Today, the Earth got a little hotter, and a little more crowded.
Saving the BB: the beautiful biodiversity like this scarlet macaw found in Latin American forests, is another important reason to conserve these carbon-storing systems. Source peoplesforum.info
Forests: the cheapest way to store carbon
Source www.economist.com
OO Latin America: New Forests Can Store Carbon Dioxide -
If Allowed to Grow 40 Years - as abandoned farmland gets reforested, says a new study. Based on reforestation so far, in another 40 years the forests could sequester 31 billion tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
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Clearcutting Our Climate - Logging or degrading rainforests makes them more vulnerable to destruction, a process that increases the world's greenhouse gas emission up to 20% a year.
OO Can Trading Save The Amazon? Satellite tracking has slowed illegal Amazonian deforestation; the international REDD+ program might help further by placing value on their existence.
When we harm forests, we harm ourselves.
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RUNNING THROUGH OUR RESOURCES
Running Out of Water, And Clean Air as populations rise: a toxic mix. Millions are starving in India and Africa as severe drought cuts down their food crops. Credit Jaipal Singh at EPA
OO Humans Damaging The Environment Faster Than It Can Recover a UN report finds. Radical action is needed to combat increasing rate of environmental damage to water sources, land, biodiversity and marine life.
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Now You See It... Now You Don't as the world's glaciers, polar caps, and ice sheets melt away. Alaska's largest glacier, the Petersen Glacier, in 1917 and 2005. Source NASA
OO NASA Satellite Images Show Dramatic Changes In The World's Environment
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A SWEET SPOT IN CREATING SUSTAINABLE POPULATIONS
Triple Win: Using Profits to Provide Needed US Family Planning - Medicines360.org is key to creating a sustainable US population and bright futures for women - AND saving taxpayers many billions yearly in community costs by preventing unintended pregnancies. Source medicines360.org
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Extreme Weather and Racing Don't Mix as the first 3 minutes of this video shows. A recent German car race turned evil as part of the dry course was transformed into a major slick by a sudden rain and hail storm. 69 cars were stranded.
WEATHERMEN AGREE: CLIMATE IS CHANGING
What's With The Weather? Climate change, more weatherman are concluding. Source forecastthefacts.org
OO Meteorologists Are Seeing Global Warming's Effect On The Weather
"lately it seems the treadmill of disruptive weather has been set to fast-forward."
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@@ Climate Change 101: Why Care?
What You Need to Know - Bill Nye tells it all in five minutes amid graphic, dynamic, engaging, compelling imagery. Check it Out!
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CALIFORNIA DRYIN'
OO Lake Mead Declines To Lowest Level Ever - The nation's largest reservoir has broken a record, declining to the lowest level since it was created in the 1930s due to extended drought.
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"This problem is not going away and it is likely to get worse, perhaps far worse, as climate change unfolds," said Colorado State University water and climate research Brad Udall,.
"Unprecedented high temperatures in the basin are causing the flow of the river to decline. The good news is that we have time and the smarts to manage this, if all the states work together."
Related Headline:
OO Lake Mead Drops to Record Low
OO Sen. Dianne Feinstein Pushes For Water Bill To Address California's Drought - El Niño's rains didn't end California's drought. Feinstein urged colleagues to find a compromise on bills to address the West's water crisis.
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MORE TURBULENT WEATHER AHEAD
OO El Nino Couldn't Save West From Drought -
Nor Will La Nina, Probably
"The drought isn't over. The drought may never be over completely. There are just too many people here." - Robert Hartman, hydrologist in charge of the California Nevada River Forecast Center.
Related Headline:
OO As One Harmful Weather System Wanes,
Another Waxes: La Nina - Takeaways:
- Massive Pacific pool of deep water moving east could cause fall weather chaos;
- Researchers say this 'slow-motion wave' could signify developing La Niña;
- La Niña brings unusually cold temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific;
- Could create higher chance of dry winter in drought-stricken California,
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SOIL MICROBES: THREATENED CLIMATE WARRIORS
Dust Storms Strip away essential soil microbes. CreditRoxy Lopez via Wikimedia Commons
OO Soil Microbes Fight Climate Change and are our "microscopic allies" in making dirt a major resource for storing excess carbon, says soil microbe expert Esther Ngumbi. Takeaways:
- soil degradation threatens both food security, and the ability of soils to store carbon;
- soil microbes can increase plant defenses against insect pests;
- pest populations are expected to increase under climate change.
