Today, the Earth got a little hotter, and a little more crowded.
Forests: the cheapest way to store carbon
What We Lose when the forests of Asia burn include the jeweled flower mantis... say, are those happy faces on its wings? Source pinterest
When we harm forests, we harm ourselves.
OO Indonesia: Forest Fires Take Toll On Wildlife, Agriculture, Economy Takeaways:
- human fires spread uncontrolled through drought dried forests
- drought, fire and smoke is a deadly trio to forest life and recovery
- damage: deaths, harmful pollution, loss of worker productivity & crop pollinators
- estimated several billions loss to Indonesian & Asian economies
Mother and Child Orangutans were caught up in the fiery crucible of forest fires blazing across Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia.
OO Indonesia: Peat Fires Make It A Major Global Carbon Emitter - the 4th largest, and creating a haze crisis in SE Asia that is leading to untold premature deaths from respiratory ailments.
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Fruit Bats Carry Ebola - when people destroy their homes, they invade villages, looking for food. Source www.md-health.com
OO Deforestation 'May Have Started West Africa's Ebola Outbreak' by destroying the habitats of fruit bats, Ebola carriers, which then invaded villages looking for food and coming into contact with humans.
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From Green Cathedral to Shrubs? Modeling has shown that the Klamath and Siskiyou forests could experience a substantial long-term shift from conifer to shrub-heavy chaparral.
OO Climate Change, Wildfire Seen Transforming US Northwest Forests
OO Deforestation Could Be The Worst Climate Crisis In The World Right Now - globally, land use is a source of greenhouse gas emissions, not a sink.; the biggest culprit is deforestation.
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OO Governments To Raise $22 Billion From Carbon Pricing In 2015 globally, says a new report
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Amber Waves of Grain No More? "That snow is the water bucket that is providing the liquid nourishment for our breadbasket, the grain fields of North America," said Halfpenny. "It will never come back. ... The alpine canary, if you will, has died." Credit Dr. James Halfpenny at Wyoming Public Media
OO Wyoming: Ancient Snowfields Melt Away for the first time in centuries, if not millennia, a major water source for the US bread basket, its grain fields.
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Bye-bye Fish & Chips? A British favorite even among Americans, cod is often the fish. Source www.oceantrawlers.com
OO Collapse Of New England's Iconic Cod Tied To Climate Change - as the Gulf of Maine waters warm, cod spawning and survive decreases.
Face It - Climate Is Clobbering Cod in the Atlantic. Source NEFSC,NOAA
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OO Private And Public Funds Continue Flowing Into Off-Grid Power Projects -
Hundreds of millions of dollars are being mobilized for clean energy where it's needed most.
OO Clean Power Boost: Energy Storage Industry Gaining Momentum - great news for the clean renewable energies that need storage.
OO Wind Power Now Cheaper Than Natural Gas for Utility, CEO Says -
Xcel Energy Inc., the biggest U.S. provider of wind power, expects long-term contracts for the technology to beat the cost of natural gas, another sign of the rapid transformation of the power market.
OO The Motion Sensor: Determining Occupancy for Energy Efficiency
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Not Chocolate, Too!! Climate change will create a chocolate shortage. Source www.notonthehighstreet.com
OO Chocolate: Impending Shortage Crisis Predicted As Early As 2025 due to unsustainable supply chain models, land degradation, and climate change.
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Source www.pvmagazine.com
OO US Solar Success Stories: Creating Green Jobs, Saving Schools Money, and More!
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Swan Song for the I'Iwi? One of the few remaining native Hawaiian birds, now threatened by the spread of avian flu. Credit Robby Kohley
OO Hawaii: Rare Birds To Face Extinction From Disease, Overheated Habitats - warming allows the spread of the devastating avian flu.
Related Headline:
OO Hawaii: Climate Change May Wipe Out Rarest Birds by 2100 as warming wipes out habitat.
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@@ How Keeping Cool Is Making Us Hot
OO How Keeping Cool is Heating the Planet: the US Addiction to Air Conditioning Is Costly - hugely so, both environmentally and economically, from its massive energy consumption.
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OO Texas: The Price of Renewables? How Does "Free" Grab You? - excess wind power is being given away at night to customers, while a San Antonio utility is giving free solar power to customers who will let the company use their roofs.
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White Is the New Black mark on coral reefs as the dead animals leave only ghostly white skeletons behind. Already stressed by pollution, Floridean reefs are particularly vulnerable to further damage from climate.
OO Florida: Coral Reefs Bleaching, Devastated By Disease a double whammy that scientists say could be difficult to recover from.
