Damn…Hot And Windy

Climate change is for real and this is the proof. Right? Just look at those temperatures. Case closed.

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Note: Headline links to source. Clicking on image will enlarge it (usually).

It's the Platform, Stupid

Sorghum bicolor.
A fairly long, but important read IMHO. I love posting examples of how we can scientifically limit climate change if we want to.

A small excerpt:

Enter SwiftFuel, the Splenda of motor fuels because it is made from ethanol yet contains no ethanol. SwiftFuel is the invention of John and Mary Rusek from Swift Enterprises in Indiana. To your airplane SwiftFuel looks and tastes just like gasoline. It has an octane rating of 104 (higher than the 100 octane fuel it replaces) yet contains no lead or ethanol. SwiftFuel mixes with gasoline, can be stored in the same tanks as gasoline, and be shipped in the same pipelines as gasoline. It is made entirely from biomass, which means it has a net zero carbon footprint and does nothing to increase global warming. Its emission of other polluting byproducts of burning gasoline are significantly lower, too. SwiftFuel has more energy per gallon than gasoline so your airplane (or your car) will go 15-20 percent further on each gallon.

Oh, and based on an average $1.42 per gallon wholesale cost for the ethanol used as its feedstock, SwiftFuel costs $1.80 per gallon to produce, meaning that it ought to be able to sell for $3 per gallon or less no matter what happens in the Middle East.

Heck of a deal.

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I hope that SwiftFuel is a success. I hope it fulfills all Mary Rusek's claims. But if SwiftFuel doesn't succeed, I also hope that isn't because entrenched oil interests kill it. Yet I don't think many of us would be surprised if that is exactly what happens.

The truly kewl thing is sorghum is not a staple food crop like corn and it's six times better than corn when used to make ethanol.

Yeah, the graphic ain't very sexy. For some reason sexy pictures of grass just aren't available.

Note: Headline links to source.

Majesty, We Have Gone Mad

The following excerpt is just a teaser. Its an open letter to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. I encourage you to read the rest of this fine article by George Monbiot.

In common with the leaders of most western nations, our prime minister is urging you to increase your production of oil. I am writing to ask you to ignore him. Like the other leaders he is delusional, and is no longer competent to make his own decisions.

Note: Headline links to source.

G8 environment ministers: halve emissions by 2050

Barren earth drifting like sand
Oooh, so aggressive &ndash thirty two years to half emissions! I know I'm fucking impressed.

Truth is, nothing will be done in the first 25 years or so at least. The countries will procrastinate.

Its better to set specific goals year by year. Countries may not make the targets, but it might create public pressure on legislators and industries to start doing a better job as people see their governments repeatedly missing the targets.

And shocking surprise of all surprises, the US doesn't even buy into the 32 year time frame.

Environment ministers from the G8 rich nations on Monday urged their leaders to set a global target to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, a small but vital step in the fight against climate change.

But they stopped short of suggesting specific interim targets ahead of 2050, a key demand of developing countries in tough U.N.-led talks to forge a new treaty on global warming by the end of next year.

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The G8 agreed last year in Germany to consider halving global emissions by mid-century, a proposal favoured by Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Japan and Canada but opposed so far by the United States and Russia.

Note: Headline links to source.

New study finds steep costs of doing nothing on climate

Eventually one must pay the piper.

Doing nothing about global warming would cost America dearly in the rest of this century because of stronger hurricanes, higher energy and water costs, and rising seas that would swamp coastal communities, according to a new study by economists at Tufts University.

Note: Headline links to source.

Global Warming - I’ll treat it like a crisis when the people who keep telling me it’s a crisis start acting like it’s a crisis

Sad but oh so true for most.

Note: Headline links to source.

Hundreds of EPA scientists report political interference

I have no idea why this isn't getting more exposure.

This is fucking with your lives and it keeps happening.

Sit back. More "The Signs" to come.

An official with the independent group that conducted the survey says it indicates the widespread nature of the problem. More than half of the scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency who responded to a survey said they had experienced political interference in their work. The survey results show "an agency under siege from political pressures," said the Union of Concerned Scientists report, which was released Wednesday and sent to EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson.

Via The Signs.

Japan aims for emissions trade with Russia - media

I'm fucking sorry, but I have never understood this concept. Perhaps I'm just too goddamn dense, but greenhouse gas emissions are greenhouse gas emissions regardless of who takes/gives credits.

This isn't a fucking game. Greenhouse gas emissions have to be reduced in the aggregate. Trading just ain't gonna cut it.

