Articles

Vast area of Scottish Highlands to be rewilded in ambitious 30-year project

A large swathe of the Scottish Highlands stretching between the west coast and Loch Ness is to be rewilded as part of a 30-year project to restore nature.
The Affric Highlands initiative aims to increase connected habitats and species diversity over an area of 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres), incorporating Kintail mountain range, and glens Cannich, Moriston and Shiel. Plans include planting trees, enhancing river corridors, restoring peat bogs and creating nature-friendly farming practices.

A Crucial System of Ocean Currents is Faltering, Research Suggest.

The water in the Atlantic is constantly circulating in a complex pattern that influences weather on several continents. And climate scientists have been asking a crucial question: Whether this vast system, which includes the Gulf Stream, is slowing down because of climate change.
If it were to change significantly, the consequences could be dire, potentially including faster sea-level rise along with parts of the United States East Coast and Europe, stronger hurricanes barreling into the Southeastern United States, reduced rainfall across parts of Africa and changes in tropical monsoon systems.

World on Catastrophic Path to 2.7C warming, UN chief Warns.

The United Nations is warning that on our current path we are headed for catastrophic loss of life and livelihood. The overall greenhouse effect is currently moving in the wrong direction as countries around the world are failing to slow down global warming. China, Europe and the US being the largest contributors to the problem.

Pollution 'to cut 9 years of life expectancy of 40% of Indians

The Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago's report suggests that 480 million people in India endure high pollution levels that are expected to reduce their life expectancy by 40 percent. 

How Wildfire Smoke Supercharges the Coronavirus

Research in BC and beyond finds that soot in the air makes the pandemic more dangerous.

Nurses and Doctors Take Aim at BC’s LNG Ambitions

Natural gas infrastructure leaks methane, its main ingredient, into the atmosphere. And methane is a greenhouse gas with 84 times more climate-warming impacts than CO2 over a 20-year period, Liang says. Reports consistently find provincial and federal governments under-report methane emissions from the gas sector. In July, the Energy and Emissions Research Lab at Carleton University published a report saying methane emissions from B.C.’s oil and gas industry are 1.6 to 2.2 times higher than reported by the federal government.

Boyd says low birth rates, lung cancer, premature births, higher chances of childhood leukaemia, asthma and exacerbation of respiratory illnessesare linked to living near fracking sites.

Forester Says BC Logging Practices Making Climate Change Worse

Pikkila, from his extensive experience working for Forestry Service and academic training in Finland, puts forward the following issues with our current practices. 
First, what little old-growth and shift away from using clear-cutting methods. Clear cutting he points out destroys the ability of the forest to retain water, we need this ability to retain water to counteract the increasing severity of droughts brought on by climate change. Clear cutting removes the entire forest canopy leaving large areas of hills sides unable to retain moisture, which in turn move immediately into the streams and out to sea. In forests that are selectively logged this does not happen. Instead, the trees themselves each with 60 million needles slows down the rain, and snow as it drips slowly to the forest floor where thick moss and fallen logs act as dams. Even the creeks and streams filled with fallen trees act as dams slowing down the water. This effectively allows water to move well into the dry summer months. The dead logs and trees in a selectively logged forest act, during the rainy seasons, as super nutrients for younger trees. This effectively triples the amount of lumber that can be harvested from an area using selective logging practices.
He goes on to suggest selective logging would allow beavers to thrive which also slows down the water loss process. 

July was Earth's hottest month on record: NOAA

Date:
August 13, 2021
Source:
NOAA
Summary:
July 2021 was the world's hottest month ever recorded, according to new global data released by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.

The Plastic Waste Makers Index

In 2019, just 20 polymer producers account for more than half of all single-use plastic waste generated globally - and the top 100 accounts for 90 percent.

The Future of Fire in Canada

Ed Struzik Today | TheTyee.ca
In June of 2021, the town of Lytton's temperature rose to 50C for three days straight within five degrees of the world record set in Furnace Creek Death Valley last year. A fire erupted so quickly that it became difficult to find a way to put it out.  At 30C water being dropped from a helicopter in an attempt to put it out would through downdraft created would accelerate the fire, instead of putting it out, like pouring gasoline on a fire. The next line of defence would have been dropping fire retardant on the fire but that only works when the fire is smaller than a football field. Once it is larger than that it can not be extinguished using retardant. These new climate change megafires become too large so quickly there is no way to fight them. In 2017 such a fire burned 75 percent of Waterton Park in eight hours, leaving behind hills so bare they closed the park fearing landslides from the exposed slopes during wet weather. 

