[GWSG] Labor loss; SC secrets; Unity curric.; Arctic waves; slr in FL; XL shuck; our choice; UN energy initiative

[Tilley, Al]

1.  Increasing heat and humidity have cut the earth’s human labor effectiveness by 10% since the start of the industrial revolution.  It is expected to decline to 80% by midcentury.  As time goes on work becomes increasingly difficult in the tropics and mid-latitudes.   http://www.climatecentral.org/news/climate-change-is-cutting-humans-work-capacity-study-finds-15654

2.  In November 2011 the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources prepared a report on the effects of climate disruption.  It outlines risks and calls for the Department to take an active role in educating the public and preparing courses of action.  The state has kept the report secret, but a copy has surfaced.  http://www.thestate.com/2013/02/24/2645515/secret-climate-report-calls-for.html#storylink=misearch

3.  People of college age are likely to experience the effects climate disruption in broad aspects of their lives.  Unity College is including sustainability science in all aspects of its curriculum.  http://bangordailynews.com/2013/02/24/news/midcoast/unity-college-to-incorporate-climate-change-into-all-aspects-of-curriculum/

4.   As the Arctic warms, large atmospheric waves which bring Arctic air southward can be slowed or stopped, resulting in persistent drought and heat waves.  (The southern hemisphere was not included in the study.)    http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/feb/26/global-warming-planetary-airflow-extreme-weather-us-eu  More detail from the study:  http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2013/02/extreme-weather-climate-links

5.  In 2011 FAU did a study on the impact of sea level rise on South Florida.  A 6” rise would compromise half the area’s drainage (page 2 of the linked Miami Herald article).  The South Florida Regional Climate Compact had adopted the Army Corps of Engineers projection for the area, which indicates 3-7” of rise by 2030.  The Emergency Preparedness Committee of the NE FL Regional Community Institute has just voted to use the same projections, adjusted to the Mayport tidal gauge.  http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/01/2980388/rising-sea-come-at-a-cost-for.html  The Corps’ recommendations for South Florida are described in the Compact’s Unified Sea Level Projection.  http://southeastfloridaclimatecompact.org/pdf/Sea%20Level%20Rise.pdf  I passed along the Miami Herald story when it came out last fall but had not sufficiently contemplated the FAU study on drainage.  I thought it worth bringing to your attention again.  6” of sea level rise is quite possible by 2030, and the drainage failures will increase leading up to and beyond that accelerating sea level.  Community viability is at stake, there and elsewhere along the coast.

6.  The US State Department reports that the XL pipeline will have little climate impact.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/01/state-department-keystone_n_2793160.html  The arguments seem to be that the oil would be produced and burned anyway, that alternative transports are inferior, and that the US oil consumption would not be increased (because the oil would be exported).  If so, the arguments all beg the question of whether the tar sands oil should be produced and distributed.  That makes the State Department position fallacious.  http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/01/17149564-state-department-admits-keystone-environmental-impact-but-says-theres-no-better-way?lite  Michael Brune observes that the position is also “devastatingly cynical.”  http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/03/draft-assessment-of-tar-sands-pipeline-devastatingly-cynical/

7.  We may choose not to acquiesce in arguments that we must continue to engage in destroying our conditions of life.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/01/100-months-apocalypse-warnings

8.  The UN Sustainable Energy For All initiative of 2011 (announced in 2009) set goals of providing energy access to all and of doubling energy efficiency and the share of renewable energy by 2030.  An analysis shows that achievement of the goals has a high chance of keeping the earth within 2° C of temperature increase. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130224142720.htm The UN’s new Climate Technology Centre and Network will help develop low carbon energy technology in developing nations. http://www.rtcc.org/un-launches-new-climate-technology-network/ The project promises major improvements in health and general prosperity in the targeted regions.  http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/02/green-energy-solves-dual-crises-of-poverty-and-climate/
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