[GWSG] FL blocks slr planning; slr accelerates; 400 ppm; low C peatland; EU climate program; fossil fuel cos. buying money

[Tilley, Al]

1.  A review of thousands of Florida state documents and emails relating to planning for sea level rise reveal that Governor Scott's administration, aided by the legislature, has consistently hampered efforts to deal with it.  A five year plan is in preparation for release in 2016.   Thanks to Lad Hawkins for the story.   http://jacksonville.com/breaking-news/2015-05-10/story/ea-rise-threatens-florida-coast-no-statewide-plan



2.  When land movement is included in the calculation, sea level rise has been accelerating at rates consistent with measures of the melt water released from the polar ice sheets.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/11/sea-level-rise-accelerated-over-the-past-two-decades-research-finds  Emphasis in press coverage of the two studies behind the news is on its supposed consistency with the IPCC high end projection of three feet of sea level rise by 2100.  The ten feet expected from the West Antarctic in that period (by studies included in the last news list) should have led to more caution in accepting the projection, which was doubled by NOAA over two years ago.  I suppose that the source quoted hopes that the GRACE satellite measurements in the Princeton study will be proved inaccurate, or that the melt will slow somehow.  The asserted consistency with the IPCC projection must ignore that the rate of sea level rise is accelerating.  Peter Sinclair has assembled some sources which indicate we should not ignore acceleration.  His six minute video from a year ago on the WAIS is especially worth reviewing.  http://climatecrocks.com/2015/05/12/sea-level-rising-faster-ice-loss-speeding-up/



3.  In March the monthly global average CO2 levels hit 400 parts per million for the first time on record.  http://research.noaa.gov/News/NewsArchive/LatestNews/TabId/684/ArtMID/1768/ArticleID/11153/Greenhouse-gas-benchmark-reached-.aspx



4.  A change in the vegetation cover of peatlands with rising temperatures reduces the rate at which they release carbon.  Estimates of the carbon release expected from northern peatlands should diminish.  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150511134929.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28Latest+Science+News+--+ScienceDaily%29



5.  The six Sentinel satellites funded by the European Union and launched with US help are part of the EU's Copernicus program to monitor climate change factors globally.  Sentinel 6 is scheduled for launch in 2020.   http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-32696666



6.  US politicians receiving money from oil companies are responsible for providing large subsidies to those companies.  In 2013 fossil fuel companies worldwide received $550 billion in subsidies, according to the World Bank.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/12/us-taxpayers-subsidising-worlds-biggest-fossil-fuel-companies
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