FUTURISM NOW

NOAA State of the Climate Report

S. T. — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:30:27 +0000

NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its new “State of the Climate 2009” report on July 28. This report should remove any remaining doubt that climate change is happening now, continues to happen, and that human activity is the cause of it. It describes 10 indicators as proof. The report is free and anyone can download it. (Click the link above). From NOAA:

The 2009 State of the Climate report … draws on data for 10 key climate indicators that all point to the same finding: the scientific evidence that our world is warming is unmistakable. More than 300 scientists from 160 research groups in 48 countries contributed to the report, which confirms that the past decade was the warmest on record and that the Earth has been growing warmer over the last 50 years.

Graphic provided by NOAA

Based on comprehensive data from multiple sources, the report defines 10 measurable planet-wide features used to gauge global temperature changes. The relative movement of each of these indicators proves consistent with a warming world. Seven indicators are rising: air temperature over land, sea-surface temperature, air temperature over oceans, sea level, ocean heat, humidity and tropospheric temperature in the “active-weather” layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth’s surface. Three indicators are declining: Arctic sea ice, glaciers and spring snow cover in the Northern hemisphere.

“For the first time, and in a single compelling comparison, the analysis brings together multiple observational records from the top of the atmosphere to the depths of the ocean,” said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “The records come from many institutions worldwide. They use data collected from diverse sources, including satellites, weather balloons, weather stations, ships, buoys and field surveys. These independently produced lines of evidence all point to the same conclusion: our planet is warming,”

The report emphasizes that human society has developed for thousands of years under one climatic state, and now a new set of climatic conditions are taking shape. These conditions are consistently warmer, and some areas are likely to see more extreme events like severe drought, torrential rain and violent storms.

“Despite the variability caused by short-term changes, the analysis conducted for this report illustrates why we are so confident the world is warming,” said Peter Stott, Ph.D., contributor to the report and head of Climate Monitoring and Attribution of the United Kingdom Met Office Hadley Centre. “When we look at air temperature and other indicators of climate, we see highs and lows in the data from year [...]

Well-Known Climate Scientist Stephen Schneider

S. T. — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:06:11 +0000

Prof. Stephen Schneider, one of the truly important voices in climate science, has died. For over three decades, he had been researching and speaking out on the need to sharply and quickly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He died of an apparent heart attack Monday (July 19) while flying from a scientific meeting in Stockholm, Sweden, to London. His website can be found here.

Schneider was influential in the public debate over climate change and a lead scientist on the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore.

Schneider was a lead author of the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The panel shared a Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. He and his wife Terry Root, won the 2003 National Conservation Achievement Award from the National Wildlife Federation. Schneider had been a consultant on climate change to the White House under the last seven presidents.

In recent writings, speeches and interviews, Schneider acknowledged the fierceness of the debate over climate change and environmental policies. He recently had become a vocal advocate for scientists becoming more assertive in voicing their conclusions in a ways that would be clear to the public and political and governmental leaders worldwide.

The title of his last book encapsulated the struggle over climate change: “Science as a Contact Sport: Inside the Battle to Save Earth’s Climate.”

More information about Stephen Schneider here. From his last book, he wrote:

“The world is changing. Before our very eyes, we can see the effects of climate change and environmental damage taking shape: shrinking glaciers, both water shortages and excesses, high temperature extremes, hazardous air conditions, and erratic weather patterns leading not only to immense property damage but also to untold human suffering and death—with worse to come if we stay on current path. We know there’s a problem, but spurring the world to action has been a decades-long struggle, and Stephen H. Schneider has been in the front lines [...]

State Department versus Climate

S. T. — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 06:14:08 +0000

Proposed Enbridge Pipeline

Hillary Clinton is trying to get another gigantic oil pipeline approved. The EPA is trying to stop her.