Credit Enrique Castro-Mendivil at Reuters
OO Carbon Farming:
A Boon For Soil And Environment by enriching depleted soil with charcoal carbon; storing carbon this way is also a powerful weapon in the fight to slow climate change.
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Choose Clean Energy Not Coal said 300+ health care profressionals to national heads at a recent meeting. Source Climate and Health at twitter.com
OO Global Health Professionals Call On G7
To Speed Up Coal Phase-Out - 80+ organizations representing 300,000+ doctors, nurses and other health professionals from 30 countries, said to accelerate transition away from coal-fired electricity, to minimise the risk to human health from poor air quality.
"Eliminating air pollution from coal-fired power plants provides immediate and significant air pollution related health benefits and health care savings," the joint statement reads.
"A coal phase-out also slows climate change, thereby reducing current and future illnesses and deaths from heatwaves, droughts, malnutrition, flooding, air pollution and wildfires."
OO 'Break Free' Fossil Fuel Protests Deemed 'Largest Ever' Global Disobedience
OO Greenpeace Activists Scale British Museum to protest BP sponsorship
OO Environmentalists Win Global Warming Lawsuit Against Massachusetts - over its failure to implement carbon-reduction goals mandated by the 2008 Global Warming Solutions Act.
OO Louisiana Gov Edwards Pushes Big Oil
To Pay For Coastal Damages - caused by them, by settling lawsuits claims; money would be used to restore the state's fragile coast.
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MARINE MELTDOWN
This Won't Be Pretty Long - a newly bleached dead coral hosts feather worms that will probably be smothered as brown algae covers the surface. No holiday for these "Christmas Tree Worms". Credit Matt Kieffer at flickr
OO Under Paris Climate Agreement Risks to Double For Marine Life & People - says a new study, under the current pledges made.. Takeaways:
- oceans absorb 25% of emitted CO2 and 90+% of the air's global heat due of human activity;
- the cost of doing so is huge.
Both Climate Change and Overfishing Lead to Empty Nets Source wordpress.com
- average global temperature from 2.7C to 3.5C, making the oceans hotter and more acidic.
- shellfish, aquaculture, and seagrass (important for growing fish) risks will become high;
- warm water coral risks will become very high.*
* if they survive at all, given the recent damage already done by more frequent and intense El Nino cycles.
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RISING COSTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Credit Tony Karumba at AFP
OO Climate Change Threatens 1+ Billion People, $158 Trillion
Says World Bank but few countries are prepared for it.
OO Global Warming Will Hit Poorer Countries Hardest research finds, as in tropical developing countries, where the number of hot days will increase markedly under continued global warming.
OO Canada: Ontario To Spend $7-Billion On Sweeping Climate Change Plan - and critics balk, not realizing that the costs rise the more they delay.
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Source ajitvadakayil.blogspot.com
OO Farmer Suicides Soar In India
As Deadly Heatwave Hits 51 Degrees Celsius - that's 128+ F. A weeks-long lethal heat wave that has withered crops has driven hundreds of farmers to suicide instead of shantytowns; tens of thousands more have been forced to abandon their land.
The Director General of the India Meteorological Department, blamed the heatwave on climate change.
OO India To Divert Ganges and Other Rivers To Tackle Drought Takeaways:
- 330+ million people are affected by drought there;
- Nearly half of India's states suffer severe water crises;
- Groundwater is at alarmingly low levels.
*which are melting at ever faster rates. When this water supply dries out, it will have major impacts on southern and central Asia.
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GOOD IDEAS
OO Scientists, Investors Seek To Identify Financial Risks Of Climate Change
OO How To Convince Your Employer To Divest
Your 401(K) From Fossil Fuels by creating retirement options that invest in a cleaner future.