Japan and Russia have agreed to start talks on fighting global warming, including possible greenhouse gas emissions trading that would help Tokyo to meet its goals under the Kyoto Protocol, media said on Sunday.

Japan is the world's fifth-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, and while officials have pledged to meet its obligations under the international pact to fight global warming, critics say this may be difficult.

Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura and Russian First Deputy Premier Sergei Ivanov agreed in a meeting on the sidelines of a Munich conference that the first round of vice-ministerial talks on the issue would be held on Feb. 27 in Tokyo, Japanese officials were quoted by Kyodo news agency as saying.

Separately, the Yomiuri Shimbun daily said the talks aimed at reaching a deal under which Japan would buy surplus emissions quotas from Russia, a key step towards helping Tokyo meet its Kyoto goals.

Am I missing something here? Just asking.

Via Reuters.

Study: UN Global Warming Forecast Violates Accepted Principles

Not much ice there now is there?
Can you see the poor polar bears?
(click for larger image)
According to The National Center for Policy Analysis' own website they are a pretty benign group out to solve your problems. Well, they're a think tank and "nonprofit", "nonpartisan" are always the claim of think tanks.

The National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization, established in 1983.

Ah, also from their website we find this. You can check out the board of directors but it ain't pretty

The NCPA's goal is to develop and promote private alternatives to government regulation and control, solving problems by relying on the strength of the competitive, entrepreneurial private sector.

This is the story.

Predictions of melting ice caps, catastrophic sea level rise and severe floods and droughts are the result of a United Nation's report that violates nearly half of accepted forecasting principles, according to a new study published by the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA). Consequently, the UN report is an unreliable tool for determining future public policy.

Hmmm. So let's see what we have. On the one hand we have the UN which really is trying to help you and everyone else around the world.

On the other hand we have a bunch of fucking wealthy guys who run various funds and companies (including oil, of course) who have a vested interest in keeping climate change legislation from ever becoming law.

Sounds sort of Republican doesn't it?

Which group do you trust more? Just asking.

Via News Unfiltered.

FLASHBACK: Cooling Down Begins At Svalbard Global Seed Vault

I may be missing the big picture, here comes the first but... (there will be two) I've not seen where anyone else has brought this up.

Biodiversity is all well and good and I'm glad to see something is being done to ensure it. Once species are gone, game over.

From everything I've read, this experiment is going quite well. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is being prepared and seeds are being gathered from around the world, 7,000 unique seed samples from Africa alone are en route.

It appears very careful planning went into this huge, expensive program

Refrigeration units began pumping chilly air deep into an Arctic mountain cavern today, launching the innovative and critical "cooling down" phase of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in advance of its official opening early next year as a fail-safe repository of the world's vital food crops. Svalbard is now three days into the three-month "Polar Night" period when there is 24 hours of complete darkness. Engineers working for the government of Norway, which is building the facility on the Svalbard archipelago, launched the cooling operation that, over the next two months, will bring the temperature of the sandstone rock surrounding the seed vault from its current -5 degrees Celsius (23 degrees Fahrenheit), to -18 degrees Celsius (about 0 degrees Fahrenheit). The vault is to be officially opened 26 February 2007. "It's very satisfying to see the vault evolve from a bold concept to an impressive facility that has everything we need to protect crop biodiversity," said Mr. Terje Riis-Johansen, Norway's Minister of Agriculture and Food.

Here comets the second but...what happens when climate change has wiped out much of the food stocks, people, livestock are starving and its time to bring out those seeds?

Do you expect riots? Do you think the scientists have considered what they'll do then? Do you think they know when is the right time to bring them out? If they bring them out too early, will they just die off?

Have they planned for the back side of this Svalbard Global Seed Vault cycle? Just asking.

Via The Signs.

EPA Spews Auto Industry Propaganda

Hang in there, the author gets around to explaining his "religious hypocrite" comment. In some detail, I might add.

The recent holiday season is a reminder that among the most vile of creatures is the religious hypocrite on the taxpayer dole.

There are no doubt numerous examples that could be cited within the Bush administration, but top of mind this week would be Steve Johnson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Ignoring all legal and technical evidence -- and the advice of his career experts -- Johnson sided with the car industry and rejected the request of California to enforce the state's landmark greenhouse gas standards for motor vehicles. (No fewer than 19 other states have already adopted these standards or are considering them, representing about half the U.S. population.) In fact, Johnson took action that his own legal team said was probably illegal.

It just doesn't surprise me much anymore that these hacks will flat out fucking lie. Their allegiance is to the administration and big business. They couldn't care less about you.

