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JPG
Pro-choice freedom-monger
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 2569
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 Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 7:35 pm Post subject: |
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Oh that's right I'm thinking ABC Sunday Night Football.
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We are the youth, we'll take your fascism away... |
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Tehanu
More or less, more or less
Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 16607
Location: Toronto
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| Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 12:59 am Post subject: |
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The Nation takes on the affluent regarding the way they ignore environmental issues like climate change and water shortages. Biting.
| Quote: | ... Consider Nelson Peltz. The investor and food magnate's oceanfront estate, called Montsorrel, is among the island's biggest water consumers. His 13.8-acre spread, which combines two properties, used not quite 21 million gallons of water over the past 12 months--or about 57,000 gallons a day on average--at a cost of more than $50,000, according to records obtained from the local water utility.
The [Wall Street Journal] has calculated that the average little person's use is 54,000 gallons per year. Hence Peltz uses 352 times as many gallons of water as the wee people do. But isn't that fair, considering that he makes at least 352 times as much money as the rest of us?
... In any sane society Peltz would be charged a dollar for every gallon over 54,000, the average usage, which would work to a fine of more than $20 million. With guys like Peltz, even that sum may not be enough to get him to turn off the tap when he's finished shaving.
... Apparently, without [the rich's] say-so we are not to do much of anything to save ourselves. Not only do they control the government on these matters but every time a proposal is made, they say no, it's bad for the economy, and if you go ahead with it we'll take your jobs away. Great. If we try to protect ourselves, our livelihoods are gone; if we don't, our children's lives are gone. |
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transplant
Starting Over Again
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 1707
Location: somewhere between here and there
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| Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 6:03 pm Post subject: |
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A new report examining the physical, social, political and security impacts of global warming is being discussed over at RealClimate.
The report, The Age of Consequences (pdf available here), was prepared by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Center for a New American Security. The report looks at likely possible consequences of three plausible scenarios for the extent of climate change over the next 32 to 92 years. The three scenarios are termed Expected (defined as 1.3 °C of warming globally and a .53 metre rise in sea level by 2040); Severe (2.6 °C of warming by 2040 and 1 metre sea rise), and Catastrophic (5.6 °C warming by the year 2100, and sea level rise of 2 metres).
The report makes for sober reading. Suffice it to say that the foreseeable consequences are not pretty. |
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DSquared
aka Aristotleded24
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 4122
Location: Winnipeg
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| Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 5:52 am Post subject: |
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So the past week, we've seen rain in Central and Atlantic Canada, as well as melting snow in Winnipeg. What happened to the cold winter we were supposed to have this go around? Granted, one warm week does not necessarily a warm winter make, but still....
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This is pre-eminently the time, to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself-Franklin Delano Roosevelt |
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TS.
Delicious schadenfreude
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 13145
Location: Toronto, ON
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| Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:34 am Post subject: |
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We had a thunder storm in Halifax tonight. There was louder thunder tonight than I have ever heard in an August thunderstorm in Toronto.
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"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." - Thomas Jefferson |
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anne cameron
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 2626
Location: tahsis, british columbia
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| Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 4:43 pm Post subject: |
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I don't have any records handy to quote so this is all top-of-the-head and without links. I'm on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and we're used to winter rain and fierce winds. If newcomers complain we tell them "move" and they usually do. People who come in summertime and fall in love with the place are advised to try to spend a winter here before thinking of buying a place.
So we're used to it, and most of us just go on with life in spite of the downpour. We get twelve to fifteen feet of rain per year and that doesn't really phaze us.
I think we got that much rain in November this year. We've had a half dozen truly violent storms, our link to the outside is a mostly gravel once logging road and it's been washed out and closed to traffic at least a third of the time. We've had four snowfalls, one flood warning, and we're all weary and wondering WTF is going on, anyway?!
Chummy on the TV weather talks knowingly of La Nina and El Nino and Pineapple Express and Hawaiian Punch and manages to explain nothing at all to any but the already well informed.
Fish stocks are at dangerously low levels, something is wiping out the feral cats, and people go Out over the road in convoys so there's help if things go wrong.
On the other hand, I have pussywillows on the tree in my side yard so things aren't all bad!! And the primroses are making flowers, too.
Climate change, yes. More of it than is being admitted. And one old-timer told me two days ago "it's our own fault, we've behaved like spoiled children.". |
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Reverend Blair
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 2250
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| Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 1:45 am Post subject: |
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Since we're into weird weather stories...I first saw lightning in winter 5 or 6 years ago. I've seen it 3 or 4 times since. The weather people still describe it as an oddity, but it happens almost every year.
