[GWSG] Fish on acid; bum pubs; terrordome; Europe at 2C; big meth; keystone cops; Japan & negawatts

[Tilley, Al]

1.  Rising CO2 causes fish to become more adventurous and susceptible to predators.  It even seems to cause them to reverse their sense of danger from the smell of predators.  The effect does not lessen with habituation to the new CO2 levels, and could endanger the entire food chain.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/14/entire-marine-food-chain-at-risk-from-rising-co2-levels-in-water

2.  Climate contrarians have managed to get papers published, but the journals are often the worse for it.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2014/apr/14/climate-contrarian-backlash-journal-difficult-lesson

3.  Business Insider reports that solar energy is becoming so cheap that it will dominate energy supply.  http://www.businessinsider.com/solar-price-terrordome-chart-2014-4  CleanTechnica provides further comments.  Thanks to Tom Larson for the news.  http://cleantechnica.com/2014/04/14/low-cost-solar-poised-for-global-domination/

4.  The 2° threshold will mean significant changes for Europe, with high temperatures and significantly increased precipitation.  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140415084425.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fscience_society%2Fresource_shortage+%28Resource+Shortage+News+--+ScienceDaily%29

5.  Direct measurement of methane releases by newly drilled wells in PA showed methane levels 100-1,000 times EPA estimates.    http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2340130/fracking-methane-leaks-at-least-100-times-larger-than-epa-estimated-say-researchers
The PNAS study has implications for the use of natural gas as a bridge from coal to renewables.   http://climatecrocks.com/2014/04/16/are-natural-gas-wells-huge-methane-sources/

6.  The XL Keystone pipeline would be a major setback to climate mitigation efforts.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2014/apr/16/keystone-xl-cops-incompetent

7.  Japan might replace its nuclear power with coal.  But it need not do that; increased efficiency has already replaced much of the nuclear capacity.  http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/how-japan-replaced-half-its-nuclear-capacity-with-efficiency?utm_source=Efficiency&utm_medium=Headline&utm_campaign=GTMDaily
The negawatt—a watt you don’t have to produce because you are using energy more efficiently—is hands down the cheapest energy available.  Costs vary by region; generally, a negawatt is more expensive in those areas which have already undertaken energetic efficiency programs, but even there it beats all other sources of energy.  http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/studies-efficiency-still-the-cheapest-energy-resource?utm_source=Efficiency&utm_medium=Headline&utm_campaign=GTMDaily
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