[GWSG] WWF on diversity; housing forecast; CH4 seeps; Kivalina; sea grass; MN savannahs; the missing .7mm; 100% by 2030

[Tilley, Al]

1.  The World Wildlife Fund reports that biodiversity worldwide has dropped 30% since 1970, partly due to climate change.  The overall figure has not changed since the last report 2 years ago.  In the past 40 years temperate ecosystems have become healthier, offset by a severe decline in the tropics.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18060323

2.  A report from the Demand Institute, The Shifting Nature of US Housing Demand, anticipates that “resilient, walkable” communities will lead the recovery of housing prices, with rises of 3% by 2013 and 5% a year 2014-17.  http://demandinstitute.org/sites/default/files/blog-uploads/tdihousingdemand.pdf

3.  A team from the U of Alaska at Fairbanks has identified about 150,000 methane seeps in Arctic waters.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18120093

4.  Kivalina: A Climate Change Story describes the efforts of the citizens of Kivalina, Alaska, to sue multiple fossil fuel interests for damages to their town and for deceiving the public concerning global warming.  The suit has been dismissed as “a political question,” and is under appeal.  http://truth-out.org/news/item/2187-kivalina-a-climate-change-story  Christine Shearer describes how she came to write the book.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-shearer/my-journey-into-kivalina-_b_790427.html

5.  The oceans are a sink for about 94% of the atmospheric carbon produced by humans (as I recall).  10% of that is stored in sea grasses, which store more carbon per unit area than do forests.  http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/65452

6.  The boreal forests of Northern Minnesota are undergoing what one forester calls “savannification.”  (So is my area of North Florida, according to a conference paper I heard delivered by a UF forestry prof.)  http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2012/05/21/1

7.  Japanese scientists have accounted for a missing .7 mm/year of sea level rise, which they trace to unreplaced withdrawals from aquifers.  http://www.chinapost.com.tw/life/environment/2012/05/22/341793/Japanese-scientists.htm

8.  The natural gas industry is working through the US House to block implementation of a Bush-era mandate that federal buildings reduce energy from fossil fuels 100% by 2030.  (I am including the story even though it concerns pending legislation because it presents so clearly the regulatory situation and the energy conservation effort now underway.  I have hope that the Obama administration will block any such legislation.)  “A February report<http://www.insideclimatenews.org/news/20120201/green-buildings-architecture-2030-department-of-energy-eia-efficiency-greenhouse-gas-emissions-savings> by Architecture 2030 found the U.S. green building movement is on track to help deliver $3.7 trillion in energy savings by 2030.”  http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20120517/natural-gas-industry-green-buildings-energy-efficiency-federal-obama-2030-carbon-neutral-section-433-eisa-fracking
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