I've also been a bit of a storm-watcher since I was a kid. I have no doubt that the summer storms are more violent and more frequent now than they used to be. It used to be one or two a season, now it's six or seven, and one or two are uglier than anything we used to see.
Same thing with the seasons. I pulled my last tomato in mid-October this year. Last year it was the end of September. As a kid, the season used to end about the end of August. As an adult, it never made it past mid-September. It's been expanding bit by bit.
Spring comes earlier too. We never used to plant anything before the May long weekend. Now I put in seeds in mid April and hardy bedding plants in late April or early May. My gardening calendar is beginning to look more like Southern Ontario's.
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He was a wise man who invented beer.
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DSquared
aka Aristotleded24
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 4122
Location: Winnipeg
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| Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 2:16 am Post subject: |
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That's more storms in the summer than I've noticed in recent years, Blair. However my perspective on this is from Brandon, and I've noticed that a great deal of stormy weather, be it thunderstorms or blizzards tends to be pushed north of Brandon, so Brandon's quieter on that front.
I hear you about the season-creep thing. What I've especially noticed about spring time is that there's not nearly as much snow at the tail end as there used to be. Remember when we'd be a few days into April, figure that winter was over, and then bam another snowstorm hit? When was the last time Winnipeg had snow in April?
Some of the "wet months" in the summer are also misleading. Usually, it's due to a major storm that accounts for most of the precipitation. Planning summer events just doesn't seem to require as much of a "rainy day" plan any more. I've also driven to Toronto and back with my family in my younger days. A few years ago we did the whole drive without coming across any rain at all, and that was a first.
Speaking of wierd, I heard it's supposed to drop below -30 in Winnipeg without wind chill. I guess Mayor Sam's going to have to call in the army now! 
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This is pre-eminently the time, to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself-Franklin Delano Roosevelt |
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TS.
Delicious schadenfreude
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 13145
Location: Toronto, ON
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| Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:52 pm Post subject: |
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In that thunder storm I mentioned, there was a little bit of lightning here. It was rather disconcerting.
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"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." - Thomas Jefferson |
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Rufus Polson
Purple Library Guy
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 2875
Location: SFU and/or the college of Riddlemastery at Caithnard
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| Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:01 am Post subject: |
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anne, I must say as a Vancouverite I've been deuced glad that Vancouver Island is out there, taking the brunt of the weather before it gets to us. We've had some odd stuff by Vancouver standards this winter, and I've always had at the back of my mind the thought, "Sheesh, if the Island wasn't sheltering us this would *really* be crappy."
Seems I was right. |
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transplant
Starting Over Again
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 1707
Location: somewhere between here and there
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| Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:17 am Post subject: |
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| Reverend Blair wrote: | Same thing with the seasons. I pulled my last tomato in mid-October this year. Last year it was the end of September. As a kid, the season used to end about the end of August. As an adult, it never made it past mid-September. It's been expanding bit by bit.
Spring comes earlier too. We never used to plant anything before the May long weekend. Now I put in seeds in mid April and hardy bedding plants in late April or early May. My gardening calendar is beginning to look more like Southern Ontario's. |
Seems there's something to this besides just anecdotal accounts:
Accumulated winter chill is decreasing in the fruit growing regions of California, Dennis Baldocchi and Simon Wong, in the journal Climatic Change.
| Quote: | Abstract We examined trends in accumulated winter chill across the fruit growing region of central California and its internal coastal valleys. We tested the hypothesis that global warming is in motion in California and is causing accumulated winter chill to decrease across the fruit and nut growing regions of California. ...
Predicted rates of reduced winter chill, for the period between 1950 and 2100, are on the order of -40 h per decade. By the end of the 21st century, orchards in California are expected to experience less than 500 chill hours per winter. This chronic and steady reduction in winter chill is expected to have deleterious economic and culinary impact on fruit and nut production in California by the end of the 21st Century. |
Climate change is happening here and now. Last week during the heat wave here in Toronto I saw blue crocuses out and in bloom. In January. |
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transplant
Starting Over Again
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 1707
Location: somewhere between here and there
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| Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:21 am Post subject: |
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Meanwhile....
Escalating Ice Loss Found in Antarctica
Wash post - Sheets Melting in an Area Once Thought to Be Unaffected by Global Warming
Climatic changes appear to be destabilizing vast ice sheets of western Antarctica that had previously seemed relatively protected from global warming, researchers reported yesterday, raising the prospect of faster sea-level rise than current estimates.
