[GWSG] Ins. bubble; world temps; wet habitats; UBS on solar; solar growth; China focus; 100% by 2050; G7 backs transition

[Tilley, Al]

1.  Federal flood insurance covers $484 bn of property in Florida alone.  Every year, the federal government pays for renourishing increasingly inundated beaches with increasingly expensive sand, propping up property values, which it then insures at rates too low to be actuarially sound.  Sea level rise will pop the bubble, unless storms get to it first.  http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/06/04/3655491/peak-sand-coastal-property-bubble/



2.  A new study of recent temperature records shows steadily increasing (and possibly accelerating) heating of the earth in the past 25 years.    http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2015/jun/04/new-research-suggests-global-warming-is-accelerating  The Science article details how the new data were derived.  (Subs. req'd.)  http://www.sciencemag.org/content/348/6239/1066.full?utm_campaign=email-sci-toc&utm_src=email



3.  As the oceans warm, habitats will shrink.  Oxygen depletion will make it impossible for fish to live in large tracts of oceans.  As corals move north to escape heat, they must live in more and more shallow waters to maintain photosynthesis, and will run up against severe constraints on their migration.  http://news.sciencemag.org/climate/2015/06/world-warms-ocean-habitats-shrink



4.  Investment bank UBS forecasts that solar will replace coal and nuclear, becoming the default technology for generating power.  http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/ubs-analysts-solar-will-become-the-default-technology-of-the-future?utm_source=Daily&utm_medium=Headline&utm_campaign=GTMDaily



5.  US residential solar installations grew 76% in the first quarter of this year over that quarter of 2014, and the country added 1.3 GW of new PV solar.  25 developers have projects of over 100 MW in the pipeline.  The average cost of new residential solar is now $3.48/watt.     http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Fueled-by-Growth-in-Residential-Solar-US-Installs-1.3GW-of-PV-in-Q1-2015  Globally, 40GW of solar power was added in 2014, bringing capacity to 100 times what it was in 2000.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/09/record-boost-in-new-solar-power-continues-massive-industry-growth



6.  A study by the London School of Economics makes it clear that our ability to avert a climate catastrophe rests largely with China, assuming that the EU and the US continue to make the efforts they have begun.  China has begun, and are well ahead of their schedule, but have not made explicit the terms of their transition to a carbon-free energy base.  http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/06/09/3667037/fate-world-china/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cptop3



7.  A Stanford-led group of US engineers have prepared a state by state plan to convert to 100% renewable power by 2050, using no more than .5% of a state's land for solar or wind installations, restricting costs to those expected were we to remain powered by fossil fuels, and assuming current technology.  The plan provides for an 80% transition by 2030.  "A conversion of this scale would also create jobs, stabilize fuel prices, reduce pollution-related health problems and eliminate emissions from the United States. There is very little downside to a conversion, at least based on this science."  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150609093025.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_environment+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Environment+News%29



8.  G7 nations have resolved to undertake a transition to renewable power.  http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/08/us-g7-summit-idUSKBN0OM0I320150608
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