[GWSG] Percipitation up; flood & wind triples; insurance; aerosols; sun and wind power up; ghg down in US; Mulkey's blog

[Tilley, Al]

1.  Extreme precipitation events rose 7% in the latter half of the 20th century.  Global warming is the only known cause.  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/science/earth/17extreme.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

2.  Since 1980 extreme floods have tripled and extreme wind nearly so.  Insurance companies, engineers, and architects are working to keep up with the weather. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/weekinreview/13rosenthal.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

3.   We might have more rational planning for climate change if we framed it as an insurance problem.  We should mitigate and adapt as catastrophe insurance, even if we cannot be certain about the future.  http://www.grist.org/article/2011-02-15-government-insurance-should-insure-against-climate-change  What we should not do, but are doing in Florida, is to pass the cost of building in coastal areas on to the general population through their auto and home insurance.  That just encourages people to live where they should not and prevents effective adaptation preparation.  See pages 19 and 20 of the linked report.  Citizens Insurance, a Florida state entity and the largest insurer in the state, plans to pass along 45% of the costs of a large storm this year to non-policy holders through a per-account assessment (page 23).  The person with a Subaru will pay as much as one with a Mercedes.  Thanks to Don Lohman for finding this report.     https://www.citizensfla.com/shared/documents/HouseInsuranceAndBankingCommittee_01-12-2011.pdf

4.   An abrupt cessation of aerosols would cause up to .9° C of warming, according to an article in Nature Climate Change.  http://www.nature.com/nclimate/2011/110215/full/nclimate1044.html

5.  The world added about 16 gigawatts of solar power in 2010, double the 2009 figure.  Europe dominated in additions.  Solar power costs have fallen by half in the last 3 years.  http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/14/us-energy-solar-idUSTRE71D4WJ20110214?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29  Global wind energy increased 22%  (35.8 gigawatts) last year, with Asia leading in growth.  New US installations dropped 50%.  Installed world wind capacity is now 194.4 gigawatts.   http://www.gwec.net/index.php?id=30&no_cache=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=279&tx_ttnews[backPid]=4&cHash=ada99bb3b6<http://www.gwec.net/index.php?id=30&no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5btt_news%5d=279&tx_ttnews%5bbackPid%5d=4&cHash=ada99bb3b6>  European offshore wind experienced record growth last year.  http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2011/02/wind-power-market-statistics??cmpid=WNL-Wednesday-February16-2011

6.  US greenhouse gas emissions dropped 6% last year, thanks largely to the recession.  We are now down to 7.4% over the 1990 level.  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/science/earth/17emit.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

7.  Stephen Mulkey has set up a blog on climate for his students and for the general public.  It is a sound and interestingly written source of information, and if you take a look you will probably have it on your favorites list.  http://intermountainclimate.wordpress.com/
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