Hot Air

Something to keep in mind…


we must think and act now
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in ways that take into account
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the possibility that we will not be able to do
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the kinds of interventions in the future
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that we will be able to do now
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Rupert Read
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Solar with a sprinkling of nuclear ~ What's realistic?

This 2006 Sandia Labs paper focuses on world energy needs and suggests ways to become carbon neutral.

Sandia scientists have worked extensively on nuclear and solar energy research. Experts within and outside of Sandia contributed to this paper which is well worth reading. Their website also has a great deal of information.

Whatever you think about nuclear energy, nuclear power does not currently have the capacity to solve our energy problems. We cannot build the number of reactors needed to both capture and sequester the necessary amount of carbon in time. More importantly there is not enough uranium to power them for more than ten years. (See specifics below)

Their conclusion is that only solar has the potential scale to meet this challenge.

What are the world’s energy needs?

Projected world energy consumption per year:

• 2001 - 13.5 TW
• 2050 - 27.6 TW
• 2100 - 43 TW
• The world’s current yearly total energy requirements are 15TW per year.
(TW: terawatt = 1 trillion watts = 10 billion 100 watt light bulbs running simultaneously)

Projected Carbon emissions:
• 2001 - 6.6 GtC
• 2050 - 11.0 GtC
• 2100 - 113.3 GtC
1 Gt - gigatonne = 3.67 Gt CO2

Based on the ocean’s ability to absorb CO2, all future emissions must be absolutely limited to 1-2 GtC/yr.

This requires that emissions do not exceed the 6.6 GtC/yr level of 2001 emissions.

An important conclusion of the paper is to act now. If we wait to go C-neutral the problem becomes much harder.

We need about 15TW of total energy in the form of carbon neutral energy in order to stop emissions.

Could all of Earth’s needs for C-neutral power be derived from fossil fuels?

Not easily. All CO2. output from fossil-fuel power plants would need to be sequestered.

Could all of Earth’s C-neutral power be derived from sources that produce electricity?

No. Electricity is considered to be “high-grade” form of energy and is 3x more expensive than energy burned directly to power vehicles or heat houses. To be cost-competitive with current fuels, the price would have to be reduced to $0.02/kWh.

A worldwide adoption of a carbon tax would change this equation and make alternative energy sources cost-competitive. Since electricity would need to be used to generate fuels that are portable, an additional 1-3x in cost reduction may be necessary.

Some challenges associated with supplying C-neutral nuclear power

To produce 15 TW by 2050 would require roughly 14,636 new 1-GWe nuclear power plants. Construction of this number of plants would require, on average, the commissioning of a new nuclear power plant somewhere in the world every day continuously for 40 years.

These “slow-neutron” style reactors are:
• very expensive to build,
• require huge amounts of energy during construction.
• have safety issues,
• there is also only enough uranium in the earth to power these plants for 10 years once they are all operational.

So, it is extremely unlikely that traditional nuclear technology can solve the problem.
However, the development of new “fast-breeder” reactor designs may change this equation. Fast-breeder reactors generate their own fuel as they run, therefore availability of uranium would not be a problem. Numerous people are funding efforts to develop such technology.

Which renewable energy resources have the greatest potential for supplying 15 TW of C-neutral power?

The paper includes an excellent analysis of this question, investigating the various forms of renewable energy, including solar (photovoltaic, concentrated, and biomass), wind, ocean waves, and geothermal.

The conclusion of the analysis is clear – only solar has the potential to scale to meet this challenge.

What is the potential of solar energy?

The sun delivers more energy to Earth in an hour than we use in a year from fossil, nuclear and all renewable resources combined! Good news!

This theoretical potential could be used to generate 15 TW of C-neutral power from 10%- efficient solar-conversion systems covering only 0.17% of the Earth’s surface area.

To supply the (smaller) power that the U.S. consumed in 2001 (3.24 TW) with similarly efficient solar conversion systems would require a correspondingly smaller surface area. This is roughly 1.9% of the surface area (9,631,418 km2), and 2.0% of the land area (9,161,923 km2), of the U.S.

It is also roughly 30 times the total roof space (5,800 km2) that was estimated to be available in 2003 for photovoltaics in the U.S. It is comparable to the 1-1.5% of the U.S. land area that is covered by the nation's public roads; and is comparable to the land area of North Dakota (178,694 km2) or South Dakota (196,576 km2).

