[GWSG] New renewables vs. old fossils; high goals cheaper; a hard rain; collapsing glaciers; going organic; T-U on coastal risk

[Tilley, Al]

1.The annual Levelized Cost of Energy study from Lazard Ltd. Indicates that building a new solar or wind plant provides cheaper energy in the US than running an existing nuclear or coal plant. In developing countries the advantage will be greater because energy there is more expensive than in the US. https://thinkprogress.org/solar-wind-keep-getting-cheaper-33c38350fb95/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tp-letters



2. Research by EU consultants found that raising the 2030 renewable energy goal from 49% to 61%, and cutting gas use by 50%, saved money. "Cheap renewable energy pushes out gas as well as coal." Carbon neutrality could come earlier than 2050. http://econews.com.au/56077/eu-2030-energy-plans-out-of-sync-with-cheaper-renewable-energy/



3. An article in Nature Climate Change finds that unless emissions are curbed rain storms are going to become more frequent and much larger. Thanks to Lad Hawkins for the news. https://phys.org/news/2017-11-thunderstorms-larger-frequent.html



4. When ice cliffs get too high they collapse. A study of Pine Island and Thwaites Glaciers in the West Antarctic suggests that they could collapse within the next 20 to 50 years, adding 11 feet of sea level rise to that from other sources. Rapid cutting of emissions could still avert the collapse.

The sheets have collapsed before. Studies are underway to determine how quickly the collapse could happen, and whether it will lead to the collapse of other ice sheets. The study estimated the rate of collapse of Pine Island and Thwaites by taking the current rate of collapse of Greenland's Jakobshavn Glacier and halving it. But Thwaites and Pine Island may be even faster. The entire West Antarctic may be subject to rapid collapse. https://grist.org/article/antarctica-doomsday-glaciers-could-flood-coastal-cities/

And then there is Totten Glacier in the East Antarctic. If we got sufficiently excited about items 1 and 2 we might break ourselves from Trumpean-Kochic distractions and deal with the real problems at hand.



5. A study in Nature Communications says that we can feed the world with organic agriculture-but only if we cut food waste and meat consumption. Those conditions are necessary to free up the extra land required. http://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/11/can-organic-farming-feed-the-world-sustainably/


6. Jacksonville's Florida Times-Union is earning a prominent place in journalism with its coverage of the impact of climate developments on NE Florida. Today's editorial takes on the management of coastal flooding risk. http://jacksonville.com/opinion/editorials/2017-11-21/wednesday-editorial-changes-must-be-made-flood-insurance-program ?

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.unf.edu/pipermail/gwsg/attachments/20171122/c3909b8e/attachment.html>