips
TAMPA – As the water temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and in area lakes and ponds continues to drop, the concern for the fish and wildlife in those bodies of water climbs.
This year already has seen a number of fish kills — not to mention a record amount of manatee deaths, including at least 244 alone so far from exposure to cold water.
At Clearwater Beach on Friday, the Gulf temperature had dropped to 54 degrees.
“That’s pretty cool,” said John McMichael, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Ruskin.
But not quite as cold as last winter, when the Gulf temperature dropped into the 40s along the west coast of Florida — levels not seen before.
Officials are worried about what this winter might hold given that the water temperatures are that low already, and winter still has not officially begun.
“Obviously we are concerned about what we experienced last winter,” said Martine deWit, a research scientist at the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, an arm of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “It’s too early to tell what will happen this winter.”
What has happened to the manatee already in 2010, however, is staggering.
It’s not just the manatees that authorities are concerned about. They are worried about other species, as well.
“It’s getting close to that iffy area where we get concerned,” said Gary Morse, spokesman for the fish and wildlife agency.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/dec/12/PMENEWSO3-manatees-fish-at-risk-as-temperature-dip/
Heavy snow collapses Minneapolis Metrodome roof
A raging December blizzard buried Minneapolis, Minnesota under 17 inches of snow over the weekend, triggering the collapse early this morning of the air-inflated roof of the Minneapolis Metrodome, home of the Minnesota Vikings football team. The storm roared out of Canada on Friday morning, bringing heavy snow, sustained winds of 25 – 35 mph, and blizzard conditions through Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The heaviest snows occurred near Osceola, Wisconsin, where 23 inches fell. The storm also dumped 21″ at Noisy Basin, Montana, 14″ in Williston, ND, and 14″ in Negaunee, MI. Officially, 17.1” of snow fell at the Minneapolis airport; 16.3” of it on Saturday. Saturday’s snow amounted to 1.75” of melted precipitation, for a snow-to-water equivalent ratio of 9:1. For those of you who’ve ever shoveled snow know, that’s a very wet, heavy snow, and its no wonder the roof of the Metrodome had trouble with such a huge weight of snow.
In the wake of the storm, bitterly cold air from Canada will sweep southwards into the U.S., and high temperatures near 0°F are expected for Minneapolis on Monday. Lows near -30°F are expected in northern Minnesota near International Falls on Monday night. The cold will penetrate into Florida’s orange groves Monday night, with lows in the mid-20s expected in Orlando.
Jeff Masters
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1709
From the armageddon scenes in Israel today… “a woman was injured when strong winds lifted her off the sidewalk and into the street”
If you experiencing this you may lose your optimism that humans can adapt in any meaningful way. It is already about pure survival. To bad it can only be solved if all work together as a team. Because it takes any hand to suck out the poison out of the atmosphere and store it for example with biochar. But humans seem to busy with killing each other off, because of the population explosion story, which the climate will take care off.
Apparently it is more important to release yet more NATURAL GAS into the air, while tempering with it and wasting a lot of resource and energy, especially with LNG (Liquid Natural Gas).
Blizzard rocks US Midwest, East Coast braces
The storm — 10 days before the onset of winter — took its greatest toll in Minnesota, where as much as two feet (61 centimeters) of snow had fallen in some locations, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
The state’s largest city Minneapolis was under a blanket of white 17 inches (43 cm) deep, the worst snowfall to hit the city in more than 19 years and the fifth-biggest on record.
The storm was causing temperatures to plunge as far south as Atlanta and the system was expected to bring heavy rain or snow Sunday across the entire East Coast, from the northeast state of Maine clear down to southern Florida. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iJ7YxzLKRE3UvZmHViWry6oKbL-w?docId=CNG.0ed3998a295f5adfe107a562e6a29edf.3c1
Burst pipes cause flooding http://www.scarborougheveningnews.co.uk/news/local/burst_pipes_cause_flooding_1_2849814
Floods and burst pipes as thaw follows freeze
FLOOD warnings were issued last night as the country continued to thaw out following the long freeze.