In 2003 a large out-of-control fire created an F-3 tornado in Australia. And after the Lytton fire, it induced thunderstorms that caused 12,000 lightning strikes over 24 hours starting 70 new forest fires. These firestorms have such force that the smoke clouds do not stay close to the surface of the earth. Massive cumulus clouds of smoke are thrown into the stratosphere, where it should not be triggering the lightning and the subsequent firestorms. If the subsequent fires become large enough the clouds blot out the sun creating what is called a nuclear winter. The impact of blocking the sun in this way is photosynthesis stops leading to widespread impacts on plants and animals. As these fires increase in intensity and frequency, there is the very real possibility that they could result in global agricultural losses. 

These wildfires super climate change fires are occurring in Australia, California, Canada, Russia and other parts of the world. Experts in the field like Mike Flannagan and Charlie Van Wagner predict a 50 percent increase in fire severity and as a result a doubling of CO2 emissions. A tipping point that is not likely in any of the climate models, accelerating the climate crisis and making the agree to targets no longer workable. In other words, we are reaching yet again another unknown tipping point.

We should also not lose track of the immediate serious rise in the "sudden death rate" in BC another impact of the heat dome, where the death rate not only tripled but the hospitals were overrun. The ambulance service in some locations had waits of two hours. In Washington state, they reported massive bird die-offs and in BC it is estimated a billion seashore animals may have cooked to death. 

The snow melts off the mountains created massive amounts of unseasonal runoff, which creates its own threats in terms of flooding. I am guessing water reservoirs would have had to open their flood gates dumping precious water that is needed for power and drinking water during the summer. The impact of this remains to be seen.

The Climate Disaster Hidden in BC's Forests

The province doesn't count forest emissions in its global warming plan. BC forests are the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the province, 23 percent larger than the total emissions from the energy sector. If these emissions were to be counted in 2018 our emissions who jump from 67.9 megatons to 305.3 megatons.

We're Causing Our Own Misery': Oceanographer Sylvia Earle on the need for Sea Conservation

“I think the biggest problem is the legal endorsement of industrial-scale fishing,” she said. “Why is industrial fishing profitable? Well, actually it isn’t if you put all the costs on the balance sheet – the subsidies that enable these big ships to travel thousands of miles, to distant places to capture animals that have a zero accounting base until they’re taken, until they’re killed. Swimming in the ocean we don’t account for them as anything of value.”

Greenland Ice Sheet on Brink of Major Tipping Point

Scientists say ice equivalent to 1-2 metres of sea-level rise is probably already doomed to melt.
The new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, used temperature records, ice cores, and modelling to reconstruct the ice sheet’s elevation and melting rates since 1880. Careful examination of the size and duration of changes during this time series revealed the warning signals of an imminent tipping point, by showing that the ice sheet’s ability to recover from melting is diminishing fast.

How melting glaciers have accelerated a shift in Earth’s axis

Thu 6 May 2021 06.00 BST
A recent study has blamed this lurch in the Earth’s axis and poles on the melting of the world’s glaciers and especially from the polar regions, with melting glaciers elsewhere adding to the problem. Widespread pumping of groundwater may have also been a contributing factor. 

Long-term consequences of CO2 emissions

Oxygen in the ocean will continue to decrease for many centuries

Date:
 April 16, 2021
Source:
 Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR)
Summary:
 According to a new study, the oxygen content in the oceans will continue to decrease for centuries even if all CO2 emissions would be stopped immediately. The slowdown of ocean circulation and the progressive warming of deeper water layers are responsible for this process.

Climate crisis: recent European droughts 'worst in 2,000 years

A tree ring study dating back to the Roman empire indicates climate change is making Europe less habitable. 

Climate change has caused the jet stream to destabilize causing these droughts, and other increasing extreme weather conditions.

The study, which was published in the journal Nature Geoscience, analyzed 27,000 growth rings from 147 oak trees. Living oaks were used for the last century, then timber from old buildings such as churches. For the middle ages, the researchers used oak that had been preserved in river deposits or gravel beds, and for the Roman period, they used remains such as wood used to construct wells.

