[GWSG] H hyped; ocean wind power; AMOC weakens; valuing nature; fertility plummets; Wanless warns

[Tilley, Al]

1. Hydrogen power is thunderingly inefficient when compared to wind and solar. Much of the hype for H power is manufactured by fossil fuel interests. https://cleantechnica.com/2021/02/24/hydrogen-is-big-oils-last-grand-scam/

2. A combination of circumstances has led to sudden growth of offshore wind power along the US Atlantic coast. Seven states have among them committed to developing 30,000 megawatts by 2035, enough for about 20 million homes. The cost of producing offshore wind power has come down 2/3 over the last 8 years and is headed further down. https://e360.yale.edu/features/on-u-s-east-coast-has-offshore-winds-moment-finally-arrived

3. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is at its weakest in over 1,000 years, having slowed about 15% since the mid-20th Century. Climate disruption is the likely cause, with more slowing in store as the AMOC continues to degrade. A cessation of the AMOC is unlikely for decades. Worsening weather in Europe and higher sea levels on the US East Coast are among the consequences. https://phys.org/news/2021-02-gulf-stream-weakest-millennium.html

4. A UN survival plan would include natural capital in measures of a nation’s economic performance. The change should lead to a literal reevaluation of natural processes and to climate action to preserve them. https://climatenewsnetwork.net/un-survival-plan-offers-new-hope-for-the-planet/

5. Human fertility has dropped below the population replacement value in over half the world’s countries. Human sperm count is dropping so fast that it is on track to reach zero by 2045, according to a new book by epidemiologist Shanna Swan. Endocrine disrupters we are adding to the environment appear to be one root of the problem. (This new concern is likely to influence climate action one way or another. For one thing, we need to stop making the plastics which release the endocrine-disrupting phthalates, and plastics are an enterprise of the fossil fuel industry.) https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/26/falling-sperm-counts-human-survival

6. The U of Miami’s Harold Wanless is a major public voice for climate science in Florida. He observes that we have two tasks: to cease emitting greenhouse gasses and to extract from the atmosphere most of those we have already emitted. “There are many solutions.  We must pursue them all now.” https://www.theinvadingsea.com/2021/02/25/we-need-the-courage-to-truly-tackle-global-warming/

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