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<p>1.&nbsp; The Canadian company Hydrostor is piloting energy storage using excess power to fill submerged balloons with air and using that air to drive turbines to recover the power.&nbsp; Cost is said to be less than half that of lithium-ion batteries with over twice
 the cycle life, and maintenance costs are very low.&nbsp; <a href="http://cleantechnica.com/2015/11/25/underwater-balloons-store-energy-canadian-project/?utm_source=Cleantechnica&#43;News&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=32410c07f8-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&amp;utm_term=0_b9b83ee7eb-32410c07f8-331994013">
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/11/25/underwater-balloons-store-energy-canadian-project/?utm_source=Cleantechnica&#43;News&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=32410c07f8-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&amp;utm_term=0_b9b83ee7eb-32410c07f8-331994013</a></p>
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<p>2.&nbsp; An experiment over 700 generations of coccolithophore phytoplankton found that they were able to adapt to higher temperatures and higher acidity by increased growth and calcification.&nbsp; It is possible that if the adaptation is widespread it could play
 a role in the eventual sequestration of the carbon we are dumping into the ecosystem.&nbsp;
<a href="http://news.sfsu.edu/carbon-sequestering-ocean-plants-may-cope-climate-changes-over-long-run">
http://news.sfsu.edu/carbon-sequestering-ocean-plants-may-cope-climate-changes-over-long-run</a>&nbsp; The abstract of the article:&nbsp;
<a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2015/11/24/science.aaa8026">http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2015/11/24/science.aaa8026</a></p>
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<p>3.&nbsp; The Arctic climate is changing forty times faster than models predicted, endangering the people of the region.&nbsp;
<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/climate-change-inuit-1.3338870">
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/climate-change-inuit-1.3338870</a>&nbsp; To get an idea of who these people are (or were in the recent past) and of what we are losing, see Knud Rasmussen, Across Arctic America (1927, repr. 1999, U of Alaska P).&nbsp; The
 book reports an expedition across the North American Arctic in 1921-24 led by a part-Inuit Greenland Dane.&nbsp;
<a href="http://smile.amazon.com/Across-Arctic-America-Narrative-Expedition/dp/0912006943/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1448622051&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=across&#43;arctic&#43;america">
http://smile.amazon.com/Across-Arctic-America-Narrative-Expedition/dp/0912006943/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1448622051&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=across&#43;arctic&#43;america</a></p>
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<p>4.&nbsp; A Swedish study confirms that warming is being accelerated by methane released in a positive feedback.&nbsp;
<a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151126104037.htm">http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151126104037.htm</a></p>
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<p>5.&nbsp; In her 21 minute video Janine Benyus introduces BioMimicry&#8212;imitations, including commercial projects, based on the principles through which life forms adapt to their environment.&nbsp; For example, study of the hydrodynamics of fish schools led to a configuration
 for vertical axis wind turbines which increased their power productivity tenfold; a study of how fish desalinate water led to a new kind of efficient desalination membrane which uses no energy.&nbsp; The general project is to construct a sustainable culture.&nbsp;
<a href="http://climatecrocks.com/2015/11/27/the-weekend-wonk-janine-benyus-and-biomimicry/">
http://climatecrocks.com/2015/11/27/the-weekend-wonk-janine-benyus-and-biomimicry/</a></p>
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<p>6.&nbsp; The history of infrastructure transitions indicates that our energy transition could be quite rapid.&nbsp; (I&#8217;m used to reading irritating claims that it must take generations&#8212;as the fossil fuel corporations wish.&nbsp; If that happens there won&#8217;t be any, soon
 enough.)&nbsp; <a href="http://theconversation.com/how-fast-can-we-transition-to-a-low-carbon-energy-system-51018?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=The&#43;Weekend&#43;Conversation&#43;-&#43;3884&amp;utm_content=The&#43;Weekend&#43;Conversation&#43;-&#43;3884&#43;CID_efc8af3a1156a4a5ec40db2657aa5b04&amp;utm_source=campaign_monitor_us&amp;utm_term=How%20fast%20can%20we%20transition%20to%20a%20low-carbon%20energy%20system">
http://theconversation.com/how-fast-can-we-transition-to-a-low-carbon-energy-system-51018?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=The&#43;Weekend&#43;Conversation&#43;-&#43;3884&amp;utm_content=The&#43;Weekend&#43;Conversation&#43;-&#43;3884&#43;CID_efc8af3a1156a4a5ec40db2657aa5b04&amp;utm_source=campaign_monitor_us&amp;utm_term=How%20fast%20can%20we%20transition%20to%20a%20low-carbon%20energy%20system</a>&nbsp;
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<p>7. Philosopher Lawrence Torcello explains&nbsp;why he was among the 2000 academics making an appeal for climate action on moral grounds this week in Paris.&nbsp;
<a href="http://theconversation.com/making-the-moral-case-on-climate-change-ahead-of-paris-summit-50888?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=The&#43;Weekend&#43;Conversation&#43;-&#43;3884&amp;utm_content=The&#43;Weekend&#43;Conversation&#43;-&#43;3884&#43;CID_efc8af3a1156a4a5ec40db2657aa5b04&amp;utm_source=campaign_monitor_us&amp;utm_term=Making%20the%20moral%20case%20on%20climate%20change%20ahead%20of%20Paris%20summit">
http://theconversation.com/making-the-moral-case-on-climate-change-ahead-of-paris-summit-50888?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=The&#43;Weekend&#43;Conversation&#43;-&#43;3884&amp;utm_content=The&#43;Weekend&#43;Conversation&#43;-&#43;3884&#43;CID_efc8af3a1156a4a5ec40db2657aa5b04&amp;utm_source=campaign_monitor_us&amp;utm_term=Making%20the%20moral%20case%20on%20climate%20change%20ahead%20of%20Paris%20summit</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&#8203;<br>
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