[GWSG] Meltafrost reactions; energy book; costly coal; refugees coming; a 2% investment; 20 to 30% EU goal; cutting warming

[Tilley, Al]

1.  The day he received word of the Schaefer study on the pace of permafrost melt in the Arctic, Jack Bizot read this Straight Dope column on how an evil genius might go about melting the polar ice sheets.  http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2982/if-i-were-an-evil-genius-how-could-i-go-about-melting-the-ice-caps  And here is Ed Carter’s reaction: “I love that I had to watch an ad from oil and gas companies stating ‘oil is fuel for jobs’ before I could see the video from MSNBC on global warming in the arctic.  Irony.”  More on the Schaefer study from Climate Progress, particularly on its conservative assumptions:  http://climateprogress.org/2011/02/17/nsidc-thawing-permafrost-will-turn-from-carbon-sink-to-source-in-mid-2020s-releasing-100-billion-tons-of-carbon-by-2100/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climateprogress%2FlCrX+%28Climate+Progress%29

2.  David MacKay’s Sustainable Energy—Without the Hot Air (UIT: Cambridge, England, 2009) is written to enable you to have a blather-free conversation about sustainable energy options and energy efficiency.  What is more, you can buy the book, or you can read it free online at www.withouthotair.com<http://www.withouthotair.com/> .  MacKay, a Cambridge physicist, has become chief scientific advisor to the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change since publishing Sustainable Energy.  His book is readable, and it is funny.  No other book on the topic could compete with that.  He does need to bring it up to date in a few matters, and no doubt will (to consider such topics as biochar and superefficient, cheap pv cells), but it is substantially current.

3.  When externalities of health and environmental impact are considered, the price of coal triples, according to a recent study.  http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0220-hance_coal.html

4.  The UN is predicting 50 million climate refugees by 2020.  The initiating conditions are expected to be food supply failures due to droughts and floods.  http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/50-million-environmental-refugees-by-2020-experts-say-20110222-1b314.html

5.  According to the UN Environmental Program, an investment of 2% of world GDP in ten sectors could move the world toward a low carbon economy with increased social justice and an enhanced financial wellbeing.  We are now spending 1-2% of GDP on subsidies which increase unsustainable use of the environment.   http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0221-hance_unep.html  More specifics on the investment plan:   http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12507714

6.  A separate UN report projected that the European Union would experience a more robust economic recovery by moving from a goal of 20% greenhouse gas emissions cuts by 2020 to a goal of 30%.  http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/21/us-climate-eu-idUSTRE71K4L220110221?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29

7.  A study by 70 scientists reported at the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science reports that near-term warming in the next 40 years could be halved by a set of 16 measures to control emissions of black carbon and methane.  The Arctic would benefit most.  http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1999795/cleaning_the_air_would_limit_shortterm_climate_warming/index.html?source=r_science
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