Temperatures have risen by as much as 20°C in some parts of the country over the last 48 hours leading to floods and burst pipes.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has warned the River Deveron in Aberdeenshire and the River Don in Aberdeen remain high as a result of melting snow, adding that there is a risk of flooding on the treacherous A96 from Aberdeen to Inverness. By yesterday afternoon Strathclyde Fire & Rescue had attended 239 flood-related incidents and warned there could be more to come.
Meanwhile Glasgow City Council’s arm’s-length construction company, City Building, responded to 702 reports of burst pipes. In an average two-day period it received 102 burst pipe call-outs. It had also received 1,700 gas call-outs since the big thaw began two days ago and provided 1,000 temporary heaters.
Sepa has also said Blackadder water in the Borders could flood and it described the water rises in East Lothian as “particularly rapid”. http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/scotland/Floods-and-burst-pipes-as.6657928.jp
How long can civilization function under these “particularly rapid” situations? How long can an average household “survive” till things go wrong, like no electricity, no water, no gas, no food, no drinking water …welcome to the new reality of EAARTH. Brought to you by the recklessness of the fossil energy industries.
Heavy snow wreaks havoc in Midwest; Metrodome roof collapses http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/12/12/winter.weather/?hpt=T1
Buried in the blizzard: It fell, and fell — and kept falling
The biggest snowstorm to hit the Twin Cities since the Halloween storm a generation ago whited out — and pretty much paralyzed — the metro area and much of the rest of Minnesota Saturday.
Nearly 22 inches fell in Shakopee. Although that accumulation was short of the 28.4 inches of snow recorded in the storied Halloween blizzard of 1991, it was by far the deepest since then.
One casualty was the Vikings-Giants game at the Dome today, which will now be moved to Monday night after concerns about the roof and the Giants having to spend the night in Kansas City.
Snow fell at a furious rate all day, abetted by howling winds out of the northwest that created near-impossible driving conditions in western and west-central Minnesota. And on the heels of the snow, brutal subzero temperatures roared into the state for at least the next two days.
http://www.startribune.com/local/111720484.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DUdcOy_nc:DKUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUoD3aPc:_27EQU
The perfect setting to air The Day After Tomorrow (Sorry for my humor) :)
Why Do Pipes Burst?
o homeowner ever wants to discover a water pipe has burst, since the leaking water may do a significant amount of damage to the surrounding area and the fix may be very expensive if a professional plumber needs to be called. But what actually causes pipes to burst, and can anything be done before pipes burst and cause serious damage? The answer lies in the nature of freezing water and the structure of the materials used to construct water pipes.
The reason many water pipes burst is because water expands as it freezes. If this expansion occurs in a closed environment such as a water pipe, there could be substantial pressure placed on the inner walls of the pipe material, whether it be iron, lead or PVC plastic. Even if a pipe is strong enough to handle the occasional stress of frozen water, the cumulative effect can weaken the structural integrity of the pipe and eventually it will burst.
The good news for homeowners is that most pipes are protected from bursting because they are either covered with insulation or located in areas which rarely if ever reach the freezing point of water. However, there may be sections of piping which are routinely exposed to freezing temperatures or could be compromised if the insulation fails. These pipes burst because the air temperature causes the water to freeze along the inner walls and create a blockage. The pressure of the expanding ice on a weakened section of pipe combined with the pressure of flowing water backing up behind the blockage can make pipes burst without warning.
There is a reason why many professionals recommend leaving a trickle of water flowing through home faucets during cold weather events. If water is allowed to remain still in a pipe exposed to the cold air, the water may freeze solid and the pipe may burst. If the water continues to flow, even in a trickle, it won’t have the opportunity to freeze and the pipes should survive until the air temperature warms above freezing. When pipes burst due to freezing, the homeowner may not realize it until a flooding situation develops or overall water pressure is reduced or non-existent. http://www.wisegeek.com/why-do-pipes-burst.htm
On the GM issue, it’s worthwhile to read this UCS report, which concludes that genetic engineering has not actually brought about any significant increase in operational yields:
http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/science/failure-to-yield.html
This video gives also a sense how climate change works, first a tickle and then spikes …
Metrodome Roof Collapse Video From the Inside Metrodome http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAyLX2hY7E0
“GM crops are less capable to cope with climate change….”
