[GWSG] India, EU ratify Paris agr.; biochar study; Hansen paper; Canada's C tax plan; est. slr; DOE on renewable energy

[Tilley, Al]

1.  India has ratified the Paris agreement.  The significance of India's commitment is less for current emissions than for the path the country is taking to developing energy for its billion people.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/10/02/india-ratifies-global-climate-agreement-on-gandhis-birthday/?utm_term=.d22ebacd0b70



2.  On Oct. 4, the European Parliament ratified the Paris Agreement.  With more than 55% of global emissions covered, the agreement will come into effect as soon as the ratification is submitted to the UN later this week.  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-04/eu-poised-to-trigger-entry-of-paris-climate-deal-into-force



3.  An Austrian study confirms that adding biochar to the soil hardens crops against drought, reduces nitrogen oxide emissions, increases crop yield by 75%, and sequesters significant amounts of carbon.  http://phys.org/news/2016-10-biochar-crop-growth-climate.html  Biochar for carbon sequestration is a good candidate for the most benign and promising form of geoengineering.  (The benefits vary by region.)  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biochar



4.  James Hansen and twelve coauthors have written a paper assessing the current situation, the need to extract CO2 from the atmosphere, and the burden this places on young people.  In Hansen's opinion, our hope lies in the courts and in a carbon tax.  http://csas.ei.columbia.edu/2016/10/04/young-peoples-burden/



5.  Canadian provinces will have two years to adopt their own version of a carbon tax/cap and trade system, or accept a nationwide scheme at that time.  Four provinces with 80% of the population already have a carbon tax.  https://thinkprogress.org/canada-nationwide-carbon-tax-plan-62f37c7f1098#.5cchosi7e



6.  The historical record seems to have led us to underestimate the global sea level rise because we have based our findings on sites which experience less than the average rise from Greenland melt.  http://phys.org/news/2016-10-historical-underestimate-global-sea.html



7.  A report by the US Department of Energy finds that the cost of renewable energy continues to drop.  Costs for key clean energy technologies have dropped 41-94% over the past seven years.  Two-thirds of the new energy installed in the US in 2015 was renewable.  In transportation, we are on the way to electric vehicles powered renewably.  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2016/oct/03/doe-charts-show-why-climate-doom-and-gloom-isnt-needed  ?

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