[GWSG] Who will suffer; veggie future; Antarctic clathrates too; Arctic tipping; mpg to 55; German plan; C tax

[Tilley, Al]

1.  Most people have expected that the more developed nations would suffer least and last from climate change.  The reaction of the Arctic jet stream has outdated this expectation, along with our schedule for the disappearance of Arctic sea ice.  Thought Monbiot does not say so, it may be that those who depend least on centralized food and energy production will be the most resilient in the world we are forming.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/27/arctic-ice-rich-world-disaster

2.  Diminishing water supplies, deteriorating farmland, and growing population will build the pressure toward a vegetarian diet in the next few decades.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/aug/26/food-shortages-world-vegetarianism

3.  Arctic waters are believed to harbor billions of tons of methane in clathrates on the ocean floor.  They become unstable when the water temperature rises (the trigger temperature depends on depth and pressure).  An article in Nature observes that the conditions for clathrate formation also obtain in the Antarctic.  http://www.climatecentral.org/news/antarctic-methane-a-new-factor-in-the-climate-equation-14913/  Wikipedia provides information on the possibility of a clathrate release in the Arctic.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_methane_release

4.  At least one oceanographer expects an ice-free Arctic as early as the summer of 2015; others consider the event a decade or few decades away.  Many consider that we have passed the tipping point with regard to Arctic Sea ice.  The effects include increased storms and sea level rise; the threat of released clathrates also increases.  http://e360.yale.edu/feature/tipping_point_arctic_heads_to_ice_free_summers/2567/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29  The National Geographic adds some information on the impact of diminishing Arctic sea ice on storms and droughts.  http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/08/120828-arctic-sea-ice-global-warming-record-environment-science/

5.  Under the new US auto rule, gas mileage for cars and light trucks will nearly double by 2025. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/aug/29/us-fuel-efficiency-rules  President Obama observes that the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions will be significant.  He also reports that production of solar and wind energy has nearly doubled in the US during his presidency.  (Renewables now account for about 6% of US energy production; with hydroelectric, 14.3%.)     http://www.rtcc.org/policy/obama-tells-crowd-%E2%80%9Cdenying-climate-change-won%E2%80%99t-make-it-stop%E2%80%9D/   On US renewable energy production in 2011:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_the_United_States

6.  Germany’s new environment minister has a ten point plan for a transition to renewable energy which includes strengthening targets, joining with other nations dedicated to the transition, and creating a department of energy transition.  http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2012/08/germanys-ten-point-plan?cmpid=WNL-2012-08-24

7.  Cornell economist Robert Frank argues that a carbon tax could correct both climate change and the economy. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/business/carbon-tax-would-have-many-benefits-economic-view.html
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.unf.edu/pipermail/gwsg/attachments/20120830/2825a8ad/attachment.html