More accurately “GM crops so far developed are less capable of coping with climate change. But as plant scientists turn their skills to producing crops more resistant to climate changes we should see options which protect our food/fiber output.”
—
“at the same time they pose a significant long term threat to fertility and the human organism.
GM genes could be found in nearly all human organs and potential may combine with human DNA.”
Given that the genes being added to food crops are coming from other food crops one would expect no additional human/non-human gene sharing. Plant developers might take a gene from a salmon and stick it in a tomato, but remember that we are exposing our guts to salmon genes already.
If you want to get concerned about bt genes in corn, for example, remember that you’re already eating those bt genes in your organic produce. We organic gardeners have been using bt to control plant munchers for decades.
–
Now, I’m not saying this as a big supporter of genetically modified crops. In all honesty, GM crops make me a bit uneasy. But we should criticize GM crops for real reasons, not created ones.
It is impossible to assess the impacts without decades/centuries of study. For example one scenario is that artificial pesticide genes combine with human digestive bacteria and keep producing pesticides inside the human.
Bob Wallace, i relate to engineered products, which might once be invented as a secret weapon for soft population control. I’m not pretending that i have facts to back this up, it is just a possible scenario and i’m not saying that every GM crop/seed is bad. But to my understanding it is just not necessary, because the climate change will bring numbers down.
A 2009 study compared an analysis of blood and organ system data from trials with rats fed three main commercialized genetically modified types of maize which are present in food and feed in the world. Approximately 60 different biochemical parameters were classified per organ and measured in serum and urine after 5 and 14 weeks of feeding. GM maize-fed rats were compared first to their respective isogenic or parental non-GM equivalent control groups, followed by comparison to six reference groups, which had consumed various other non-GM maize varieties. According to the authors, “Our analysis clearly reveals for the 3 GMOs new side effects linked with GM maize consumption, which were sex- and often dose-dependent. Effects were mostly associated with the kidney and liver, the dietary detoxifying organs, although different between the 3 GMOs. Other effects were also noticed in the heart, adrenal glands, spleen and haematopoietic system. We conclude that these data highlight signs of hepatorenal toxicity, possibly due to the new pesticides specific to each GM corn. In addition, unintended direct or indirect metabolic consequences of the genetic modification cannot be excluded. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgenic_maize#Safety_issues
#15, Paulm: I keep wondering why climate change experts don’t appear at colleges and give speeches on what young peoples’ future will be like unless we stop climate change. Where are the great speakers??!
… what is primary: an irrational ideology, increased secrecy, the excess of military research and the real threat of external aggression. Usually, all these causes go hand in hand.
The result is the appearance of conditions for creating the most exotic defenses. In addition, an excess of military scientists and equipment allows individual scientists to be, for example, bioterrorists. The high level of secrecy leads to the fact that the state as a whole does not know what they are doing in some labs.
In addition, these dangerous countries might be hiding under the guise of seemingly prosperous and democratic countries in their military-industrial complex. This list surely do not include poorest countries (Mali) and small rich countries (like Denmark).
List of countries, like falling in this category:
Well known rogue-nations: S. Korea, Iran, Pakistan,
“superpower”: China, Russia and the U.S..
Weak rogue nation: Burma, Syria and other poor countries.
In addition, a paranoid military program could be inside the outwardly prosperous countries: Japan, Taiwan, Switzerland.
This list does not include countries with a developed, but are rational and have controlled military program: Israel, Britain, France, etc. Also, the list do not include contries, which only buy weapons, like Saudi Arabia.
There is the idea of preemptive strikes against rogue countries which goal is regime change in all these countries, and through this create a safer world. This concept can be called “Rumsfeld Doctrine”. Under this doctrine were conducted military operations in Afghanistan and especially in Iraq at the beginning of the XXI century. However, this doctrine has collapsed, as weapons of mass destruction has not been found in Iraq. A more powerful adversaries such as Iran and North Korea, were too strong for United States, and, moreover, they intensified the development of weapons of mass destruction.
