Archive for the Global Warming Category
Cap and Trade is a Casino Game, Not a Global Warming Offset
October 15, 2009 by mike.
Read it and weep. The exaggerated claims of offsets by the corporate sponsors should be criminal.
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Use of Forests as Carbon Offsets Fails to Impress In First Big Trial
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Project in Bolivia Keeps Trees Standing But Has Little Clear Effect on Emissions
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More than a decade ago in the northeast corner of Bolivia, a group of polluters and environmentalists joined forces in the first large-scale experiment to curb climate change with a strategy that promised to suit their competing interests: compensating for greenhouse gas emissions by preserving forests. |
Preventing the clearing and burning of tropical forests, which help absorb carbon dioxide and provide habitat to an array of species, has become a critical objective for environmentalists.
But a report Greenpeace will release Thursday questions the premise of using forest conservation overseas to compensate for U.S. pollution, noting that Noel Kempff envisioned keeping 55 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere over 30 years but has lowered that expectation to 5.8 million. The revised estimates do not take into account that logging may have moved to areas to the north, east and southwest of the project. And the report notes that the project’s three corporate underwriters — American Electric Power, BP America and PacifiCorp — overestimated how much carbon the project kept from entering the atmosphere, telling the EPA it accounted for 7.4 million metric tons from 1997 to 2004.  |
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Global warming is ocean warming and warmer oceans mean bigger storms
October 4, 2009 by mike.
And it is clear that global warming means more frequent devastating storms and weather events. The low lying areas of the world are going to take the brunt of the damage. Places like the Phillipines, the Maldives, Bangladesh, the Mekong Delta, Florida and New Orleans. The question remains when will the people around the planet recognize the absolute necessity of the most fundamental change, the development and implementation of a global response, the retooling of the neoliberal capitalism model to a just and egalitarian development model?
It’s been a long time coming, but I know that change is going to come.
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Typhoon Parma kills 15 in the Philippines
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| MANILA — Large parts of the northern Philippines were flooded and without power on Sunday after Typhoon Parma killed at least 15 people, as authorities warned of another storm looming to the east. |
| Exactly one week after storm Ketsana dumped the heaviest rains in more than 40 years that devastated Manila, killing nearly 300 people, Parma ripped through the north of the Philippines’ main Luzon island on Saturday. |
| Many areas in the north remained blacked out and cut off from communication on Sunday as Parma left the country and hovered over the South China Sea. Roads were submerged or littered with fallen trees and toppled power lines. |
| The state weather bureau warned of more misery as Typhoon Melor, monitored about 600 kilometres (370 miles) to the east, was expected to enter Philippine maritime territory by Monday afternoon before blowing north to eastern China or Japan. |
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It would be nice to have more propane filling stations.
September 13, 2009 by mike.
With our 3 car fleet (4th car is not finished yet) running on propane keeping the tanks filled is the one drawback. Propane filling is not self service, so there is waiting involved with getting tanks filled. I don’t see self service as a possibility, there is too much potential for a careless splash of propane and liquid propane is very cold, it will immediately freeze damage tissue, a freezer burn.
I am a little surprised that they expect only a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. I am under the impression that the reduction is greater than that. I am planning to have an emission test someday on one of my conversions to see what the emission levels are.
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Grant to Launch a Thousand Cabs, Build Fueling Stations for Propane
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Nearly $9 million of the Obama administration’s economic stimulus funds will go toward converting a thousand Washington area taxicabs into propane-fueled vehicles as well as building several propane fueling stations. |
McCoy said the Alliance plan is expected to reduce each vehicle’s greenhouse emissions by 20 percent, save up to 3.9 million gallons of gas annually and save companies up to $5,000 a year in fuel costs for each converted vehicle. |
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Bad News for Geothermal Power
September 11, 2009 by mike.
