[GWSG] Cornell duel; C tax talk; more on acid; biggerfoot; 4th gen letter; new math; new calf, new sensitivity

[Tilley, Al]

1.  For those who wish to follow the Cornell professors dueling on the climate impact of shale methane, Patrick Parenteau sends the following links:  “Howarth et al have responded to Cathles.  http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/howarth/Howarthetal2012_Final.pdf   And Cathles has issued a rebuttal.  http://www.geo.cornell.edu/eas/PeoplePlaces/Faculty/cathles/Natural%20Gas/Response%20to%20Howarth's%20Reply%20Distributed%20Feb%2030,%202012.pdf    And here is an audio describing the internecine warfare at Cornell.  http://innovationtrail.org/post/cornell-scientists-face-over-danger-methane-emissions  “  Neither side gives an inch.  The near-term heating effect of methane is especially significant because it can serve to trip off positive feedbacks which would greatly amplify the impact of the added methane, even rendering it permanent as a net effect.

2.  The American Enterprise Institute hosted a meeting among such politically disparate groups as the Union of Concerned Scientists and ConservAmerica to discuss a carbon tax.  The Politico story concerns ideological whistle blowers from the Competitive Enterprise Institute, but the real story is that groups normally at odds are meeting to treat seriously the best chance for greenhouse gas mitigation.  The husband of White House climate chief Carol Browner, a former US Representative, attended to discuss building bipartisan support.  http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78522.html  The conservative interest in a carbon tax may be driven by a wish to avoid EPA regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, and a desire to direct the new tax to corporations and to deficit reduction.  http://www.eenews.net/public/EEDaily/2012/07/16/1

3.  On June 14 the Christian Science Monitor published a story on the Swiss research which led to the Science article on acidification off the US West Coast I listed in the last newsletter.  Because the research is so significant and so urgent I intend to track stories on it for verification, further detail, and expansion to other areas.  The following story explains why the research team picked the West Coast, and why it is likely to suffer earlier than most regions.  http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2012/0614/Global-warming-s-evil-twin-threatens-West-Coast-fishing-grounds  Here is a more technical account from Wired.  http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/06/california-ocean-acidification/

4.  The carbon footprint of the average Chinese person now equals a European’s.  It is still less than half an American’s.  http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2192779/average-chinese-persons-carbon-footprint-now-equals-europeans?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Average+Chinese+person%27s+carbon+footprint+now+equals+European%27s

5.  James Hansen has cosigned with Richard Branson a letter to President Obama urging him to support fourth generation nuclear reactors.  China and Britain are said to be developing new nuclear power with the technology, which uses plutonium and spent fuel as input.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jul/20/richard-branson-obama-nuclear-technology

6.  Bill McKibben’s Rolling Stone article “Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math,” explains the urgency of finding a way to halt greenhouse gas emissions, which entails taking on the fossil fuel industry.  http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719

7.  During the Last Interglacial Period 125,000 years ago the temperature was 1-2° warmer than the present.  The sea level at that period is used to measure the sensitivity of the polar ice sheets to rises in temperature.  The sea level rise had been measured at about 4.5 meters.  An article in Science reports that the rise was actually twice that, and that the Antarctic must have been involved along with Greenland.  http://www.sciencemag.org/content/337/6091/216.short  The Petermann Glacier in Greenland has calved another whopper of an iceberg.  The BBC asks, “Is it serious? “ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18901068#
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