Maybe someone can explain to us how a pipeline carrying dirty tar sands oil from Canada keeps us safe. The Enbridge corporation keeps building oil pipelines into the U.S. from Canada, and they all seem to be approved, despite our government knowing the dangers of oil spills and pollution and GHG emissions. Enbridge pipelines have frequently spouted oil spills and leaks in the past. Enbridge has pipelines in Minnesota, most recently the one Hillary Clinton approved last year called the “Minnesota Alberta Clipper” pipeline, carrying dirty tar sands oil into the state and down to locations in Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. Enbridge also has pipelines in several other states, and also owns the pipeline that just ruptured in Michigan.

Why do we keep allowing foreign oil companies, and foreign pipeline companies, to threaten our environment with spills and leaks, in addition to greenhouse gas emissions?

The State Department is calling the tar sands oil from Canada a necessary part of our national security, along with the pipelines that carry it. That’s nonsense. National security, keeping us ’safe’, should stop this pipeline from ever being built. The population of the U.S. is far less safe if this pipeline is built because it will increase pollution, climate change and potential oil spills (like the horrible oil spill that just happened in Michigan) and that has serious health affects. After the biggest oil spill in our history in the Gulf of Mexico, the State Department thinks we need more oil pipelines in this country! It’s astounding — and wrong. Naturally, all the wrong people are going to get rich from this pipeline too, (including fossil fuel enthusiast T. Boone Pickens, who is heavily invested in tar sands oil. )

Yet Hillary Clinton argues that our “national security” depends on dirty foreign oil from Canada. Wrong! (I remember during the presidential campaign when Hillary said we needed an “Apollo program” to address climate change. I guess that was just a lot of hot air.) A lot of stupid things are done in the name of “national security” and this proposed pipeline, pictured above, should not be one of them. The EPA is trying to stop the pipeline.

“The project, known as the Keystone XL Project, would have a nominal capacity to deliver up to 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil from Hardisty to the terminals in Texas. In total, the Keystone XL Project would consist of approximately 1,702 miles of new, 36-inch-diameter pipeline, consisting of about 327 miles in Canada and 1,375 miles within the United States.”

If the EPA succeed in stopping this pipeline, it could be overturned and approved by the President himself. From SolveClimate:

White House could intervene as environmental security takes equal place next to energy security as concern of national interest

The EPA has slowed down the approval process of a permit [...]

Locking in Climate Change for Thousands of Years

S. T. — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:54:01 +0000

Monsoon rains continued in different parts of the country on Tuesday, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department's website.

Many parts of the world are suffering from torrential rains and violent storms this summer. Can they be related to climate change? They probably are. And the weather will continue to worsen, unless we do something about GHG emissions as soon as possible. It’s not just people alive now we have to worry about either. What kind of crime will we be accused of by future generations for forcing them to live in an inhospitable climate?

According to a new report from the National Research Council, choices made now about carbon dioxide emissions reductions will affect climate change impacts experienced not just over the next few decades but also in coming centuries and millennia.

See the report and read more here. You can also read the entire report online free on this page.

Because CO2 in the atmosphere is long lived, it can effectively lock the Earth and future generations into a range of impacts, some of which could become very severe.

Policy choices about emissions can be informed by recent advances in climate research that quantify the relationships between atmospheric CO2 and warming levels, and between warming levels and future impacts. Drawing upon this research, the report estimates changes in precipitation, stream flow, wildfires, crop yields, and sea level rise that can be expected with different degrees of warming. It also estimates the average temperature increases that would be likely if CO2 were stabilized in the atmosphere at various target levels. However, the report does not recommend any particular stabilization target, noting that choosing among different targets is a policy choice rather than strictly a scientific one because of questions of values regarding how much risk or damage to people or to nature might be considered too much.

Increased Confidence About Future Impacts

Although some important future effects of climate change are difficult to quantify, there is now increased confidence in how global warming of various levels would relate to several key impacts, says the report. It lists some of these impacts per degree Celsius (or per 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) of global warming, for example (these apply for 1 C to 4 C of warming):

5 percent to 10 percent less total rain in southwest North America, the Mediterranean, and southern Africa per degree Celsius of warming. 5 percent to 10 percent less stream flow in some river basins, including the Arkansas and Rio Grande, per degree Celsius of warming. 5 percent to 15 percent lower yields of some crops, including U.S. and African corn and Indian wheat, per degree Celsius of warming.

