Stanford University Study on Energy Options
A detailed new study from the Atmosphere/ Energy Program at Stanford University examines 10 electric power sources and two liquid fuel options, comparing them by 11 different criteria. The study concludes that ethanol, nuclear, and coal-with- carbon-storage (CCS) are dirty, inefficient, and wasteful compared to wind, direct sunlight, geothermal and ocean energy. These cleaner, inexhaustible sources could eliminate global warming gases, give us energy security and meet the nation’s (and the world’s) energy needs forever, the study concludes.
Where’s the Worst Possible Place for Hot Weather?
While the permafrost warming may well be the biggest story to come out of the annual global temperature reports, needless to say the media have ignored that story as far as I can tell. They have also ignored the now clear evidence that the 2000s are easily the hottest decade in recorded history and instead focused has been almost exclusively on where 2008 ranks among recent years temperature-wise.
The Arctic is in “Hot” Water
Scientists have found the first unequivocal evidence that the Arctic region is warming at a faster rate than the rest of the world at least a decade before it was predicted to happen.
Climate-change researchers have found that air temperatures in the region are higher than would be normally expected during the autumn because the increased melting of the summer Arctic sea ice is accumulating heat in the ocean. The phenomenon, known as Arctic amplification, was not expected to be seen for at least another 10 or 15 years and the findings will further raise concerns that the Arctic has already passed the climatic tipping-point towards ice-free summers, beyond which it may not recover.
Hell and High Water: Climate Change, Hope and the Human Condition
Outright denial that climate change is happening, however, is increasingly being swept to the political fringe. Public knowledge about the science and the impacts of climate change has become too widespread for the denialists to be taken seriously any longer
Holiday Cheer to All on the 350th Day of the Year
“Even a goal of 450 parts per million, which seems so difficult today, is inadequate,” said Gore at the UN Climate talks in Poznan, Poland, adding we “need to toughen that goal to 350 parts per million.”
Gore Supports 350 ppm Target at Poznań
Al Gore gave the international climate talks in Poznan a new set of marching orders this afternoon, declaring that old targets for fighting global warming had been made obsolete by new science and that 350 parts per million co2 was the new standard for which the world must aim. “A year ago, nobody had ever heard of 350. But it turns out it’s the most important number on the planet,” said Bill McKibben.
Canada Played Shameful Role at UN Climate Talks in Poland
After eight years during which the United States was consistently derided as the most obstructive force in international climate negotiations, Canada moved into worst place today, receiving the “Colossal Fossil” award for having done more than any other country to drag down talks at the UN climate negotiations in Poznan.
“Climate Change Models” – A Shocking Graphic from the UK Met Hadley Centre
The UK Met Office Hadley Centre reports even with large and early cuts in emissions, projections indicate that temperatures are likely to rise to around 2 °C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. If action is delayed or is slow, then there is a significant risk of much larger increases in temperature.
Carbon Emissions Are Soaring Out of Control
Despite the political rhetoric, the scientific warnings, the media headlines and the corporate promises, he would say, carbon emissions were soaring way out of control – far above even the bleak scenarios considered by last year’s report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Stern review. The battle against dangerous climate change had been lost, and the world needed to prepare for things to get very, very bad.
