[GWSG] 1 gig battery; US cc ignorance; CO2 thermostat; not so GOP; WWF on decline; biodiv. conf.; AR5; purple turbines

[Tilley, Al]

1.  Rubenius is planning a 1 gigawatt power storage facility in Mexico using NaS batteries to serve a broad region, including California.  The intent is to deal with power fluctuations attendant on some forms of renewable power.  http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/4-billion-1-gigawatt-energy-storage-warehouse/

2.  A Yale survey has documented US ignorance on the mechanisms of climate change, and a general willingness to learn more.  25% have heard of ocean acidification or coral bleaching; 75% would like to know more, and the same percentage wants schools to offer the subject.  http://environment.yale.edu/climate/publications/knowledge-of-climate-change

3.  A NASA study forthcoming in Science traces 80% of the radiative forcing behind global warming to CO2.  http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1932384/carbon_dioxide_controls_earths_temperature/index.html?source=r_science

4.   “Remarkably, of the dozens of Republicans vying for the 37 Senate seats in the 2010 election, not one supports climate action, after climate advocate Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE) lost his primary to Christine O'Donnell.”  In fact, climate change denial is near-universal among the GOP candidates in the coming election.  http://www.alternet.org/environment/148515/the_gop

5.  The World Wildlife Fund’s biannual Living Planet Report show a 70% decline in tropical freshwater species populations in the last 40 years, and smaller declines elsewhere.  http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/41880

6.  Achem Steiner, Head of the UN Environmental Program, warned a major biodiversity conference in Japan that “we are destroying life on earth.”  He said that the extinction event in progress is the worst since the great extinction of 65 million years ago.  http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101018/wl_nm/us_biodiversity  More on the conference:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11563513

7.  The IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report will attempt to provide more coverage of regional variation, improved discussion of uncertainties, and more attention to socio-economic impacts of climate change.  AR5 is due to be published in 2013-4.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11551943

8.  The colors white and grey attract insects, which attract birds and bats.  Wind turbines painted purple may be less attractive.  Insects may also be drawn by the heat generated by the turbines.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9067000/9067721.stm