While total rain is expected to decrease in some areas, more of the rain that does occur is [...]

How Climate Change is Like Fight Club

S. T. — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:06:32 +0000

What was the first rule of Fight Club? Don’t talk about it. What was the first rule of Climate Change legislation? Don’t call it that. Call it “energy legislation”.

This is what Sen. Harry Reid plans to do, except now, at this point, that’s all it will be. It is not nearly enough to fight climate change.

Our hopes for a climate change bill in 2010 are gone. The situation was the same last year, and it’s incredible that we are saying the same thing this year, considering the mine disasters and the massive oil spill off our coast. It’s a situation that is nearly beyond belief.

There are a lot of reasons why this happened. According to Senator Bernie Sanders, who appears every Friday on the Thom Hartmann radio show, in large part the blame lies with the lack of will to get it done in the Congress. From DemocracyNow last Friday, the blame lies with President Obama, who did not fight for a climate bill, and broke another campaign promise: that climate and energy would be addressed with common sense and science. Didn’t happen. Instead, politics controlled how the various climate and energy bills were dealt with from start to finish. After the Shirley Sherrod debacle, I think I know why — this White House reacts less to science and more to the”gotcha” right-wing media. If you have a government who reacts more to the media than the people, you won’t get things done that need to be done. The media is nearly brain-dead on climate change. They choose to create time-wasting debates and other crises to mislead the public and prolong problems, instead of doing journalism.

As Senate Dems Give Up on Climate Bill, What Does the Future Hold for US Climate and Energy Policy?

Amy Goodman of DemocracyNow! interviewed environmental leaders and writers last Friday in her attempts to find out what the BEG (Big Environmental Groups) are going to do now that climate change legislation is dead in the U.S. Here is part of the interview. You can read and listen to the entire segment here. Read on for how Climate Change is like Fight Club.

AMY GOODMAN: Kate Sheppard, let’s begin with you. You’ve been writing in Mother Jones magazine about energy legislation. What do you make of this—well, of this energy bill that has little or no teeth?

KATE SHEPPARD: It has almost absolutely no teeth. This is basically the least ambitious plan they could come up with. It not only—it has very valuable things for oil spill response; it’s probably going to focus on reforming some important regulatory agencies and raising the liability cap so that BP pays what it owes in the Gulf. But going beyond that, it doesn’t really do much of anything. Ideally, this is going to be a bill that addressed carbon pollution, is going to be a bill that actually started phasing in clean energy, but it doesn’t do [...]

EPA Battles on Tar Sands with State Department

S. T. — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 23:41:51 +0000

If you have been following the news on the pipelines that would carry tar sands oil (the world’s dirtiest fuel) from Canada to the US, you’ll be glad to know that the EPA is now trying to slow down the process and possibily stop these pipelines with the State Department. The EPA told the SD their EIS doesn’t cut it: http://bit.ly/b0ShYv

The Minnesota Clipper pipeline portion was personally approved by Hillary Clinton last year, disappointing me and all environmentally aware people here in the U.S. Now another new pipeline is being considered for approval, and given Clinton’s record, it will likely be approved. But the EPA is stepping in to say Wait a Minute! Here’s an excerpt from the article from the NYT.

As we’ve reported, the State Department is considering whether to approve a huge new pipeline called Keystone XL that will bring crude from Canada’s oil sands all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

A new pipeline would vastly expand the amount of oil extracted from Canadian oil sands that is used in the United States – which could be good in terms of energy security.

But environmental groups contend that this oil comes with an unacceptable array of environmental problems, from a relatively heavy production of greenhouse gas emissions to destruction of northern, or boreal, forests.

In a letter to the State Department dated Friday, the federal Environmental Protection Agency for the first time officially weighed in on the decision, describing the State Department’s draft environmental impact statement for the Keystone XL project as inadequate.