While the overall loss is a tiny fraction of the miles-deep ice that covers much of Antarctica, scientists said the new finding is important because the continent holds about 90 percent of Earth’s ice, and until now, large-scale ice loss there had been limited to the peninsula that juts out toward the tip of South America. In addition, researchers found that the rate of ice loss in the affected areas has accelerated over the past 10 years — as it has on most glaciers and ice sheets around the world.
“Without doubt, Antarctica as a whole is now losing ice yearly, and each year it’s losing more,” said Eric Rignot, lead author of a paper published online in the journal Nature Geoscience.
The Antarctic ice sheet is shrinking despite land temperatures for the continent remaining essentially unchanged, except for the fast-warming peninsula.
The cause, Rignot said, may be changes in the flow of the warmer water of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that circles much of the continent. Because of changed wind patterns and less-well-understood dynamics of the submerged current, its water is coming closer to land in some sectors and melting the edges of glaciers deep underwater.
“Something must be changing the ocean to trigger such changes,” said Rignot, a senior scientist with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “We believe it is related to global climate forcing.” .... |
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transplant
Starting Over Again
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 1707
Location: somewhere between here and there
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| Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:42 am Post subject: |
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| National Geographic will be airing a television version of Mark Lynas’ book Six Degrees on Feb 10. Check local lsitings, as they say. |
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transplant
Starting Over Again
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 1707
Location: somewhere between here and there
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| Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 4:02 am Post subject: |
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Pentagon study tells Bush: climate change will destroy us
· Secret report warns of rioting and nuclear war
· Britain will be 'Siberian' in less than 20 years
· Threat to the world is greater than terrorism
Guardian - Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters..
A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world.
The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents.
'Disruption and conflict will be endemic features of life,' concludes the Pentagon analysis. 'Once again, warfare would define human life.'
The findings will prove humiliating to the Bush administration, which has repeatedly denied that climate change even exists. Experts said that they will also make unsettling reading for a President who has insisted national defence is a priority. ... |
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DTA
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 694
Location: ////
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| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:52 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | The federal government has received a failing grade in nine of 14 chapters produced in its environment watchdog’s latest status report released in the House of Commons on Thursday, raising concerns for the future of the planet
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The federal government identified 17 severely degraded areas of concern over 20 years ago in the Great Lakes that were plagued by deformed fish, beach closings and drinking water problems. Only two of the sites in the basin, which provides drinking water to eight million Canadians and is the home to eight of Canada’s 20 largest cities, have been cleaned up — the latest in 2003.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper identified Great Lakes water quality as a priority in his government’s throne speech last October at around the same time that it received the environment commissioner’s recommendations about the issue. But Aaron Freeman, director of policy for Environmental Defence, noted that the government failed to set aside new money to clean up the Great Lakes in its latest budget, despite introducing billions of dollars worth of tax cuts last fall.
“I’m left sort of baffled by what the government’s thinking is on this,” said Freeman. “They know that it’s a problem, it’s been identified for them, and yet there’s no commitment to back up their clearly stated promise (from the throne speech) in the budget.” |
No surprise. We have a anti environment Government in Ottawa...
But I can't forget this part:
| Quote: | | In the Commons, Baird blamed the previous government for neglecting to protect the environment and forcing the Conservatives to clean up the mess that had been flagged by the environment commissioner while the Liberals were in power. |
How long can they keep blaming the Liberals for everything??
A fair bit more here |
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sparqui
Dog tired
Joined: 30 Apr 2006
Posts: 4466
Location: Winnipeg
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| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:33 pm Post subject: |
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Check out the Fossil Fools Awards for 2008:
http://energyactioncoalition.org/fossilfools/
Canada's own Ed Stelmach is close to winning Fossil Fool of the Year!!!
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DTA
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 694
Location: ////
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| Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:11 am Post subject: |
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Environment Minister John Baird announced tough new measures against industrial polluters Monday, including mandatory carbon-capture technology for Alberta oilsands projects starting their operations in 2012.
| Quote: | "We're going to regulate 17 big sectors in the Canadian industrial economy and require each of them to reduce their emissions," Baird told CTV's Mike Duffy Live. "First it will be on an intensity basis by 18 per cent over the next three years, and then a constant two-per-cent improvement."
Government officials say those cuts would mean a 20 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases from 2006 levels by 2020. However, countries that follow the Kyoto accord use 1990 levels to measure their reductions.
Details of the plan can be read here.
In four years, all new oilsands projects and coal-fired plants would need to capture the bulk of their carbon dioxide emissions and store them deep underground.
