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Thawing of Siberian Permafrost Could Speed Up Cimate Change
Evidence from Siberian caves suggests that a global temperature rise of 1.5C could see permafrost thaw over a large area of Siberia.A study shows that more than a trillion tonnes of the greenhouse gases CO2 and methane could be released into the...
Carbon Tax vs. Spending Cuts for Deficit Reduction
Jeff Spross reports for Climate Change that “a recent poll found Americans would prefer a carbon tax to cutting spending for deficit reduction by a huge margin.”Commissioned by Friends of the Earth and conducted by the Mellman Group in December, the...
A Litany of 2012 Extreme Weather Records
Think 2012 across the contiguous U.S. was hellishly hot and, all in all, a hellacious weather year?The data, compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Climatic Data Center (NOAA/NCDC) bear you out.Put it down as “a...
Carbon Dioxide Now at Troubling New Milestone of 400 PPM
Rebecca Leber reports that “the world’s air has reached what scientists call a troubling new milestone for carbon dioxide, the main global warming pollutant.”Monitoring stations across the Arctic this spring are measuring more than 400 parts per...
Renewable portfolio standards insufficient to meet 2030 GHG emission targets
Image via WikipediaThe least expensive way for the Western US to reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to help prevent the worst consequences of global warming is to replace coal with renewable and other sources of energy that may include nuclear...
Cincinnati Explores 100% Renewable Energy Plan
Cincinnati is working on a new power aggregation deal right now that could lead to the entire city being powered from 100 percent renewable energy sources. The deal, city officials say, could be finalized within the coming months and be in place for...
Environmental World Review 2011
World CO2 Chart via Wikipedia -- Look to the top of right sidebar for the current month's CO2 level Via Climate Himalaya, The Guardian reports on the record greenhouse gas emissions, melting Arctic sea ice, natural disasters and extreme weather –...
Scale of Methane Plumes From Melting Arctic Shock Researchers
For those who read this blog, this following story from The Independent is nothing new. Dramatic and unprecedented plumes of methane – a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide – have been seen bubbling to the surface of the Arctic...
Power Plants Suffer Water Woes
Union of Concerned Scientists Image via Wikipedia A previous reprint of an article originally published in Ecocentric noted that power plants need lots of water primarily for cooling. “Several Texas power plants that rely on cooling ponds are in a...
Limits on Detection
Hansen has an interesting discussion of extreme weather and attribution to human emissions: Global warming is expected to intensify climate extremes: (1) Warmer air holds more water vapor, and precipitation occurs in more extreme events. ’100-year...
15,000 Terabecquerels And Counting
Image via Wikipedia Greenpeace provided an update for August 26th-29th on the Fukushima Nuclear Crisis and this blog extracted the section of the report on contamination (including human exposure). Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA...
Community Scale Solar Power
John Farrell says, “‘Community scale’ solar is likely to provide the best combination of affordability, speed, and opportunity for local economic benefit.” But, what does he mean by “community scale” and does it fit with Big Eddie’s concept of...