Upper Ocean Temperatures Hit Record High in 2020

Jan 13,  2021, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
The report was published on January 13 in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences and concluded with a plea to the policymakers and others to consider the lasting damage warmer oceans can cause as they attempt to mitigate the effects of climate change.
"Over 90% of the excess heat due to global warming is absorbed by the oceans, so ocean warming is a direct indicator of global warming -- the warming we have measured paints a picture of long-term global warming," said Lijing Cheng, lead paper author and associate professor with the International Center for Climate and Environmental Sciences at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Cheng is also affiliated with CAS's Center for Ocean Mega-Science. "However, due to the ocean's delayed response to global warming, the trends of ocean change will persist at least for several decades, so societies need to adapt to the now unavoidable consequences of our unabated warming. But there is still time to take action and reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases."

Atlantic Ocean Circulation at Weakest in a Millennium, Say Scientists

The Atlantic Ocean circulation that underpins the Gulf Stream, the weather system that brings warm and mild weather to Europe, is at its weakest in more than a millennium, and climate breakdown is the probable cause, according to new data.

Further weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) could result in more storms battering the UK, and more intense winters and an increase in damaging heatwaves and droughts across Europe.

Scientists predict that the AMOC will weaken further if global heating continues, and could reduce by about 34% to 45% by the end of this century, which could bring us close to a “tipping point” at which the system could become irrevocably unstable. A weakened Gulf Stream would also raise sea levels on the Atlantic coast of the US, with potentially disastrous consequences.

Air pollution significantly raises risk of infertility, study finds

Exclusive: With 30% of infertility unexplained, pollution could be an ‘unignorable’ risk factor, scientists say
The analysis of 18,000 couples in China found that those living with moderately higher levels of small-particle pollution had a 20% greater risk of infertility, defined as not becoming pregnant within a year of trying.
The study design did not enable the scientists to determine how air pollution might damage fertility, but pollution particles are known to cause inflammation in the body, which could damage egg and sperm production, the scientists said. Another recent study of 600 women attending a US infertility clinic found that increased exposure to air pollution was associated with a lower number of mature eggs in the ovaries.

David Suzuki: Clearing the air on fossil fuel pollution

by David Suzuki on February 17th, 2021 at 11:42 PM

Rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions is critical to avoiding increasing climate change impacts. Doing so won’t immediately stop the world from heating, but it will improve life quickly. Because gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide remain in the atmosphere for varying lengths of time (CO2 for 300 to 1,000 years, methane and nitrous oxide for far less time), temperatures will rise even after we’ve stopped pumping them into the atmosphere. 
But pollution will decrease quickly. Particulate matter levels, especially, start to drop almost immediately. That’s important because particulates kill a lot of people and make many more ill — even more than previously thought.
A new study from U.S. and U.K. universities, including Harvard, found that more than eight million people died from fossil-fuel pollution in 2018, accounting for about 18 percent of global deaths. Previous studies estimated about 4.2 million people a year died from all outdoor particulate-matter sources, including wildfires, dust, and agricultural burns. 

Oil spill has long-term immunological effects in dolphins

Investigators documented immunological alterations in bottlenose dolphins tested up to a decade following the oil spill that was similar in nature to those immediately following the spill. The effects were seen even in dolphins born after the spill. The nature of the immunological effects observed in dolphins was also similar to those in mice experimentally exposed to oil in the lab.

The findings suggest that there are long-term consequences of oil exposure on the mammalian immune system, with possible multigenerational effects.

Clearcutting makes climate-change risks worse, argues a report from conservationists

Forest-management decisions in B.C. could worsen or lessen climate threats, a Sierra Club report argues with a call to end clearcutting. Of the top environmental risks expected from climate change, nine — including extreme wildfires, seasonal water shortages and landslides — can be mitigated or made worse by industrial logging practices, a report sponsored by conservation groups argues.


World Hottest Point in 12,000 Years

Climate models have indicated continuous warming since the last ice age ended 12,000 years ago and the Holocene period began. But temperature estimates derived from fossil shells showed a peak of warming 6,000 years ago and then cooling until the industrial revolution sent carbon emissions soaring.

The world’s oceans reached their hottest level in recorded history in 2020, supercharging the extreme weather impacts of the climate emergency, scientists have reported.

More than 90% of the heat trapped by carbon emissions is absorbed by the oceans, making their warmth an undeniable signal of the accelerating crisis. The researchers found the five hottest years in the oceans had occurred since 2015, and that the rate of heating since 1986 was eight times higher than that from 1960-85.