The strike itself could provoke rogue nation to use weapons which are already created, for example, biological weapons. Or control over bioweapon will be lost during destruction of buildings, where they are stored. Furthermore, chaos can lead to attempts to sell such weapons. However, the longer is delayed the decision of the problem, the more these countries will have time to enrich, to accumulate, to grow up.
My opinion is that at the current stage of history we should not attempt to bomb all potential rogue nations. But in principle it is a good thing that regime of Saddam Hussein was toppled, as it is unknown, what it now would do, if it still exist. We should wait near-singularity era, when one country through the development of nanotech, and / or AI will be in a situation to disarm as painlessly as possible their potential enemies, as it will be stronger than they in thousands times. Since the exponential acceleration of progress will lead to the fact that the gap between the strongest and laggards will continue to grow and advance on the usual 2-10 years will be equivalent to the advance in centuries. http://lifeboat.com/blog/2010/11/rogue-states-as-a-source-of-global-risk#comments
Prokaryotes wrote: “If the water continues to flow, even in a trickle, it won’t have the opportunity to freeze and the pipes should survive until the air temperature warms above freezing.”
It is my understanding that that is NOT the reason that leaving a tap slightly open prevents pipes from bursting. First of all, water “flowing in a trickle” certainly will “take the opportunity to freeze” if it’s cold enough.
The real reason is, that when the water freezes, it expands. If the tap is closed, then the water in the pipe cannot expand linearly along the length of the pipe, so it expands radially, pushing outward on the pipe. But if the tap is opened to release air pressure, then the freezing water can expand along the length of the pipe, which does not put pressure outwards on the pipe.
The best thing to do if you lose heat and worry about your pipes freezing, is to both open a tap AND shut off the incoming water at the main intake valve, allowing the indoor pipes to drain. No water, no freezing, no burst pipes.
Watching now http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=bS0h9Dlc_V0&vq=small#t=24
Just eight months after the nation was shocked by the death of 29 coal miners in the Upper Big Branch explosion in West Virginia, Republicans have once again pandered to industry and blocked passage of an urgently needed mine safety reform.
In April’s grief — and the anger over revelations of the mine owner’s shoddy safety record — there were grand bipartisan vows to take action. A very worthy safety measure in the House drew majority support from Democrats but fell short of the two-thirds needed under expedited rules in the lame-duck session.
Republicans predictably shielded mine owners, citing warnings from the National Association of Manufacturers that the reform might drive up coal prices by expanding government authority and exposing mining companies to greater criminal penalties and damage litigation. That is exactly what this perilously dangerous industry needs. Too many lives have already been lost for the sake of cheap coal. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/11/opinion/11sat3.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a211
One year after electing tea Party candidate, one of Americas wealthiest counties goes broke.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/11/nyregion/11nassau.html?src=me
Comment from above video
TheUSMetalhead
1 hour ago
No shit, I haven’t been able to get out of my driveway since Friday night. The city, county and state plows of Wisconsin suck! My entire neighborhood is under snow and the third party snow removal company who is suppose do immediate snow removal for all the townhomes of the leasing company I pay rent to are nowhere to be found, they’re not even answering their phones. Awesome weekend!
Snownami Aftermath Snownami Aftermath http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vr8jve-Tgs
This is serious
“Snowmageddon” 12-11-10 Timelapse video of the Minnesota blizzard of 12-11-10. When all was said and done, I had precisely 23.5 inches of snow in my back yard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHzJJi8NyBY
Protesters target government’s Vancouver office over Gateway project climate change
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Protesters+target+government+Vancouver+office+over+Gateway+project+climate+change/3964880/story.html
“The world has got to accept genetically modified plants because not to is to fail to acknowledge one of the most important discoveries of the 21st century,” Buchanan said.
By the same reasoning, the world has got to use nuclear weapons because not to is to fail to acknowledge one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century.
Buchanan apparently doesn’t know that to “acknowledge” means to recognize the existence of. There is a large step between acknowledging a technology and deciding that it is wise to use that technology.
