[GWSG] Liquid air; g.w. icon; World Bank; acid congress; g.w. politics; C AM corn & beans

[Tilley, Al]

1.  A British inventor proposes storing energy commercially by using it to liquefy air and then expanding the air with industrial waste heat to drive turbines when power is needed.  The process can achieve 70% efficiency, uses no polluting or expensive materials, and is technologically simple.  It does require location at waste heat sites. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19785689#<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19785689>

2.   Louis Prado has created an icon for global warming.  http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/a-thousand-words-on-global-warming/

3.  The head of the World Bank observes that the general drought this year is the first definitely attributed to global warming, and promises to suggest courses of action.  http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/04/worldbank-kim-idUSL1E8L4JCQ20121004

4.  Acidification will impact different species variously, depending on their genetic equipment and resilience, and on their ecosystem.  At a recent conference over 550 scientists shared their research plans and a few conclusions.  http://www.sciencemag.org/content/338/6103/27.full

5.  Senatorial candidates in Maine, Nebraska, and Massachusetts are using climate as a campaign issue.  http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/260619-dems-use-climate-change-to-tag-republicans-as-extreme  Scientific American urges that the presidential debates engage the topic more fully.  http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/10/05/obama-romney-should-talk-climate-change-debate/  An aggressive and carefully couched campaign on the issue could energize the Democratic base, pull in undecided voters, and isolate Republican candidates in their untenable climate positions at all levels of the election, local, state, and national.  My fantasy.  Here’s the 2012 Presidential Climate Action Project Report from a thoughtful group which includes David Orr, James Baker, Heidi Cullen, and Gus Speth.  They suggest yearly what presidential actions should be undertaken in our current situation.  http://www.climateactionproject.com/docs/PCAP_Report_2012.pdf  Most Americans now acknowledge that climate change is real and underway (p. 12), and 85% would like to see scientific issues, including climate change, addressed in the presidential debates (p. 11).  One of the ideas advanced is a traveling exhibit, “The Future We Want” (p. 44).  We need to cease electing large numbers of people dedicated to the obstruction of any effort to deal with climate change if we want a liveable world.  But Romney may not want to alienate his Republican base, and Obama may feel the issue could be used against him effectively with independents.   http://www.independentmail.com/news/2012/oct/09/obama-romney-largely-silent-climate-change/  If climate change does come up in the presidential debates, the global nature of the problem makes it more appropriate for the second or third debate than for the first.  http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/2012/10/08/dont-forget-the-global-in-global-climate-change/

6.  Corn and beans are the most significant food crops in Central America.  They will be threatened by climate change within this decade, according to a new report.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/catholic-relief-services/central-america-climate-change_b_1947838.html
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