[GWSG] Big debate; unstable WAIS; 75% clean; insecurity; storms move N; IEA: save trillions; fudged C budget

[Tilley, Al]

1.  HBO’s John Oliver staged a statistically representative debate on climate giving Bill Nye some help against a group of deniers.  http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/12/3436771/john-oliver-climate-change-debate/

2.  Two papers on instability in the ice sheets of the Amundsen Sea Embayment of the West Antarctic find that the disintegration of the sheets has become inevitable, though over a period of centuries.  Thanks to Rob Overly and Mary Emerson Smith for bringing this to our attention.  http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059999460  NASA’s Eric Rignot provides a narrated animation to illustrate the situation.  http://climatecrocks.com/2014/05/12/nasa-video-antarctic-collapse-explained/

3.  Last Sunday at midday Germany produced a record 75% of its energy renewably.   In the first quarter of this year Germany’s power supply was 27% renewable, about double the US portion.  http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/13/3436923/germany-energy-records/

4.  A board of 16 retired senior military officers has released a report on climate disruption as a security threat, the latest of many such studies.  “It is not possible to discuss the future of national and international security without addressing climate change,” said a retired general.  http://ecowatch.com/2014/05/14/military-report-climate-change-conflict/   The Pentagon has been planning to handle domestic unrest following climate-related crises, among other stressors.  They have begun developing a 20,000 troop force for the purpose and have been conducting wide surveillance of US citizens, including environmental activists.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2013/jun/14/climate-change-energy-shocks-nsa-prism

5.  As the earth heats the regions where storms reach maximum strength are moving toward the poles.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2014/05/14/ground-breaking-study-hurricanes-reaching-peak-strength-farther-north-as-globe-warms-tropics-expand/

6.  The International Energy Agency reports that delay in action on climate has already cost trillions of dollars, with the cost rising constantly.  Action now to decarbonize the energy supply by 2050 would cost $44 trillion but save $115 trillion in fuel costs.    http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/14/3437715/climate-action-delayed-is-climate-action-denied/

7.  The IPCC summary released recently estimates that we have about 280 gigatons of carbon emissions in our carbon budget—that which can be released before we incur over 2° of warming.  But that figure was fudged by fossil fuel interests.  According to the European Commission’s David Wasdell, we are already in overdraft.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/may/15/ipcc-un-climate-reports-diluted-protect-fossil-fuel-interests
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