OO City-Integrated Renewable Energy For Urban Sustainability - a new study looks at how cities can reduce energy consumption and better harness renewable energy sources via decentralised energy generation - the hallmark of low-carbon, resilient and "livable" cities.
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OO To Build A Better Future, We Must Imagine Ourselves There - instead of portraying Earth in 2050 as a hellhole constantly, let's envision -- to create -- a place we would love to live.
OO Indian Army Helps Battle Climate Change
OO After Paris, A Move To Rein In Emissions By Ships And Planes
Nature's Gems Are In the Details - so be on the lookout next time you're on the trail! Credit Penkdik Palme
Visit Your Partner, Nature:
Take a Hike With Your Family and Friends! - are you solo, or never done it before? Join a meetup hiking group.
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SOCIAL REPERCUSSIONS
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OO Climate Change, Runaway Development Worsen Houston Floods
OO As Seas Rise, New Orleans Sinks Faster and Faster says a new study using NASA airborne radar.
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And Not Just Coastal Flooding - this riverside town in southern Germany (Braunsbach) just recently got reamed out by a flood, reminiscent of the Japanese tsunami scenes.
OO Over Billion People Could Be At Risk Of Coastal Flooding By 2060 due to population growth and the consequences of climate change, says a new study.
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Source cajnewsafrica.com
OO A Warming World Means Less Water, With Economic Consequences
OO Across Africa, The Worst Food Crisis
Since 1985 Looms For 50 Million As a second year without rain threatens catastrophe for some of the world's poorest people. Donor countries, gripped by wars and refugee crises, have been slow to pledge funds. But by the time they do, it could be too late. Takeaways:
Food Prices Soar, and So Does Malnourishment as children suffer from lack of food. Source www.cnbcafrica.com
A continent-scale food crisis is unfolding:
- Malawi, Mozambique, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Madagascar, Angola and Swaziland have already declared national emergencies or disasters, as have seven of South Africa's nine provinces;
- Botswana and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, have also been badly hit;
- Many more are hungry: 12 million in Ethiopia, 7 million in Yemen, 6 million in Southern Sudan and more in the Central African Republic and Chad.
More People, More Global Warming, Less Water - India is facing a water crisis that will worsen as these three trends continue. Credit Indranil Mukherjee at AFP
OO India's Drought Foretells Of Greater Struggles As Climate Warms
OO Crippling Drought In Central India Leaves Millions On Brink - Dry wells, shriveled stubble of sugarcane fields, withered fruit trees: all reflect the suffering of hundreds of millions of people across a dozen or more states gripped by severe drought.
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HOT NEWS
It's Getting Hotter All The Time.... as this map of surface temperature differences from average temperatures shows. Credit National Centers for Environmental Information at NOAA
OO '99 Percent Chance' 2016 Will Be Hottest Year primarily due to global warming, but El Nino is helping boost it.
OO Cooling Down Earth Will Take Longer
Than Warming It Up says a new study of climate models. The temperature response when CO2 is decreasing is slower because the deep ocean is still adjusting to previous increases.
OO Indian Summer Makes History: A Rajasthan Town Boils At 51°C (128+ F)
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AS US WEST HEATS UP,
IT COOLS ON DAMS
How Las Vegas Sucks the West Dry - the Hoover Dam loses nearly 300 billion gallons of Colorado River water yearly to power the city and beyond. Credit Propublica.org
@@ Drying West: Water and Energy Collide - as two big dams, the Glen Canyon and the Hoover, lose over 450 Billion gallons of water to evaporation yearly, worsening water shortages already present from climate-change-enhanced drought - a fascinating interactive tour of the drying Colorado River, a 1,500 mile long, 7-state plumbing system for the US west.
And now, authorities are considering turning off the smaller of the two, the Glen Canyon Dam.
Damned For Good? As the river dries up, so does the energy produced. Credit Damnation Collection
OO Unplugging the Colorado River:
Closing Glen Canyon Dam - is being considered as climate change has reduced flows, water storage and energy generation there and elsewhere in the hotter, drier, US West.
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PLAYING WITH FIRE
OO Wildfire-Fighters Warn 2016 Could Be Bad In California and average in other states, but even that means thousands of wildfires, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.