Pierre Alvarez, of the Canadian Petroleum Producers Association, said the new rules would be too costly and unfair.
"When you get to the kind of capture and storage the federal government is talking about here, this would be a quantum leap ahead of what's going on anywhere else in the world," he told CTV News.
Stelmach critical of plan
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach has proposed similar carbon-capture technology rules, but said Monday he would not force companies to follow his provincial regulations and distanced himself from Baird's federal plan.
"The resources are owned by all Albertans and I've made that point very clear," he said. "I'm sure the prime minister is aware of it, but I'll be constantly reminding him." |
I am not surprised by Stelmach's unhappiness. Why the hell is not not going to force companies to follow provincial regulations? 
The Canadian Petroleum association better get their act together, things and times are a changin.
Oil resources are owned by all Canadians not just Albertans.
The sooner this oil patch gets nationalized the better. Not just for the money but they can't clean up their mess and will not do anything to do so and Stelmach stated: Monday he would not force companies to follow his provincial regulations and distanced himself from Baird's federal plan. so I don't think he would enforce Bairds plans either.
So as far as I am concerned Alberta and Big Oil have had ample time to clean up and they refuse to and nationalizing it is the only option left.
Read the rest here
Well off to read the whole plane which can be found Here and I will comment more after I read it.  |
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Tehanu
More or less, more or less
Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 16607
Location: Toronto
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| Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 3:51 pm Post subject: |
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Intensity-based targets. New oil sands projects (what about existing ones?). Unproven carbon-capture technology.
Yup, I'm feeling really inspired. Way to go, Baird.
Note that carbon capture has also been discussed here. |
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TS.
Delicious schadenfreude
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 13145
Location: Toronto, ON
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| Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 4:36 pm Post subject: |
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The government of the United Arab Emirates has begun construction on a zero-carbon city on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, powered entirely by renewable energy. From the sounds of it, it is a remarkable plan.
New Scientist
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"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." - Thomas Jefferson |
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Tehanu
More or less, more or less
Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 16607
Location: Toronto
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| Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 5:11 pm Post subject: |
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Is that part of their carbon offset plan?
It does look very neat. I wonder about water, though ... |
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TS.
Delicious schadenfreude
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 13145
Location: Toronto, ON
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| Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 5:18 pm Post subject: |
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The gulf states have as I recall been leaders in desalination technology. The amount of sun in the UAE would be optimal for the use of solar humidification-dehumidification method desalination.
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"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." - Thomas Jefferson |
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bshmr
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 22 Aug 2006
Posts: 2982
Location: Central USA, Earth
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| Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 3:02 pm Post subject: |
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One of my news consolidators pimped the international rankings on the GreenIndex today. Regardless of validity issues, the featured page may be thought-provoking as well as pointing to worthwhile resources.
http://event.nationalgeographic.com/greendex/
What Is the Greendex?
| Quote: | You've read the news—everyone wants to be green now. But do you really know how your personal choices are adding up? What about the choices of your fellow citizens? How well are people around the globe adopting behaviors that can make the world a more environmentally sustainable place?
... |
Also, http://www.thegreenguide.com/about/tggi |
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Fidel
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 04 May 2006
Posts: 639
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| Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 3:29 am Post subject: |
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The cigarette industry was made to cough up for health care costs in U.S. States. Why not hold the multinationals accountable for the damage to ecosystems and indigenous peoples who are suffering from climate change that they didn’t contriibute to? Why not enforce existing national and international environmental laws and treaties being ignored today? I think carbon taxes and carbon credits trading will be a one-off shell game where everyone pays but those who profit from environmental destruction the most. WWF, Royal bird society, Prince Phil, and the rest of the corporate-sponsored environmentalist groups are all pushing the source cause of the problem as the ultimate solution: more capitalism with profit motive as the driving force that will put us all off the road and into the rhubarb patch.
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Viva La Revolucion! |
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Supporter of Olof Palme
Member
Joined: 08 Apr 2008
Posts: 53
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| Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 3:54 pm Post subject: |
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Ontario-Quebec cap-and-trade deal
http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2008/06/02/ont-que.html
ETA: Not sure now if this should be here or in the "green economy and carbon taxes" thread. Won't mind at all if it's moved.
Last edited by Supporter of Olof Palme on Mon Jun 02, 2008 4:13 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Searosia
The Rain King
Joined: 09 Jul 2007
Posts: 483
Location: Mississauga
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| Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 4:12 pm Post subject: |
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Interesting... I'd like to see more details on it before commenting too much. Figured that such steps would occur on the provincial level long before anything federal.
