[GWSG] Warming underestimated; farming with microbes; NY Times a nuisance; climate and conflicts; ReGen Villages

[Tilley, Al]

1.  Warming since 1866 has been underestimated by as much as a fifth through a set of quirks in representing and analyzing the record.  One impact is to moderate projections of warming in the models.  Thanks to Tom Larson for the story.  http://www.wired.co.uk/article/climate-change-records-missing



2.  A new agricultural technology centers on beneficial soil and plant microbes rather than on fertilizers or pesticides.  For example, cotton fortified with the right bacteria against drought does as well as irrigated plants.  Agricultural production is expected to be an increasing problem as the environment degrades.   https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601930/new-way-to-boost-crop-production-doesnt-rely-on-gmos-or-pesticides/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-weekly-energy&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20160725&goal=0_997ed6f472-c4c5f751e7-154060389&mc_cid=c4c5f751e7&mc_eid=fc22084f2f



3.  The NY Times has run a couple of stories recently implying that renewables are a problem for the proper development of nuclear power.  Joe Romm provides a heartening corrective of perspective.  (While I subscribe to the Times and have read the digital edition daily for years, I seldom have found them leading in climate coverage.  More often they are a nuisance, as Romm illustrates.)  http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/07/25/3800630/nuclear-power-renewables-times/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cptop3&utm_term=1&utm_content=53



4.  23% of armed conflicts in ethnically divided places were preceded by climate disasters.  Where no such ethnic divisions were significant, 9% of conflicts followed climate cues.  The PNAS study implies a causal link and may lead to conflict predictions and warnings.  As the climate degrades, conflicts are expected to rise.  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/25/disasters-linked-to-climate-can-increase-risk-of-armed-conflict



5.  Europe's ReGen Villages, based on research from Stanford U, is building sustainable communities in Europe.  They provide their own energy and much of their own food, and attempt to integrate with the larger community.  ReGen is considering pilot projects in the NE US.  https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/jul/25/eco-village-sustainability-environment-circular-economy-regen  The ReGen site has further details.  http://www.regenvillages.com/  A sustainable community in Florida would give us a model for building the kind of future we would want to live in.  Gated communities for the wealthy and FEMA trailers for the rest of us suggest instead the communities studied in the last item.  We have the opportunity to build a model sustainable community now, before our coastal regions are in crisis.  ?

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