This article suggests that there is a problem with extracting energy from deep below the surface of the small blue planet. I guess it can’t really be a surprise, but I think it was a question of scale. It’s an application of Boyle’s Law that pressure and heat are equivalents. So as you increase pressure, you produce heat, as you release pressure, you reduce heat. So, as a geothermal plant withdraws heat from deep below the earth, the pressure at the source is reduced. If the pressure falls enough, it is logical to expect that the surrounding strata will shift. We call that an earthquake. Are these always going to be small, low damage earthquakes? Could the pressure reduction and triggered earthquakes trigger a larger earthquake? Who knows.
German Geothermal Project Leads to Second Thoughts After the Earth Rumbles
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 LANDAU IN DER PFALZ, Germany — Government officials here are reviewing the safety of a geothermal energy project that scientists say set off an earthquake in mid-August, shaking buildings and frightening many residents of this small city.The geothermal plant, built by Geox, a German energy company, extracts heat by drilling deep into the earth. Advocates of the method say that it could greatly reduce the world’s dependence on fossil fuels by providing a vast supply of renewable energy.
Seismologists at the geological survey said that the larger Aug. 15 quake was also caused by the project. The epicenter was roughly 500 yards from a drill site at the plant and at about the same depth — 1.5 miles — as a steam bed that the plant was extracting heat from. “We are sure it’s from the geothermal plant,” said Harald Ehses, chairman of the geological survey. |
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Thanks to the BBC for coverage on the Science journal.
September 4, 2009 by mike.
I hope that we do not hit a point of no return in respect to a relatively stable environment. This could be difficult to discern. The Waxman Markey bill in the US is a complete waste of effort with regard to cutting greenhouse gases. It may take a decade or more Katrina scale events before the public recognizes that Waxman Markey was primarily a deal for the coal industry to avoid strict EPA regulation and that economics have to take a back seat to survival.
Fred Singer disputes the warming data, of course. I notice he gets quoted in the mainstream media as a warming skeptic without mention of his history as professional (paid) skeptic for health concerns related to tobacco. He is a skeptic for hire.
Connect the dots folks. Turning to scientists who are willing to be paid to be skeptical of any scientific issue on behalf and on the payroll of specific industries does not constitute balanced coverage, it is simply journalistic negligence.
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Arctic ‘warmest in 2,000 years’
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Arctic temperatures are now higher than at any time in the last 2,000 years, research reveals.
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| Changes to the Earth’s orbit drove centuries of cooling, but temperatures rose fast in the last 100 years as human greenhouse gas emissions rose. |
| Scientists took evidence from ice cores, tree rings and lake sediments. |
| Writing in the journal Science, they say this confirms that the Arctic is very sensitive both to changes in solar heating and to greenhouse warming. |
| “The 20th Century is the first century for which how much energy we’re getting from the Sun is no longer the most important thing governing the temperature of the Arctic,” said another of the study team, Nicholas McKay from the University of Arizona. |
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The Solar Energy Market Has Always Been Unpredictable
August 27, 2009 by mike.
and it’s not because you can’t count on sunshine every day, it’s because countries have not been able to have consistent policies about solar power development. I guess that’s the bad news.
The good news is that solar power is really the primary source for future energy needs. An immense amount of solar energy falls on this planet, free of charge, every day. A distributed energy grid with small solar essentially everywhere has the potential to be the mainstay of electrical generation.
When we wake up to this fact and commit to dependable incentives for development of this distributed solar electric generating system, we start down the right road.
Any day now would be fine.
More Sun for Less: Solar Panels Drop in Price
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| When Greg Hare looked into putting solar panels on his ranch-style home in Magnolia, Tex., last year, he decided he could not afford it. “I had no idea solar was so expensive,” he recalled. |
| But the cost of solar panels has plunged lately, changing the economics for many homeowners. Mr. Hare ended up paying $77,000 for a large solar setup that he figures might have cost him $100,000 a year ago. |
| The price drops — coupled with recently expanded federal incentives — could shrink the time it takes solar panels to pay for themselves to 16 years, from 22 years, in places with high electricity costs, according to Glenn Harris, chief executive of SunCentric, a solar consulting group. That calculation does not include state rebates, which can sometimes improve the economics considerably. |
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Getting Hot on a Small Blue Planet
July 19, 2009 by mike.