Gotta love Baird:
| Quote: | But federal Environment Minister John Baird, appearing on CTV's question period on Sunday, said he doesn't like the idea.
"I think it's more about talk and political posturing than it is about cutting greenhouse gas emissions," he said.
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I like his 'your politically posturing' political posturing on this. Think he'll ever come clean and admit he doesn't like this as it undercuts his position of doing nothing? Assuming this goes well, here's hoping we see a domino effect of other provinces undercutting Bairds master plan 
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Now is not the time for you Liberal fools, its time for a witch hunt. - Bloc Party |
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Rufus Polson
Purple Library Guy
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 2875
Location: SFU and/or the college of Riddlemastery at Caithnard
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| Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 5:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Well, I don't think much of cap-and-trade, but if John Baird hates it it can't be all bad. |
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TS.
Delicious schadenfreude
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 13145
Location: Toronto, ON
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| Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 6:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Rufus Polson wrote: | | Well, I don't think much of cap-and-trade, but if John Baird hates it it can't be all bad. |
Ultimately, it is better than carbon taxes. My preference would be a hard cap, and no trade.
_________________
"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." - Thomas Jefferson |
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Searosia
The Rain King
Joined: 09 Jul 2007
Posts: 483
Location: Mississauga
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| Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 6:54 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | John Baird hates it it can't be all bad |
He'll politically hate it... I'm not sure if there are any economic or environmental reasons he'll hate it for. I'm hoping that it sets a precident and we see a series of actions taken at a provincial level (and thats what he would really hate... The provinces collectively giving Baird the finger and doing their own things regardless of what he 'thinks').
| Quote: | | My preference would be a hard cap, and no trade. |
Depends on the price of the 'credits' being traded... I'm guessing (and would really like to be proven wrong) that these credits being traded will be a drop in the bucket to a larger company making them very unlikely to change any habits.
I wonder if a person could buy a few credits themselves for personal use.... Get enough to stage a giant outdoor gasoline fire using 'Hey, I paid someone else not to pollute so I can waste this!' as your reasoning. Where is that 'cheating credits' thread?
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Now is not the time for you Liberal fools, its time for a witch hunt. - Bloc Party |
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Searosia
The Rain King
Joined: 09 Jul 2007
Posts: 483
Location: Mississauga
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| Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 4:05 pm Post subject: |
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It appears the Ontario/Quebec cap n trade deal discussion went to here.
Maybe Timmy's can do a 'roll up n win your carbon credits' promotion for all their drive-through customers?
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Now is not the time for you Liberal fools, its time for a witch hunt. - Bloc Party |
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Cartman
Beyond cuddly
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 8284
Location: Conservative Reform Alliance Party = CRAP
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| Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 4:43 pm Post subject: |
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Pretty soon oil companies are going to start thinking in environmental terms. They won't have a choice.
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/06/11/seaice-permafrost.htm...
| Quote: | A scientific paper to be published Friday argues that rapid sea ice loss speeds up melting of permafrost, the frozen ground that underlies vast swaths of the Arctic.
That means the ground on which everything from northern highways to megaprojects, such as natural gas pipelines, are built could become unstable.
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Tehanu
More or less, more or less
Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 16607
Location: Toronto
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| Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:16 am Post subject: |
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The G8 folks have agreed to hard targets ... by 2050. Which has been condemned as inadequate, particularly as there's not series of targets. Hey, 2050, yeah, no problem waiting till then.
As this is pretty much Harper's plan, he's all happy-like and smug.
| Quote: | ... Environmentalists, however, expressed concerns that the statement doesn't mention a global baseline year for tracking greenhouse gas emission cuts or lay out any international midterm goals, instead allowing individual countries to develop their own plans.
But Prime Minister Stephen Harper said getting the stamp of approval for long-term carbon cuts from two previous holdouts — the United States and Russia — signals a major breakthrough.
... The environmental group Avaaz.org ran a full-page advertisement in Tuesday's Financial Times accusing Harper, U.S. President George Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda of blocking emission targets for 2020.
... At least one developing nation voiced its disappointment in the climate change declaration.
"We are concerned that it may, in effect, be a regression from what is required to make a meaningful contribution to meeting the challenges of climate change," South African Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said in a statement.
"It is regrettable that the lowest common denominator in the G8 determined the level of ambition in the G8 declaration on climate change." |
CBC. |
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TS.
Delicious schadenfreude
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 13145
Location: Toronto, ON
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| Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 2:01 am Post subject: |
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There is also no benchmark year given, and I think we can all agree that it isn't 1990. More likely they have taken 2006 or even 2008 as the benchmark year. This means nothing, and is simply posturing.