EL wire, or electroluminescent wire, is an energy efficient lighting technology used for a wide variety of applications. An EL wire is composed of a copper wire coated in a phosphor that glows when an alternating current is applied to it. The energy efficient technology allows just a few hundred feet of EL wire to be driven by AA batteries for several hours.
Ben Rousseau and Ian Douglas–Jones, a designer and an architect by training, joined forces to work on this project as well an illuminated furniture line to be released next year. The duo were asked to create a TRON-inspired art suite for the Icehotel this winter using the EL wire to provide a futuristic lighting scheme. They had 13 days to build out the interior of the hotel room suite, install the lighting and polish and buff out the interior furnishings, which includes wall panels, a reindeer pelt covered bed and a table. Grooves for the EL wire were cut into ice slabs with a variety of tools and then the wire was laid into the grooves and water was used to create new ice to “glue” the wire into place
Read more: Electrified TRON Ice Hotel Suite Opens in Sweden | Inhabitat – Green Design Will Save the World http://inhabitat.com/electricfied-tron-legacy-inspired-icehotel-suite-in-sweden/
Predicting the future — not impossible. http://i.imgur.com/INPfc.jpg
Here is a recent lecture that James Hansen gave in Toronto:
Dr. James Hansen on Human-Made Climate Change
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WWu8Gx2fn8
From 1 Kings 19:11-12
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
FRASER’S PENGUINS
A Journey to the Future in Antarctica
By Fen Montaigne
Illustrated. 288 pp. A John Macrae Book/Henry Holt & Company.
NYT Book Review
Tragedy in Black and White
By ELIZABETH ROYTE
Published: December 10, 2010
Bill Fraser has been closely observing and recording the habits of birds near Palmer Station for 35 years. Such depth of experience allowed him to notice some troubling changes. Adélie penguin colonies, and the brown skuas that depend on them for sustenance, were rapidly declining; chinstrap penguins were moving in; and the population of fur seals and leopard seals was on the rise. What was going on?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/books/review/Royte-t.html
(Note to moderator: If you don’t want to use my earlier post that’s OK. Maybe Joe wants to deal with that issue if a different way.)
40 Prokaryotes: Rochester, N.Y. late 1960s: 108 inches [9 FEET] of snow in 24 hours. EVERYBODY got to work on time. When it got to 6 feet, they went home to shovel snow off of roofs. Spare us your complaints about snow flurries. 30 inches of snow is a flurry. I hope you have a second story window and snowshoes.
Olean, Little Valley [Cattaraugus County seat], Salamanca N.Y. got 450 inches of snow per year in the 1950s and 1960s. Now get only 96 inches of snow per year. Olean schools NEVER EVER had a day off for snow. Some places in Alaska get 100 feet of snow per year.
To Prokaryotes and other anti-GM comments: It is interesting to me that a critical understanding of climate science is conjoined with such ignorance and anti-scientific attitudes about GM-agriculture. While I am in favor of transgenic agriculture, I would argue that it is simply a technology that can be used for good or ill and is not inherently evil as so many anti-GM activists would seem to have it. Rather than comparing “natural” (organic?) agriculture to GM-agriculture, we should rather remember that agriculture itself is a human invention and not natural at all-and has wrought tremendous changes to the earth’s surface. I would prefer that we try to feed humanity using all the tools at our disposal and not prevent the use of some tools useful for that purpose because of trumped-up fears.
Regarding the “World’s best Green technology” section, the monetray and quality-of life benefits for telepresence are undoubtedly impressive. However, the claimed returns for many of the other technolgies listed are much less so, especially when one takes into account that the returns cited are for installations in CAlifornia, which has much higher electricity prices for office buildings and industrial facilities than the U.S. average. If something has a 5.8 year payback in California, which is in and of itself not spectacular from a business perspective, the payback would be much less attractive in an average U.S. context.
If we can’t find much more compelling “big winners” on the technology front, I fear for our future.