Guess we can let the statistics speak for themselves. Ocean and land temperatures near all time highs. Ice cover on the ocean continuing to disappear.
NOAA: Global Ocean Surface Temperature Warmest on Record for June
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The world’s ocean surface temperature was the warmest on record for June, breaking the previous high mark set in 2005, according to a preliminary analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. Additionally, the combined average global land and ocean surface temperature for June was second-warmest on record. The global records began in 1880.
Global Climate Statistics
- The combined global land and ocean surface temperature for June 2009 was the second warmest on record, behind 2005, 1.12 degrees F (0.62 degree C) above the 20th century average of 59.9 degrees F (15.5 degrees C).
- Separately, the global ocean surface temperature for June 2009 was the warmest on record, 1.06 degrees F (0.59 degree C) above the 20th century average of 61.5 degrees F (16.4 degrees C).
- Each hemisphere broke its June record for warmest ocean surface temperature. In the Northern Hemisphere, the warm anomaly of 1.17 degrees F (0.65 degree C) surpassed the previous record of 1.12 degrees F (0.62 degree C), set in 2005. The Southern Hemisphere’s increase of 0.99 degree F (0.55 degree C) exceeded the old record of 0.92 degree F (0.51 degree C), set in 1998.
- The global land surface temperature for June 2009 was 1.26 degrees F (0.70 degree C) above the 20th century average of 55.9 degrees F (13.3 degrees C), and ranked as the sixth-warmest June on record.
Notable Developments and Events
- El Niño is back after six straight months of increased sea-surface temperature anomalies. June sea surface temperatures in the region were more than 0.9 degree F (0.5 degree C) above average.
- Terrestrial warmth was most notable in Africa. Considerable warmth also occurred in Siberia and in the lands around the Black and Mediterranean Seas. Cooler-than-average land locations included the U.S. Northern Plains, the Canadian Prairie Provinces, and central Asia.
- Arctic sea ice covered an average of 4.4 million square miles (11.5 million square kilometers) during June, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. This is 5.6 percent below the 1979-2000 average extent. By contrast, the 2007 record for the least Arctic sea ice extent was 5.5 percent below average. Antarctic sea ice extent in June was 3.9 percent above the 1979-2000 average.
- Heavy rain fell over central Europe, triggering mudslides and floods. Thirteen fatalities were reported. According to reports, this was central Europe’s worst natural disaster since the 2002 floods that claimed 17 lives and caused nearly $3 billion in damages.
NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the oceans to surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources. |
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ACES is going to become the law of the land
June 24, 2009 by mike.
Set for vote soon, I think this bill will pass. I hope that this bill will be the first step in many that the US will take to address global warming.
Make no mistake, I think it is a very weak bill. I think it will do little of the work that we have to do. I think it will pass and then the question becomes: what is the next step after this weak opening?
Yale 360 has a good piece on it. I recommend reading. It’s short.
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The Waxman-Markey Bill:
A Good Start Or A Non-Starter? |
| The bill is officially entitled “The American Clean Energy and Security Act,” but most people who follow this issue simply call it Waxman-Markey. Named for its sponsors — Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) — the legislation has been roundly criticized for doing too little or too much, but one thing is clear: No matter what form it finally takes, the bill is historic. For the first time, the U.S. government would cap and regulate emissions of carbon dioxide. |
| As carbon cap-and-trade legislation works it way through Congress, the environmental community is intensely debating whether the Waxman-Markey bill is the best possible compromise or a fatally flawed initiative. Yale Environment 360 asked 11 prominent people in the environmental and energy fields for their views on this controversial legislation. |
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Hmm, is this really news?
