28 March 2016

Carbon Emissions Highest They Have Been in 66 Million Years

Environmentalists burn a symbol of carbon dioxide during a 2008 demonstration in front of the Klingenberg power plant in Berlin. (photo: Theo Heimann/AFP/Getty Images)
(And they create more CO2….)

By Alister Doyle, Scientific American – 27 March 16
Source: Reader Supported News

Outpouring of CO2 is 10 times higher than it was when the dinosaurs lived

The rate of carbon emissions is higher than at any time in fossil records stretching back 66 million years to the age of the dinosaurs, according to a study on Monday that sounds an alarm about risks to nature from man-made global warming.

Scientists wrote that the pace of emissions even eclipses the onset of the biggest-known natural surge in fossil records, 56 million years ago, that was perhaps driven by a release of frozen stores of greenhouse gases beneath the seabed.

That ancient release, which drove temperatures up by an estimated 5 degrees Celsius (9 Fahrenheit) and damaged marine life by making the oceans acidic, is often seen as a parallel to the risks from the current build-up of carbon in the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels.

“Given currently available records, the present anthropogenic carbon release rate is unprecedented during the past 66 million years,” the scientists wrote in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The dinosaurs went extinct about 66 million years ago, perhaps after a giant asteroid struck the Earth.

Lead author Richard Zeebe of the University of Hawaii said geological records were vague and “it’s not well known if/how much carbon was released” in that cataclysm.

Current carbon emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels, are about 10 billion tonnes a year, against 1.1 billion a year spread over 4,000 years at the onset of the fast warming 56 million years ago, the study found.

The scientists examined the chemical makeup of fossils of tiny marine organisms in the seabed off the New Jersey in the United States to gauge that ancient warming, known as the Paleoeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM).

U.N. studies project that temperatures could rise by up to 4.8C this century, causing floods, droughts and more powerful storms, if emissions rise unchecked. Carbon dioxide forms a weak acid in seawater, threatening the ability of creatures such as lobsters or oysters to build protective shells.

“Our results suggest that future ocean acidification and possible effects on marine calcifying organisms will be more severe than during the PETM,” Zeebe said.

“Future ecosystem disruptions are likely to exceed the relatively limited extinctions observed at the PETM,” he said. During the PETM, fish and other creatures may have had longer time to adapt to warming waters through evolution.

Peter Stassen, of the University of Leuven who was not involved in the study, said the study was a step to unravel what happened in the PETM.

The PETM “is a crucial part of our understanding of how the climate system can react to carbon dioxide increases,” he told Reuters.

29 February 2016

3 Questions We Have to Answer About Climate Change

Al Gore. (photo: Reuters)

By Al Gore,* EcoWatch, 28 February 16
Source: Reader Supported News

Last week, I had the pleasure of participating in TED Talks 2016 where I discussed many of the challenges presented by the climate crisis. But a powerful shift has been taking place, and it is clear that we will ultimately prevail.

Here’s why:

There are now only three questions we have to answer about climate change and our future.

Each day we spew 110 million tons of heat-trapping global warming pollution into the very thin shell of atmosphere surrounding the planet, using it as an open sewer for the gaseous waste of our industrial civilization as it is presently organized. The massive buildup of all that man-made global warming pollution is trapping as much extra heat energy every day as would be released by 400,000 Hiroshima-class atomic bombs exploding every 24 hours. That, in turn, is disrupting the hydrological cycle, evaporating much more water vapor from the oceans, leading to stronger storms, more extreme floods, deeper and longer droughts, among other climate related problems. Fourteen of the 15 hottest years ever measured have been in this young century. The hottest of all was last year. So YES, we must change!

2. CAN we change? And the answer, fortunately, is now YES!

We’re seeing a continuing sharp, exponential decline in the cost of renewable energy, energy efficiency, batteries and storage—and the spread of sustainable agriculture and forestry—giving nations around the world a historic opportunity to embrace a sustainable future, based on a low carbon, hyper-efficient economy. Indeed, in many parts of the world, renewable energy is already cheaper than that of fossil fuels—?and in many developing regions of the world, renewable energy is leapfrogging fossil fuels altogether—?the same way mobile phones leap-frogged land-line phones. And these dramatic cost reductions are continuing.

3. WILL we change?

While the answer to this question is up to all of us, the fact is that we already are beginning to change dramatically.

In December, 195 nations reached a historic agreement in Paris, which exceeded the highest end of the range of expectations. And the Paris Agreement is just the most recent example of our willingness to act. Much more change is needed, of course, but one of the binding provisions of the Paris agreement requires five-year transparent reviews of the action plans put forward by every nation, and the first will begin in less than two years, so now is the time to build the momentum for the actions needed.

Businesses and investors are already moving. And with the continuing cost-down curves for renewable energy, efficiency and energy storage, it will get easier year by year to win this historic struggle.

There are many, many more examples of powerful responses to this moral challenge. They all give me confidence that we are going to win this.

It matters a lot how quickly we win, and some still doubt that we have the will to act on climate, but please remember that the will to act is itself a renewable resource.

