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By Clay Bennett, From the Cartoonist Group.
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Amazon deforestation falls again
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/aug/03/amazon-deforestation-falls-again
Develop, evaluate, develop, deploy, develop, research, develop, start again, develop, evaluate, develop, deploy.
We have too many $500 million Solyndras starting at the top. In Rhode Island we had $100 million lavished on a computer game company run by a guy the Republican governor met at a fundraiser, whose resume showed that he could throw a baseball over the plate. That company flopped big.
We optimally need 1000 $100k prototypes. 300 of them turn out to be junk. 600 of them have “one” more issue to be fixed and go back for another prototype. 100 go to market because they’re good to go. Next, we need independent product evaluators, sort of a shark tank for solar product developers.
Hansen’s latest paper is available below and well worth reading.
http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2012/20120803_DicePopSci.pdf
A great picture of a hot squirrel
http://grist.org/list/its-so-hot-in-oklahoma-that-this-squirrel-melted/
The looting and ‘cooking’ of Nigeria’s crude
Thieves puncture pipelines with farm tools, siphon oil into boats, and take it to risky makeshift refineries. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/08/20128312530927823.html
Reason for the India power blackout (Video)
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/08/20128212380605116.html
Climate change impacts on glaciers and runoff in Tien Shan (Central Asia)
Here we show that glacier shrinkage is most pronounced in peripheral, lower-elevation ranges near the densely populated forelands, where summers are dry and where snow and glacial meltwater is essential for water availability. Shifts of seasonal runoff maxima have already been observed in some rivers, and it is suggested that summer runoff will further decrease in these rivers if precipitation and discharge from thawing permafrost bodies do not compensate sufficiently for water shortfalls.
http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate1592.html
Enhanced poleward moisture transport and amplified northern high-latitude wetting trend
Observations and climate change projections forced by greenhouse gas emissions have indicated a wetting trend in northern high latitudes, evidenced by increasing Eurasian Arctic river discharges1, 2, 3. The increase in river discharge has accelerated in the latest decade and an unprecedented, record high discharge occurred in 2007 along with an extreme loss of Arctic summer sea-ice cover4, 5, 6. Studies have ascribed this increasing discharge to various factors attributable to local global warming effects, including intensifying precipitation minus evaporation, thawing permafrost, increasing greenness and reduced plant transpiration7, 8, 9, 10, 11. However, no agreement has been reached and causal physical processes remain unclear. Here we show that enhancement of poleward atmospheric moisture transport (AMT) decisively contributes to increased Eurasian Arctic river discharges. Net AMT into the Eurasian Arctic river basins captures 98% of the gauged climatological river discharges. The trend of 2.6% net AMT increase per decade accounts well for the 1.8% per decade increase in gauged discharges and also suggests an increase in underlying soil moisture. A radical shift of the atmospheric circulation pattern induced an unusually large AMT and warm surface in 2006–2007 over Eurasia, resulting in the record high discharge. http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate1631.html
Anthropogenic influence on multidecadal changes in reconstructed global evapotranspiration
Global warming is expected to intensify the global hydrological cycle1, with an increase of both evapotranspiration (EVT) and precipitation. Yet, the magnitude and spatial distribution of this global and annual mean response remains highly uncertain2. Better constraining land EVT in twenty-first-century climate scenarios is critical for predicting changes in surface climate, including heatwaves3 and droughts4, evaluating impacts on ecosystems and water resources5, and designing adaptation policies. Continental scale EVT changes may already be underway6, 7, but have never been attributed to anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and sulphate aerosols. Here we provide global gridded estimates of annual EVT and demonstrate that the latitudinal and decadal differentiation of recent EVT variations cannot be understood without invoking the anthropogenic radiative forcings. In the mid-latitudes, the emerging picture of enhanced EVT confirms the end of the dimming decades8 and highlights the possible threat posed by increasing drought frequency to managing water resources and achieving food security in a changing climate. http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate1632.html
Drought fears loom in India as monsoon stalls
