[GWSG] Big solar; tidal floods; Obama call; ocean acid; sea ice; waste heat; hotspot; cities; keeping under 2

[Tilley, Al]

1.  The global solar industry is adding 19.5 gigawatts of capacity in the last quarter of 2014, the equivalent of five large nuclear power plants.  That would increase world capacity to 200GW, with 50GW added this year.  http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2374135/solar-power-market-could-hit-200gw-milestone-by-year-end

2.  Many East Coast cities are experiencing tidal flooding now.  The Union of Concerned Scientists provide a chart of how that will increase by 2030 and 2045.  Washington D.C. leads the list with almost 400 tidal floods in 2045; Miami will have only 240 and Jacksonville about 110.  http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/impacts/effects-of-tidal-flooding-and-sea-level-rise-east-coast-gulf-of-mexico#.VDVXn-8tDIU

3.  President Obama has called for the extension of measures already widely adopted to minimize the impact of climate disruption: replanting cleared forests, creating greenways, restoring coastlines and river fronts as storm buffers, and practicing low impact development.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/will-rogers/how-cities-can-help-fight_b_5954754.html

4.  Inshore waters of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef are acidifying at almost triple the rate of offshore waters, with dire implications for coral and other inshore aquatic life.  The effect has appeared in the last 30 years.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/10/great-barrier-reef-a-massive-chemistry-experiment-gone-wrong  Mangroves in the Virgin Islands provide protection for over 30 species of coral.  The mangroves shade the corals from the heat and modify the chemical insults.  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141008131601.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28Latest+Science+News+--+ScienceDaily%29  A collaborative report to the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity warns that ocean acidity has increased 26% already and will have a widespread impact on ocean life.  http://www.abc.net.au/environment/articles/2014/10/08/4102808.htm

5.  The loss of Arctic sea ice is understood and in accordance with climate models.  The growth of Antarctic sea ice is not in accordance with models but is understood as an effect of increasing winds blowing cold air from the interior of the continent over increased fresh water from ice sheet melt.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/09/why-is-antarctic-sea-ice-at-record-levels-despite-global-warming

6.  Waste heat can be used to generate power.  Thanks to Tom Larson for the item. http://www.technologyreview.com/news/531526/an-industrial-size-generator-that-runs-on-waste-heat-using-no-fuel/

7.   A hitherto unsuspected hotspot in the four corners region of New Mexico is responsible for 10% of US methane emissions.  The newly discovered emissions arise from coal mining and processing.  It is another indication that methane emissions have been severely underestimated by the EPA and others.  http://e360.yale.edu/digest/natural_gas_production_causing_large_methane_hotspot_over_us_southwest/4272/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29  More details:  http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-weather/stories/biggest-us-methane-source-spotted-from-space

8.  The SXSW Eco conference in Austin yielded some interesting positions for cities confronting climate disruption: for example, we don’t need more food (but we do need to distribute it better); we can’t climate-proof cities.  http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/oct/10/can-we-climate-proof-cities-sxsw-eco-austin

9.  We can still keep under 2° of warming, but we have to get busy, reports a group of thirty energy and climate experts.  They say how.  We don’t need new technology, but we do need courage.    http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/10/we-can-meet-c2-climate-target-and-heres-how-say-energy-experts
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