Altogether, the technical potentials can be estimated to be:

Solar electricity: 89,000 TWc · (1-0.708) · (1-0.0345) · (0.3) = 7,500 TWc
Solar fuels: 89,000 TWc · (1-0.708) · (1-0.0345) · (0.1) = 2,500 TWc
Solar thermal: 89,000 TWc · (1-0.708) · (1-0.0345) · (0.225) = 5,600 TWc

An important chart from the paper

GRAPH for nuclear etc.jpg
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HOT AIR NEWS ROUNDUP

Coal is the largest contributor to the human-made increase of CO2 in the atmosphere, 40% of the total. Coal has the highest carbon intensity per energy unit produced of all fuels. The Union of Concerned Scientists has an excellent website on all aspects of coal. This is an excellent article. Go check it out…

Global fossil fuel emissions have climbed upward for a second straight year, driven by growing energy use
Stanford News December 5, 2018

“Global energy demand is outpacing powerful growth in renewables and energy efficiency,” said Jackson, who is also a senior fellow at Stanford’s Woods Institute for the Environment and Precourt Institute for Energy. “The clock is ticking in our struggle to keep warming below 2 degrees.”

In the United States, emissions of carbon dioxide are projected to increase 2.5 percent in 2018 after a decade of declines. Culprits for the increase include unusual weather – a cold winter in Eastern states and a warm summer across much of the nation ramped up energy needs for seasonal heating and cooling – as well as a growing appetite for oil in the face of low gas prices.

“We’re driving more miles in bigger cars, changes that are outpacing improvements in vehicle fuel efficiency,” Jackson explained. Overall, U.S. oil use is on track to rise by more than 1 percent this year compared to 2017.

Coal chart 1 stanford.jpg

Energy demand is rising around the world. “It’s the first time in a decade that the economies of essentially all countries are growing,” said Jackson.

According to the study, the biggest change in carbon emissions this year compared to 2017 is a substantial uptick in both energy consumption and emissions in China. After four years of stable emissions amid pressure to improve air quality, the country has now hit the accelerator.

Global economic growth has increased demand for iron, steel, aluminum and cement manufactured in China. Meanwhile, a recent slowdown in China’s own economy prompted the country to shift its approach to energy development.

“China is jump-starting coal projects that were on hold,”
Coal chart 2 stanaford.jpg

'Brutal news': global carbon emissions jump to all-time high in 2018
The Guardian December 5, 2018

Almost all countries are contributing to the rise, with emissions in China up 4.7%, in the US by 2.5% and in India by 6.3% in 2018. The EU’s emissions are near flat, but this follows a decade of strong falls.

In the three years since the Paris agreement was signed, financial institutions have invested more than $478bn in the world’s top 120 coal plant developers, according to a report by the NGOs Urgewald, BankTrack and partners. Chinese banks led the underwriting of coal investments, while Japanese banks led the loans, the NGOs found.

In the US, emissions rose as an unusually cold winter and hot summer boosted demand for both heating and cooling in homes.

Interesting thoughts on the Green New Deal...

Why the Green New Deal Is the Stuff of Fantasyland
Naked Capitalism January 15, 2019

The false promise of the Green New Deal is that we can keep our high-consumption lifestyles. A lot of oxen would need to be gored if the public were to cut way back on activities like air travel that do a lot of damage. How many people are prepared to fly at most once a year or once every five years, to deal with a real emergency? And what would that do to jobs and investment portfolios? While Japan had enough social cohesion to embrace shared sacrifice in its post-bubble era (executives and top managers took permanent pay cuts to preserve employment), that capacity is notably absent in the US.
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The Green New Deal would emulate its predecessor’s use of public investment and hiring, improvement of wages, and socioeconomic safety nets to accelerate economic growth and reduce unemployment. That part of the vision should be pretty straightforward. But in asking whether success in reaching those economic goals could also help head off ecological catastrophe, we first need to take into account how the original New Deal worked, both as a civilian project and as it morphed into the war effort of the 1940s.
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The Green New Deal would not achieve an economic transformation; rather, it would hitch its sustainable-infrastructure investment and taxation reforms to the existing economy. It would leave the private sector untethered, free to produce for profit rather than for quality of life. Inevitably, pressure would build to crank the dirty energy back up.

To avoid that disaster, we need a strict national emissions ceiling that declines steeply year by year. Across the economy, resources must be diverted by lawaway from destructive and superfluous production, toward meeting human needs. Likewise, abuse of land, water, and ecosystems must be outlawed, no matter how much money-pain it causes those who’ve been enriched by that abuse.

