[GWSG] Half-Earth; Mann on Trump's influence; China's jumbo solar; China's ambition; warning signs; using the shoulder

[Tilley, Al]

1. Since E. O. Wilson’s Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life (2017) the idea has taken root that a sustainable earth would be half devoted to the wild. A proposal of how that half would be selected is presented in layers in this animation. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2020/sep/29/planetary-safety-net-could-halt-wildlife-loss-and-slow-climate-breakdown-aoe

2. Michael Mann observes that a second Trump term as President of the United States would mean the end of the possibility of rescuing the climate from severe and, effectively, permanent destabilization. The good news is that if we can avoid Trump the heating could be halted in 3-5 years as we implement the Green New Deal. “The future of this planet is now in the hands of American citizens,” Mann says. “It’s up to us. The way we end this national and global nightmare is by coming out and voting for optimism over pessimism, for hope and justice and progress over fear and malice and superstition. This is a Tolkienesque battle between good and evil, and Sauron needs to be defeated on election day here in the United States.” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/02/donald-trump-climate-change-michael-mann-interview
On the news that Trump has the SARS-2 corona virus the oil and gas market tanked, and stories sprouted on the economic promise of renewable energy.

3. China’s largest solar plus storage plant has gone online with 2,200 MW. https://cleantechnica.com/2020/10/01/chinas-largest-solar-plus-storage-project-goes-online/

4. Columbia’s senior research scientist in energy policy Varum Siivaram observes that if China were to meet its goal of carbon neutrality by 2060 “It would be the most herculean thing ever accomplished in human history.” Two charts illustrate the project. https://grist.org/climate/can-china-go-net-zero-two-charts-show-just-how-ambitious-xi-jinpings-goal-is/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily

5. The extreme climate events of the past year indicate how severely and quickly the climate could degrade if we continue on our current path. https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/10/extreme-events-presage-worse-to-come-in-a-warming-climate/?ct=t(EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_WEEKLY_092820)

6. Solar panels could produce 36TWh of energy from US highway interchange rights-of-way. https://climatecrocks.com/2020/10/02/solar-shoulders-could-add-gigawatts/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.unf.edu/pipermail/gwsg/attachments/20201002/515d3ad8/attachment.html>