Arctic Methane Emergency
Heightening the fear of rapid and severe climate change, continuous, powerful and impressive methane plumes, more than 1,000 metres in diameter, have been found beneath the Arctic seabed off the East Siberian Arctic Shelf of northern Russia.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Geoengineering, Hubris and Reality
Geoengineering Catch 22, what if the problem is that we don’t even know what the problem is? As such the problem is more of human ignorance and incapacity to make rational choices rather than a technological one per se. If that is the case then clearly “the solution” is education. Obviously we need to get the public to realize that geoengineering is no solution and to understand just how great the risks are, however.
Increased Interest in ‘Artificial Trees’ for Removal of Carbon from Atmosphere
Many climate scientists calculate that the world has only a few decades to reduce emissions before there is so much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that a dangerous rise in global temperature is inevitable. The authors of this report say that geo-engineering of the type they propose should be used on a short-term basis to buy the world time, but in the long term it is vital to reduce emissions.
William H. Calvin: Putting the CO₂ Genie Back in the Bottle
This presentation by Dr. Calvin was made at the University of Victoria BC on June 18th. The event was sponsored by the BC Chapter of the Sierra Club of Canada. Dr. Calvin is introduced by Dr. Colin Campbell, Science Advisor to the Sierra Club of BC. At the end of the five minute introduction, click [...]
Dr. William H. Calvin to Speak at the University of Victoria
Dr. William Calvin, who is widely known for his books on human evolution and climate change, will give a presentation hosted by Sierra Club of British Columbia and the University of Victoria on Thursday, June 18, 2009 at 7PM UVic, in the Bob Wright Earth, Ocean, and Atmosphere Sciences Building.
Very Best Strategies Crucial For Generating Enough Green Energy
Our Energy Needs: Getting From Here To There by Ray Grigg May 24, 2009 Our options for solving the growing energy dilemma confronting modern civilization seem to fall into two basic categories: we already have the clean technology to meet our energy needs if we just had the political will to utilize them; and we [...]
We May Trade Away Our Future with Cap and Trade
All these methods of pricing carbon permit the creation of a carbon market that will allow us to pollute beyond a catastrophic tipping point. In other words, they require us to put a price on the final “killing” tonne of CO2 which, once emitted, tips the balance and triggers runaway global warming. How can we set such a price? It’s like saying, how much is civilisation worth?
Global Warming May Necessitate Carbon Dioxide Scrubbers
Advocates say that while large-scale air capture projects might be a long time away, their economics aren’t as bad as everyone assumes. Roger Pielke Jr., a political scientist who studies energy and climate policy at the University of Colorado, conducted a recent study that found that stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations with air capture using today’s technologies could about equal the costs projected by the IPCC of other ways to deal with warming.
The Moral Choice between Mitigation or Adaptation to Dangerous Climate Change
The world won’t adapt and can’t adapt to dangerous climate change: the only adaptive response to a global shortage of food is starvation. Of the two strategies it is mitigation, not adaptation, which turns out to be the most feasible option, even if this stretches the concept of feasibility to the limits. As Dieter Helm points out, the action required today is unlikely but “not impossible. It is a matter ultimately of human well being and ethics.”
Alberta Tar Sands Facts – Judge for Yourself
The Alberta Tar Sands is the largest fossil fuel project on the planet, lying beneath 141,000 square kilometers of northern Alberta forest, an area almost as large as the state of Florida. Its development is turning once pristine stretches of forest into desolate landscapes. Former Premier of Alberta, Peter Lougheed, was recently quoted on the Tar Sands as saying, “… it is just a moonscape. It is wrong in my judgment, a major wrong.”