This is a great article with lots of graphs…

2019 may be the warmest year on record as a result of an El Niño event exacerbated by global warming
World Resource Institute Yahoo News December 24, 2018

There is a 90 percent chance that El Niño will form and continue through the Northern Hemisphere winter of 2018-19 and a 60 percent chance that it will continue into the spring of 2019, according to the Climate Prediction Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

"What's interesting is that 2018 started out under La Niña conditions, which usually has a cooling influence on global temperatures, but it was not nearly enough to cancel out the warming from the release of man-made greenhouse gases," Anderson said.

The years 2014, 2015 2016 and 2017 all rank in the top four warmest years on record globally, ocean and land combined, with data going back to 1880, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

"It's not hard to see that with the potential added boost from another El Niño that 2019, or even 2020, is a pretty good bet to take out some of those years from the top four list," Anderson said.

Daily News Hungary January 4, 2019

With a view to implementation of the Paris climate accord, an environmental non-profit will be established in the Western Balkans and Hungary

Green Center Nonprofit is being jointly established by the ministry and the South Korean Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) to carry out climate protection activities in six countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

Australia 2019 – it’s time to Act on Climate Change, and for a Nuclear-Free Nation
Antinuclear January 2019

Australia, with its relatively small population, is the “canary in the mine” for developed countries experiencing climate change.

We need to:
• Show the world that we are part of the global co-operative effort to slow down climate change, and to adapt to its impacts.
• Australia must reverse its disgraceful history of subverting international action on climate change.
• Australia must help Pacific island nations to address sea level rise impacts, including accepting climate refugees

Climate change: Need for multipronged vision stressed
The Hindu January 11, 2019

on Thursday called for strategies that emphasised local-level planning and multidisciplinary approaches to effectively tackle climate change.

A training programme on ‘Climate Change and Disaster Mitigation’ organised here by the Institute for Climate Change Studies (ICCS) under the Environment Department looked at how the phenomenon impacted agriculture, town planning, and fisheries.

Climate Change and Africa – the role of African NGOs and of African Studies
Afircanations January 11, 2019

they call ‘a radical decentring of the human in African studies’. I argue that their reasoning is flawed and that if they want to study animal-human relationships, then the role of the Netherlands would be the most appropriate way to start.

Car Companies Aren’t Even Trying to Sell Electric Cars
Climate Change News January 15, 2019

This week at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, manufacturers are making good on their promise to phase out sedans in favor of more popular trucks and SUVs.  They are also making limited progress on their goal of building cheaper, better-performing electric cars.  But make no mistake, electric vehicles are still a side show for automakers.

Warning:  A ‘Shrinking Window’ of Usable Groundwater — and the Oil and Gas Industry Isn't Helping
Climate Change News January 13, 2019

We’re living beyond our means when it comes to groundwater.  That’s probably not news to everyone, but new research suggests that, deep underground in a number of key aquifers in some parts of the United States, we may have much less water than previously thought.

Climate Breakdown is getting traction at top level mainstream news…

Antarctica ice melt has accelerated by 280% in the last 4 decades
CNN January 8, 2019

A pair of new studies released on Monday share a same ominous message -- that our planet's ice is melting at an alarming rate, which is bad news for global sea levels.

New U.S. Oil and Gas Drilling to Unleash 1,000 Coal Plants’ Worth of Pollution by 2050
Climate Change News January 15, 2019

By 2030, the U.S. is on track to produce 60 percent of the world’s new oil and gas supply, an expansion at least four times larger than in any other country. By 2050, the country’s newly tapped reserves are projected to spew 120 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.

That would make it nearly impossible to keep global warming within the 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial averages,

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PROTESTS • EXTINCTION REBELLION • RESISTANCE
Students Strike for the Climate
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[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0lpEWIUwzs]
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watch and be inspired
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Fridays For Future

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Climate activists debate how to reach zero emissions in time
Socialist Action January 10, 2018

The reforms of the Roosevelt New Deal that actually benefited working people, including the implementation of Social Security, were only put in place because millions of workers and farmers undertook militant action in industry, against landlords, and for social services and aid.

Today, we are not only faced with an impending economic downturn but with a serious threat to the planet and human life itself. The Democratic Party has never taken on private profiteers in the manner needed today. The only way forward is the construction of a massive movement—reliant only on ourselves.

We must use the power of labor, the power of community organization, and create new institutions in which the movement can strategize to defeat the most powerful economic interests that have ever existed. Let’s take the discussion stimulated by the Green New Deal into these as yet uncharted waters now.

