Today, the Earth got a little hotter, and a little more crowded.
Northern Lights, Fragile Forests. Source phys.org
When we threaten forests, we threaten ourselves.
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A Global Green Cap: the Boreal Forest Is Fading Away as logging, mining, and climate change drive its destruction. Source of map Hare and Ritchie, 1972
OO World's Vast Boreal Forests: A Rapid, Startling Decline - of forests that comprise about a third of all forests on the planet.
Destruction is vast and fast :
Death By Fire and Beetles pervades boreal forests worldwide.
Source environmentalenergetics.com (L), www.fs.fed.us (R).
Climate change is:
- melting permafrost, releasing vast amounts of carbon climate pollution
- panoramic die-offs from mega epidemics of bark beetles
- drying forests that go up in the flames of mega wildfires
- causing massive moose die-offs
- shifting climate zones faster north than trees can follow
and more, of course.
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The Boreal Sword of Man has decimated forests through fossil fuel mining, L, and clearcutting, R. Credit Tod Korol, L; Jiri Rezac at Greenpeace, R
Human exploitation is:
- clearcutting vast swathes of carbon storing trees
- destroying forests to mine fossil fuels in tar sands
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Ticking Carbon Time Bomb - permafrost and forests lock in vast amounts of climate-changing carbon: as they melt or disappear, enough carbon will be released that could kickstart a self- generating cycle of climate change beyond human control.
The Tipping Point: melting permafrost could release enough climate changing pollution to start a boreal self-generating cycle of climate change -- beyond human control.
Related Headline:
OO Methane Release From Melting Permafrost Could Trigger Dangerous Global Warming says the Woods Hole Research Center.
OO Indonesia's Staggering Forest Fires Are Making Global Warming Worse - the 1000+ fires, often set to clear forest for illegal palm oil farms, add to carbon climate pollution, and make people sick.
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Recycled Never Looked So Pretty!! And does not kill forests. Source www.aliexpress.com
OO Recycled Paper Is 100x Better For Forests, And Climate new research shows: 100% recycled paper creates 100 times less climate pollution, and uses ¼ the water of paper made from trees.
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OO Solar,Wind To Catch Up With Coal, Natural Gas Worldwide by 2020 says a new Bloomberg BNEF analysis.
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Nice, But Does It Emit HFCs? HFCs are used in refrigerators. Source www.smartsuburbansurvival.com
OO US Announces New Moves To Limit Super Greenhouse Gases known as HFCs, which have a global warming potential 10,000 times greater than carbon dioxide.
On the other hand...
Source www.kingcountry.gov
OO US Exports Its Greenhouse-Gas Emissions -- As Profitable Coal undercutting progress on the climate.
And...
OO In India, Climate Change Ranks Behind Coal For Development despite the harmful pollution.
Even though...
OO India's Coal-fueled Economy Harms Environment, Rural Villagers
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Making Money and Remaking Capitalism, Al Gore makes more money than average investors by applying an environmentally conscious model of "sustainable" investing - it takes the long term view.
OO Al Gore's Clean Green Capitalistic Path to Money shows that the world's investors can make more money if they change their practices in a way that will also reduce the environmental and social damage modern capitalism can do.
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Tis Always the Scary Season of Climate Change... Credit Tom Toles at the Washington Post.
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OO The American Cities Most Threatened By Rising Sea Levels:
New York, Miami, Sacramento Et Al - home to 30+ million Americans currently. Steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions could more than halve threatening sea level rise during the coming centuries, says a new study.
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Growing Clean Concrete? Bacteria can be fed calcium to create strong calcium carbonate that can be used for cement or bricks, replacing current energy intensive methods. How's that for tricks and treats?
OO How To Grow Bricks - And Cement -- From Trillions Of Bacteria
Biobricks grow in 2-5 days, and can be made to:
- glow in the dark (coooollll!)
- absorb pollution
- change color when wet
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OO Rising Salinity Threatens Low Lying Coastal Communities In Bangladesh And Worldwide - Climate change-induced alterations to sea level, temperature and rainfall are affecting freshwater supplies say experts.
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OO Delaware: Rising Seas Overwhelm Tide Gates and locals fear sewage, industrial contamination.
Related Headline:
OO Rising Sea Levels Causing Concern in Florida - 1000+ miles of coastline are at risk.
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OO John Kerry Urges 'Ambitious' Climate Change Deal To Ensure Food Security saying global warming was the biggest threat to global food security.
Related Headlines:
Millions Are Hungry as Ethiopia's worst drought in a decade decimates the country's crucial agriculture.
OO Millions At Risk as Severe Drought Hits Ethiopia
OO El Niño's Impact Stretches Wide, Threatening Food Supplies In Papua New Guinea, And Around the Pacific with a severe drought affecting 2.5 million people in PNG alone.
OO Marine Food Chains At Risk Of Collapse, Extensive Oceans, Study Finds - Important ecosystems could be massively damaged by 2050 unless greenhouse gas emissions and localised pollution is drastically reduced, researchers say.
Related Headlines:
OO Chesapeake Waters Are Warming, Obstructing Bay Recovery - If unchecked, scientists say the trend could complicate costly, long-running efforts to restore the ailing estuary.
Krill, the Tiny Shrimp That Drives Big Ecosystems. Source www.antarctica.gov.au
OO Warming Oceans May Threaten Krill, Vital To Whales, Penguins,
And More Of The Antarctic Ecosystem - global carbon emissions could significantly reduce the hatch rates of Antarctic krill.
