[GWSG] BECCS pointless; limiting floods w/1.5C; dimming witless; wet-bulb warning; solar news; cease the chit-chat?

[Tilley, Al]

1.  Biomass Energy with Carbon Capture and Storage is widely listed as a desirable way to draw down carbon from the atmosphere (for example, by the IPCC). But that can add more carbon than it removes. Protecting and regenerating forests is a better option, generally, according to a study from Nature Climate Communications. https://phys.org/news/2018-08-forests-crucial-limiting-climate-degrees.html
[https://3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net/newman/gfx/news/hires/2018/forestscruci.jpg]<https://phys.org/news/2018-08-forests-crucial-limiting-climate-degrees.html>

Forests crucial for limiting climate change to 1.5 degrees<https://phys.org/news/2018-08-forests-crucial-limiting-climate-degrees.html>
phys.org
Trying to tackle climate change by replacing forests with crops for bioenergy power stations that capture carbon dioxide (CO2) could instead increase the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, scientists say.



2.  Limiting warming to 1.5C rather than 2C would decrease the frequency of a range of  extreme precipitation events by 20-40%, according to a Chinese study. https://phys.org/news/2018-08-half-degree-precipitation-extremes.html
[https://3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net/newman/gfx/news/hires/2017/globalwarming.jpg]<https://phys.org/news/2018-08-half-degree-precipitation-extremes.html>

Half-degree less warming can avoid precipitation extremes<https://phys.org/news/2018-08-half-degree-precipitation-extremes.html>
phys.org
Just a half-degree Celsius could make a major difference when it comes to global warming, according to a new paper published by a collaborative research team based in China.



3. Dimming sunlight by aerosols would not increase crop yields. https://phys.org/news/2018-08-geoengineering-blocking-sunlight-cool-earth.html
[https://www.bing.com/th?id=OVF.W93Mv9dPga4OimwezAOwPA&pid=Api]<https://phys.org/news/2018-08-geoengineering-blocking-sunlight-cool-earth.html>

Geoengineering: Blocking sunlight to cool Earth won't reduce crop damage from global warming<https://phys.org/news/2018-08-geoengineering-blocking-sunlight-cool-earth.html>
phys.org
Injecting particles into the atmosphere to cool the planet and counter the warming effects of climate change would do nothing to offset the crop damage from rising ...


Neither would this type of geoengineering slow the acidification of the oceans nor the buildup of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, with the warming that will eventually bring.

4. A series of articles in Nature Communications warns that several regions, including China’s most populous and most agriculturally important area, could become uninhabitable this century as the wet-bulb temperatures rise. Wet-bulb temperatures combine heat and humidity to measure the lowest temperature something can be brought to by evaporation (say, by sweating). “At a wet-bulb temperature of 35 degrees Celsius (95 F), a healthy person may not be able to survive outdoors for more than six hours, research has shown.” Such heat-waves are likely to hit Northern China by the 2070s. Parts of the Persian Gulf and South Asia are similarly at risk. http://news.mit.edu/2018/china-could-face-deadly-heat-waves-due-climate-change-0731
[http://news.mit.edu/sites/mit.edu.newsoffice/files/styles/og/public/images/2018/MIT-Sweltering-China.jpg]<http://news.mit.edu/2018/china-could-face-deadly-heat-waves-due-climate-change-0731>

China could face deadly heat waves due to climate change ...<http://news.mit.edu/2018/china-could-face-deadly-heat-waves-due-climate-change-0731>
news.mit.edu
The North China Plain, a region that holds one of the biggest concentrations of people on Earth, could be pushing against the boundaries of habitability by the latter part of this century due to global warming, an MIT study shows.



5. A digest of solar power news for June-July reports some things I missed. For example, Japan’s TEPCO is replacing nuclear power with 6-7 gigawatts of solar. The record low US price for solar is now a Nevada PPA for 2.155 cents/kilowatt-hour (with an escalator). The new EU target for renewable energy is 32% by 2030. The DOE loan program for $2 billion of renewable power on federal land is now operative. https://cleantechnica.com/2018/08/11/what-changes-in-the-solar-industry-in-june-july/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29
[https://cleantechnica.com/files/2015/03/solarcity-srp.jpg]<https://cleantechnica.com/2018/08/11/what-changes-in-the-solar-industry-in-june-july/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29>

What Changed In The Solar Industry In June & July? | CleanTechnica<https://cleantechnica.com/2018/08/11/what-changes-in-the-solar-industry-in-june-july/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29>
cleantechnica.com
Complementing our update on key changes in the electric vehicle industry in June and July, below are highly notable news items from the solar energy and energy storage industries in June and July



6. Josh Mitteldorf of OpEd News maintains that we should stop talking about global warming. He does have some suggestions about what we should do instead. https://www.opednews.com/articles/Let-rsquo-s-Stop-Talking-a-by-Josh-Mitteldorf-Global-Warming-180811-76.html
[https://www.opednews.com/populum/cachedimages/s_650_opednews_com_2756_Uploaded_500_2756_rmi_20180811_53_272.gif]<https://www.opednews.com/articles/Let-rsquo-s-Stop-Talking-a-by-Josh-Mitteldorf-Global-Warming-180811-76.html>

Let’s Stop Talking about Global Warming<https://www.opednews.com/articles/Let-rsquo-s-Stop-Talking-a-by-Josh-Mitteldorf-Global-Warming-180811-76.html>
www.opednews.com
Talk about global warming sounds a lot like moralizing, and, of course, GM and Exxon-Mobil want to keep it that way. 'You go ahead and exhort people to give up their comfort and convenience for the good of the whole wide world, and we'll continue to advertize our gas-guzzlers, and let the people make their own choice.'



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