Dear BBC -by an ex-BBC journalist
Extinction Rebellion January 3, 2019

SOME EXAMPLES OF THE BBC IGNORING/NOT COVERING THE SEVERITY OF CLIMATE CHANGE

• The BBC refused to cover reports on the UN Security Council special conference on climate change in July 2018. Dire warnings were given about the security implications of mass migration caused by climate change.

• In September, the UN Secretary General appealed to news outlets to cover his upcoming speech on climate change and on 10 September he then delivered it, warning that we now face “a direct existential threat” and warned of “runaway climate change”. The BBC refused to cover that on TV or radio news.

• Following a string of stinging complaints, the BBC has given ground and promised to improve its coverage of news but it still refuses to allow the public to hear the really frightening material in connection with the various climate feedbacks and tipping points.

• Many campaigners fear the BBC has a policy of not frightening the public but we need to stop the censorship if people are to realise the seriousness of the situation and call for dynamic action to prevent catastrophe

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JOIN EX USA: on their website

Londoners rallied in climate strike inspired by 16-year-old
106.9 The X January 11, 2019

Londoners [Onterio, Canada] brought their signs and chants to City Hall this afternoon in a strike against climate change.

Demonstrators including students of all ages came out during school hours to support the climate strike. The crowd was met with support from honking cars passing by the busy intersection of Dufferin and Wellington.

 The London climate strike was hosted by the London chapter of Climate Save, Reimagine Co, as well as Extinction Rebellion Ontario.

The Save Movement is a global organization of different activism groups that seeks to raise awareness to the effects of animal agriculture and includes a Climate Save Movement here in London.

Thousands of students protest in Brussels seeking concrete action on climate change
Peoples Dispatch January 10, 2019

Thousands of young students marched on the streets of Brussels on Thursday, demanding concrete action to tackle climate change. According to news reports, the students marched under the banner, #YouthForClimate.

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ADAPTION AND RESILIENCE

World Bank Group Announces $50 billion over Five Years for Climate Adaptation and Resilience
The World Bank January 15, 2019 https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2019/01/15/world-bank-gr...

Under the plan, the World Bank Group will ramp up direct adaptation climate finance to reach $50 billion over FY21–25. This financing level—an average of $10 billion a year—is more than double what was achieved during FY15-18. The World Bank Group will also pilot new approaches to increasing private finance for adaptation and resilience.

Inside a Minnesota high school where climate change is the focus
MPR News January 10, 2019

The School of Environmental Studies is no ordinary high school.

It's tucked away in the woods on the edge of Apple Valley, on the grounds of the Minnesota Zoo. There are no sports fields, but there is a pond right out the front door where students learn to paddle and study the nutrients in the water.

The curriculum is different too: It's laser-focused on environmental issues, especially climate change.

A Call for the Food Movement to Get Behind the Green New Deal
Common Dreams January 14, 2019

“Just transitioning 10 percent of agricultural production to best-practice regenerative systems will sequester enough CO2 to reverse climate change and restore the global climate. Regenerative Agriculture can change agriculture from being a major contributor to climate change to becoming a major solution.”

New conservation practice could reduce nitrogen pollution in agricultural drainage water
PHYS ORG January 15, 2019

Every summer, a "dead zone" forms in the Gulf of Mexico. Plumes of oxygen-robbing algae, fed by excess nitrogen coming in from the Mississippi River, kill off marine life and threaten the livelihoods of those who fish the Gulf. States bordering the Mississippi River are putting strategies in place to limit nitrogen from wastewater treatment plants, surface runoff, and agricultural fields. In a new study, University of Illinois scientists have estimated that a new conservation practice known as saturated buffers could reduce nitrogen from agricultural drainage by 5 to 10 percent.

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WILDLIFE & THE ENVIRONMENT

Great Bear Rainforest ‘gift to the world’ came at our expense, says Kwiakah First Nation
The Narwhal January 15, 2019

A 2009 provincial land use order said that timber company Western Forest Products would be allowed to cut 27,000 cubic meters annually from the Kwiakah’s core territory in Phillips Arm. But under the Great Bear Rainforest agreement, B.C. Chief Forester Diane Nicholls gave Western permission to cut 41,600 cubic meters annually — 65 per cent more — in the area.

Then things turned even darker for the Kwiakah.

Last year, Western petitioned the B.C. Ministry of Forestry, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations to combine two timber licences it holds in the Great Bear Rainforest, which would theoretically allow it to cut 275,000 cubic meters annually from Kwiakah land, said Jeff Sheldrake, executive director of regional operations for the B.C. ministry.