Bill Green
“we should rather remember that agriculture itself is a human invention and not natural at all-and has wrought tremendous changes to the earth’s surface”
Each on it’s own 2 separate pairs of shoe.
“Genetically modified plants are plants whose DNA is modified using genetic engineering techniques. In most cases the aim is to introduce a new trait to the plant which does not occur naturally in this species. Examples include resistance to certain pests, diseases or environmental conditions, or the production of a certain nutrient or pharmaceutical agent.
Outcrossing of transgenic plants not only poses potential environmental risks, it may also trouble farmers and food producers. Many countries have different legislations for transgenic and conventional plants as well as the derived food and feed, and consumers demand the freedom of choice to buy GM-derived or conventional products.
Genetically modified plants can spread the trans gene to other plants or – theoretically – even to bacteria. Depending on the transgene, this may pose a threat to the environment by changing the composition of the local ecosystem. Therefore, in most countries environmental studies are required prior to the approval of a GM plants for commercial purposes, and a monitoring plan must be presented to identify potential effects which have not been anticipated prior to the approval.
Little research has been conducted on human and animal health. However, in most countries every GM plant is tested in feeding trials to prove its safety, before it is approved for use and marketing.
The potential impact on nearby ecosystems is one of the greatest concerns associated with transgenic plants.
Transgenes have the potential for significant ecological impact if the plants can increase in frequency and persist in natural populations. These concerns are similar to those surrounding conventionally bred plant breeds. Several risk factors should be considered:
Is the transgenic plant capable of growing outside a cultivated area?
Can the transgenic plant pass its genes to a local wild species, and are the offspring also fertile?
Does the introduction of the transgene confer a selective advantage to the plant or to hybrids in the wild?
Many domesticated plants can mate and hybridise with wild relatives when they are grown in proximity, and whatever genes the cultivated plant had can then be passed to the hybrid. This applies equally to transgenic plants and conventionally bred plants, as in either case there are advantageous genes that may have negative consequences to an ecosystem upon release. This is normally not a significant concern, despite fears over ‘mutant superweeds’ overgrowing local wildlife: although hybrid plants are far from uncommon, in most cases these hybrids are not fertile due to polyploidy, and will not multiply or persist long after the original domestic plant is removed from the environment. However, this does not negate the possibility of a negative impact.
In some cases, the pollen from a domestic plant may travel many miles on the wind before fertilising another plant. This can make it difficult to assess the potential harm of crossbreeding; many of the relevant hybrids are far away from the test site. Among the solutions under study for this concern are systems designed to prevent transfer of transgenes, such as Terminator Technology, and the genetic transformation of the chloroplast only, so that only the seed of the transgenic plant would bear the transgene. With regard to the former, there is some controversy that the technologies may be inequitable and might force dependence upon producers for valid seed in the case of poor farmers, whereas the latter has no such concern but has technical constraints that still need to be overcome. Solutions are being developed by EU funded research programmes such as Co-Extra and Transcontainer.
There are at least three possible avenues of hybridization leading to escape of a transgene:
Hybridization with non-transgenic crop plants of the same species and variety.
Hybridization with wild plants of the same species.
Hybridization with wild plants of closely related species, usually of the same genus.
However, there are a number of factors which must be present for hybrids to be created.
The transgenic plants must be close enough to the wild species for the pollen to reach the wild plants.
The wild and transgenic plants must flower at the same time.
The wild and transgenic plants must be genetically compatible.
In order to persist, these hybrid offspring:
Must be viable, and fertile.
Must carry the transgene.
Studies suggest that a possible escape route for transgenic plants will be through hybridization with wild plants of related species.
It is known that some crop plants have been found to hybridize with wild counterparts.
It is understood, as a basic part of population genetics, that the spread of a transgene in a wild population will be directly related to the fitness effects of the gene in addition to the rate of influx of the gene to the population. Advantageous genes will spread rapidly, neutral genes will spread with genetic drift, and disadvantageous genes will only spread if there is a constant influx.