Boreal Circle of Fire Encloses Alaska, Canada, Siberia- with the same process: global warming ups wildfires of tundra and forests, emitting climate-changing gases that further global warming.
OO Global Warming To Spur More Fires In Alaska,
In Turn Causing More Warming
OO The Fort Mcmurray Fire's Stunning Pulse Of Carbon To The Atmosphere
OO Canada Wildfire: Oil Workers Evacuate Camps Near Fort Mcmurray
OO Canada Fires Cost Oil Sands Production $985 Million says a new report..
OO Oil Sands Companies Losing Up To $50 Million A Day As Fires Rageand halts oil production.
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RISING CLIMATE-CHANGING GASES
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What Climate-Changing Gases Create: Chaos For Humanity that will only worsen without quick action.
OO Carbon Dioxide's 400ppm Level Milestone
Shows Humans Are Rewriting The Planet's History - Takeaways:
- 400 ppm signals no tipping point but a mark of the continuous rise of climate-changing gases;
- Once CO2 is up there, much of it stays there a long time;
- CO2 has risen the fastest ever seen throughout much of Earth's history;
- How fast it rises affects how oceans, atmosphere, and life will respond.
Source althouse.blogspot.com
"And therein lies the rub,"
says climate scientist Michael Mann.
"Once you melt an ice sheet,
it takes many, many thousands of years to rebuild it."
The time to start burning
an awful lot less coal, oil and gas
wasn't last week.
The "tipping point" wasn't crossed at 400 ppm.
This legacy of inaction rests across decades.
There's no denying that.
OO Southern Hemisphere Joins North In Breaching
400 ppm Carbon Dioxide Milestone
OO Far From Turning A Corner, Global CO2 Emissions Still Accelerating says the latest greenhouse gas inventory from NOAA; it shows CO2 and methane 'going completely in the wrong direction.'
OO Only Five Years Left Before
Carbon Budget Is Blown For 1.5C Warming says a new analysis using figures from the 2014 synthesis report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
OO Agriculture Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Will Doom Paris Climate Accord Goal
Unless Action is Taken to reduce emissions dramatically.
Related Headline:
OO Reducing Agriculture Emissions Needed
To Meet The 2°C Target - actions needed are developing feeds that lower methane emissions from cows, and cereal crop varieties that emit less nitrous oxide, another potent climate changing gas.
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POLAR MELTDOWN
Staggering Arctic Warmth in the Arctic has been observed by NASA and other institutions this year, with 4+ degrees C (8 F) across much of the Arctic.
OO Even For The Fast-Melting Arctic,
2016 Is In 'Uncharted Territory - Takeaways:
- January and February set new Arctic heat records;
- Alaska has been warmer than ever recorded this year;
- April was a record warm month for the globe.
@@ Trouble at Totten Glacier
OO East Antarctica's Biggest Glacier Is 'Fundamentally unstable' alarmed researchers have confirmed. Takeaways:
- the Totten Glacier holds back more ice than any other Antarctic one;
- the glacier has retreated http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27193684 several times in the past;
- it contains several unstable zones;
- it is thinning by 1.5 feet annually.
GOOD NEWS
OO Virtually All New US Electric Capacity Added In Q1 2016 Was Renewable - and clean, although not all clean: a small amount was biomass, which emits climate-changing gases when burned.
OO India's Ambitious Solar Plan Hits Another Peak - The north Indian state of Punjab has inaugurated what it claims is the world's largest rooftop solar power plant, as India pushes towards 100GW capacity by 2022.
OO Europe Keeps Hitting Clean Energy Milestones - renewables supplied enough energy to Portugal, Germany and Britain for days, not just hours, proving how it could be a reliable energy source.
Source www.siemens.com
OO World's Largest Floating Windfarm To Be Built Off Scottish Coast
OO France Leads By Example With Carbon Price Floor of about $33 per tonne -- for it to be really effective it should be around 3 times that, but, hey, it's a start.
OO New York Green Bank Funds a Startup
Making Pay-As-You-Save Efficiency Upgrades but most of the bank's financing still continues to flow to solar.
