water loss

New research is indicating that California is on its way to its worst drought in history due to the increasing tropics, according to the New Scientist.

Climate scientists have documented a slow progression of low-latitude weather systems towards the poles, and this has been matched by rising temperatures in many temperate regions. Deciding whether this broadening of the tropical belt is linked to the greenhouse effect has been difficult, however.

The scientist studied the tropopause, which is the part of the atmosphere where weather forms.  They have found that it is widening.  This means that the tropical boundaries are expanding at a rate of 70 kilometers per decade.

The expansion of the tropic is not as detrimental as the expansion of the subtropic. The subtropic is defined as having drought and dryness, which Southern California is a part of during the summer months.  As that expands into Northern California, the state will be under severe water stress.

in the news

 

First glimpse of greenhouse gases comes into view, via The Daily Climate

 

BOULDER, Colo. – Scientists have taken the first crack at solving a fundamental climate mystery, criss-crossing the globe in a souped-up corporate jet to determine where and when greenhouse gases enter and leave the atmosphere.

An understanding of how these climate-warming gases move about the globe is a critical prerequisite for any policy aimed at curbing global warming, scientists said Thursday. Information gained over the next three years will play a crucial role in in sharpening future predictions and improving their accuracy.

Using a high-performance jet, scientists will take a series of “slices” of the atmosphere over the next few years from the Arctic to Antarctic and from the surface to the atmosphere’s upper reaches.

The Greenhouse Effect and the Bathtub Effect, from the New York Times

That characteristic is the “bathtub effect” behind the human-amplified greenhouse effect. Dr. Sterman, a prominent analyst of risk perception and management at the Sloan School, has devised various tools akin to flight simulators to help corporate leaders understand the nature of a variety of problems and choose among various remedies. He recently turned this approach to climate, which he says bears much more resemblance to deficit spending and the national debt than it does to 20th-century-style pollution problems like acid rain.

Fish Poop Helping To Protect Ocean’s Delicate Acid Balance, via Huffington Post Green

WASHINGTON — The ocean’s delicate acid balance may be getting help from an unexpected source, fish poop. The increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere not only drives global warming, but also raises the amount of CO2 dissolved in ocean water, tending to make it more acid, potentially a threat to sea life.

Analysts Warn Emissions Are Growing, via New York Times

 

Planet-warming emissions from industry are on track to grow faster than previous estimates, and delaying reduction measures beyond 2010 would risk triggering dangerous levels of climate change, according to McKinsey & Company, a leading consultancy.

The findings by McKinsey, which are expected to be announced on Monday afternoon in Brussels, appear to reinforce the view of some leading scientists and economists that failing to take action now to reduce emissions could badly hobble economic growth in the future.

protected land

In a rare Sunday session the Senate cleared the way for the protection of 2 million acres of land in 9 states.  This is largest expansion of wilderness protection in 25 years.

The measure — actually a collection of about 160 bills — would confer the government’s highest level of protection on land ranging from California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range to Oregon’s Mount Hood, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and parts of the Jefferson National Forest in Virginia. Land in Idaho’s Owyhee canyons, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan and Zion National Park in Utah also would be designated as wilderness.

Office of Urban Policy

 

On February 11th, 2004, Bill Clinton signed Executive Order #12898, the Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations.  The intent of this order was to ensure that each “Federal agency shall make achieving environmental justice part of its mission by identifying and addressing disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of its programs, policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income populations.”

This came after numerous studies were released showing the negative effect of air and water pollution were more concentrated in minority communities. Unfortunately, Clinton never fully implemented the order, and Bush ignored it all together, to put it kindly.  As a result, we are still seeing a disproportionately high case of adverse effects due to environmental causes in the minority populations.  An example would be this publications ongoing research into Bisphenol-A and phthalates.

However, it looks as though the Obama administration is going to deliver on the promise made back in 1994.  Not only are his appointments to the EPA, Health and Human Services, White House Council of Environmental Quality, the assistant to the president on Energy and Climate Change, and HUD a significant notice that they are changing the direction of this country, but more compelling is the creation of the Office of Urban Policy.

The office is intended to better coordinate federal efforts to help America’s cities.   As we all know, Obama started his career as “community organizer”. As a result, he understands at the local level is really where you can impact change and that local government can play a vital role as we try to jump start our economy.  

It also seems that this will have a positive impact on the environment.  Adolfo Carrion, the appointee in charge of the OUP, has been a champion of affordable, energy efficient, green quality sustainable housing for low income family.

Add this all together and you have a team that is not only fighting for the environment, but fighting for the people that are the most at risk when something goes wrong in the environment.

The American Prospect has further information.

nitrogen: friend or foe

It’s kind of a good news, bad news situation.

The National Science Foundation recently released data from its longest running study showing that by releasing one pollutant into the environment it may help in combating another pollutant in the environment.