Source the Guardian

Polls Show Majority of British Columbian's want Clean Energy

The poll in the following article demonstrates most people in BC do not support the continued focus on non-renewable fossil fuel forms of energy and would prefer we focus on renewables. The article has a glaring omission as it fails to discuss geothermal power plants, which in BC have a massive capacity as the province is on the ring of fire.


Reykjanes Geothermal Power Plant Expands

Unlike hydro, geothermal power plants can be expanded to increase their power outputs, as we can see from the following article. In addition to the increase in power output, this allows for ongoing high-quality jobs to facilitate each expansion.

Upper Ocean Temperatures Hit Record High in 2020

Even with the COVID-19-related small dip in global carbon emissions due to limited travel and other activities, the ocean temperatures continued a trend of breaking records in 2020. A new study, authored by 20 scientists from 13 institutes around the world, reported the highest ocean temperatures since 1955 from surface level to a depth of 2,000 meters.
The report was published on January 13 in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences and concluded with a plea to the policymakers and others to consider the lasting damage warmer oceans can cause as they attempt to mitigate the effects of climate change

Fish out of water: how BC's salmon farmers fell behind the curve of sustainable, land-based aquaculture

Climate Change Almost Triples the Hurricane Season

The average number of Atlantic Hurricanes is usually around 13 but in 2020 there were 30 hurricanes. The warmer ocean temperatures brought on by the changing climate are likely to make sure this trend increases over the next few years. In addition to this, the storms are growing stronger with greater loss of life and damage.

Geothermal Project in Bavaria 

This 10-12 MWE power plant is expected to feed into the grid in late 2022. 

https://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/drilling-started-for-kirchanschoring-geothermal-project-bavaria/


Australia Is Committing Climate Suicide


BRUNY ISLAND, Tasmania — Australia today is ground zero for the climate catastrophe. Its glorious Great Barrier Reef is dying, its world-heritage rain forests are burning, its giant kelp forests have largely vanished, numerous towns have run out of water or are about to, and now the vast continent is burning on a scale never before seen.

New study estimates the global extent of river ice loss as Earth warms


Comparing river ice cover from 2008-2018 and 1984-1994, the team found a monthly global decline ranging from .3 to 4.3 percentage points. The greatest declines were found in the Tibetan Plateau, eastern Europe and Alaska.

The pope might classify destroying the earth as a sin

Francis said he was thinking about adding “ecological sin against the common home” to the catechism, the book that summarizes Catholic belief. “It is a sin against future generations and is manifested in the acts and habits of pollution and destruction of the harmony of the environment,” he said.

Brazil Oil Spill a Warning to Canada

Eight weeks ago, the famed white sand beaches of northeast Brazil began blackening as globs of toxic oil suddenly appeared to coat or contaminate crustaceans, fish, sea turtles, birds, rocks, and shallow mangrove nurseries sheltering all manner of marine life.
The oil came by stealth—lurking below the Atlantic waves so that neither humans nor satellites detected a plume. By the time the oil was spotted, a month after the original spill or leak, it was virtually impossible to contain with floating booms. First a few beaches were hit. Then a dozen. Then dozens more, then hundreds.
BC's Gas Dirtier than Coal or Oil
BC uses fracking to extract natural gas a technique uses massive amounts of water, combined with sand and chemicals are injected under high pressure into the well, inducing micro-cracking and fissuring of the rock to release the natural gas known as methane. 
The fracking process results in a considerable amount of methane escaping into the atmosphere. Once released, methane traps 84 times as much heat as carbon dioxide while in the atmosphere. And so far, the technology has not been able to prevent these leaks. Because of this, scientists are concluding that fracking natural gas is actually worse for global warming than oil or coal.
How BC’s Gas Giveaway Fuels Alberta’s Oilsands
Government subsidies, lax rules provide the resource that keeps the bitumen flowing. Heavy oil production in Canada’s Petro-province of Alberta is powered, in part, by a glut of cheap natural gas in North America, which gas producers in B.C. have helped to create.
Extreme global weather is 'the face of climate change' says leading scientist
Damian Carrington's article in The Guardian, July 2018
Extreme weather has struck across Europe, from the Arctic Circle to Greece, and across the world, from North America to Japan. “This is the face of climate change,” said Prof Michael Mann, at Penn State University, and one the world’s most eminent climate scientists. “We literally would not have seen these extremes in the absence of climate change.”

 “The impacts of climate change are no longer subtle,” he told the Guardian. “We are seeing them play out in real-time and what is happening this summer is a perfect example of that.”

