[GWSG] Desert trees; plants hacked; adapt or retreat?; Ant. ice; g.h. gas levels high; container veggies; stormsafe house

[Tilley, Al]

1.  A Dutch engineer has devised a low-tech system of planting trees in deserts with a 95% success rate and no maintenance after the planting.  In the past three years his company Land Life has planted 750k trees in twenty countries.  http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/how-to-plant-a-tree-in-the-desert?mbid=nl_170711_Daily&CNDID=18164692&spMailingID=11452217&spUserID=MTMzMTc5Njc3ODE1S0&spJobID=1200974048&spReportId=MTIwMDk3NDA0OAS2



2.  Last week Russia attempted to penetrate the computer networks of over a dozen US power plants.  They apparently succeeded in gaining access to business and administrative files, sometimes exploited as a step toward interference with operations.  The hacks have apparently been going on for years.  The Russians shut down the Ukrainian grid in 2015.  https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/russia-named-as-culprit-in-latest-us-power-plant-hacks?utm_source=Daily&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=GTMDaily



3.  As tidal flooding incidents increase, coastal communities are faced with the choice to adapt temporarily or retreat.  Having a realistic expectation of sea level rise rates is crucial to that decision.  https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2017-cities-chronic-flooding/



4.  The gigantic iceberg released in the Antarctic by the Larson C ice shelf will have little direct or indirect effect on sea levels.  It does remind us that changes are underway, and of such ice sheets as Thwaites, which will have a great effect on sea level when it breaks up.    http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/the-larsen-c-crack-up-in-antarctica-why-it-matters-w491929

The Pine Island and Thwaites ice sheets are already considered unstable.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/10/20/u-s-and-u-k-announce-major-research-mission-to-enormous-melting-antarctic-glacier/?utm_term=.241bdf6821d8



5.  In 2016 greenhouse gasses accumulated in the atmosphere at a rate not seen for twenty years.  The NOAA report did not make its usual attribution to burning fossil fuels.  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/13/climate/greenhouse-gases-spike-noaa-global-warming.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170713&nlid=43628374&tntemail0=y&_r=0



6.  Local Roots sells shipping containers which can grow five acres of (for example) kale, lettuce, and strawberries hydroponically in a 40-foot container, using 97% less water than conventional agriculture.  http://inhabitat.com/40-foot-shipping-container-farm-can-grow-5-acres-of-food-with-97-less-water/



7.  The SURE house, winner of the 2015 solar decathlon, is built to withstand hurricanes and to act as a neighborhood emergency power center after the storm.  http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/ugc/articles/2017/07/12/can-this-house-survive-a-hurricane-it-sure-can.html?cmpid=enl_rew_renewableenergynews_2017-07-14&email_address=atilley@unf.edu&eid=291059574&bid=1811132 ?

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