The research indicates that by adding nitrogen into the soil, prompts northern hardwood forests to absorb more carbon dioxide. The conclusion being that if we dump nitrogen into the atmosphere, we could create huge carbon sinks and help mitigate climate change. However, many experts are also saying that it is a dangerous experiment that could have dangerous consequences.

In the experiment larger than normal levels of nitrogen were added to the soil. As expected, the trees grew more, which is beneficial because it means they can absorb more carbon dioxide. But there was an unexpected observation in the forest floor. The decomposition of tree litter (twigs, leaves, bark) slowed. Tree litter has a high concentration of lignan which is very good at trapping carbon. The longer the lignan stays around due to a decrease in erosion, the longer the carbon is trapped.

However there are downsides to pumping nitrogen into the atmosphere, “including biodiversity loss, smog formation, and acidification of forests, streams and lakes.” Also, the forests that were experimented on have reached nitrogen saturation, meaning they cannot take up anymore nitrogen into their system. This means what is left in the ground could make it into our water system. When humans are exposed to too much nitrogen there are health risks, most seriously “blue baby syndrome” which is a fatal blood disease in infants. And, if the nitrogen makes it all the way to the seas and oceans, there is high potential for dead zones. And, finally, there is the potential of the saturated trees to start releasing the nitrogen as nitrous oxide which is a harmful greenhouse gas.

There is much more work to be done to see if nitrogen will be a blessing or a curse. On a daily basis, as we increase our industries, we increase the levels of this gas. So, eventually, we will know the answer.

The article can be found via The Daily Climate

not doing their job.

Trees and plants have often been dubbed the lungs of the planet, although, in reality they are the kidneys. Making up 7% of the world, in simplistic terms, they have the ability to absorb CO2 and turn it into oxygen. In fact, without them, it would have more than likely for humans to have even evolved, let alone what we are facing now, survival, since we need oxygen to live.

In a little reported, but very important news piece, “scientists have determined that Canada’s 1.2 million square miles of forests have become so stressed from damage caused by global warming, insect infestations and persistent fires that they have crossed an ominous line and now pump out more carbon dioxide than they take in.”

The higher planet temperature have hurt the forest in two ways. First, because it is so much warmer, the normally wet trees are drying out. Additionally, with such little rain fall, they are not achieving normal saturation levels. With the trees being so dry, they are either dying or are susceptible to fire, which when burned releases much more carbon dioxide into the air.

Second, the cold seasons typically allow for many of the insect infestations to end, as the various bugs cannot survive the cold. This gives the tree time to heal prior to another infestation, or becoming strong enough to ward off future illnesses. However, especially in Canada, the temperature is not dropping low enough to kill off the various insects. These often kill the tree leaving mass amounts of natural deforestation.

The affect of this is unquantifiable. We have long depended upon trees to suck in vast quantities of carbon dioxide, naturally cleansing the world of some of the harmful heat-trapping gas. With the increasing amount of greenhouse gases released into the air, but with less effectiveness in cleaning the air, we could be in worse conditions sooner rather than later.

The article was first published via The Environmental News Network

news-in-brief, 1/9/09

In Obama’s Team, Two Camps on Climate, via The New York Times
Today, as the climate-change debate once again heats up, Mr. Summers leads the economic team of the incoming administration, and Ms. Browner has been designated its White House coordinator of energy and climate policy. And Mr. Gore is hovering as an informal adviser to President-elect Barack Obama.

As Mr. Obama seeks to find the right balance between his environmental goals and his plans to revive the economy, he may have to resolve conflicting views among some of his top advisers……

This CAFE Is Closed: Bush admin. won’t implement fuel efficiency rules, via GRIST.org

The administration’s move drew a sharp reaction from one of the biggest congressional backers of CAFE. “Apparently the Bush administration was too busy giving midnight regulatory handouts to its corporate cronies to complete its work on fuel economy standards for consumers,” said Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. “I look forward to working with President Obama to implement this landmark CAFE legislation and get our national energy policy back on track.”

The new administration of president-elect Barack Obama takes over on January 20. Obama has selected Republican representative Ray LaHood to head the agency.

US judge dismisses pollution case against Cargill, via MSNBC

The Cargill lawsuit alleged the company used chemicals linked to illnesses including lung congestion and organ damage, and that the hazardous substances eventually reached the groundwater and several private wells.

Cargill processed and stored agricultural seed at the plant from 1981 to about 2000.

For those who don’t know, Cargill is one of the main manufacturers of High Fructose Corn Syrup. Many credit Cargill and Monsanto as being the leading corporations that has turned our agriculture away from food farming and into commodity farming.