However, California is going to sue the EPA over this. Good for California.

I posted before on this when news first came out. Having national and California standards is no problem. Remember when all California cars had to have catalytic converters? Big deal.

Via AlterNet.

EPA denies California emission's waiver

Jesus H Christ in a SUV, I can't wait until the fucking Bush administration is gone.

The Bush administration said it will deny California's bid to set stricter vehicle emissions standards than federal law required.

What in hell is wrong with California's setting stricter standards? Its a good idea and Cali has to battle horrible air pollution.

The only downside I've noticed before when Cali had stricter standards than the other states is one couldn't sell an out of state vehicle there. They just couldn't meet the standards.

SPIIDERWEB™ Rulz!

Via IHT.

Climate change - saving the planet

I just read this on another blogsite. I've made this point before, but one of my favorite hobbies is beating dead horses.

How is it possible that humans have developed an economic and social system that ends up destroying our entire planet?

One more time and not the last I'm sure.

We won't destroy our entire planet via CO2 emissions, and other effects of burning fossil fuels. Earth doesn't have to be "saved".

Earth has survived for millenniums, through at least one ice age, volcanoes (most notably Krakatoa), earthquakes, floods, typhoons, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, dinosaurs, fire, humans.

Nope, its the people who won't survive along with most other species on the planet. Hell, after we're all gone the earth might well become a world with a much smaller land mass (likely) with complete desertification (also likely). But the planet will still be here. It just won't have carbon based life forms, that is, no living things.

And it will bounce back. It may take hundreds of years or millions, but the big blue marble, although no longer blue, will still circle the sun.

SPIIDERWEB™ Rulz!

Row over 2020 emissions goal sours Bali climate talks

Now who would you guess is causing all the commotion? Come on, take a stab at it.

The European Union took a veiled swipe at the United States at climate talks in Bali on Tuesday over Washington's efforts to remove tough 2020 emissions guidelines for rich nations from a draft text.

Perhaps Al Gore stopped speaking too soon in Oslo. He should have continued until he was blue in the face.

SPIIDERWEB™ Rulz!

Via Reuters.

Rigged

Of course George is absolutely correct on this and will be considered completely bonkers by the representatives to climate change conferences such as Bali.

Too many people have a lot at stake in extracting fossil fuels from the earth and they aren't about to voluntarily stop.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have the answer! Incredible as it might seem, I have stumbled across the single technology which will save us from runaway climate change! From the goodness of my heart I offer it to you for free. No patents, no small print, no hidden clauses. Already this technology, a radical new kind of carbon capture and storage, is causing a stir among scientists. It is cheap, it is efficient and it can be deployed straight away. It is called … leaving fossil fuels in the ground.

On a filthy day last week, as governments gathered in Bali to prevaricate about climate change, a group of us tried to put this policy into effect. We swarmed into the opencast coal mine being dug at Ffos-y-fran in South Wales and occupied the excavators, shutting down the works for the day. We were motivated by a fact which the wise heads in Bali have somehow missed: if fossil fuels are extracted, they will be used.

Most of the governments of the rich world now exhort their citizens to use less carbon. They encourage us to change our lightbulbs, insulate our lofts, turn our TVs off at the wall. In other words, they have a demand-side policy for tackling climate change. But as far as I can determine not one of them has a supply-side policy. None seeks to reduce the supply of fossil fuel. So the demand-side policy will fail. Every barrel of oil and tonne of coal that comes to the surface will be burnt.

Conservation is good. Renewable sources of energy are good (except for biofuels). They are horrible. But those aren't the answer in and of themselves. The problem is far too drastic to just throw a fucking Band Aide on it at this point.

SPIIDERWEB™ Rulz!

Via Monbiot.

What Is Progress?

This is a very depressing article about climate change by a man who does the research and other heavy lifting for the rest of us. Don't believe its depressing?

Take a look at the numbers. They are clear and precise as is possible with the somewhat dated information available with which to work.

A paper in Geophysical Research Letters finds that even with a 90% global cut by 2050, the 2° threshold “is eventually broken”(13). To stabilise temperatures at 1.5° above the pre-industrial level requires a global cut of 100%. The diplomats who started talks in Bali yesterday should be discussing the complete decarbonisation of the global economy.

Yes, he said the the complete decarbonisation of the global economy.

The article does end with a couple uncommon paragraphs, for George, sort of a Rah! Rah! shake those pompoms, go team go, we can do this, sort of thing. But until you reach those paragraphs its not encouraging at all.