It said the government had far more research to conduct and information to collect before it could consider the pipeline proposal.

Among the items agency said it found deficient in the draft environmental impact statement were the discussion of potential greenhouse gas emissions associated with the project, pipeline safety and spill-response planning, as well as the impact on indigenous Canadian communities.

Read more here. Hopefully the EPA will stop this pipeline and eventually, the entire project bringing this oil into the U.S. If the U.S. doesn’t buy this dirty oil, they will try to export it. It’s extremely expensive oil though, and it’s possible no one else will be able to afford it. It’s time for renewable energy taking over for fossil fuels now!

20 Steps to Fight Global Warming

S. T. — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 01:10:27 +0000

There are things everyone can do to fight global warming, no matter how difficult it may seem to solve this problem. Below is a great list of 20 things everyone can do, on their own, to fight global warming and pollution. This list is from another positive organization that makes a difference, the Evironnmental Defense Action Fund. The photo below is of the smoggy air over California, from Climate.gov, which illustrates one of the environmental problems that needs to be reversed.

I was surprised when reading the list how people could do even more than the list suggests. For instance, don’t use a dishwasher at all. Hand wash and air dry as much as possible. Air dry your clothes too. I have added more suggestions after some of the items.

The average American today uses enough energy to release about 50,000 pounds of carbon dioxide- the major contributor to global warming- per year. Here are 20 simple steps you can take to bring your average down. [this was originally written in 2007]

1. Urge your United States Senators to support the Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act.

(Updated legislation summaries can be found here.)

2. Run your dishwashwer only with a full load. Use the energy-saving setting to dry the dishes. Don’t use heat when drying.

[Better idea -- hand wash and air or towel dry. Why use a dishwasher at all?]

3. Wash clothes in warm or cold water, not hot. [Dry them outside if possible.]

4. Turn down your water heater thermostat; 120 degrees is usually sufficent.

5. Monitor the temperature in your home. Adjust your thermostat – lower in the winter and higher in the summer.

[Use a fan or "swamp cooler" instead of an air conditioner.]

6. Clean or replace air filters as recommended.

7. Buy energy efficient compact flourescent bulbs for your most used lights.

8. Wrap your water heater in an insulating jacket (but only if the water heater is over five years old and has no internal insulation).

[Better yet, get a solar powered hot water heater!]

9. Install low-flow shower heads to use less hot water.

10. Caulk and weatherstrip around doors and windows to plug air leaks.

[or get new windows installed that are more air-tight, if you can afford it.]

11. Ask your utility company to conduct an energy audit to find out where your home is poorly insulated or energy inefficient.

12. Whenever possible, walk, bike, carpool, or use mass transit.

13. When time and budget permits, buy a more fuel-efficient vehicle- one that gets at least five more mpg than your old car.

14. Reduce waste by buying minimally packaged goods; choosing reusable products over disposable ones.

15. Request that the coolant be recycled every time your car air conditioner is serviced.

16. Insulate your walls and ceilings to save about 25% on your home heating bills.

17. If you [...]

Politicians Kill Climate and Energy Bill for 2010

S. T. — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 06:46:04 +0000

The weather this summer is setting records all over the U.S.** No one can be positive, but the very hot weather, the storms, the incredible amount of moisture in the air — it looks like it’s caused by a very volatile, changing climate. But our lawmakers see no threat in our incredible weather this year. They just ended the possibility of climate and energy legislation for 2010. From the NYT:

“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid abandoned efforts to reduce carbon emissions from the nation’s power plants yesterday, marking the first major legislative setback for President Obama, who entered office vowing to address climate change. Reid (D-Nev.) was cornered into the decision after a handful of Democrats and Republicans failed to be swayed by an 18-month effort in Congress to charge… . . . “

It’s easy to correct that sentence . . . “by the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, caused by fossil fuels.” Caused by oil and criminal negligence in drilling for it in deeper and deeper water. Our Congress moves at a glacial pace for many reasons, and in this case, they are not going to address something that is a real crisis — for purely political reasons. They won’t even have a public debate about it. A public debate about climate change and renewable energy versus business as usual is an essential thing for the American public to see because they don’t seem to know much about it. What the public does seem to know about it appears to be based on erroneous information that has come at them from a variety of special interest groups and lobbyists. That’s why we desperately need this public discussion.

