[GWSG] Earth app; wind heat; solar surge?; fast plants; glacier speed; dino farts; human blasts; JAX slr talk tonight

[Tilley, Al]

1.  For $2.99 you can get the Fragile Earth app for your iPhone or iPad which matches before and after satellite shots of regions impacted by (among other factors) climate change.  http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/30/net-us-app-climatechange-idUSBRE83T09Z20120430

2.  A Texas study indicates that wind farms increase ground heat, particularly at night, almost entirely by mixing cooler (and lower) air with warmer (and somewhat higher) air through turbulence.  The effect can extend as far as a region.  Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Forbes, and other propaganda outlets are treating the study as if it found that wind farms were a force in global warming.  http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0430/Don-t-believe-the-headlines.-Wind-farms-do-not-cause-global-warming

3.  A McKinsey report “Solar Power: Darkest Before Dawn” finds reason to believe that the current shakeout in the solar industry will be followed by a great expansion, leading to incremental cost reductions and even greater expansion, with the economic potential to add as much as 400-600 gigawatts by 2020 (even though subsidies are expected to dry up) (page 6).  By 2020 we could see installed residential systems for $1 a watt.  Between now and 2020 distributed residential generation is likely to be “the dominant source of solar demand” (page 8).  The 16 page report is free.    http://www.mckinsey.com/Client_Service/Sustainability/Latest_thinking/Solar_powers_next_shining

4.  Plants are flowering up to 8 times faster under climate change than experiments had indicated they would.  It has proved difficult to mimic the actual conditions, with all the factors of precipitation, cloud cover, warmth, and atmosphere.   http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17924653

5.  Greenland’s outlet glaciers have increased their speed to the sea by 30% in the last 10 years, less than expected.  Greenland’s contribution to sea level rise may consequently be lower than previous estimates.  The study concerns calving of icebergs and omits consideration of meltwater.  http://www.climatecentral.org/news/ice-is-flowing-slower-on-greenland-than-many-feared-study-says/  John Willis and John Church, “Regional Sea-Level Projection,” observe that semi-empirical studies based on the association of temperature changes with historical rates of sea level rise yield figures over twice as large as current projections based on earth models.  The discrepancy could be due to weaknesses in either approach.  (Subscription required.)  http://www.sciencemag.org/content/336/6081/550.full

6.  Dinosaur flatulence produced about as much methane as the world produces now, and may well have been a factor in the warm climate of 150 million years ago.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/17953792

7.  We are still outdoing the dinosaurs, though, and our emissions are exceeding expectations.  http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/30/us-emissions-idUSBRE83T0PT20120430

8.  If you are in the Jacksonville area, tonight (Monday, May 7) the GTM Estuarine Research Reserve will deliver their first public report on their 3-year study of sea level rise and its impact on this region.  Dawn Jourdan, who holds a joint appointment in urban planning and law at the U of FL, will address the Sierra Club at 6 at the Ponte Vedra Public Library.  The meeting is free and open to the public.  Snacks will be provided; bring your own drink.  Children are welcome.  The $615 thousand study is expected to provide the base for climate change planning in NE FL.
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