Why Cutting Emissions Matters Source obrag.org, ccr 295
OO Power Plant Emissions Fall to Lowest Level in Decades
OO UK Green Economy Worth £46+ Billion, Official Stats Reveal
OO China Will Start the World's Largest Carbon Trading Market
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CLUELESS LEADERSHIP
Useless on Climate - and for so many other things.
OO Trump's Ignorance:
He Can't Undo Paris Climate Accord,
As He Claims - said a senior US administration official. I guess Trump doesn't realize that the rest of the world does not revolve around the USA, much less him.
More to the point, the US path towards a lower-carbon economy was already set, and was dependent on market forces that would not easily succumb to political tinkering.
OO Trump Hypocrisy:
Admits Climate Change Exists - On His Golf Course! - it's not a hoax, as he once claimed - especially when you're putting and a storm surge floods the course.
Trump warns of its dire effects in his company's application to build a sea wall - which HE will pay for, presumably, unless he manages to hoodwink some poor Scot into doing so...
OO Republicans Block Climate Action
Via Court Battles that delay enforcing the Clean Power Plan by at least a year. Republican suits against the plan are now on a schedule that indicates the Supreme Court will rule on it, at the earliest, by spring of 2017.
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It's the Flooding of Money, Not Texas that moves Congressional Republicans to defend Exxon's fraudulent behavior. Credit Michael Lukovich
OO House Republicans Assail Climate Fraud Investigation - led by Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, saying probes into companies such as Exxon infringe on the companies' First Amendment rights. What about OUR rights?
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Now Imagine a Flock of Fracking Rigs to the Right - too bad Obama would not ban drilling on our public lands. Source huffingtonpost.com
OO The Black Mark on Obama's Climate Legacy:
Allowing Fossil Fuel Leasing on Public Lands even as it works to boost renewables, citing our short term need of them.
Really? Most of our known supplies can't be burned if we are to avoid catastrophic climate change. Say it ain't so, O!
OO Australia to Lay Off Leading Scientist on Sea Levels - hey, they know sea levels are rising, already... why bother finding out how fast? Oh, those Ozzies...
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ELECTION YEAR:
If You Don't Vote For Climate Action, You Can Forget The Rest - in a climate-changing world of famine, drought, rising seas, giant storms and heat waves, there will be no security in jobs, health, wealth, or national safety. There will be chaos ensuing from increasing crises and disasters. Vote.
OO Global Warming Policies We Set Today Will Determine The Next 10,000 Years - of global warming, a new study shows -- and whether our civilization survives or not: history shows that harmful climate change has destroyed civilizations before.
This time, it could be worldwide. Let's keep "The Hunger Games" in the realm of fiction.
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FOSSIL FUEL FOLLIES
Fracking Shakes Things Up Source thewatchers.adorraeli.com
OO Oil And Gas Quakes Have Long Been Shaking Texas new research finds.
OO When Oil Boom Went Bust, Oklahoma Helped Drillers --
And Squeezed Schools forcing cuts to cut classes, administrators and teachers to make up a growing revenue shortfall, even as oilmen received permanent, generous tax breaks.
OO Exxon Terminal Not Protected Against Climate Change;
Poses Future Pollution Threat says a new legal complaint that notes if Exxon knew about these effects of climate change, it was legally bound to take protective steps for its terminal, but did not do so.
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Shorter, Stifling Lives are the outlook for Japanese, if they build more coal-fired plants. Source www.reuters.com
OO Japan's Coal-Fired Plants 'To Cause Thousands Of Early Deaths' - building dozens of coal-fired power stations will cause at least 10,000 premature deaths, says a new study, and "lock in carbon emissions for decades."
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BIOFUELS BOONDOGGLE
Biofuels Displace Food Crops and many note that we need the food more. Source www.actionaid.org.uk
OO Obama's 2017 Biofuel Quota - is being blasted by producers as too low, and by big oil as too high.
The whole biofuels idea is unsustainable, anyway. Why? Because:
- Burning biofuels produces climate changing emissions, like fossil fuels;
- for every US acre devoted to biofuel corn, another acre of carbon-storing forest elsewhere is cut to make up the cereal shortfall in corn or soy;
- the total energy needed to produce them is more expensive than that for wind or solar power.