But now we won’t get the bill we need, because our Congress has decided it’s just too risky for their political careers. As I have said before, American politicians care far more for their own careers than anything else, and they have blood on their hands as a result. Some environmental groups think this is a good idea because now we can 1) expect a better bill (on Planet Utopia, apparently) and 2) the bill would have done more harm than good. Maybe both things are correct, but now we have nothing, and there is no public discussion.

Do people really think that politicians are going to wise up and do the right thing next year (when we may have a more Republican Congress) if they can’t manage to do it this year, or the year before, or in 2008, or every year for the last three decades? Come on. This was the year to do it or lose it, and it looks like we lost it. Congress members cannot think ahead further than the next election cycle, to say nothing of looking ahead 20, 30, 100 years. They do not think long term.

Now our main hope to do something effective on climate change mitigation is the EPA, and the Republicans are [...]

Simple Positive Action from One Change

S. T. — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:10:16 +0000

Among all the sad environmental and climate news there is always some uplifting news of an organization or individuals that are working hard to make a difference. People are taking action, and that matters, because everything people do for the environment helps. You are probably aware of many groups in the U.S. and internationally, such as Friends of the Earth, World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, 350.org, and 1Sky, just to name a few. They all have varying degrees of activity and things going on at any given time, but many of their actions involve raising awareness or civil disobedience, (which isn’t something many people are willing to do). An organization based in Canada recently contacted us, with a different philosophy of action and empowerment. They are called One Change and they have a proven record of changing awareness into action. Below is an introduction to their organization. They are based in Canada but they do things in the United States as well. A current campaign they are carrying out in New Jersey is Project Porchlight. The main website for One Change is here. “Simple Actions Matter”.

There’s a common notion that awareness causes action, that doing what is good automatically follows from knowing what is good. But this logic doesn’t hold when people feel that their actions make no difference. Sadly, most people have come to see the critical economic and environmental challenges we face today as too big, too complex to do anything about.

But disempowerment often masks a deep longing for change. In fact, the desire to participate in solutions to global problems is nearly universal. The real issue for most people is “What can I do?” In other words, it’s not just about awareness – it’s about believing that simple actions matter.

One Change tips awareness into action by making simple first steps accessible to all people and by strengthening and connecting diverse communities – particularly those that have been ignored or excluded by mainstream environmentalism, politics and economics. Indeed, we need to empower citizens from every area of society and from across the political spectrum to tackle the twin challenges of climate change and economic disparity. One Change harnesses the power of social marketing and community-based outreach to do just that.

Through a complete social marketing initiative including door-to-door deliveries of an environmental tool, community events, retail partnerships, educational web sites, social media, media outreach activities, hands-on engagement pieces and celebrity endorsements, we’re able to spread the message of protecting the environment and saving money neighbor to neighbor. By using these creative tactics and engaging and mobilizing volunteers, community groups and leaders we’re able to create lasting positive behavior change.

To date, One Change has engaged and trained over 12,000 volunteers in over 900 communities across Canada and the United States to deliver over 3 million energy efficient light bulbs and tire gauges. You can join the network of thousands of volunteers all across North America by visiting our [...]

Peak Oil Warning Issued

S. T. — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:59:58 +0000

Firefighters have extinguished a fire that raged for more than 15 hours after two oil pipelines exploded in the port of Dalian in northeast China, the Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

The end of fossil fuel use, especially oil and coal, is a moment that has arrived. Lately world news seems to be stories of one fossil fuel disaster after another. The Gulf of Mexico cap on the well is probably not going to hold, as it was found to be leaking last weekend. There was a coal mine disaster and cave in again in China this weekend. An oil pipeline at a busy Chinese port exploded late last week, causing a massive fire that burned for 15 hours before being put out Saturday. Officials said no one was killed. Story at MSNBC.