 “We are seeing our predictions come true,” he said. “As a scientist that is reassuring, but as a citizen of planet Earth, it is very distressing to see that as it means we have not taken the necessary action.”
Greece: Government Seeks Comments on Draft Geothermal Energy Law
Greece is in the process of codifying the use and exploitation of their geothermal resources. The purpose of the law is to create a process that will facilitate the development of the geothermal potential of the country in order to improve the economy of the country. 

How Did the End of the World Become Old News? 
An article by David Wallace-Wells in the New York Magazine
...this July, we already seem much farther along on those paths than even the most alarmist climate observers — e.g., me — would have predicted a year ago. In a single week earlier this month, dozens of places around the world were hit with record temperatures in what was, effectively, an unprecedented, planet-encompassing heatwave: from Denver to Burlington to Ottawa; from Glasgow to Shannon to Belfast; from Tbilisi, in Georgia, and Yerevan, in Armenia, to whole swaths of southern Russia. The temperature of one city in Oman, where the daytime highs had reached 122 degrees Fahrenheit, did not drop below 108 all night; in Montreal, Canada, 50 died from the heat. That same week, 30 major wildfires burned in the American West, including one, in California, that grew at the rate of 10,000 football fields each hour, and another, in Colorado, that produced a volcano-like 300-foot eruption of flames, swallowing an entire subdivision and inventing a new term — “fire tsunami” — along the way. On the other side of the planet, biblical rains flooded Japan, where 1.2 million were evacuated from their homes. The following week, the heat struck there, killing dozens. The following week.


Study shows ocean acidification is having a major impact on marine life

IMAGE: Corals, such as this table Acroporid, provide habitats for a wide range of fauna at a reference site where the CO2 concentration is currently 300ppm.


Earth's resources consumed in ever greater destructive volumes
Humanity is devouring our planet’s resources in increasingly destructive volumes, according to a new study that reveals we have consumed a year’s worth of carbon, food, water, fibre, land and timber in a record 212 days.
As a result, the Earth Overshoot Day – which marks the point at which consumption exceeds the capacity of nature to regenerate – has moved forward two days to 1 August, the earliest date ever recorded.

Japan: death toll climbs to 109 after 'historic' rain and landslides
The number of people who have died in floods and landslides triggered by “historic” levels of torrential rain in Japan has climbed to 109, with dozens of others still missing.
Almost 2 million people were still subject to evacuation orders on Monday, while tens of thousands of rescue workers battled mud, water and rubble to search for survivors stranded in their homes.

Oil Industry Expects Canadian Crude Output to Rise 33% by 2035
In this article, Canada's Tar Sands production is estimated to increase by 58% to 4.2 million barrels of oil a day, while conventional oil production will remain the same. Although the Federal Government of Canada is now proposing they buy this pipeline, Brookfield is now considering purchasing the pipeline. This company last year purchased, through a consortium, purchased 90% of Petroleo Brasileiro SA which owns a gas distribution network. 

Oil may be Canada's past, but we cannot let it be our future

David Suzuki Thu 7 Jun 2018 11.00 BST
There’s a lot of fear around abandoning an industry that has been an economic driver for decades – yet the rest of the world is moving on.
Interesting article in which David Suzuki tries to move away from an ad hominem dialogue towards one that is focused on honest, respectful, scientifically based content. This is the only way in which he feels we can overcome our fear of change, in a world where most countries are escalating their transition away from fossil fuels.

2017 Was Another Record-Busting Year for Renewable Energy, but Emissions Still Increased

In Emma Foehringer Merchant article of June 4th, 2018 in GTM, she points out the following: The global power sector had a banner year, while clean energy gains in transportation, heating and cooling remain minimal.
 

Trans Mountain Pipeline Never Spilled In Jasper: Kinder Morgan Alternative Fact

Article by Sarah Rieger in The Huffington Post Canada, 02/13/2017
Trans Mountain employee claimed pipeline leaks or spills had ever happened in Jasper, this was later contradicted by Kinder Morgan's vice-president who confirmed six spills in the park.
"The company has reported 82 spills or leaks to the federal government along the Trans Mountain pipeline route. While contaminated water or condensate made up a few of those spills, the majority were crude oil. One in three spills occurred along the length of the pipeline, while the others happened at pump stations and terminals.
The company's second largest spill happened just outside the national park in 1966, when 6,981 barrels of crude (1.1 million litres) leaked.
In 1973, 786 barrels (125,000 litres) of crude oil spilt into the park for over 12 hours until the leak was spotted by a Canadian National Railway employee, according to a report on the history of the pipeline commissioned by the City of Vancouver."

