[GWSG] US to be warmer than avg.; Larsen C crack; Totten study; Davos on climate; CA pilot on storage

[Tilley, Al]

1.  According to a new study at U MA-Amherst the US is due to warm more rapidly than the earth generally, and the NE and SW US are due to warm more rapidly than other regions of the country.  The NE will warm by 3C when the global temperature reaches 2C.  https://phys.org/news/2017-01-northeast-temperatures-decades-global-average.html



2.  The big crack in West Antarctica's Larsen C ice shelf is likely to lead to a Delaware-size iceberg, but the ice sheet may or may not continue to disintegrate.  The crack itself seems to be the result of ice dynamics as much as to warming.  http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/16/509565462/an-ice-shelf-is-cracking-in-antarctica-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=environment



3.  An international team is on a 51 day trip to study the state of East Antarctica's Totten Glacier, discovered about a year ago to be undermined by warm currents.  Totten is the size of California.  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/15/totten-glacier-antarctic-voyage-to-map-seafloor-hobart-invstigator



4.  The World Economic Forum convenes in Davos, Switzerland next week.  The primary topic is dealing with climate change and the transition to renewable energy.  Fossil fuel interests are searching for ways to cope.  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/15/business/world-economic-forum-davos-shifting-us-stance-on-climate-change.html



5.  A disastrous gas leak in 2015 led California regulators to an experiment in using lithium-ion batteries fed by renewable energy to replace peaking natural gas plants.  It goes online within the next month.  If the pilot is successful it promises to lead many utilities to reduce their use of natural gas.  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/14/business/energy-environment/california-big-batteries-as-power-plants.html?emc=edit_th_20170115&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=43628374&_r=0  ?

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