The following peak oil news is from Solveclimate and the Guardian. I am on vacation this week so enjoy some news you might have missed.

Lloyd’s of London, one of [London's] most respected institutions has warned of “catastrophic consequences” for businesses that fail to prepare for a world of increasing oil scarcity and a lower carbon economy.

The Lloyd’s insurance market and the highly regarded Royal Institute of International Affairs, known as Chatham House, says Britain needs to be ready for “peak oil” and disrupted energy supplies at a time of soaring fuel demand in China and India, constraints on production caused by the BP oil spill and political moves to cut CO2 to halt global warming.

“Companies which are able to take advantage of this new energy reality will increase both their resilience and competitiveness. Failure to do so could lead to expensive and potentially catastrophic consequences,” says the Lloyd’s and Chatham House report Sustainable energy security: strategic risks and opportunities for business.

The insurance market has a major interest in preparedness to counter climate change because of the fear of rising insurance claims related to property damage and business disruption.The review is groundbreaking because it comes from the heart of the City and contains the kind of dire warnings that are more associated with environmental groups or others accused by critics of resorting to hype.

It takes a pot shot at the International Energy Agency which has been under fire for apparently under-estimating the threats, noting: “IEA expectations [on crude output] over the last decade have generally gone unmet.”

The report the world is heading for a global oil supply crunch and high prices owing to insufficient investment in oil production plus a rebound in global demand following recession. It repeats warning from Professor Paul Stevens, a former economist from Dundee University, at an earlier Chatham House conference that lack of oil by 2013 could force the price of crude above $200 (£130) a barrel.

It also quotes from a US department of [...]

Australian Goal: Reach 100% Renewable Energy

S. T. — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:51:46 +0000

A new renewable energy report is good news for Australia! Now we need this goal in the United States and the political support and will to do it. Why let other countries get ahead of us on renewable energy? (I know it’s too late, but we can still catch up if Congress would get its act together). Especially in the wake of the still on-going Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, renewable energy should be a topic even more supported in the U.S. now than ever before.

The /Zero Carbon Australia/ (ZCA) report is the culmination of 12 months of pro bono work by engineers, scientists and postgraduate university students, performing the research that no Australian government has been prepared to undertake. The result is a truly innovative collaboration the likes of which has never been seen before in Australia. It is a true failure of leadership that our elected representatives have not developed a comprehensive transition plan for the energy sector even though it is at the heart of climate change mitigation efforts. Instead it has been left to a group of concerned citizens to pick up the slack.

Is it possible for Australia to power its homes, office buildings, and factories without adversely affecting our climate? The answer is yes.

The ZCA plan presents a carefully considered analysis of the energy technologies, industrial capacity, and investment required to repower Australia. The report shows that Australia can replace fossil-fuel baseload electricity using commercially available renewable energy technology, with the additional investment required equal to about one cup of coffee per person per day over the ten year transition. Our researchers have found that a 60/40 mix of concentrated solar thermal power and large-scale wind developments combined with an upgraded grid and comprehensive energy efficiency measures can reliably supply Australia’s electricity needs.

Concentrated solar thermal power is the crucial renewable energy technology that will help Australia transition. Power stations are really glorified kettles. You need an energy source to boil water, so the steam can turn a turbine. Coal-fired power stations do this by burning coal. Nuclear power stations use nuclear fission. Solar thermal power stations concentrate the sun’s rays and store this energy as heat, to be used for boiling water day or night. Torresol Energy’s Gemasolar plant under construction in Spain will deliver power 24 hours a day with the same baseload production characteristics as a conventional coal plant. Next time you hear someone say that the sun doesn’t shine at night, tell them it doesn’t matter.

Full report available here. To download the full Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan click HERE (8.4MB). You can also download a 16-page synopsis HERE.

June the Fourth Month of Hottest Global Temps

S. T. — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 08:14:54 +0000

The world is melting.