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"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." - Thomas Jefferson |
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Reverend Blair
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 2250
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| Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:39 am Post subject: |
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jesus, I once signed an autograph that carried more weight than a signature on this piece of crap. I'm not sure why we were autographing things...it was a party and we were ridiculing somebody. As I recall, I autographed my friend's forehead. He winced when I dotted the i.
So at least two of us will remember that signature. That's one and a half more than will remember this piece of crap G-8 thing a year from now.
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He was a wise man who invented beer.
--Plato |
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Hephaestion
Deeply Shallow
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 24243
Location: Where the Wild Things Are...
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| Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:44 pm Post subject: |
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Reengineering Earth to stop climate change
| Quote: | The Economist has a great feature on geo-engineering, approaches to tweak the environment on a planetary scale to help stop human-induced climate change. The article is a survey of the Royal Society's special journal edition on "Geoscale engineering to avert dangerous climate change." Some of the proposed approaches to scrub carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or block some of the sunlight hitting Earth sound straight out of the pages of science fiction. Extreme times might call for extreme tech though. From The Economist:
| Quote: | Reflecting sunlight back into outer space (increasing the Earth’s albedo, as it is known) would also cool the planet, and the Royal Society’s authors consider two ways of doing so.
One, which has been widely touted in the past is, perversely, to increase the amount of pollution in the atmosphere. Governments have spent the past half-century trying to reduce the amount of sulphur compounds in the air. These compounds are the main cause of acid rain. They also, however, have a tendency to form tiny particles that reflect sunlight back into space. That effect is most noticeable when a volcano erupts explosively, as Mount Pinatubo did in 1991, or Tambora did in 1815. Those eruptions put sulphate particles into the stratosphere, and because that is above the part of the atmosphere where weather occurs, these particles tended to stay there rather than being washed out by rain. That cooled the whole climate. The year after Tambora’s explosion was known for a long time as the “year without a summer”.
The reverse is also true. When civilian flights over the United States stopped in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 2001, the lack of sulphur-laden contrails led to a perceptible rise in temperature. Philip Rasch, of the National Centre for Atmospheric Research, in Boulder, Colorado, and his colleagues are therefore exploring the idea of deliberately polluting the stratosphere with sulphate in order to reflect solar heat back into space....
Besides polluting the stratosphere, there is another way of changing the atmosphere to make it more reflective. This is to tinker with cloud cover. One person working on this idea is Stephen Salter, a marine engineer at the University of Edinburgh best known for seeking to replace fossil fuels with Salter’s duck, a device for turning ocean waves into electricity. |
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"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin |
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transplant
Starting Over Again
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 1707
Location: somewhere between here and there
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| Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 4:35 pm Post subject: |
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Don't have time right now to read the link, but there are several very serious problems with blocking incoming sunlight with sulfur aerosols:
1) Reducing the amount of incoming sunlight will affect agricultural yields;
2) Putting sulfur in the atmosphere will produce acid rain;
3) Reducing incoming sunlight to slow or reduce global temperature rise will do nothing to halt ocean acidification caused by increasing atmospheric CO2 (not to mention acid rain).
We still don't understand all of the impacts of putting more CO2 in the atmosphere, and some people want to compound that by putting more sulfur in the atmosphere?
Boggles the mind. |
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transplant
Starting Over Again
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 1707
Location: somewhere between here and there
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| Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 2:52 pm Post subject: |
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This is why you should be concerned about terrified of an ice-free Arctic:
The methane time bomb
The Independent - Arctic scientists discover new global warming threat as melting permafrost releases millions of tons of a gas 20 times more damaging than carbon dioxide
| Quote: | Underground stores of methane are important because scientists believe their sudden release has in the past been responsible for rapid increases in global temperatures, dramatic changes to the climate, and even the mass extinction of species. Scientists aboard a research ship that has sailed the entire length of Russia's northern coast have discovered intense concentrations of methane – sometimes at up to 100 times background levels – over several areas covering thousands of square miles of the Siberian continental shelf.
In the past few days, the researchers have seen areas of sea foaming with gas bubbling up through "methane chimneys" rising from the sea floor. They believe that the sub-sea layer of permafrost, which has acted like a "lid" to prevent the gas from escaping, has melted away to allow methane to rise from underground deposits formed before the last ice age. ... |
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transplant
Starting Over Again
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 1707
Location: somewhere between here and there
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 12:31 am Post subject: |
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Very cool video showing 24 hours of world-wide air traffic.
