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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>A US National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy has been released for public comment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The strategy adopts 7 goals (see the fact sheet).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>One plan among many is to pay farmers on the Great Plains to take land out of production in order to restore prairies as a habitat for stressed species.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Another is to provide “well-connected networks of conservation areas to allow for the movement of species in response to climate change,” a project already well underway (page 54).
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></font><a href="http://www.wildlifeadaptationstrategy.gov/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.wildlifeadaptationstrategy.gov/</font></a></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Alkali-activated cement cuts carbon emissions by 95% and was used to build the pyramids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Two scientists from Drexel University believe they have produced a commercially viable version.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Cement production is thought to contribute 5% of carbon emissions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2012/01/green-cement"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2012/01/green-cement</font></a></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"> </font></o:p></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The Beaufort Gyre in the Arctic Ocean has accumulated 10% of the fresh water in the Arctic Ocean, fed largely by Siberian rivers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>An article in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Nature Geoscience</i> anticipates that a reversal of wind could release this water into general circulation, slowing the Gulf Stream.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/22/us-climate-arctic-pool-idUSTRE80L0MD20120122"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/22/us-climate-arctic-pool-idUSTRE80L0MD20120122</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>More detail, including a 4 minute interview with one of the scientists on the project:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16657122"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16657122</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The effects of a major slowdown or cessation of the stream would reach far beyond the cooling of Europe mentioned in the news items (though the release of the Gyre’s water is not said necessarily to trigger a large change in the stream).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutdown_of_thermohaline_circulation"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutdown_of_thermohaline_circulation</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The most extreme result would be an oceanic anoxic event, now thought to have generated most of the world’s oil deposits as a byproduct of mass extinctions.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This is a test of your taste for irony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanic_anoxic_event"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanic_anoxic_event</font></a></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"> </font></o:p></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Deirdre Irwin sends this link to a NASA summary, including animation, of global warming since 1884.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2011-temps.html"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2011-temps.html</font></a></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The Global Cool Cities Alliance offers a cool roofs and pavements tool kit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>A cool roof can make a 15% difference in an electric bill for air conditioning by significantly reducing energy usage and therefore, until we achieve a transition to renewable energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Imagine the public education impact of a growing number of white roofs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The tool kit outlines a campaign plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>
Thanks to Tom Larson for the link.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></font><a href="http://coolrooftoolkit.org/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://coolrooftoolkit.org/</font></a></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"> </font></o:p></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">6.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Scientists at Kyushu University have developed a wind lens, a circular rim for a wind turbine which greatly improves its efficiency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_lens"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_lens</font></a></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"> </font></o:p></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Corporate climate change adaptation plans include hardening utilities against sea level rise, preparing for changes in agriculture, and withdrawing insurance risk from coastal areas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2012/01/23/coming-shift-climate-preparedness?utm_source=GreenBuzz&utm_campaign=3407947bc1-GreenBuzz-2012-01-24&utm_medium=email"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2012/01/23/coming-shift-climate-preparedness?utm_source=GreenBuzz&utm_campaign=3407947bc1-GreenBuzz-2012-01-24&utm_medium=email</font></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><font size="3" face="Calibri">
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