I hope you will take the time to watch the 20-minute video embedded above. And I hope that you will personally take action to “become the change we need to see in the world.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* NOTE
To avoid any misinterpretations, the posting of the article and the speech does not mean that we are unaware of all background and possible “inconsistencies” in this and other cases.
Lacking “saints” and having in mind that hypocrisy is a “global” issue (like Climate Change), we just have to be double careful. So, for your information:

Criticism (from Wikipedia)

Gore’s involvement in environmental issues has been criticized. For example, he has been labeled a “carbon billionaire” and accused of profiting from his advocacy; a charge which he has denied,by saying, among other things, that he has not been “working on this issue for 30 years… because of greed”. A conservative Washington D.C. think tank, and a Republican member of Congress, among others, have claimed that Gore has a conflict-of-interest for advocating for taxpayer subsidies of green-energy technologies in which he has a personal investment. Additionally, he has been criticized for his above-average energy consumption in using private jets, and in owning multiple, very large homes, one of which was reported in 2007 as using high amounts of electricity. Gore’s spokesperson responded by stating that the Gores use renewable energy which is more expensive than regular energy and that the Tennessee house in question has been retrofitted to make it more energy-efficient.

1 December 2015

What is needed from the Paris climate change conference / Ban Ki-moon

Ban Ki-moon Secretary-General of the United Nations
Nov 30, 2015
Source: LinkedIn

Today I am joining world leaders in Paris, along with 45,000 others — from civil society, businesses, media and more — to urge Heads of State and Government to forge a new global agreement on climate change.

People in towns and cities across the world joined together yesterday for a Global Climate March — biggest climate mobilization ever. While security precautions prevented the climate march that had been planned for Paris, this did not deter thousands of concerned citizens in many countries from showing their support for urgent climate action and making their voices heard.

I hope that leaders and negotiators will heed those voices — because the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) happening here over the next two weeks offers an unprecedented opportunity to tackle the defining issue of our time.

In one way or another, we are all experiencing the effects of climate change, and these impacts will only increase. Yet climate change does not affect us all equally. Those who suffer first and worst are those who did least to cause it: the poor and most vulnerable members of society who are the least equipped to mitigate and adapt to this changing situation.

The price of inaction is huge.

Around the world, I have seen how floods, droughts, rising sea levels and increasingly severe storms are causing terrible harm, and prompting families to migrate, often at great peril.

Aside from the devastating human toll, the cost of disasters is huge: since 1995 – including earthquakes and tsunamis – disaster losses amount to between $250 billion and $300 billion annually.

If left unchecked, the current course of climate change will alter life on Earth as we know it.

We must take urgent action now.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/api/edit/embed?embed=%257B%2522owner%2522%3A%2522%2522%2C%2522request%2522%3A%257B%2522finalUrl%2522%3A%2522https%3A%252F%252Fwww.youtube.com%252Fwatch%253Fv%3D4tnIyAOKnBw%26feature%3Dyoutu.be%2522%2C%2522originalUrl%2522%3A%2522https%3A%252F%252Fyoutu.be%252F4tnIyAOKnBw%2522%257D%2C%2522images%2522%3A%255B%257B%2522width%2522%3A480%2C%2522url%2522%3A%2522https%3A%252F%252Fi.ytimg.com%252Fvi%252F4tnIyAOKnBw%252Fhqdefault.jpg%2522%2C%2522height%2522%3A360%257D%255D%2C%2522data%2522%3A%257B%2522com.linkedin.treasury.Video%2522%3A%257B%2522width%2522%3A854%2C%2522html%2522%3A%2522%253Ciframe%2520class%3D%255C%2522embedly-embed%255C%2522%2520src%3D%255C%2522%252F%252Fcdn.embedly.com%252Fwidgets%252Fmedia.html%253Fsrc%3Dhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.youtube.com%25252Fembed%25252F4tnIyAOKnBw%25253Ffeature%25253Doembed%26url%3Dhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.youtube.com%25252Fwatch%25253Fv%25253D4tnIyAOKnBw%252526feature%25253Dyoutu.be%26image%3Dhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fi.ytimg.com%25252Fvi%25252F4tnIyAOKnBw%25252Fhqdefault.jpg%26key%3D03fb819bf74246bf972444a07b738ad0%26type%3Dtext%25252Fhtml%26schema%3Dyoutube%255C%2522%2520width%3D%255C%2522854%255C%2522%2520height%3D%255C%2522480%255C%2522%2520scrolling%3D%255C%2522no%255C%2522%2520frameborder%3D%255C%25220%255C%2522%2520allowfullscreen%253E%253C%252Fiframe%253E%2522%2C%2522height%2522%3A480%257D%257D%2C%2522provider%2522%3A%257B%2522name%2522%3A%2522YouTube%2522%2C%2522favicon%2522%3A%2522https%3A%252F%252Fs.ytimg.com%252Fyts%252Fimg%252Ffavicon-vflz7uhzw.ico%2522%2C%2522url%2522%3A%2522https%3A%252F%252Fwww.youtube.com%252F%2522%2C%2522display%2522%3A%2522www.youtube.com%2522%257D%2C%2522created%2522%3A0%2C%2522author%2522%3A%257B%2522name%2522%3A%2522United%2520Nations%2522%2C%2522url%2522%3A%2522https%3A%252F%252Fwww.youtube.com%252Fuser%252Funitednations%2522%257D%2C%2522description%2522%3A%257B%2522localized%2522%3A%257B%2522en_US%2522%3A%2522United%2520Nations%3A%2520Ahead%2520of%2520the%2520COP21%2520Paris%2520Climate%2520Conference%2C%2520UN%2520Secretary-General%2520Ban%2520Ki-moon%2520encourages%2520the%2520public%2520to%2520urge%2520their%2520leaders%2520to%2520take%2520strong%2520action%2520against%2520climate%2520change.%2522%257D%257D%2C%2522lastModified%2522%3A0%2C%2522title%2522%3A%257B%2522localized%2522%3A%257B%2522en_US%2522%3A%2522COP21%2520video%2520message%2520from%2520Secretary-General%2520Ban%2520Ki-moon%2522%257D%257D%2C%2522type%2522%3A%2522video%2522%257D&signature=ARASbL1pB04o6SXR2J723d_zv1Dl&url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2F4tnIyAOKnBw&uid=39420