And some people wonder why the Arctic and the northern hemisphere is warming faster than the Antarctic and the southern hemisphere? |
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transplant
Starting Over Again
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 1707
Location: somewhere between here and there
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| Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 5:36 pm Post subject: |
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Tonight, Oct 21
On PBS Front Line
"Heat" |
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bshmr
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 22 Aug 2006
Posts: 2982
Location: Central USA, Earth
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 4:43 pm Post subject: |
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"ICSU launches new program to understand the human impact on Earth's life-support systems"
At least some bodies are doing something. I was curious about Mozambique < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozambique & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maputo,_Mozambique > plus < http://www.icsu.org/index.php >
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/icfs-iln101608.php
ICSU launches new program to understand the human impact on Earth's life-support systems
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Global scientific community approves new international research program to fill in some of the knowledge gaps identified in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
[ This release is available in French. ]
Maputo, Mozambique—The global scientific community has approved a new international research programme designed to understand the relationship between humans and the ecosystems that provide essential life-supporting services. The decision was made today at the General Assembly of the International Council for Science (ICSU) and should help provide the scientific knowledge needed to ensure the sustainable use of our valuable ecosystems.
... |
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Cartman
Beyond cuddly
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 8284
Location: Conservative Reform Alliance Party = CRAP
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Reverend Blair
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 2250
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| Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 2:47 am Post subject: |
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Excellent show. Cartman. I wish it would have kicked Canada's ass a little more in the Bali segment, but it is a US show.
Also, check out the lighting during the interview segments. There's somebody there who knows what they're doing.
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He was a wise man who invented beer.
--Plato |
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bshmr
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 22 Aug 2006
Posts: 2982
Location: Central USA, Earth
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| Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 3:14 pm Post subject: |
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These analysis have always made perfect sense to me.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081105192704.htm
Looming Ecological Credit Crunch?
| Quote: | ScienceDaily (Nov. 5, 2008) — The world is heading for an ecological credit crunch as human demands on the world's natural capital reach nearly a third more than earth can sustain.
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The report, published every two years, has since 1998 become widely accepted as an statement of earth's ability to remain a “living planet”. In 2008, it adds for the first time new measures of global, national and individual water footprint to existing measures of the Ecological Footprint of human demand on natural resources and the Living Planet Index, a measure of the state of nature.
... |
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bshmr
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 22 Aug 2006
Posts: 2982
Location: Central USA, Earth
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| Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 4:44 am Post subject: Dumb eco-questions ... |
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Hidden within are contrasts between American and European.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026821.300-dumb-ecoquestion...
Dumb eco-questions you were afraid to ask
14 November 2008
| Quote: | New Scientist offers the definitive guide to everything you wanted to know about being green but were too embarrassed to ask
... |
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TS.
Delicious schadenfreude
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 13145
Location: Toronto, ON
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| Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2008 3:34 am Post subject: |
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There is a ruling from the US Environmental Appeals Board that could stifle the permitting of new coal-fired power plants in the US:
| Quote: | | [url=http://theusconstitution.org/blog.warming/?p=456] In re Deseret Power Electric Cooperative (PSD Appeal No. 07-03) addressed whether new coal-fired power plants are required to install Best Available Control Technology (BACT) for CO2, as they are for other pollutants regulated under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The board’s ruling that coal-fired power plants must determine what constitutes BACT for coal is being hailed as a huge victory for the environment, and one that may well put the brakes on permitting for coal-fired power plants nationwide. |
Quite a bit more at the link.
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"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." - Thomas Jefferson |
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Raos
volatilis vir
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 4471
Location: Petropolis
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| Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2008 7:00 am Post subject: Re: Dumb eco-questions ... |
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Thanks, bshmr, that was an interesting read. |
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Rufus Polson
Purple Library Guy
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 2875
Location: SFU and/or the college of Riddlemastery at Caithnard
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| Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2008 10:29 am Post subject: Re: Dumb eco-questions ... |
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| bshmr wrote: |
Dumb eco-questions you were afraid to ask
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Heh. I notice they don't know if paper or plastic is worse, either. |
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bshmr
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 22 Aug 2006
Posts: 2982
Location: Central USA, Earth
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| Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2008 6:16 pm Post subject: |
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McClathy extended feature on coal field fires. Check back for more.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/55758.html
China's coal fires belch fumes, worsening global warming
By Tim Johnson; McClatchy Newspapers; Sunday, November 16, 2008
| Quote: | RUJIGOU, China — The barren hillsides give a hint of the inferno underfoot. White smoke billows from cracks in the earth, venting a sulfurous rotten smell into the air. The rocky ground is hot to the touch, and heat penetrates the soles of shoes.