Meteorological department predicts at least 10 per cent less rain this year affecting millions of farmers across nation. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2012/08/2012845225626683.html
NPR on US Drought:
This Drought’s No Dry Run: Lessons Of The Dust Bowl http://www.npr.org/2012/08/04/158119458/soaked-in-drought-lessons-from-the-dust-bowl#
Wildfires blaze across drought-plagued Oklahoma
OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) – Wildfires burned out of control on Friday in Oklahoma, destroying homes and shutting down highways in a state that has suffered 18 straight days of 100-plus degree temperatures and persistent drought. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-08-03/news/sns-rt-us-usa-wildfires-oklahomabre87302n-20120803_1_wildfires-blaze-michelann-ooten-fire-danger
This summer’s drought may cost billions in food exports
NEW YORK — The drought baking Midwest corn and soybean crops will likely cost the U.S. food export industry billions in lost revenue. http://www.sentinelsource.com/business/business_news/this-summer-s-drought-may-cost-billions-in-food-exports/article_78bd724a-b1fe-5c98-940b-36482eee4e30.html
Erenesto weakens; Florence forms; fires, historic heat wave in Oklahoma
Tropical Storm Florence has arrived in the far Eastern Atlantic, marking the 3rd earliest date for formation of the Atlantic’s sixth named storm. Only 2005 and 1936 had earlier arrivals of the season’s sixth storm. The new tropical storm developed unusually quickly
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2171
nd drought fueled raging fires on Friday in Oklahoma. The fires destroyed at least 65 homes, forced multiple evacuations, and closed major roads. Oklahoma City had its hottest day in history, hitting 113°, tying the city’s all-time heat record set on August 11, 1936. The low bottomed out at 84°, the warmest low temperature ever recorded in the city (previous record: a low of 83° on August 13, 1936.)
Oklahoma City has now had three consecutive days with a high of 112° or higher, which has never occurred since record keeping began in 1891.
With today’s high expected to reach 113° again, the streak may extend to four straight days. Yesterday was the third consecutive day with more than a third of Oklahoma experiencing temperatures of 110° or higher, according to readings from the Oklahoma Mesonet. NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) declared a “Critical” fire weather day over most of Oklahoma yesterday, due to extreme heat and drought, low humidities, and strong winds. Between 4 – 5 pm CDT Friday, Oklahoma City had a temperature of 113°, a humidity of 12%, and winds of 14 mph gusting to 25 mph. Another “Critical” fire weather day has been declared for Saturday. A cold front approaching from the northwest will bring winds even stronger than Friday’s winds, and Oklahoma will likely endure another hellish day of extreme heat, dryness, and fires.
Meet The Woman Who Can Convince Even Republicans To Use Solar Power http://www.fastcoexist.com/1680303/meet-the-woman-who-can-convince-even-republicans-to-use-solar-power
British supermarket chain Sainsbury has installed over 69,500 solar panels on its stores, laying claim to the title of Europe’s top solar generator. The company said that it has 16MW of solar capacity spread across 169 of its 572 UK supermarkets, meaning that collectively the firm manages the largest solar array in Europe.
http://bit.ly/JYZ2y6
Calling on Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and etc.
This past Wednesday, two of the distinguished climate scientists who spoke at the Senate committee hearing regarding climate change, and who warned the committee about the reality of climate change and the damages it will likely bring, were Dr. James McCarthy, of Harvard, and Dr. Christopher Fields, of Stanford.
Bravo to them.
But, did you also know that the two longest-serving members of the Board of Directors of ExxonMobil are Michael Boskin, of Stanford, and William George, of Harvard B-School?
Yes, Mr. Boskin and Mr. George are the two longest-serving members of the ExxonMobil Board: they’ve been on the Board longer than Rex Tillerson himself.
Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and others should step up to the plate and begin to speak out — loud and long — and do something Big and Responsible. Period. I’m an alum of Berkeley and Harvard, and (given the stakes involved with climate change) I am ashamed because of how little our supposed great universities are doing to inject reality and responsibility into the public dialogue about climate change, and into the minds of our political leaders.
Someone ought to do a piece on this. The scientists at the universities are telling us we have a major problem. Meanwhile, many of the economists, business folks, and lawyers AT THE SAME UNIVERSITIES are leading the major companies that are causing the problems and (in addition) funding messages aimed at misleading the public. It is a MESS, and the universities themselves should begin to play a major role in doing something about it. Period.