RIVERS OF ICE: Panoramic view of West Rongbuk Glacier and Mount Everest, taken in 1921 (top) by Major E.O. Wheeler and in 2009 (bottom) by David Breashears. (Photo courtesy of the Royal Geographical Society)

From Climate Progress and NOAA

NOAA: June is fourth month in a row of record HIGH Global Temperatures

10 warmest years on record all since 1995

NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) has posted its State of the Climate, Global Analysis for June. The results confirm NASA’s: The first half of 2010 breaks the thermometer.

Here are some highlights:

June was the fourth consecutive month that was the warmest on record for the combined global land and surface temperatures (March, April, and May were also the warmest). This was the 304th consecutive month with a combined global land and surface temperature above the 20th century average. The last month with below average temperatures was February 1985. It was the warmest June on record for the land surfaces of the globe. Previous record was set in 2005. The land surface temperature exceeded the previous record by 0.11˚C (0.20˚F). This large difference over land contributed strongly to the overall global land and ocean temperature anomaly…. The year-to-date (January-June) combined global land and ocean temperature was the warmest on record….. 2010 surpassed 1998 (Feb, Jul, Aug) for the most “warmest months” in any calendar year…. Each of the 10 warmest average global temperatures recorded since 1880 have occurred in the last fifteen years. The warmest year-to-date on record, through June, was 1998, and 2010 is warmer so far (note: although 1998 was the warmest year through June, a late-year warm surge in 2005 made that year the warmest total year)

The temperatures will keep rising until something is done. t’s time for a climate and energy bill!

Capping the Gusher with Green Energy

S. T. — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 00:19:30 +0000

Good news on two fronts: The oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico is temporarily capped and the relief wells are nearly completed. If we are lucky this will be the beginning of the end. And green energy is growing in the U.S. and Europe more than most people are probably aware of. Who needs oil and coal? This is from PlanetArk. If we keep this up we won’t need offshore oil or any other kind of oil for fuel in a few years.

More than half of all new electricity capacity added in the United States and Europe last year was from renewable power such as wind and solar, a body backed by the International Energy Agency and the UN reported.

Last year was also a record year for the amount of new green power added to the grid, partly a result of shifting deployment and manufacture to emerging economies including Brazil, India and China, from flagging developed countries.

“In 2009, China produced 40 percent of the world’s solar PV supply, 30 percent of the world’s wind turbines, up from 10 percent in 2007,” REN21, or the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century, said in a report on Thursday.

REN21, launched in 2005, is supported by the International Energy Agency (IEA), which advises 28 industrialized countries — and by the United Nations Environment Programme.

Of an extra 80 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable power capacity added worldwide, China added 37 GW, more than any other country, said the study, titled “Renewables 2010, Global Status Report.”

Despite the impact of the financial crisis and lower oil prices, renewable capacity grew at rates close to those in previous years, including solar photovoltaic (PV) power at 53 percent and wind power at 32 percent, the report said.

Grid-connected solar PV power had grown by an average of 60 percent every year for the past decade, increasing 100-fold since 2000.

That boom has been largely on the back of support in European countries, where a recent pullback following recession has raised investor jitters. But the wind and solar sectors were still poised for a record year in 2010, operators and investors say.

While China is making great strides in renewable energy deployment, its carbon emissions also accelerated in 2009 — placing it further ahead as the world’s top emitter of the main greenhouse gas blamed for climate change.

Slowing Climate Change and Fighting Deniers

S. T. — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:29:36 +0000

UCS "Curious for Life" Ad Campaign Showcases Scientists who were once curious kids. This girl represents real climate scientist Julia Cole.

From the title of this it sounds like we all have to be Superheroes to make a difference, but actually the opposite is true. Everyone can contribute a lot just by making a few changes in how we live. Climate change is happening now, and it cannot be completely stopped any time soon, but it can be slowed. Eventually it’s possible we could even reverse it, but that will take a long time. That means everything we do now matters, and everything we can do to inform other people about it matters a lot. Only by everyone contributing to slowing it down can we have any hope of success in turning human-caused climate change around.

