[GWSG] General ice loss; Ant. ice loss; time for action; make it quick; solar prices in NV & AZ; eat shellfish

[Tilley, Al]

1. A new assessment of the contribution of land ice to sea level rise shows a ten-fold increase between 1995 and 2016, with net mass loss more than doubling in the last ten years of that period in a pattern of continuing acceleration. (Click on the chart to get the full picture.)  https://phys.org/news/2018-06-insights-contribution-ice-sea.html


We may expect improved estimates of sea level rise, though the historical record as reflected in the work of James Hansen shows the importance of nonlinear losses of ice mass, perhaps through ice sheet collapse, and those will occasion rises not reflected in the accelerating loss curve illustrated in the article. Unless we learn to anticipate the timing of nonlinear ice mass loss the best we could get for sea level projections would be a base line of sea level increase with the expectation that we would experience occasional events to push the level yet higher.



2. Ice losses in the Antarctic jumped threefold between 2012 and 2017. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/antarctica-lost-3-trillion-metric-tons-ice-since-1992-sea-level-rise?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=latest-newsletter-v2


The loss may indicate a destabilization of the Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers in the West Antarctic. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/06/after-decades-of-ice-loss-antarctica-is-now-hemorrhaging-mass/562748/?utm_source=EHN&utm_campaign=81658c7228-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8573f35474-81658c7228-99031877



3. Cutting emissions deeply and quickly should limit destabilization in the Antarctic. https://grist.org/article/antarctic-melt-holds-coastal-cities-hostage-heres-the-way-out/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily



4. A draft report by the IPCC warns that we will exceed 1.5C of warming by 2040 without "rapid and far-reaching" changes.  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-report-exclusive/exclusive-warming-set-to-exceed-1-5c-slow-economic-growth-u-n-draft-idUSKBN1JA1HD



5. The price of utility-scale solar energy in Arizona and Nevada is now "comfortably below" the price of power from natural gas. "This is a great value - we're looking at half the cost of keeping existing coal plants alive." The prices continue to drop despite Trump's solar cell tariffs. Utilities are getting twenty-year agreements to provide solar power with storage for little more than two cents per kilowatt-hour. https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/nevada-beat-arizona-record-low-solar-ppa-price#gs.djKy31U



6.  Eating shellfish may have a more positive climate impact than going vegan, and raising shellfish is among the more benign farming practices. https://grist.org/article/a-shellfish-diet-might-be-even-better-than-going-vegan/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily ?

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