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Climate Change News From Around The World, May 29 2014

5/30/2014

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Global Warming Effects, Some Good but Mostly Bad:

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Coal Stacks, Czech Republic
A recent poll found that Americans are more fearful of the term "Global Warming" than of "Climate Change".  This is an interesting finding.   In the long term, warming is the largest risk that we face  Climate Change, as a term, covers many things including local microclimates which may have local patterns.  But Global Warming is an overall, world-wide risk and it is increasing every day.

It remains to be seen if the US will step up and become a leader once again.
Climate Change news from around the world:
  • Since Congress has refused to work on Climate Change, President Obama is moving to reduce the limits on emissions from Coal plants.  This is a very important move and one that needs to become law.  Over time, the limits need to be lowered even further - both here, and around the world.  China is now worse than the US when it comes to coal emissions.
  • A recent military report concludes that Climate Change represents a national security risk, that could lead to global "instability and conflict".  In fact for thousands of years, climate issues have led to clashes, wars, and even demise of entire civilizations.   For example, extreme drought around 1200 BC in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean regions led to widespread death, and the displacement of people. Egyptians, Hittites, Canaanites, Cypriots, Minoans, Mycenaeans, Assyrians and Babylonians and 'sea peoples' from the Mediterranean area had conflicts during this time.  Drought and the famine it brings are very destabilizing.  Drought, earthquakes, and other events led to the collapse of civilization in this part of the world, as the Bronze Age was ending.
  • You can become a tree!  There is a neat product from Unabios.com that lets you put your ashes into an urn, from which a tree grows - Maple, Oak, Pine, or othre choices.  Its a beautiful idea, and a way for a person to have an enduring legacy.
  • Climate models predict increased storms near the poles.  A recent study found that very large ocean waves are accelerating the break of the ice in Antarctica.  This seems to be happening more, than in the Arctic or Greenland.   While the large waves can fracture ice even further inland, they are also behind the process 
  • Climate Change leads to health risks.  We are seeing that in California already.   Drought there means that underground water supplies are being used more and more - supplies which can be contaminated by pesticides and herbicides.   Plus, drought leads to a drop in agriculture, which in turn hurts the economy of the entire area.
  • The State of Wyoming has rejected new science standards for education because they include education about Climate Change.  This is backwards and hurts our children, and our future.
  • Shell oil now says that Climate Change is a serious issue; they are joining Exxon and Mobile in calling for change.
  • Cities cannot wait for the federal government to take action.  Cities all around the US, and around the world, are forming sustainability policies, and developing plans for dealing with Climate Change, and rising seas.  Coastal cities cannot ignore this risk - even if Congress is completely ignoring it.  
  • A new study says that Climate Change will reduce Biodiversity
  • Companies are starting to offer Climate Change Insurance
  • The government of Scotland is preparing national standards for dealing with Climate Change; one of the first countries to do so.  We need more countries to follow suit.  Germany has pledged to be completely run by Renewables by 2050.
  • Invasive species will invade the arctic, as melting continues.
  • On a positive note, Israel no longer has water shortages; they are building desalinization plants.  If this could be run from renewable energy sources, it would be ideal.  Israel has 4  such plants now, and a fifth one is being produced.  Negotiations are underway for more sharing of water resources with Palestinians.  
  • How to best reduce emissions in coal plants and other kinds of energy producing plants is not clear; it needs to be cost-effective to be accepted.  Experts do not agree.  Here is a good article in the New York Times.
  • Good article in the Huffington post about the *rate* of species extinction; the rate is increasing.  We are killing off species faster than ever before.  Human activities like strip mining, deforestation, and even pollution are being eclipsed by Climate Change as the mechanism of species extinction.  Some are calling this the next "Great Exinction"; there have been 5 of them before, in all fo Earth's history.  We are causing the sixth.

  
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Sorek Desalination Plant in Israel
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Fixing It Now Will SAVE Money

5/8/2014

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By: Kevin J. Sinclair
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Why Do We Do This?

Waiting RAISES Costs

Dealing with Climate Change could soon cost $100 Billion per year - and grow from there.

Crop erosion is already happening.  Early melt in the spring is creating summer drought, which affects farmers.  For example farmers in Idaho are suffering - yet our politicians are not helping them and not creating any kind of long-term plan.

What They Are Not Telling You

In 2012 alone, there were $139 Billion in climate-related disasters in the US.  Private insurance companies paid about 25% of that; the US government paid the rest - that means, TAXPAYERS paid the rest.  So skeptics can no longer pretend that these issues are not hitting us.  The US has a fund called the Climate Disruption Budget; last year it was allocated $100 Billion.  This is happening; its real.  The costs have started, and they are rising.

Good Management is to Act Now

If we start taking steps now, to reduce Global Warming, we will save considerable money in the long term.   It is no different than doing basic maintenance on your house, or taking care of your own health.  The cost of fixing it later is always more - and might not even be possible, if you wait too long.  One estimate for the cost of Climate Change, if we hit the worst case scenarios, is over $80 Trillion.  That is a lot of money.

If we reduce carbon emissions right now, we can still avoid much of the future damage.

The UN recently said that combing the cost of rising sea levels, crop problems, higher temps, and water shortages could soon cost us from $70 Billion to $100 Blliion - and that is er year. 

Typhoon Haiyan in the Phillippines recently killed over 6,000 people and cost over $10 Billion in damages - and that is just one storm.  What happens when those storms get more common?
  
  
Hurricanes in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas have up to $14 Billion in damages each year; up to 30% of that cost can be avoided through better construction codes, and restoring wetlands.  But this kind of help is unlikely to happen if Republicans keep ignoring the needs of real Americans. 
  
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Home Destroyed in November 2012
If you live in the US or Europe, do you think you are immune to the effects of Climate Change?  In the 1995 Chicago heat wave, 700 people died.  Chicago - this is a large city in the United States, with many resources yet 700 people died.   Just think about that number. What happens when heat waves get more common?   Deaths in Chicago alone, from heat waves are projected to be over 2,000 people per year by the end of this century.   And yet, House Republicans in Congress are not even allowed to discuss Climate Change; party leaders have forbidden even discussion.  Its hard to see how Republicans can say they care about American citizens.

Taking action now will save us considerable money compared to doing nothing.  As Climate Change progresses, the costs will get higher and higher.  Many of these costs will be the burden of future generations.  They do not have a voice right now; it is our responsibility to leave a world for them that is safe and secure.
  
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Getting Skeptical about Skeptics
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