An intriguing report on the scientific study of stalagmites near Mayan sites and the relationship between Mayan social upheaval and drought.
The Article
Category: Climate Change
New Reporting on Climate Change
The Article
Carbon Markets on the Verge of Collapse
The Article
The Hottest Century
August 2012 marks the 36th consecutive August and 330th consecutive month with a global temperature above the 20th century average. The last below-average August temperature was August 1976 and the last below-average temperature for any month was February 1985.
The Article
Voluntary Carbon Trading…the latest financial scam
An interesting article about the number of ‘scams’ developing around voluntary carbon trading.
North Carolina Legislates a New Dark Ages
Most debates about climate change have an abstract quality, in part because they tend to be about the whole world and deal with collective action that seems increasingly remote. But go down to the local level, and the climate issue becomes alarmingly concrete. Among the first to feel the impact of climate change will be coastal communities, which will have to put in place practical policies to deal with rising seas, more intense storms, and more frequent floods. Otherwise, a lot of homes, businesses and infrastructure will be damaged or destroyed, and people will die. Just ask the folks in New Orleans gearing up for another hurricane season.
But if you live in North Carolina, whose delicate barrier islands protect extensive lowlands vulnerable to both hurricane storm surges and flooding from heavy rains, think again. The state legislature is in the process of deciding not merely to ignore climate change, but to make it illegal.
The Forbes Article
Environmental Finance
Bunge, the agri-business ‘giant’, recently acquired Climate Change Capital…leading to a change in focus toward ‘impact investing’.
I always end up confused…particularly when they talk of CCC holding $1.4 B in ‘committments’. I know what they mean by committments, but I do not know (and they do not explain) how that translates to Company balance sheet.
Big numbers…impact investing….does this make sense?
The Article
Climate Change
International cooperation on climate change is at a troubling low. Recent climate talks in Bonn seem to have led to little progress. Also according to a recent article:
Paris-based International Energy Agency (IAE) said on Thursday that carbon emissions from fossil fuels reached a record high of 31.6 gigatons in 2011, a 3.2 percent increase from 2010. And despite improving on its energy efficiency, China accounted for the biggest contribution to the global increase, with emissions growing by 720 million tons (9.3 percent).
US emissions have dropped by 1.7 percent as the nation tries to switch gears from coal power to natural gas. However, an exceptionally mild winter may have contributed to much of the drop in emissions seen, the agency reported. Japan’s emissions rose 2.4 percent as it increased the use of fossil fuels in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
The planet is on course for a temperature rise of at least 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit, but that could be even higher if pledges are not met by 2020, the IEA report warned.
Source: redOrbit (http://s.tt/1cRP4)
The U.S. government, particularly Congress, appears to be preoccupied by petty power struggles.
Paint our urban roofs white…
“Rooftops in the summer are hot. Cooling down buildings wastes energy. Solution: Painting roofs with energy saving white reflective paint.” The White Roof Project is a nonprofit dedicated to curbing climate change by painting NYC roofs white and then hopefully franchising the volunteering activity out across the United States.
And they’re absolutely onto something. In 2009, Energy Secretary Steven Chu pitched this idea. According to the Wall Street Journal, “white roofs and pavements could mean a one-time reduction of 44 billion tons of carbon dioxide. That… translates to removing all the cars in the world for 18 years.”
Former President Bill Clinton wrote last summer that white rooftops could lower “the utility bill in every apartment house 10 to 20 percent…”
And in the southeastern region of Almeria, Spain, the reflective roofs of their greenhouses (and they’re seriously into greenhouses) are cooling the air temperature in the region “by an average of 0.3 degrees Celsius per decade since 1983. The rest of Spain, however, has experienced temperatures rise 0.5 degrees Celsius.”
Sounds like it might be time to get some white paint and a few ladders. Read more about The White Roof Project, and if you’re in NYC
Richard Pace 