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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>Most people have expected that the more developed nations would suffer least and last from climate change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The reaction of the Arctic jet stream has outdated this expectation, along with our schedule for the disappearance of Arctic sea ice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Thought Monbiot does not say so, it may be that those who depend least on centralized food and energy production will be the most resilient in the world we are forming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/27/arctic-ice-rich-world-disaster"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/27/arctic-ice-rich-world-disaster</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>Diminishing water supplies, deteriorating farmland, and growing population will build the pressure toward a vegetarian diet in the next few decades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/aug/26/food-shortages-world-vegetarianism"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/aug/26/food-shortages-world-vegetarianism</font></a></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Arctic waters are believed to harbor billions of tons of methane in clathrates on the ocean floor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>They become unstable when the water temperature rises (the trigger temperature depends on depth and pressure).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>An article in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Nature</i> observes that the conditions for clathrate formation also obtain in the Antarctic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.climatecentral.org/news/antarctic-methane-a-new-factor-in-the-climate-equation-14913/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.climatecentral.org/news/antarctic-methane-a-new-factor-in-the-climate-equation-14913/</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Wikipedia provides information on the possibility of a clathrate release in the Arctic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_methane_release"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_methane_release</font></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><font size="3" face="Calibri">
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>At least one oceanographer expects an ice-free Arctic as early as the summer of 2015; others consider the event a decade or few decades away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Many consider that we have passed the tipping point with regard to Arctic Sea ice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The effects include increased storms and sea level rise; the threat of released clathrates also increases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://e360.yale.edu/feature/tipping_point_arctic_heads_to_ice_free_summers/2567/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://e360.yale.edu/feature/tipping_point_arctic_heads_to_ice_free_summers/2567/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The National Geographic adds some information on the impact of diminishing Arctic sea ice on storms and droughts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/08/120828-arctic-sea-ice-global-warming-record-environment-science/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/08/120828-arctic-sea-ice-global-warming-record-environment-science/</font></a></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Calibri">5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Under the new US auto rule, gas mileage for cars and light trucks will nearly double by 2025.
</font><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/aug/29/us-fuel-efficiency-rules"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/aug/29/us-fuel-efficiency-rules</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>President Obama observes that the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions will be significant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>He also reports that production of solar and wind energy has nearly doubled in the US during his presidency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>(Renewables now account for about 6% of US energy production; with hydroelectric, 14.3%.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></font><a href="http://www.rtcc.org/policy/obama-tells-crowd-%E2%80%9Cdenying-climate-change-won%E2%80%99t-make-it-stop%E2%80%9D/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.rtcc.org/policy/obama-tells-crowd-%E2%80%9Cdenying-climate-change-won%E2%80%99t-make-it-stop%E2%80%9D/</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>On US renewable energy production in 2011:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_the_United_States"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_the_United_States</font></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><font size="3" face="Calibri">
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">6.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Germany’s new environment minister has a ten point plan for a transition to renewable energy which includes strengthening targets, joining with other nations dedicated to the transition, and creating a department of energy transition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2012/08/germanys-ten-point-plan?cmpid=WNL-2012-08-24"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2012/08/germanys-ten-point-plan?cmpid=WNL-2012-08-24</font></a></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Calibri">7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Cornell economist Robert Frank argues that a carbon tax could correct both climate change and the economy.
</font><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/business/carbon-tax-would-have-many-benefits-economic-view.html"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/business/carbon-tax-would-have-many-benefits-economic-view.html</font></a></p>
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