So what exactly needs to happen at COP21?

First and foremost, we need the 195 governments that will attend along with the European to reach a new climate agreement that to reach a new climate change agreement that puts us on the road to keeping global average temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) – beyond which there will be an increase in the risk of severe, pervasive, and in some cases, irreversible impacts.

Paris must be a turning point, sending a loud and clear signal to citizens, markets and the private sector that the transformation of the global economy is inevitable, beneficial, and already underway.

In recent years we have seen a groundswell of momentum for action on climate change across all sectors of society — from individuals to governments to businesses. It is heartening to see a growing number of governments and companies taking steps to carve out a low-carbon future. They know the very real impacts of climate change, but they also embrace the effective, affordable solutions at our fingertips.

What’s more, companies that are taking action to reduce emissions and become more sustainable are finding it helps their bottom line. It makes business sense.

Ahead of COP21, almost all countries, as well as states, cities, business and investors, have come forward with comprehensive pledges and plans to reduce carbon emissions and bolster resilience. More than 180 countries have submitted national climate commitments. Developed countries have pledged to support the efforts of developing countries to move toward low-emission economies.

These are encouraging steps and I urge all countries to follow suit.

No one, in any nation can avoid the impacts of climate change and we all have a responsibility – and an opportunity – to do something about it. So while leaders gather in Paris to chart the course ahead, let’s all help address climate change, starting today and wherever you are. From activities you can do easily at home, to how you can get involved with efforts organized in your community and beyond, get ideas for climate action here.

31 March 2014

Report: Climate Change Already Impacting ‘All Continents’

By Jeff Spross, ThinkProgress 30 March 14

The next big report from an ongoing international effort to nail down the science of climate change will be released on Monday. According to the Guardian, the report’s language concludes that climate change has already “caused impacts on natural and human systems on all continents and across the oceans.”

An early draft was actually leaked in November. The biggest danger it sees is apparently coastal flooding driven by sea level rise — which could shave 10 percent off global economic production by the end of this century, according to previous research. Climate change also threatens widespread damage to marine life and fish populations worldwide, as both warming seas and ocean acidification throw off ecosystems’ natural balances.

Much of the report’s language has already been finalized, including a warning that “both warm water coral reef and Arctic ecosystems are already experiencing irreversible regime shifts.”

The report also sees the potential for droughts, floods, and shifting patterns of rainfall to endanger global food production — again, a finding backed by other studies. Climate change is also cutting down on the globe’s supply of fresh drinking water, and stronger storms pose a danger to human infrastructure.

The latest report is a product of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an international project aimed at providing the world a kind of grand summary and assessment of the known science on climate change. It put out its last big finding — the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) — in 2007. Now the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) is rolling out in a series of stages over the next few months.

The Working Group I report was the first stage, and covered how climate change arises from the basics of physical science. It was released in September of 2013. The report proposed, for the first time, an overall “carbon budget” that humanity cannot exceed if we’re to stay under 2°C of warming — what most scientist consider the safe upper limit. In short, the world can afford to release only 1,000 gigatons of carbon into the atmosphere if it wants to stay under the 2°C threshold, and 531 gigatons have already been emitted as of 2011.

Right now representatives and scientists from around the world are hold up in Yokohama, Japan, finalizing the language for the Working Group II report, which will come out on Monday. It will cover the impacts of climate change, which populations and societies are the most vulnerable, and how governments can adapt. According to the Guardian, almost 500 people must approve the Working Group II language, including 66 experts authors, 57 observers, 271 officials representing 115 countries around the world.

The IPCC’s Working Group III report is scheduled to be released in April, and will cover climate change mitigation. That will be followed by the final Synthesis Report in October. At that point, the AR5 release will be complete, setting the stage for the next big international meeting in 2015, where the world’s governments hope to develop some sort of coordinated strategy to actually tackle climate change and cut global carbon emissions.

Source: Reader Supported News