There is a good new book you can share with people, to start with. Environmental activist Bill McKibben of 350.org warned of the dangers of global warming 20 years ago. His latest book, Eaarth, takes an angrier and more urgent tone as he urges a change in our lifestyles or we risk living in an inhospitable world. This radio interview with Bill McKibben is from June, and it’s very much worth listening to.

/**/

He refutes the idea that climate science is still up for debate, and he does it very effectively. He emphasizes that we have to change how we live, at least a little, and it shouldn’t be that hard to make some changes.

Here is an interesting statistic that should make people feel more empowered: If everyone in America cut out one 30 mile trip per week you could reduce about 20% of your CO2 driving emissions. You can see a lot more tips like that to save energy at Carbon Fund. It’s one of the most useful sites I’ve seen as far as things we can all do to cut our emissions.

You can see Eaarth listed here in the books from Amazon list in the sidebar. I invite everyone to check this book out, as it is more serious in tone than some of his others are, and it’s a worthwhile book. He gives us the bad news but then outlines some practical and some visionary solutions that might even improve everyone’s lives. It’s described as an “important” book and I agree.

The Union of Concerned Scientists are also on the offensive against climate change deniers. They are launching a campaign this summer to focus attention on the science of climate change, the science that shows humans are causing it. It’s good the environmental groups are fighting back against the deniers, who are all political and have agendas that include “no new taxes”. They would sacrifice life on earth for stopping new taxes, or their ideas of what addressing climate change would entail. The complete exoneration of the climate scientists from the University of East Anglia (by 3 groups) who had their emails stolen has not gotten nearly [...]

Moving Our Cars Into the Future

S. T. — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 11:11:59 +0000

It’s time to stop being so stuck in the past when it comes to cars. Cars and trucks are pretty old ideas at this point, and they need some serious modernization. T. Boone Pickens is still sending out email campaigns, still pushing natural gas as a transportation fuel, as are some members of Congress. They might as well be living in the 1970s because that’s where his ideas are coming from. A bygone era. Vehicles of the future will be electric, (including trucks) and the biggest challenges are to make those vehicles affordable and to make the electricity that will power them clean energy, from wind or solar. Electric vehicle companies are starting to advertise by appealing to people’s growing distaste for wars for oil and gas, the kind of wars our country is all too familiar with.

The Hill reports that, “The latest ad from the Electrification Coalition comes ahead of Senate debate on far-reaching energy legislation that Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) plans to bring to the floor before the August congressional recess. The coalition formed last year includes Nissan Motor Co. — which is rolling out a plug-in car called the Leaf — as well as NRG Energy Inc., PG&E Corp., lithium ion battery company A123Systems Inc., FedEx Corp. and GridPoint Inc., which provides software to enable a “smart” power grid.”

Non-personal transportation is becoming more attractive to a lot of people too, as Pres. Obama talks about high-speech rail more and more. There is so much freedom to not having to drive a car yourself, but leaving the driving to others, that people who haven’t experienced it have a hard time imagining it. Well, it’s like flying — you can sit back and relax.

The future of cars is electric, that much is clear. We need clean energy cars with no emissions to reduce CO2 and start to draw down climate change. To that end, I was very happy last week when I saw that President Obama was visiting an electric car company in Kansas City called “Smith Electric Vehicles”. They started out as a UK company and are now making cars in the United States.

Update correction: Smith makes vehicles, but not cars. According to the comment below, Smith makes “all-electric trucks vans and small buses. Vehicles which operate on predictable routes and return to base at the end of each day. I can recommend visiting the Case Studies page within the ‘Rest Of The World’ section of the company website at http://www.smithelectricvehicles.com to see examples of hundreds in daily use.”

It’s great to see the president supporting electric cars vehicles with a visit. (See his video on page 2).

Now if he’d only stipulate to our car makers a couple of things. First, that they need to stop moving their jobs to Mexico, as GM and Ford are starting to do. Second, that in the interest of national security (climate change being a national security threat) GM and [...]