Via Monbiot.

Europe offers steeper greenhouse gas cuts

First the snippet.

The EU on Tuesday again dangled the prospect of even steeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions across Europe to fight global warming -- but only if the rest of the world follows suit.

A couple thoughts.

(1) If the steeper cuts make sense, make them. Don't be concerned about other's joining you. Yes, you probably will take economic hits and become less competitive, but do what's right. Someone has to lead the way.

(2) This is exactly what a world leading nation, such as, oh, let's say the US, should be suggesting. At this rate the US will become a world leader in things negative.

You know what I mean. World leader against the Kyoto Protocol, killing the most innocent people daily (contestable), selling arms to almost any nation intent on killing its neighbors, greenhouse gas emissions*, medical costs, infant mortality rate among developed nations**, consuming petrochemicals. You know. The usual.

I'm probably missing something, but it seems to me there is nothing the US is a world leader in which is positive. Certainly nothing that's positive for the rest of the world.

* Actually the US has dropped into second place on this one, behind China. But number two is still a world leader, right?

** Only second highest rate on this one. Certainly not something worth bragging about.

Via AFP.

Asia-Pacific Water Summit opens in Japan

FINALLY! Someone is taking this problem seriously. I've posted many times about this such as here, here, here.

So basically this is SPIIDERWEB™ patting himself on the back until his arm breaks. I'm so Pompous. (blush)

I'm gonna climb up on my high horse. Wow, I'm so high up here the people look like ants.

"Those are ants."

Oh.

The first Asia-Pacific Water Summit opened Monday in the southern Japanese city of Beppu, with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda expressing hopes that it will give new impetus to environmental discussions at the next Group of Eight (G8) summit in July 2008.

I've obsessed about this problem because I believe its gonna be huge. It also ties in with climate change which I've also fixated on.

To tie it all up in a nice bow, this is why expending billions (trillions?) of dollars to kill people in the Mid-East is obscene. And that doesn't even address the loss of American lives which is far more important than the monetary cost.

Spend the fucking money to save the world, not destroy it and its people. Idiot-in-chief, it matters not if Iraq has democracy if the climate and lack of water will kill everyone anyway. Nor does it matter how much oil the US has if your children or grandchildren are dead.

Via Japan Herald.

Australian PM ratifies Kyoto Protocol

OMFG! A politician almost immediately after being sworn in has done exactly what he told the voters he would do. Be still my heart.

Now if we can only get all the other major developed nations to fall into line...wait, "nations" should be singular. There is only one major developed nation which hasn't ratified the Kyoto Protocol. That, of course, would be the US.

Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd became Australia's 26th prime minister Monday and immediately began dismantling the former government's policies by ratifying the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.

Rudd had pledged to commit Australia to the landmark United Nation's treaty on greenhouse gas emissions as his first priority. And the former diplomat kept his word after his official swearing in at Government House in Canberra.

"Today I have signed the instrument of ratification of the Kyoto Protocol," he said in a statement.

"This is the first official act of the new Australian government, demonstrating my government's commitment to tackling climate change."

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The move leaves the United States as the only major developed nation that has refused to ratify the pact.

How can one be a "world leader" by sitting on the fucking bench while the others play? Just asking.

Via Yahoo! News.

Earth's tropics belt expands, may mean drier weather for U.S. Southwest, Mediterranean

Apparently models of the earth's weather are falling short on accuracy and to our detriment.

Earth's tropical belt seems to have expanded a couple hundred miles over the past quarter century, which could mean more arid weather for some already dry subtropical regions, new climate research shows.

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Independent teams using four different meteorological measurements found that the tropical atmospheric belt has grown by anywhere between 2 and 4.8 degrees latitude since 1979. That translates to a total north and south expansion of 140 to 330 miles.

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But climate scientists Andrew Weaver of the University of Victoria and Richard Somerville of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography said Seidel's work makes sense and that computer models have consistently been underestimating the ill effects of global warming.

"Every time you look at what the world is doing it's always far more dramatic than what climate models predict," Weaver said.

Both Weaver and Seidel said the big concern is that dry areas on the edge of the tropics — such as the U.S. Southwest, parts of the Mediterranean and southern Australia — could get drier because of this.

"You're not expanding the tropical jungles, what you're expanding is the area of desertification," Weaver said.

Desertification ain't good. And the supplies of water will become more critical than they already are.

Sometimes it seems climate change is happening exponentially and not linearly. Its accelerating at a rate which won't let us humans understand what's happening and what to do about it before its too late to stop it.

Via Seattle Times.