The ecological effects of transgenes are not known, but it is generally accepted that only genes which improve fitness in relation to abiotic factors would give hybrid plants sufficient advantages to become weedy or invasive. Abiotic factors are parts of the ecosystem which are not alive, such as climate, salt and mineral content, and temperature. Genes improving fitness in relation to biotic factors could disturb the (sometimes fragile) balance of an ecosystem. For instance, a wild plant receiving a pest resistance gene from a transgenic plant might become resistant to one of its natural pests, say, a beetle. This could allow the plant to increase in frequency, while at the same time animals higher up in the food chain, which are at least partly dependent on that beetle as food source, might decrease in abundance. However, the exact consequences of a transgene with a selective advantage in the natural environment are almost impossible to predict reliably.
It is also important to refer to the demanding actions that government of developing countries had been building up among the last decades.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_plant#Agricultural_impact_of_transgenic_plants
The goal of genetic engineering crop plants to help advance tenability and condition of the world food supply has been a conflict with public and health concerns raised about the safety of the food from the end product[19].
A 2004 study performed near an Oregon field trial for a genetically modified variety of creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera) revealed that the transgene and its associate trait (resistance to the glyphosate herbicide) could be transmitted by wind pollination to resident plants of different Agrostis species, up to 14 km from the test field.[20] In 2007, the Scotts Company, producer of the genetically modified bentgrass, agreed to pay a civil penalty of $500,000 to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA alleged that Scotts “failed to conduct a 2003 Oregon field trial in a manner which ensured that neither glyphosate-tolerant creeping bentgrass nor its offspring would persist in the environment” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_pollution
In the Pacific Northwest, record rainfall triggered mudslides and threatened to cause severe flooding of some western Washington rivers yesterday.
Although the rain had eased in much of southwest Washington and northwest Oregon, including Portland, downpours continued in Seattle and north of the city, swelling rivers and threatening some small towns. The worst of the flood danger was expected to be over by early today.
Still, flood watches or warnings remained in effect for the region, and forecasters said storms could dump 6 inches or more of rain in the Cascade Range and Olympic Mountains.
“We’re looking at the wettest storm system we’ve had for in almost two years,’’ said National Weather Service meteorologist Kirby Cook in Seattle.
Crews reopened US Highway 2 near Skykomish after a mudslide blocked it early yesterday. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2010/12/13/storm_buries_midwest_crippling_roads_airports/?rss_id=Boston.com+%2F+Boston+Globe+–+National+News
Edward, a flurry?, lol. Well if my road cars are covered with snow, im sure people would stay inside and it would take hours and days to clear the ways.
Beijing to build 36,000 EV charging stations
Beijing will build both fast charging and slow charging stations in a bid to promote the use of electric vehicles, according to the Beijing Times.
A spokesperson for the Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission, Zhu Shilong, gave details about the capital’s plans to develop the use of new energy vehicles Tuesday.
During the 12th Five Year Plan (2010-2015), the city plans to build 36,000 slow charging stations,100 fast charging stations, 2 battery recycling stations, and 10 maintenance service stations.
Beijing has invested 20 million yuan ($3 million) in R&D of new energy vehicles, and there will be 30,000 electric passenger cars in operation by 2012, including 23,000 electric vehicles and 7,000 plug-in hybrid vehicles.
BAIC has completed the R&D and testing of the first 10 new energy vehicles and another 20 vehicles area in development, and are expected to be off the line by the end of the month.
Preferential policies such as new energy vehicle subsidies will also be implemented.
http://autonews.gasgoo.com/china-news/beijing-to-build-36-000-ev-charging-stations-101209.shtml
#47 thanks for that must see video. Here is the online presentation….
Human-Made Climate Change: A Moral, Political and Legal Issue
http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/presentations.shtml
Climate Portals ”Its going to become a legal issue because
young people deserve equal protection of the laws. ”
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Climate-Portals/139434822741700
Could somebody please address the long term viability of small countries in a climate regime in which a single season of bad weather can destroy or disable the majority of a nations productivity and/or infrastructure.
How is a small nation like Lebanon supposed to deal with being entirely covered by an extreme rainfall event or sandstorm? That isnt’ like a tornado in which the people in the next town or county can rescue you.