OO Australia Could Lose Mangroves To Sea Level Rise - scientists warn; mangroves protect coasts from storm damage.
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Pledges, But Not Enough Punch for Paris climate talks to prevent destructive climate change. Source www.clker.com
OO 150 Countries Pledge To Curb Carbon Emissions but not enough to avoid catastrophic climate change.
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OO Cut Emissions or Lock in Millennia of Sea Level Rise From Melting Antarctic Ice, scientists warn, adding the need to prevent another 2 degree rise in global temperatures.
Related Headlines:
OO Why Scientists Are So Worried About The Antarctic Ice Shelves - They are the dams that keep vast amounts of ice from pouring into the sea and raising sea levels. Now, a warming climate threatens them - and us.
OO How Fast Is Warm Water Undercutting Antarctic Ice Shelves? Here's a good exercise: walk 15 feet on your sidewalk, mark it, and then add another 15 feet, daily. It's that fast.
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Bye-Bye Drillers! Please Don't Come Back!
OO Obama Administration Closes Off Two Avenues for New Arctic Drilling
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Biocrust: Not Much To Look At, But Vital a tough organic mat that keeps soils in dry areas from blowing away.
OO Climate Change Threatens Vital 'Biocrust' Arizona Researchers Say.
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OO Democrats Request A DOJ Investigation Into ExxonMobil, Alleging Climate Science Coverup
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Source www.marcellusprotest.org
OO Fracking Studies Overwhelmingly Indicate Threats To Public Health says a comprehensive new review, concluding that fracking inevitably pollutes water and air and harms people.
OO Fracking Chemicals May Mess With Hormones, Lower Sperm Counts - indicates a provocative study on mice.
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OO Half of World's Coal Output Is Unprofitable, Big Investor Service Says - it isn't worth digging out of the ground at current prices, says Moody's Investors Service.
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Thanks for the Permanent Devastation, Alberta - scars that will remain centuries after tar sand mining stops.
OO Canada: Alberta Oil Sands Boom Dries Up, Along With Thousands Of Jobs
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Fresh Interiors in This High Rise as exterior sensors control windows and vents to allow in fresh air when needed. A chimney vents out hot indoor air. Source www.fastcoexist.com
OO Possibly The World's Greenest High-Rise --Because It Breathes via vents, open windows, and a chimney.
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OO Earth Just Had Its Warmest September On Record -- By A Long Shot
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France, Beautiful in So Many Ways Source www.maxisciences.com
OO France Launches Global Drive For Climate Deal
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Rocky Mountain Flowers, a hotspot for these wild beauties. Credit Ben Blonder
OO Our Vanishing Flowers - Habitat destruction, climate change, human introduced invasives are all taking their toll on plants necessary to our well-being.
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Source variety.com
OO Dem Candidates Talk Climate Change, But CNN Host Puts It Last
OO Polyticks: Democrats Compete Over Climate Change Action While GOP Ignores It
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Someone Should Pay for Making This Climate Pollution
OO Siding With the Market, Electric Utilities Skip Fighting Carbon Rule - as economic forces push the power industry inexorably toward a lower-carbon future.
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The Sky Is Blue, But Natural Gas Emissions Aren't - natural gas is a fossil fuel with life cycle emissions comparable to coal. Clean, it ain't. Source Wikimedia Commons
OO Energy Giants Want To Be Green - But Will They? Gas Isn't - and the giants want to do more gas. Natural gas production creates so many leaks that gas ends up as dirty as coal. Big Energy also asks for a price on carbon - but will that include fair estimates of all the natural gas emissions?
The best way energy giants can REALLY go green is to invest in clean renewable energy and retrain their workers for renewable energy jobs.
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A Toyota fuel cell car.
OO Toyota Aims To Nearly Eliminate Gasoline Cars By 2050
If we do not grow sustainably,
Our children will die inhumanely.
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@@ Think Birth Control Doesn't Matter to the Planet? Watch This!
also:
OO Help Women and Climate: Unite to Prevent Unintended Pregnancies Worldwide - by me; I haven't heard anyone propose a worldwide campaign yet, have you?
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Help your community prevent unintended pregnancies.
And there are many more actions you can do, right here.
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SOLAR KEEPS DRIVING
Source www.solarkinguk.com
OO Converting Your House to Solar Is Now Cheaper Than a New Car
OO Buying US Solar: Lease or Loan? Most Do Loans
OO Cheap Solar Comes to Dirty Coal Wisconsin at only $2 per watt.
OO China Tycoons to Invest $5 Billion in Indian Renewable Power
OO Africa: How The Energy Poor Are Going Solar with savvy startups that can offer effective affordable products.
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, Oct 26, 2015
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, sending it into further drought.
The warmth is driving vast and rapid changes in the Arctic and helping destroy the boreal forest, which comprises about one third of Earth's forests.
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. 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 smokin' Joe jack o lantern I photographed one fall. Making the U.S. a global clean energy leader will ensure a heck of a lot more jobs, and a clean, safe future. If you'd like to join the increasing numbers of people who want to TELL Congress that they will vote for clean energy candidates you can do so here. It's our way of letting Congress know there's a strong clean energy voting bloc out there. For more detailed summaries of the above and other climate change items, audio podcasts and texts are freely available.