June 17, 2009 by mike.
After a decade of letting the Bush global warming deniers do nothing, the press suddenly discovers the globe is warming a bit.
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Report on Warming Offers New Details
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Estimates Specify Effects on Different Regions of U.S.
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Man-made climate change could bring parching droughts to the Southwest and pounding rainstorms to Washington, put Vermont maple sugar farms out of business and Key West underwater over the next century, according to a federal report released yesterday. |
“In our back yards, climate change is happening, and it’s happening now,” Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said at a news conference yesterday afternoon. She continued: “It’s not too late to act. Decisions made now will determine whether we get big changes or small ones.” |
The report, available online at http://www.globalchange.gov, began by restating what other scientific panels have said: Warming of the climate is “unequivocal,” and man-made greenhouse gases are primarily to blame.
Among the specific effects it found for the United States:
– The heaviest rainstorms have already become 67 percent heavier since 1958 in the Northeast, as warmer weather evaporates more water vapor into the atmosphere to feed storm clouds. Around the Great Lakes, “lake effect” snowstorms could get heavier as ice recedes and exposes more open water.
– The hottest days could get hotter across much of the country: Parts of the South that experience about 60 days a year with temperatures higher than 90 degrees could experience 150 such days by 2100. The same warming could make Washington’s summers even more uncomfortable.
– Higher temperatures could mean longer growing seasons for some farmers but might also bring more pests or change weather patterns that some crops depend on. Scientists said a warmer New England would be less hospitable to maple sugar farms, apple orchards and cranberry bogs.
– Sea levels might rise three feet this century, which could flood a large section of South Florida. |
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Could White Roofs Really Buy Us Time on Global Warming?
June 14, 2009 by mike.
I have to give the idea some credit simply because it is being repeated by US Energy Secretary Steven Chu. This is a smart guy, I am happy to see him in the mix trying to determine energy policy. Maybe in the long run it is the kind of simple adjustment in infrastructure that makes for a sustainable world. I don’t know.
Energy Secretary Pitches Low-Tech Idea to Reflect Solar Energy Back Into Space
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White Rooftops May Help Slow Warming
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Making roofs white “changes the reflectivity . . . of the Earth, so the sunlight comes in, it’s reflected back into space,” Chu said. “This is something very simple that we can do immediately,” he said later. |
 White roofs work because of the physics of sunlight. Dark roofs absorb and hold more than 80 percent of solar energy, while white ones can reflect 75 percent of it away. That makes a white-roofed building cooler and cheaper to air-condition.Because of that energy savings, California has since 2005 required most flat-roofed buildings to have white tops, and Walmart has installed them on about 75 percent of its U.S. stores. In January, the District will require new flat roofs on commercial buildings to be covered in vegetation or a reflective material.The idea does not treat the root cause of climate change, which is heat-trapping pollution such as carbon dioxide and methane. But white roofs do help with the primary symptom: heat. The light they reflect escapes through the polluted atmosphere like a BB through a greenhouse. |
| “We may have to figure out a way to artificially cool the planet while the atmosphere is still super-saturated with greenhouse gases,” said Mike Tidwell of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. This could be it, he said, “because the planet, it’s a closed system, it’s an absolutely closed system, except for one thing: sunlight.”
A spokeswoman for Chu said the Energy Department is exploring ways to encourage more white roofs on private and public buildings. (For now, Google Maps shows that Chu’s own headquarters is a light beige on top.) She also noted that some homeowners who purchased a “cool” roof would be eligible for an expanded tax credit intended for “weatherizing” homes.
And then there is the look of the thing.
To get all the benefits of a white roof, plain old white paint will not do. Instead, the roofs should be covered in a reflective coating, or a specially made membrane (Details about cool-roof products approved by the Environmental Protection Agency can be found at http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=roof_prods.pr_roof_products). |
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