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OO Lowering Indoor Work Space CO2 Levels Improves Performance - experimentally lowering CO2 in office air led to sharply higher scores by employees on a series of cognitive performance tests, says a new study.
POLYTICKS
These GOP Congressmen don't want clean air for you if it means cutting profits for the fossil fuel companies that support them. Congressional Republicans are moving to block President Obama's plan to force steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. power plants.
OO GOP Moves To Block Power Plant Plan
OO The House Science Committee Is Worse Than The Benghazi Committee with its open-ended, Orwellian attempts to intimidate some of the nation's leading scientists and scientific institutions.
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The Good News Is....
Clean Power = Clear Skies - the Grand Canyon doesn't look half as pretty when haze clouds this view -- or our lungs. Source huffingtonpost.com
OO Green Groups Move To Help EPA Defend Clean Power Plan - 9 environmental and health groups want a federal court to let them help the Environmental Protection Agency defend its climate change regulation for power plants.
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Greener GOP? Centrist GOP Senators Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), Mark Kirk (Ill.), Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) formed a loose coalition to create GOP pro-environment policies. Ayotte and Kirk face tough 2016 re-election races. Source thehill.com
OO Moderate GOP Senators Form Green Coalition
OO GOP Senator Kelly Ayotte Supports Obama's Clean Power Plan
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Source www.utilitydive.com
OO Bipartisan Coalition Launches Congressional Battery Storage Caucus in the House, committed to educating their colleagues about energy storage and support legislation to help grow the industry.
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OO Billionaire Tom Steyer Calls on Candidates to Push for a 50% Renewables Policy
"We're going to ask everyone, because we feel it's time to be specific. Good intentions are not going to get it done."
But...
OO Most Republican Candidates Avoid Discussing Climate Change in case you haven't noticed already.
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OO Intolerable Heat Forecast For Persian Gulf by 2100 - under business as usual, parts of the region will sometimes be just too hot for humans to live.
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Condemned to Starve? - their future is threatened by climate change. Wikipedia
OO Iconic King Penguins Already Suffering From Warmer Oceans says a new study, which shows how warmer years force them to swim and dive too far for their food stocks, resulting in starvation and large population declines.
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Morocco is to build a giant solar thermal plant. Source moroccantimes.com
OO Morocco Poised To Be A Solar Superpower By 2020 With Desert Mega-Project - the world's largest concentrated solar power plant should help renewables provide almost half the country's energy.
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A Dry City's Source Drying Up: this shrinking reservoir supplies drought stricken Sao Paulo. Credit Paulo Whitaker at Reuters
OO New NASA Data Shows Brazil's Drought Deeper Than Thought - with the southeast losing more than all of Lake Tahoe in a year for the past 3 years.
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Getting Green Out of Black in Abu Dhabi, as the UAE plow oil profits into clean energy. Source solartribune.com
OO A Model To Follow: UAE Recycles Oil Wealth Into Clean Energy - Mideast oil-rich countries of the region should follow the UAE's example, said a UK cabinet minister. So should the mega oil companies themselves....
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Tiny But Teeming plankton help store oceanic carbon. Source NOAA MESA project
OO Measuring Ocean Carbon Storage Via Plankton To Predict Climate - corpses of tiny teeming oceanic plankton drift to the bottom, storing carbon for a long time; knowing how fast and much is stored from dead plankton helps scientists to predict the rate of climate change based on the rate of oceanic carbon storage.
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One of Thousands is this river in a giant meltwater network that laces across this vast ice sheet. Source New York Times
OO Greenland Is Melting Away but how fast is its meltwater raising sea levels? Scientists are collecting data to find out.
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Not Just For Families But Companies, Too - switching to clean energy saves money in 3 big ways. Source www.drenergysaver.com
OO World's Biggest Companies on Why They Buy Renewables: 'It's a Very Clear Economic Issue' Experts from GM, Facebook and Yahoo discuss how they've made wind and solar projects pencil out.
Power to the People! Small-scale microgrids, like this Kenya one, are increasingly seen as the most promising way to bring electricity to the 1.3 billion people worldwide who currently lack it. Credit Fred Pearce at e360.yale.edu
OO African Lights: Microgrids Are Bringing Power To Rural Kenya where an innovative solar company is using microgrids and smart meters to deliver power to villages deep in the African bush.
Pacific Paradise Going, Going... as rising Pacific sea levels threaten islands.
OO Pacific Islands Make Last-Ditch Plea To World Before Paris Climate Change Talks
Unless the world acts decisively in coming weeks, the Pacific as we know it is doomed,' says the Fijian prime minister.