Trump has Plenty of Accomplices in his Reckless Energy Policies

Article in The Progressive, by Harvey Wasserman, May 24, 2018
Wasserman points out the extensive jobs now in the solar industry that outstrips those in either the coal or nuclear industries. In addition to this the later two industries are not financial sustainable and have to be proped up and subsidized. Despite this the US government is moving to increase energy cost so that these industries can be proped up rather than developing cheaper, cleaning energies that provide much better job opportunities.

Ottawa Funding for Kinder Morgan Wrong, Says BC

Political, legal battles heat up over pipeline expansion.

Article by Andrew MacLeod, 17 May 2018 | TheTyee.ca
In a statement of his own, Horgan said his government is within its rights to stand up for B.C.’s environment, economy and coast against the threat of a bitumen spill.
“The federal finance minister is trying to use our government as an excuse, as the federal government puts taxpayer money on the line to backstop risks to private investors, while completely ignoring the risks to B.C.,” he said.

Liberals’ ‘Collective Insanity’ over Trans Mountain Creating New Western Alienation, Say BC Politicians

Proposed joint scientific panel on oil spills called too little, too late.

By Christopher Guly, 10 May 2018 | TheTyee.ca
“There’s a generation of young British Columbians who feel profoundly betrayed and disenfranchised by Mr. Trudeau on climate change, Trans Mountain and his commitment to ending the first-past-the-post electoral system. They will not be voting for Mr. Trudeau in the next election,” said Weaver, who mainly voted Liberal in federal elections until he joined the Greens in 2013.

Sea Lice Epidemic Overwhelms Fish Farms in Clayoquot Sound

Tiny parasite a growing global problem for the industry's that use open net pens

Article by Andrew Nikiforuk for The Tyee.ca May 17, 2018
Sea lice have infested so many fish farms in Clayoquot Sound, a famed UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, that even Cermaq, a fully owned subsidiary of the Mitsubushi Corporation, has called the plague “challenging.”
In a prepared statement the company has said that it will not sell the infested fish under its “eco-label” from its affected sites.

Is the Oil Industry Canada’s ‘Deep State’?

From influencing politicians to shaping public opinion, industry strives to control energy policy.

Keith Stewart is an energy strategist with Greenpeace Canada, and part of his job is to file, track and review access to information requests he submits to the federal government. It’s an often tedious task — plowing through documents that are heavily censored and reveal little more than what appears in official press releases.

California Water Whiplash is Only Going to Get Worse

IN DECEMBER 1861, as a California drought was wearing into its fifth year, farmers on the West Coast were all asking for one thing for Christmas: rain. And boy did they get it. For 43 days rain and snow fell across the state, causing rivers to surge their banks, turning the 300-mile long, 20-mile-wide Central Valley into an ice-cold inland sea. LA got 66 inches. So deep were Sacramento’s floodwaters that the capital had to be relocated to San Francisco. With a quarter of the economy underwater the state was forced into bankruptcy. Thousands of people died. It was the most violent flooding California had ever seen, and no storms have come close to topping it since.

America Before Earth Day: Smog and Disasters Spurred the Laws Trump Wants to Undo

A huge oil spill. A river catching fire. Lakes so polluted they were too dangerous for fishing or swimming. Air so thick with smog it was impossible to see the horizon.
That was the environmental state of the nation 50 years ago. But pollution and disasters prompted action. On April 22, 1970, millions of people throughout the country demonstrated on the inaugural Earth Day, calling for air, water and land in the country to be cleaned up and protected. And that year, in a bipartisan effort, the Environmental Protection Agency was created and key legislation — the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act — came into force.
Now, the Trump administration has made eliminating federal regulations a priority, and an increasing number of environmental rules are under threat.

One in eight birds is threatened with extinction, global study finds

One in eight bird species is threatened with global extinction, and once widespread creatures such as the puffin, snowy owl and turtle dove are plummeting towards oblivion, according to the definitive study of global bird populations.
The State of the World’s Birds, a five-year compendium of population data from the best-studied group of animals on the planet, reveals a biodiversity crisis driven by the expansion and intensification of agriculture.
In all, 74% of 1,469 globally threatened birds are affected primarily by farming. Logging, invasive species and hunting are the other main threats.

