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And we thought the swimsuit issue was hot
-- Jim -- 03/07/2007
Read the Sports Illustrated story here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more/03/06/eco0312
New Species as Food Chain Declines
-- Adam -- 03/07/2007
The Santiago Times reported today on the research being conducted on the seas formerly beneath icecaps Larsen A and Larsen B. Various marine species, including a suprising number of Minke whales, have filled into areas once occupied by ice. The newly exposed seabed is host to several previously unknown species, such as 15 new types of amphipods and 4 cnidarians. The reality is that, despite these scientific discoveries, the net ecological effect of the icecap failure has been negative. Krill, which provide nutriment to numerous larger species, depend on algae that grows beneath ice shelves. A further decrease in ice cover will bring further reductions in the Antarctic Ocean food chain.
South Carolina’s Clyburn Joins the Alternative Fuel Bandwagon
-- John -- 03/06/2007
On Friday of last week, Congressman James Clyburn (D-SC) spoke on a local AM radio station about global warming and the possibilities for alternative fuels like cellulosic ethanol. According to Clyburn, “There is something taking place with climate change. Global warming is a reality and we need to come to grips with that. It means we have to do some serious things about protecting our environment, about controlling the CO2 that is going out into the atmosphere.” But our burning of fossil fuels also contains a national security aspect: “We would not be bogged down in the quagmire in the Middle East were it not for oil. So what we’ve got to do, I believe, is rid ourselves of our dependence on foreign oil. And the only way I know for us to do that is by developing what I call ‘home grown’ and ‘American-owned’ alternatives to fossil fuels. And I believe that is to found in the rural communities of our country.” The Congressman then mentioned switch grass projects in Minnesota and South Dakota, and corn in Nebraska and Iowa. In South Carolina, even more potential crops exist, including sweet potatoes, kudzu, sugar beets, soybeans, and sugar cane. Said Clyburn: “So there is tremendous reservoir in South Carolina, all we have to do is develop the will to get out in front of this.” Congressman Clyburn has recently earmarked $1 million for South Carolina universities to study different crop possibilities for South Carolina. You can hear the entire interview here.
Tundra Tumbles
-- Adam -- 03/06/2007
A group of Canadian researchers say that global warming will have a greater ramifications for tundra habitats than previously though, CBC News reports. The team looked at the advance of the treeline during the period between 1925 and 1950 and found it expanded at a "rapid rate" with increased temperatures during that period. Presumably we can expect significant declines in land area where species like wild sheep and caribou spend most of their lives. Further, the spread of forest cover is expected the exacerbate warming trends. More leaves will absorb greater amounts of sunlight than lighter-colored tundra grasses and conduct more heat energy into the surrounding atmosphere. The tipping point could be closer than we think in the Great White North.
Trends Grim for Two Greenhouse Giants
-- Adam -- 03/05/2007
The San Francisco Cronicle and the New York Times featured stories today on the world's two largest producers of carbon emissions, the U.S. and the P.R.C. namely. The yet-to-be-completed United States Climate Action Report projects a continued 11 percent increae in greenhouse emissions between 2002 and 2012. Experts have reportly stated this addition of warming gases is "unacceptable" with what is known now about its likely impacts. Meanwhile, mainland China is set to overtake America as the top producer of the gases, even as America's emissions grow steadily. The Chinese government's piecemeal efforts to reduce pollution have had no real up to this point in slowing the growth. Reporter Robert Collier notes, "The Chinese government recently admitted that global warming will dramatically impact China's ability to feed its people. A government report released in January said that climate change will cause China's production of wheat, corn and rice to drop by as much as 37 percent over the next 50 years."
‘All the News That’s Fit to Print’
-- Mike -- 03/03/2007
In the midst of enduring a very long flight delay in Columbia, S.C., I picked up a copy of today's New York Times. Here's three of the headlines from the paper's front page:
U.S. Predicting Steady Increase for Emissions
And then on page A9:
Evangelical's Focus on Climate Draws Fire of Christian Right
There you have it. Four articles specifically about or in some way related to global warming in just this one edition of the New York Times. And I haven't even finished reading the entire paper yet...
Senator Chris Dodd meets South Carolina’s conservation community
-- John -- 03/02/2007
Senator Chris Dodd sat down today with members of South Carolina’s conservation community to talk about global warming and energy policy. In a wide-ranging discussion that lasted nearly an hour, the Senator addressed a number of themes, including his support for the Boxer-Sanders “Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act” (which is the strongest current emissions-reduction bill in the Senate); the importance of national leadership on answering climate change; increasing CAFE standards; and promoting the fight against global warming in ways that enhance personal lifestyles and quality of life. Said Dodd, “It is really important that we empower people with the notion that we can solve this.” In that respect, framing the answer to global warming as a struggle between the free market and government regulation leads to a “superficial debate”; according to Dodd, legislation can provide incentives to make green alternatives financially attractive to the business community: “With marketing techniques, you can move people in the right direction.”
Fighting Global Warming, Creating Good Jobs
-- Mike -- 03/01/2007
The Associated Press is reporting that "Germany's Solarworld AG will invest $397 million in a newly acquired factory in Hillsboro, Ore., that will help it double its solar-cell and wafer production by 2010, creating at least 1,000 jobs, the company's chief executive said Thursday." Money quote from Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski:
"This is a major step forward not only for our environment, but also Oregon's economy."
Scientists Offer Policy Proposals
-- Adam -- 02/28/2007
Yet another scientific report was released today by a group of scientists supporting quick action on climate change, both Reuters and the LA Times report. The group, funded by the United Nations Foundation and Sigma Xi, proposes a ban on construction along beachs, no new construction of coal-fired power plants, higher efficiency standards, and carbon taxes, among other things. Still, even with these actions, some warming is inevitable. The report suggests that the key is getting started now. This development is particularly positive because it provides several policy recommendations with scientific backing following the IPCC report.
James Hansen: No New Coal
-- Adam -- 02/27/2007
Honored NASA climate scientist James Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, called for a moratorium on the construction of any new coal-fired power plants on Monday before the National Press Club, the AP reports. He said that coal burning constituted "the big amount" of carbon emissions contributing to global warming today. Further, he said that, by the middle part of this century, plants that do not have ways to sequester carbon dioxide "must eventually be bulldozed". He offered increased efficiency as the way to compensate for the subsequent reductions in electricity supply.
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