Biofuels are a non-starter.
The alternative? Electic cars and appliances run on electricity produced from wind or solar power.
NATURAL GAS BOONDOGGLE
Burning Our Way Through Climate Goals with the "New Coal", natural gas. Credit Tim Evanson at flickr
OO Environmentalists Hate Fracking: "New Coal" Isn't Clean - Allowing natural gas as a "bridge" fuel to clean energy is a big mistake: it slows the transition, and allows sizeable leaks of the strong climate-changing gas, methane, into the atmosphere. President Barack Obama's climate legacy could fail because of this.
"If you get the chemistry wrong," says climate expert Bill McKibben, "it doesn't matter how many landmark climate agreements you sign or how many speeches you give. "
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CARBON CAPTURE BOONDOGGLE
Got Enough Oil? More Than We Can Burn Source gofossil free.org
OO For Safer Climate, Most Fossil Fuels Cannot Be Burned - says a new study, without carbon capture, that is -- but carbon capture is not practical . Why?
- It takes energy to both capture and store carbon, making fossil fuels too expensive;
- Developing the technology would take longer than global temperatures rising a catastrophic 2 C
What IS practical? Restrict the burning of climate-changing fuels until it can be demonstrated that their harmful byproducts can be captured and stored massively, cheaply. Don't hold your breath.
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FIXING CLIMATE CHANGE
@@ A Simple And Smart Way To Fix Climate Change given by Dan Miller in 2014 at a Ted talk suggests a way to profit as we tackle climate change, by finally charging those who sell and use fossil fuels - and distributing the revenues back to all of us.
The strategy is sure to speed transition to clean renewable energy. What's not to like? Check it out!
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If we do not grow sustainably,
Our children will die inhumanely.
@@ Myth vs Truth: The Huge Value of Contraception is an incisive, heartfelt recognition of the value of contraception by Sarah Brown, CEO, The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy
Unintended Pregnancy Costs US Taxpayers:
Unintended Pregnancies Cost US Taxypayers Nearly $11 Billion Yearly
-the Guttmacher Institute
Teen Childbearing Alone Cost US Taxpayers $9+ Billion In 2010
And the costs of raising a child usually ensures decades, if not a life, of poverty for its mother.
- US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Help prevent unintended pregnancies in your community:
publicize where women can access affordable contraception.
They can go here to find locations:
And there are many more actions you can do, right here.
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SOLAR KEEPS RISING
OO Google's Project Sunroof Expands to 42 States and Millions More Rooftops
"First and foremost, this is about how Google can catalyze the rooftop solar market."
OO New Solar Plants Generate Floating Green Power - so-called floatovoltaics are attracting international interest as a space-saving, high-efficiency alternative to land-based solar power plants.
Source tdworld.com
OO DOE Says US Solar Growth Demands A Different Kind Of Grid - If solar is to continue its march toward being a cheap, ubiquitous power source, the electric grid will have to adapt.
OO World Bank to Provide $750 Million for Solar in India
Check it out here, right now!
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WHY WE SHOULD ACT NOW: RISING RISKS
Daily Climate Change: Global Map of Unusual Temperatures, May 31, 2016
How unusual has the weather been? No one event is "caused" by climate change, but global warming, which is predicted to increase unusual, extreme weather, is having a daily effect on weather, worldwide.
Looking above at recent temperature anomalies, much of the US and the waters surrounding it are experiencing warmer than normal temperatures: the eastern Pacific warm spot continues to prevent much rain from reaching California, keeping it in drought.
Much of the areas surrounding the North Pole are experiencing much warmer than normal temperatures - not good news for our Arctic thermal shield of ice, which continues to melt at a record rate this year. Hotter than usual temperatures continue to dominate human habitats.
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There is, of course, much more news on the consequences and solutions to climate change. To get it, check out this annotated resource list I've compiled, "Climate Change News Resources," at Wordpress.com here. For more information on the science of climate change, its consequences and solutions you can view my annotated list of online information resources here.
To help you understand just what science does and does NOT do, check this out!
Every day is Earth Day, folks, as I was reminded by this wild flower I photographed one spring. Enjoy it, and do your part to protect it!