OO European Union Unites With Sinking Pacific Islands
OO European Parliament Backs Air Pollution Limits and will have national caps to tackle agriculture emissions, despite the sector's concerns.
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OO Australian October To Be The Hottest On Record - And Global Warming Is Likely To Blame
OO Australian Academy Of Science Divests From Fossil Fuel Companies
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OO Catholic Church Leaders Issue Appeal On Climate Change -signed by church representatives from five continents; it targets the widely anticipated Paris climate conference in December.
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FOSSIL FUEL FOLLIES
Sunset Time For Coal? Source www.coal-is-dirty.com
OO USA: Cheap Natural Gas Nudging Out Heating Oil, Coal for Electricity -
But NOT Slowing Climate Change - Natural gas is a fossil fuel whose production makes it as dirty as coal; we should be switching away from it ASAP!
OO Coal Left Unloved As Natural Gas And Fossil-Free Drives Bite
OO US Coal Mine Expansion Stalls In Lawsuit Citing Climate Change by a federal judge, who insisted it should not go forward without a closer look at its environmental effects.
OO Coal Not coming Back, Appalachian Power President Says
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China Still Burns Coal - and is bathed in its pollution. Smog over the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. Credit Brian Jeffrey Beggerly via wikimedia commons.
OO China Burning Less Coal With Big Ramifications
And
OO A US Clean-Tech Enthusiast Helps China Plot Its Energy Future - ex Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
But
OO China Underreported Coal Consumption By Up To 17%, Data Suggests
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Coal Clouds Germany's Green Future.
OO Germany: Merkel's `Black Gold' Loses Shine As Lignite Coal Phase-Out Begins - lignite is the dirtiest coal fuel.
OO Canada: Shell Halts Carmon Creek Oil Sands Project In Alberta citing "uncertainties" facing the project, including a lack of infrastructure -- like the pipeline that millions opposed?
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India Tolls Trucks to improve air quality in the world's most polluted capital, New Delhi.
OO India's Capital Starts 'Pollution Toll' For Trucks
OO PM Modi Invites 110 Nations To Join Solar Alliance Spearheaded By India - something the US could have done a long time ago, to create a surge in US green jobs.
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EXXON: CLIMATEGATE
Hillary Clinton speaks out against Exxon deception. Source www.huffingtonpost.com
OO Hillary Clinton Joins Call for Justice Dept. to Investigate Exxon
"There's a lot of evidence that they misled people."
OO 40+ Major US Green & Social Justice Groups Demand
Federal Investigation of Exxon's Climate Misinformation Campaign and sheer deception.
OO US Senators Press Exxon For Answers On Climate Denial Funding led by Dem Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. (Seriously, you didn't think any Republican Senators would do this, do you?)
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If we do not grow sustainably,
Our children will die inhumanely.
"All our problems are because of the increase in population, be it unemployment, health issues or education." Says National Health Services Minister Saira Afzal Tarar. Source APP
OO Pakistan: Population Growth Problem As Critical As Polio Says National Health Services Minister
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Help prevent unintended pregnancies in your communities.
And there are many more actions you can do, right here.
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SOLAR KEEPS RISING
OO Solar Software Startup Wins $3.5 Million in Venture Capital - Sighten's solar software aims to drive down solar soft costs across the board.
OO Solar Breakthrough Goes Commercial: SunEdison to Make 400-Watt Solar PV Modules using more silicon and cutting out metal conductors; they expect to up performance of solar panels by 15%.
New York Solar. Source inhabitat.com
OO New York: Gov. Cuomo Bets on Solar Power to Lift Buffalo, committing $750 million to construction of a giant solar panel factory said to be the largest of its kind in the Americas. SolarCity, a fast-growing California company, will operate out of the state owned factory.
OO A New Place to Deploy Solar-Plus-Storage?
Affordable Housing Complexes is an untapped opportunity, says a new report.
OO 'Railway Solar' May Be a Sweet Spot for Green Transportation
Over 2 million households in Australian have rooftop solar installations. Source www.reneweconomy.com.au
OO Australian Rooftop PV Among Cheapest Globally says the reputable International Energy Agency. How cheap? Try USD $1.76/W and $1.61/W, respectively. Many places worldwide now recognize solar energy as the cheapest way to generate electricity.
OO How Tanzania Plans To Light Up A Million Homes With Solar Power where only 40% of people have access to grid electricity; the government plans to solar power health centres and homes.
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 12, 2014
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.
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 fall foliage I photographed one autumn. 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.