Neoen starts work on next Tesla big battery project in Victoria

French renewable energy developer Neoen, the owner and operator of the Tesla big battery in South Australia, has begun work on the Bulgana green power hub in Victoria, again combining a major wind farm with battery storage.
The $350 million project will include a 194MW wind farm and a 20MW/34MWh battery storage facility using Tesla lithium-ion Powerpacks, and is being described as the first agribusiness partnership of its kind in the world.

Climate change soon to cause mass movement, World Bank warns

More than 140 million people in just three regions of the developing world are likely to migrate within their native countries between now and 2050, the first report on the subject has found.
The World Bank examined three regions, which between them account for 55% of the developing world’s population. In sub-Saharan Africa, 86 million are expected to be internally displaced over the period; in South Asia, about 40 million; and in Latin America, 17 million.

McGinness Hills Geothermal Expands

http://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/ormats-48-mw-starting-expansion-work-of-mcginness-hills-geothermal-plant/
After the completion of Phase III, McGinness Hills will include 15 production wells at about 2,000-3,600 feet deep producing water at temperatures ranging from 330-337 degrees. The site will contain eight Ormat Energy Converters and seven injection wells. One hundred percent of the geothermal fluid is reinjected into the reservoir.

Half a degree more global warming could flood out 5 million more people

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180315110626.htm
A new study finds that by 2150, the seemingly small difference between a global temperature increase of 1.5 and 2.0 degrees Celsius would mean the permanent inundation of lands currently home to about 5 million people, including 60,000 who live on small island nations.

Ausnet Takes Suburban Street Off Grid

http://reneweconomy.com.au/ausnet-takes-suburban-street-off-grid-almost-24-hours-91549/
A ground-breaking mini-grid trial by Victorian network operator AusNet Services has, for the third time, taken part of a Melbourne street completely off grid – this time for a period of almost 22 hours.


Eden GeoPower: harnessing exhaust oil wells for power

https://www.greentownlabs.com/meet-new-member-company-eden-geopower/
One of the major obstacles to geothermal power is high costs associated with drilling the required wells. At the same time, millions of dollars are spent to plug depleted oil/gas and unused injection wells every year. The founders of Eden GeoPower recognized the potential for these non-producing wells to solve two problems at once by transforming them into energy sources for geothermal power. The power generated from these sites could then be sold to the grid in power purchase agreements.

Photovoltaic Skylight

https://www.onyxsolar.com/projectsAs a part of the complete revitalization of the two-millionsquare-foot former Bell Labs facility into an iconic mixed-use metroburb located in Holmdel, N.J., Onyx Solar will be supplying Bell Works with 60,000 SqFt of amorphous Silicon photovoltaic glass, to create the largest-of-its-kind photovoltaic skylight in the USA.
Upon completion, the PV skylight will both naturally illuminate the complex while generate free, clean electricity from the sun. It will simultaneously offset approx. 60 tons of annual CO2 emissions, drastically improving the building’s energy efficiency and reducing its carbon footprint. As an example, the annual energy generated would provide enough power to drive 100 electric cars along 4,250 miles per year.. UUtilizing state-of-the-art technology, Bell Works’ skylight will feature 24 different glass units from Onyx Solar to cover the various unique skylight schemes at the Eero Saarinen-designed architectural gem. Each will be comprised of amorphous Silicon thin film photovoltaic (a-Si PV) active glass, laminated between two sheets of tempered safety glass, allowing for 20% Visual Light Transmittance (VLT) to reduce solar heat gain while producing energy, all while preserving Bell Work’s historical design.

Total area - 5.575 M2

electricidad generadaElectricity generated per year - 89.552 kWh
puntos de luzTotal light points operating 4 hours a day - 5.111 lighting points
emisiones CO2 evitadasAvoided CO2 emissions per year - 60.000 CO2
barriles petroleo ahorradosBarrels of oil saved per year - 53 barrels

Originally constructed between 1962 and 1982, the building is revered for its role in spurring the development of some of the world’s foremost inventions and research concepts, including the first practical solar cell. Furthermore, it was home to seven Nobel Prize award winners, among others. Today, Somerset Development is transforming the building into a mixed-use ‘metroburb,’ complete with offices, retail, dining, healthcare, recreation, and hospitality, and it is set to become a world-class center for entrepreneurship an innovation.