Beneath some rocks, an eerie red glow betrays an unseen hell: the epicenter of a severe underground coal fire.
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Maestro
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 1595
Location: Vancouver
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| Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2008 1:03 am Post subject: |
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| bshmr wrote: | McClathy extended feature on coal field fires. Check back for more.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/55758.html
China's coal fires belch fumes, worsening global warming
By Tim Johnson; McClatchy Newspapers; Sunday, November 16, 2008
| Quote: | RUJIGOU, China — The barren hillsides give a hint of the inferno underfoot. White smoke billows from cracks in the earth, venting a sulfurous rotten smell into the air. The rocky ground is hot to the touch, and heat penetrates the soles of shoes.
Beneath some rocks, an eerie red glow betrays an unseen hell: the epicenter of a severe underground coal fire.
...
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I'll just point out that carbon emissions per capita in China are only about 1/7 of what they are in the US or Canada. In fact, on a per capita basis, China is 91st on a list of countries, while the US and Canada are 10th and 11th respectively.
At the same time, much of China's emissions are related to exports to the US, Europe, and Canada. Add those emissions to our total, and the picture becomes even worse for us.
Here are some facts about China:
China unleashes Clean Revolution
| Quote: | China is already the world’s leading renewable energy produce:
* and is over-taking more developed economies in exploiting valuable economic opportunities, creating green-collar jobs and leading development of critical low carbon technologies, says a new report to be published by The Climate Group.
...Investment in renewable energy in China - almost USD $12 billion in 2007 - is almost level with world leader Germany as a percentage of GDP. Stronger policies from the Chinese government are creating increased demand for low carbon investment and China will require a further USD $398 billion (USD $33billion per year) to meet its 2020 renewable energy goals. |
Here is some information on a high-rise office tower to be finished by 2009
| Quote: | 1) By orienting the building towards the east the tower takes advantage of midday sun while the effects of late-day sun on the larger, southern exposure are minimized.
2) The south facade’s low-E-glass, double-layer curtain-wall system reduces heat gain, which leads to less demand on the HVAC systems.
3) The tower reclaims energy by routing each floor’s exhaust air into the south side’s double-layer curtain-wall cavity. This thermal barrier of hot dry air can then be reused on the mechanical floor for passive dehumidification.
4) The chilled slab concrete vaulted ceilings in the typical offices enhance daylighting, as well as cool the air drifting up from the underfloor ventilation system, the mass of the concrete providing energy storage. This system reduces energy used for cooling by 40 percent compared to a conventional HVAC system.
5) A geothermal heat sink is used to provide cooling water, so 100 degrees Fahrenheit water in the mechanical system’s return loop can be cooled to 75 degrees Fahrenheit prior to feeding the cooling towers, reducing the size of the mechanical plant by about 30 percent.
These five strategies reduce the building’s energy use by nearly 65 percent over a baseline of Chinese building codes. To reach the final goal of net zero energy, the design team incorporated three power-generating technologies: wind, integrated photovoltaics, and microturbines.
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In fact, China has a real opportunity to become a world leader in green technology, partly because they are not burdened with old style infrastructure, and partly because the government realizes that they cannot possibly consume energy on the same per capita basis as the existing developed countries.
So let us give credit where credit is due. And it is certainly due to China.
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bshmr
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 22 Aug 2006
Posts: 2982
Location: Central USA, Earth
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| Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2008 2:08 am Post subject: |
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| Maestro wrote: | | bshmr wrote: | | McClathy extended feature on coal field fires. Check back for more. ... |
I'll just point out that carbon emissions per capita in China are only about 1/7 of what they are in the US or Canada. In fact, on a per capita basis, China is 91st on a list of countries, ...while the US and Canada are 10th and 11th respectively....
So let us give credit where credit is due. And it is certainly due to China. |
One signpost of maturity is knowing which truthS are relevant and valid. In our cases, a ''good' doesn't erase a 'bad' -- both are true, relevant and valid. |
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Maestro
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 1595
Location: Vancouver
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| Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2008 4:43 am Post subject: |
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A valid truth is that individual Canadians, Americans, Europeans, and many others produce a lot more carbon emissions than the Chinese.
Another valid truth is that the government of China is a world leader in green technology (and in fact will become the world leader in green development).
That behaviour is to be encouraged, and it is our responsibility to encourage our governments to equal that effort. Believe it or not, Canada is one of the most wasteful energy users on the planet, much worse than China.
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