[GWSG] Plankton and lizards adapt; wet get drier (and wetter); transition cheap; HFC reductions; Arctic comments

[Tilley, Al]

1.  At least one common form of plankton has proved that it can readily adapt to higher temperatures and increasing acidity.  Because plankton are the base of the food chain it may allow other species to show an unexpected resilience in the new ocean we are brewing.  http://www.climatecentral.org/news/what-will-survive-in-hot-acidic-oceans-18027?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climatecentral%2FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed  Some tropical lizards, including our newly abundant brown anole, have proved surprisingly adaptable.  http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/9059/20140916/climate-change-forces-tropical-lizards-to-swiftly-adapt.htm

2.  The common expectation is that with climate disruption the wet regions will get wetter and the dry ones, drier.  That has held true for oceanic regions.  However, for the quarter of land mass which has shown a change in precipitation, only about half demonstrates this pattern.  The other half, including for example the Amazon and the US Midwest, shows the opposite, with the Amazon getting drier and the Midwest wetter.  http://phys.org/news/2014-09-thumb-climate-upside.html

3.  A new economic analysis finds that if we accomplish the transition from fossil fuels in the next fifteen years the global economy will be healthier than if we do not.  Sponsoring agencies include the UN, the OECD, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.  “Pricing CO2 is the key.”    http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/16/climate-change-report-damage-overhaul-global-economy  The energy transition has often been predicted (especially by fossil fuel interests and other propagandists) to be ruinously costly.  The report finds that it can actually save money.  http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/fixing-climate-change-might-add-no-costs-says-report-114091700007_1.html  Some further conclusions of the report: green cities are cheaper; our power supply could be 50% renewable in fifteen years; the transition will require governmental actions.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/16/7-things-we-learned-from-lord-sterns-new-climate-economy-report

4.  President Obama has secured voluntary agreements from several large corporations to cut back or eliminate use of hydrofluorocarbons, powerful greenhouse gasses.  The emissions avoided by 2025 amount to cutting 1.5% of the world’s 2010 greenhouse gas emissions.    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/17/us/hfc-emissions-cut-under-agreement.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140916&nlid=43628374&tntemail0=y&_r=0

5.  In a short video Jason Box explains the dynamics and implications of Greenland’s melt.  He also reacts to the news of methane seeps on the continental shelf.  http://climatecrocks.com/2014/09/16/slate-why-greenlands-dark-snow-should-worry-you/
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