Jeff
UC Berkeley, Chemical Engineering, class of 1981
Harvard Business School, Baker Scholar, class of 1986
Jeff, as a 53 year old professional, you’ve lived a life of opportunity and privilege. So if somehow you have not yet become aware of how the system actually functions, and for who, perhaps it’s time for you to read a little Chris Hedges?
http://www.truthdig.com/report/page3/the_careerists_20120723/
Hi Artful, yes, I read Chris Hedges periodically, and I had already read his ‘The Careerists’. Yet I think you may have misinterpreted the point of my comment. The main point of my comment was not to express surprise and amazement at the facts it mentions — as if they are something new and surprising to me — but that we should work to change them, i.e., to change “the way things are”. Indeed, one of the largest barriers to change is to accept “the way things work” as if they can’t be changed.
That said, it never ceases to amaze me (even though I understand why this is the case, unfortunately) that such facts, once they are pointed out, aren’t openly featured and discussed in the media, or even in the blogs. Largely they are ignored. (You’ll see, I bet, that CP won’t do a piece on this sort of thing, nor will anyone else, and certainly not in the mainstream media.) Two distinguished scientists — one from Harvard and one from Stanford — warn the world about climate change, and meanwhile the two longest-serving members of ExxonMobil’s Board of Directors are profs at Stanford and Harvard. One of the reasons (not the only one) that these sorts of things don’t change is that most people don’t know them, while those that do yawn at them at categorize them into “that’s just the way things work”. Thus, nobody subjects this sort of problem to critical scrutiny. Nobody puts credible pressure on the Harvards and Stanfords of the world. We just accept this sort of thing and move on to the next day’s news. THAT very yawning and acceptance IS part of the problem. The dismissal of something as “that’s just the way things work” does no good when it comes to the task of actually trying to change it. Yes?
Cheers,
Jeff
“…discuss the Trivium, the bedrock of classical liberal arts education which prepares young minds to be effective critical thinkers and self-directed learners.”
“…describes why the Trivium is now reserved for elites and systematically denied to the children of the proletariat in compulsory public schooling as a means of social control. ”
http://c-realmpodcast.podomatic.com/entry/2012-06-20T10_52_36-07_00
Education is what you make of it. I attended a small, poorly funded rural public school system for K-12. I then went to a privileged liberal arts college on the eastern seaboard where 40% of my class had gone to private secondary schools. Oddly, I seemed to be better prepared for the experience than most of my classmates.
Good comment Jeff. Unfortunately, corrupting hypocrisy is pervasive among “the academy.” You will find much of the “military-extractive-financial complex” (including Koch Industries and TransCanada)interlinked with some of the most elite institutions in the land, via interlocking directorships. Some call this “the good old boys.”
Good for them! I hope they install panels on every sunny roof they own. And may many other companies follow their example.
“…in 1845 James Hammond, a supporter of slavery (wrote);
But if your course is wholly different – If you distilled nectar from your lips and discoursed sweetest music… do you imagine you could prevail on us to give up a thousand millions of dollars in the value of our slaves, and a thousand millions of dollars more in the deprecation of our lands…” Howard Zinn, A people’s History of the United States, p 174.
In our time, put participants/owners of the dirty energy business n the place of slave owners. Change the value to trillions and not millions. This point was raised recently by Bill McKibben. (Rolling Stone, August 2012) http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719 This is actually a key dynamic in the struggle over AGW.
At a different scale, Energy players and their employees are doing what you and I do every day; look out for our stuff and do what is necessary to preserve its value.
A few here have suggested the nationalization of the energy companies, but I have little faith that the government would be willing to walk away from the trillions.
In the 1860′s a series of events took place which ended in the total devaluation of an incredibly valuable asset, the monetary value of slaves. The secession and efforts to maintain the union were the initial catalysts that eventually lead to this great devaluation. Secession turned out to be a really bad idea, a miscalculation initiated by the perpetrators of the slavery wealth system which eventually lead to the destruction of that system and all was lost. The perpetrators of the business as usual energy system will also make a mistakes. To succeed in our efforts against AGW we must be able to identify these mistakes and take advantage of them when they occur.
Maybe we are the new abolitionists. Our target is not slavery or capitalism. Our target is the asset value of one group of players in our capitalist system. “We have met the enemy and they is Shell.” (Bill McKibben, Rolling Stone, August 2012)
Cyclone warning in the Arctic, large areas of sea ice expected to turn to slush
http://neven1.typepad.com/blog/2012/08/cyclone-warning.html#more