Tehran looks to the skies for cheap power from the sun, via The Guardian UK

Mention energy and Iran in the same sentence and you’re duty-bound to express some concern about the country’s ambitions for nuclear power and, as a result, raise dangerous questions about weapons. But while that are-they-aren’t-they game has been going on between the country’s leaders and the wider international community, renewable energy experts in Iran have been quietly working on capturing sunlight to power their country.

According to officials, Iran has started 2009 by inaugurating a pilot solar plant in Shiraz, Fars province. It is a concentrating solar power (CSP) system, using parabolic mirrors to focus sunlight onto a tube of water that is super-heated to make steam that is then used to turn electricity-generating turbines.

don’t follow the light

A new study confirms that polarized light pollution can cause confusion in creatures that rely on light ‘cues’ to navigate through their environment, with many animals also thrown off course by light reflecting from buildings, according to Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, and first reported by PlanetSave.

Environment light cues, that occur naturally in the world, occur at differing intensities, leading to different reactions by the species. When the light cues become artificially intense, the animals respond in a very strong manner.

The result is that the species, particularly dragonflies and other insects, is that light emitting surfaces are being confused for bodies of water. Water is a necessity for many insects as breeding and nurturing grounds for offspring. Since the insects have become disoriented, they are not finding the bodies of water and are dying without propagation.

troubled waters

The Economist has an amazingly extensive report on the ocean; its current condition and what can be done about it.

There are 11 articles ranging from topics on climate change, fisheries, and salt levels, and audio file with a contributing author, John Grimond, and links to other resources.

It is a very comprehensive look at something that dominates a major portion of our planet. Our fate could easily rest in her hands.

when bill talks, i listen

Anyone who reads this knows that I admire Bill McKibben a great deal. I pretty much post links to every article he publishes, and today will be no different. He has an article in the Jan/Feb 2009 issue of Foreign Policy in which he debunks many of the sayings you hear on the street about climate change.

Why is this so important to make you aware of? Because it is our duty to make sure these myths end. With the proliferation of these stories and fables of climate change, the longer it will take to get going on what needs to get done. There is a call upon the citizenry to make the change, and a good first step is to ensure you are well-versed on the data, so you may challenge the person spewing rhetoric. Memorizing this article might not be too bad of great first step.

Excerpts from the article:

Myth: Scientists are divided
Bill’s response: No, they’re not….. that debate is long since over.

Myth: We Have Time
Bill: That melting Arctic ice is unsettling not only because it proves the planet is warming rapidly, but also because it will help speed up the warming. That old white ice reflected 80 percent of incoming solar radiation back to space; the new blue water left behind absorbs 80 percent of that sunshine. The process amps up. And there are many other such feedback loops. Another occurs as northern permafrost thaws. Huge amounts of methane long trapped below the ice begin to escape into the atmosphere; methane is an even more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide

Myth: Climate change will help as many places as it hurts
Bill: Here’s how that Pentagon report’s scenario played out: As the planet’s carrying capacity shrinks, an ancient pattern of desperate, all-out wars over food, water, and energy supplies would reemerge. The report refers to the work of Harvard archaeologist Steven LeBlanc, who notes that wars over resources were the norm until about three centuries ago. When such conflicts broke out, 25 percent of a population’s adult males usually died. As abrupt climate change hits home, warfare may again come to define human life. Set against that bleak backdrop, the potential upside of a few longer growing seasons in Vladivostok doesn’t seem like an even trade.

Myth: It’s China’s fault
Bill: China has four times the population of the United States, and per capita is really the only way to think about these emissions. And by that standard, each Chinese person now emits just over a quarter of the carbon dioxide that each American does. Not only that, but carbon dioxide lives in the atmosphere for more than a century. China has been at it in a big way less than 20 years, so it will be many, many years before the Chinese are as responsible for global warming as Americans.

Myth: climate change is an environmental problem
Bill: Expecting the environmental movement to lead this fight is like asking the USDA to wage the war in Iraq. It’s not equipped for this kind of battle. It may be ready to save Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which is a noble undertaking but on a far smaller scale. Unless climate change is quickly de-ghettoized, the chances of making a real difference are small.

Myth: Solving it will be painful
Bill: But so far we’ve just been counting the costs of fixing the system. What about the cost of doing nothing? Nicholas Stern, a renowned economist commissioned by the British government to study the question, concluded that the costs of climate change could eventually reach the combined costs of both world wars and the Great Depression.

Myth: We can reverse climate change
BIll: None of that is going to stop, even if we do everything right from here on out. Given the time lag between when we emit carbon and when the air heats up, we’re already guaranteed at least another degree of warming.

The only question now is whether we’re going to hold off catastrophe. It won’t be easy, because the scientific consensus calls for roughly 5 degrees more warming this century unless we do just about everything right. And if our behavior up until now is any indication, we won’t.

The full responses to each myth can be found HERE. It really should become part of your repertoire for cocktail parties when someone drinks too much and starts an anti-climate change diatribe.

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