[GWSG] Auto cells; oceans warming; storm study; gone forests; 2030 deadline; fossil profits; fish diminish; 10 gigs of pv

[Tilley, Al]

1.  Several major auto makers are working toward models powered by hydrogen fuel cells.  Costs have decreased, and apparently at least some of the technical problems have been alleviated (though the article has little detail on that beyond Secretary Chu’s mysterious comment that we will need four miracles to succeed).  http://www.technologyreview.com/news/516711/why-toyota-and-gm-are-pushing-fuel-cell-cars-to-market/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-weekly-energy&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20130708

2.  During the last decade 30% of anthropogenic greenhouse warming has gone to the deep ocean.  http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/2854/20130708/deep-oceans-seen-decade-unprecedented-warming.htm

3.  The end of the century could see an additional 10-40% tropical cyclones a year, according to a new study by Kerry Emanuel.  Intensity may increase 45%.  http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/bigger-storms-ahead-global-warming-0708.html

4.  With increasing drought and heat, areas of the US SW hit by forest fires may not recover.  http://grist.org/climate-energy/the-southwests-forests-may-never-recover-from-megafires/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed

5.  A new paper by James Hansen and others estimates on historical grounds that unless we fully decarbonize by 2030 we shall face runaway warming and a “practically uninhabitable planet.”  http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/earth-insight/2013/jul/10/james-hansen-fossil-fuels-runaway-global-warming     Either this paper will be a global game changer or we must hope that somehow the analysis is faulty.  It ties in with the Swiss study in Nature reported in the last news list which said that warming must be limited to 1° if we are to avoid great damage (a goal Hansen endorses), and with the reports on methane releases in the Arctic (though I have not seen the implications fully examined in that case).   The existing programs of decarbonization are on a schedule consistent with now outdated analyses.  We must consider that from the best we know drastic and immediate action is necessary.  If that is difficult to imagine we must imagine more strenuously.  Gas and oil companies now dominate policy decisions in the US (and if you have seen Gasland II you know what that means).  We have been led by financial imperatives.  We now have an existential imperative, and shall see if that trumps.

6.  Oil and gas companies dominated the top tier of the Fortune 500, with Shell at the top and Exxon the world’s most profitable.  http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2013/07/08/business-fortune-500-list.html

7.  Fish populations off Southern California have dropped 78% over the last 40 years, probably due to climate change.  http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-fish-decline-southern-california-20130709,0,866454.story

8.  The US now has 10 gigawatts of pv solar energy installed, joining Germany, Italy, and China, and is on track for more than 4 gigawatts added this year.  http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/07/us-joins-10-gw-solar-pv-club-prepares-for-liftoff?cmpid=WNL-Friday-July12-2013
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