German developer bets on small-scale geothermal power units by Swedish Climeon

In a release this week, Swedish technology provider Climeon announces having “received its first major order for a geothermal power plant in Germany, and its first order that will operate on original oil and gas infrastructure from the Bavarian energy provider Geoenergie Kirchweidach (GEK). On November 29 2017 Climeon entered a LOI with GEK and today GEK decided to proceed and placed the order value of over EUR 5 million ($6.2 million). The order marks an important step in replacing fossil fuels with a sustainable geothermal base-load.

Alberta Tar Sands Pollution into Atmosphere and Ocean

All the bitumen that doesn't spill from pipelines or tankers gets burned, ending up as carbon pollution dumped into our environment. Over one quarter ends up in the oceans, acidifying them for millennia to come.
So far, over 12 billion barrels of bitumen have been pulled out of the ground in Alberta.1 After being burned in trucks and cars, the resulting carbon pollution has all been dumped (aka: spilled, emitted, released) into our air and water. The total so far? Twelve billion barrels of bitumen (~6.3 GtCO2).3

Mark Kelly: This year has been an unequivocal disaster for the future of the planet. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration concluded that without climate change, three of the most severe weather events that took place that year would not have happened:heat waves that scorched parts of Asia, including India and Thailand, killing more than 500 people; a patch of unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean that's had harmful effects on marine life along the coast of North America; and rising air temperatures that made 2016 the hottest in recorded history.

How Global Warming Fueled Five Extreme Weather Events by BRAD PLUMER and NADJA POPOVICHDEC NYT, 14, 2017.  The five events referenced in this article are the record temperatures around the world, the coral bleaching in the great barrier reef, drought in Africa, wildfires in North America and the warm "blob" in the Pacific Ocean.


Bill Gates sees geothermal power as a key clean energy investment area of interest. 

Bill Gates outlines out the Breakthrough Energy Coalition will focus on five key areas: grid-scale storage, liquid fuels, mini-grids, alternative building materials and geothermal power.

Newly Disclosed Data Shows Need for Inquiry into Fracking, Ben Parfitt. 

The article outlines British Columbia's disregard for groundwater contamination through fracking practices in the province. Including unlicensed and therefore unregulated dams. This is to say nothing one of the worst records for methane leaking into the atmosphere of the developed world, making our contribution to global warming significant in this area.


Should We Build More Large Dams? The Actual Costs of Hydropower Megaprojects Development

Atif Ansar, et al. The conclusion is they have poor returns, budgets are always underestimated, they can not be built fast enough, they have large negative environmental impacts, their carbon output is similar to natural gas, they elevate mercury in fish, block fish habitat, negatively impact river delta systems and clean energy is faster to build with lower risks and higher returns.

Breaking Bad: The Pathology of Site C, Andrew Nikiforuk.

Forest Resilience Declines in Face of Wildfires, Climate Change, Colorado State University

Arctic Permafrost Thawing Faster than Ever, US Climate Studies Find. Associated Press

As Oceans Warm, the World's Kelp Forests Begin to Disappear, Alastair Bland from Yale Environmental 360.

Expanding Tar Sands Will Kill Paris Targets and Climate Stability, Report Finds
Pipeline approvals ‘make the goals impossible to reach,’ finds Oil Change International.
By Andrew Nikiforuk 19 Jan 2017 | TheTyee.ca

Solarplaza Shines Light on Blockchain Green Energy Prospects
Andrew Burger Distributed Energy Resources, Energy Blockchain, Microgrid Growth, Microgrid News, Microgrid Technology, Off-Grid, Solar Energy News

790 Gigawatts of Cost-Cutting Renewable Energy Potential in South East Europe
January 14th, 2017 by Zachary Shahan 
Renewable energy costs have been falling through the floor — they have fallen so fast that even cleantech enthusiasts have been shocked several times in the past year by increasingly low prices.


Eco-cidal Madness and Moronic Farce Paul Street wrote a good article about the eco-dical madness of the Trump administration. In it, you will find the following passage.
We are currently at 410 carbon parts per million in the atmosphere – 60 ppm beyond what scientists identified as a hazardous point years ago.  We are on pace for 500 ppm – a level that will destroy life on Earth – by 2050 if not sooner.

 Why we desperately need a new language around climate change. Climate optimism has been a disaster. We need a new language - desperately

We are heading for a sixth mass extinction orchestrated by the fossil fuel industry. A Sixth Mass Extinction Event Could Reach the Tipping Point by 2100.

Site C Cancellation Costs Exaggerated, says Chief, by Andrew MacLeod.

Don't Blame God or Nature, We're the Culprits, David Suzuki

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)