Dark Commentary by Gwynne Dyer on Failure of US to Act on Climate Change Legislation
On the most optimistic timetable, there might be US climate legislation in 2013, and a global climate deal in 2014, and we really start reducing emissions by 2015. By then, we would need to be cutting emissions by 5 or 6 percent a year, instead of growing them at 3 percent a year, if we still want to come in under +2 degrees C.
Cryosat-2 Now Sending Data on Arctic and Antarctic Ice Thickness
The Cryosat-2 mission is delivering on its promise to make high-precision radar measurements of polar ice.
The first data from the European spacecraft has been presented at an Earth observation meeting in Norway.
The information clearly shows Cryosat has the required sensitivity to assess the state of Antarctic and Arctic ice
ET Meets IT: Video of TIME Magazine interview with Google
Video: Brian Walsh of TIME Magazine interviews Dan Reicher, director of climate change and energy initiatives at Google, who talks of what the Internet giant is doing in the clean energy sphere.
Jeremy Rifkin on the Race to Global Consciousness in a World of Crisis
Video: Jeremy Rifkin, author of “The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World of Crisis,” talks with Google staff about his book.
Arctic Sea Ice Thickness: Important Update
Important new information: New graphic from NSIDC showing Arctic sea ice thickness, plus a report on the successful launch of the European satellite CryoSat 2, also for measuring Arctic ice thickness
Dr. James Hansen Says Our Fossil Fuel Addiction Threatens the Lives of Our Grandchildren
The predominant moral issue of the 21st century, almost surely, will be climate change, comparable to Nazism faced by Churchill in the 20th century and slavery faced by Lincoln in the 19th century. Our fossil fuel addiction, if unabated, threatens our children and grandchildren, and most species on the planet.
Must We Hack Our Planet’s Atmosphere?
The failure of recent efforts to curb greenhouse-gas emissions has built some momentum toward expanding research on geoengineering options. Although everything possible must be done to shift to a sustainable and energy-efficient economy – along with changing to simple life-styles and putting a cap on the world’s population – all this will not be enough to eliminate the danger of runaway climate change.
Somehow, we have to find a safe way to remove the huge amount of excess carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. To analogize, diet and medicine alone won’t cure our planet; surgery will also be required. Too much CO2 in our atmosphere not only contributes to global heating, sea-level rise, more severe storms and desertification; it has also caused a 30% increase in ocean acidification, and this too threatens the life of everything on Earth.
Bill Gates Sees Climate Change as Important Global Problem
Here are two opposing articles on the Bill Gates TED Talk on “Innovating to Zero.” Our opinion, if Gates thinks climate change is important, we should all feel a little more hopeful. His take on this issue may not be all we could wish for, but as he learns more about how very serious is the global treat we face and how extraordinarily complex an adequate solution must necessarily be, he may stop thinking in terms of simplistic formulas and quick technological fixes. He’ll see that like with climatic systems, many positive feedback loops are inherent in the development of economic, technological and social solutions, and these must not be ignored. The big industry in bio-fuels that has sprung up in response to the need for energy efficiency is a case in point.
Someday Soon: A Hybrid Electric Car That Can Help Power Your Home
An advancement in hybrid electric vehicle technology is providing powerful benefits beyond transportation.
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have designed, fabricated and demonstrated a PHEV traction drive power electronics system that provides significant mobile power generation and vehicle-to-grid support capabilities.
“The new technology eliminates the separate charging mechanism typically used in PHEVs, reducing both cost and volume under the hood,” said Gui-Jia Su of ORNL’s Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Research Center. “The PHEV’s traction drive system is used to charge the battery, power the vehicle and enable its mobile energy source capabilities.”
Providing more power than typical freestanding portable generators, the PHEV can be used in emergency situations such as power outages and roadside breakdowns or leisure occasions such as camping. Day-to-day, the PHEV can be used to power homes or businesses or supply power to the grid when power load is high, according to Su.
The charging system concept, which is market ready, could also be used to enhance the voltage stability of the grid by providing reactive power, Su said.
Has a “Convergance of Catastrophes” Already Begun?
James Howard Kunstler examines the critical importance of oil in our global economy and then anticipates the cascade of catastrophic consequences when – not if – supply fails to meet demand. After a century of profligate use of this energy-dense resource, he contends that we are within a decade of experiencing an oil shortage: for transportation, industry, heating, plastics, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals and all the countless products essential to our modern lives. In other words, our energy-devouring civilization has been accelerating entropy.
