[GWSG] Ice caps melting; Greenland melting; walling off melting; big lie popping up; cheaper energy; ending subsidies; fighting Chinese deserts

[Tilley, Al]

1. Russia’s Vavilov polar ice cap is sustaining an unexpected ice loss. Other such ice caps sitting above sea level may also be liable to instability. They hold about a foot of sea level rise. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180919144910.htm
Unprecedented ice loss in Russian ice cap: Study shows ...<https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180919144910.htm>
www.sciencedaily.com
In the last few years, the Vavilov Ice Cap in the Russian High Arctic has dramatically accelerated, sliding as much as 82 feet a day in 2015, according to a new multi-national, multi-institute ...



2. Greenland’s Glaciers are Melting Faster than Expected. See Them in 360°. A twelve-minute Frontline video, courtesy of Mary Emerson Smith. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/greenlands-glaciers-are-melting-faster-than-expected-see-them-in-360/
[https://www.bing.com/th?id=OVF.Q0Hu5W0oDPFEkbgniYL8Ng&pid=Api]<https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/greenlands-glaciers-are-melting-faster-than-expected-see-them-in-360/>

Greenland’s Glaciers Are Melting Faster Than Expected. See Them in 360°.<https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/greenlands-glaciers-are-melting-faster-than-expected-see-them-in-360/>
www.pbs.org
When NASA scientists realized that Greenland’s glaciers had begun melting much faster than expected, they were puzzled — and alarmed. “Greenland Melting” explores why.



3. If we are able to bring emissions under control, simple geoengineering schemes could stabilize key polar ice sheets, moderating sea level rise. Thwaites Glacier in the West Antarctic, for example, might be stabilized by a pile of rocks near its grounding line or, more ambitiously and with a doubled chance of success, by an underwater wall. Thwaites and the neighboring Pine Island Glacier are keys to over twenty feet of sea level rise. https://phys.org/news/2018-09-glacial-limit-sea-level-emissions.html
[https://3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net/newman/gfx/news/hires/2018/glacialengin.jpg]<https://phys.org/news/2018-09-glacial-limit-sea-level-emissions.html>

Glacial engineering could limit sea-level rise, if we get ...<https://phys.org/news/2018-09-glacial-limit-sea-level-emissions.html>
phys.org
Targeted engineering projects to hold off glacier melting could slow down the collapse of ice sheets and limit sea-level rise, according to a new study published in the European Geosciences Union ...


We should reduce emissions and Build the Wall(s). We should also be drawing down carbon to a level which no longer threatens the polar ice sheets.

4. An international propaganda campaign represents renewable energy as expensive, an elite indulgence unfair to working people. The lie is surfacing in Australia, Canada, and the US, where one statement came from fossil fuel interests via the Heritage Foundation. https://cleantechnica.com/2018/09/20/framing-common-language-unites-renewable-energy-opponents-in-australia-canada-us/
[https://cleantechnica.com/files/2018/09/PVH-Corp-2.jpg]<https://cleantechnica.com/2018/09/20/framing-common-language-unites-renewable-energy-opponents-in-australia-canada-us/>

Framing — Common Language Unites Renewable Energy ...<https://cleantechnica.com/2018/09/20/framing-common-language-unites-renewable-energy-opponents-in-australia-canada-us/>
cleantechnica.com
People who should know better in Australia, Canada, and the US are spreading the lie that renewable energy is to blame for high electricity prices. Is there a connection behind this web of deceit?



5. Renewable energy with battery storage is getting increasingly cheaper than the fossil competition. https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/6-charts-showing-the-renewables-threat-to-gas?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Daily&utm_campaign=GTMDaily#gs.ZgNAzAc
[https://www.greentechmedia.com/assets/content/cache/made/content/images/articles/NextEra_Energy_Storage_XL_500_335_80.jpg]<https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/6-charts-showing-the-renewables-threat-to-gas?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Daily&utm_campaign=GTMDaily#gs.ZgNAzAc>

6 Charts Showing the Renewables Threat to Natural Gas ...<https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/6-charts-showing-the-renewables-threat-to-gas?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Daily&utm_campaign=GTMDaily#gs.ZgNAzAc>
www.greentechmedia.com
Policy & regulation are aligning with renewables cost declines to make projects more profitable and portfolios more sustainable. The Grid Edge comprises technologies, solutions and business models ...



6. It is past time to end all subsidies of fossil fuels, as such organizations as the G20 and the OECD have demanded for years. This article from Vox a year ago provides a succinct analysis for the US subsidies. Unfortunately, the article is not out of date. https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/10/6/16428458/us-energy-coal-oil-subsidies
[https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/B4mfKN5GuCFWwT9qCiXRdkTw2IQ=/0x0:5568x2915/fit-in/1200x630/cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7007975/shutterstock_371657893.jpg]<https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/10/6/16428458/us-energy-coal-oil-subsidies>

Friendly policies keep US oil and coal afloat far more ...<https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/10/6/16428458/us-energy-coal-oil-subsidies>
www.vox.com
The coal industry and its allies in the Trump administration have devoted considerable energy to arguing that subsidies to renewable energy have distorted energy markets and helped drive coal out ...


Many of the indirect subsidies, such as health costs from the effects of burning fossil fuels, disappear as use declines; use will decline as direct subsidies decline. Our military adventures in the Mideast, including our belligerence toward Iran, may also look less attractive after the transition to renewable energy. We shall enjoy savings and become less murderous to boot. Perhaps we should sue our governments for not looking out for our environmental interests, and the remedy would be for them to stop subsidizing fossil fuels.

7. A fifth or more of China is desert. Mao’s program of deforestation, climate change, and overgrazing have led the deserts to grow. An ambitious geoengineering program, begun in 1978, is reversing desertification. The France 24 video is worth watching first, as it sets the stage for the efforts covered in more detail in the first video. https://climatecrocks.com/2018/09/21/in-china-agriculture-forests-and-solar-power-pushing-back-deserts/
[http://img.youtube.com/vi/jkdxObsCVGY/0.jpg]<https://climatecrocks.com/2018/09/21/in-china-agriculture-forests-and-solar-power-pushing-back-deserts/>

In China, Agriculture, Forests, and Solar Power Pushing ...<https://climatecrocks.com/2018/09/21/in-china-agriculture-forests-and-solar-power-pushing-back-deserts/>
climatecrocks.com
Model for pushing back deserts in China. Just to be clear, China is engaged in pillaging and raping environments around the world, – but credit where it’s due – this appears to be promising sustainable technology – and points the way for serious, but still conservative – geo-engineering ...



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.unf.edu/pipermail/gwsg/attachments/20180922/cd80b3fb/attachment-0001.html>