Fuelling conditions at staging sites can mitigate Arctic warming effects in a migratory bird
Nature October 15, 2018

Based on a decades-long series of observations along an entire flyway, we show that when refuelling time is limited, variation in food abundance in the spring staging area affects fitness. Bar-tailed godwits migrating from West Africa to the Siberian Arctic reduce refuelling time at their European staging site and thus maintain a close match between breeding and tundra phenology. Annual survival probability decreases with shorter refuelling times, but correlates positively with refuelling rate, which in turn is correlated with food abundance in the staging area.

To Preserve National Parks in a Warming World, Reconnect Fragmented Public Lands
EcoWatch January 15, 2019

Over all of these issues looms the broadest threat: climate change. According to a meta-analysis of 123 research studies conducted between 1990 and 2010, nearly all the land administered by the National Park Service is located in areas of observed warming in the 20th century. And a 2018 study showed that the parks are bearing the brunt of climate change because many are located in regions that are hotter and drier than the nation as a whole.

Part of the National Park Service's mission is to conserve wild species and natural systems in the parks "by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." Climate change makes this an epic challenge. For example, Grand Canyon National Park's climate change action plan warns of more frequent droughts, habitat fragmentation, more frequent and intense wildfires and floods, and shrinking waterflows in the Colorado River.

In a 2017 study, researchers found that creating links among isolated preserves was a surprisingly effective way to maintain wild bird populations in Africa and Brazil. "The issues in the American West are the same," Duke University ecologist and study co-author Stuart Pimm told me. "A lot of the West is protected, but it's fragmented. Reestablishing that connectivity among public lands will give animals a chance to move, slowing down rates of local extinction."

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CLIMATE STUDIES

Warming oceans likely to raise sea levels 30cm by end of century – study
The Guardian January 10, 2019

The world’s oceans are warming at a faster rate than previously estimated, new research has found, raising fresh concerns over the rapid progress of climate change.

Warming oceans take up more space, a process known as thermal expansion, which the study says is likely to raise sea levels by about 30cm by the end of the century, on top of the rise in sea levels from melting ice and glaciers. Warmer oceans are also a major factor in increasing the severity of storms, hurricanes and extreme rainfall.

Research reveals strategies for combating science misinformation
Yale News January 14, 2019

Just as the scientific community was reaching a consensus on the dangerous reality of climate change, the partisan divide on climate change began to widen, a new study finds.

That might seem like a paradox, but it’s also no coincidence, according to Justin Farrell, a professor of sociology at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES). It was around this time that an organized network, funded by organizations with a lot to lose in a transition to a low-carbon economy, started to coalesce around the goal of undercutting the legitimacy of climate science, Farrell said.

Writing in the journal Nature Climate Change on Jan. 14, Farrell and two co-authors illustrate how a large-scale misinformation campaign has eroded public trust in climate science and stalled efforts to achieve meaningful policy, but also how an emerging field of research is providing new insights into this critical dynamic.

How much can forests fight climate change?
Nature January 15, 2019

Many scientists applaud the push for expanding forests, but some urge caution. They argue that forests have many more-complex and uncertain climate impacts than policymakers, environmentalists and even some scientists acknowledge. Although trees cool the globe by taking up carbon through photosynthesis, they also emit a complex potpourri of chemicals, some of which warm the planet. The dark leaves of trees can also raise temperatures by absorbing sunlight. Several analyses in the past few years suggest that these warming effects from forests could partially or fully offset their cooling ability.

Antarctica losing six times more ice mass annually now than 40 years ago
Science Daily January 14, 2019

"That's just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak," said lead author Eric Rignot, Donald Bren Professor and chair of Earth system science at UCI. "As the Antarctic ice sheet continues to melt away, we expect multi-meter sea level rise from Antarctica in the coming centuries."

For this study, Rignot and his collaborators conducted what he called the longest-ever assessment of remaining Antarctic ice mass. Spanning four decades, the project was also geographically comprehensive; the research team examined 18 regions encompassing 176 basins, as well as surrounding islands.

Scientists identify two new species of fungi in retreating Arctic glacier
EurekAlert! January 15, 2019

Two new species of fungi have made an appearance in a rapidly melting glacier on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic, just west of Greenland. A collaborative team of researchers from Japan's National Institute of Polar Research, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies in Tokyo, Japan, and Laval University in Québec, Canada made the discovery.

Study of Antarctic sea ice collapse warns of potential 10-foot sea rise
Think Progress January 15, 2019

The faster the ocean warms, the faster key Antarctic glaciers will disintegrate.

Warming ocean waters drove a 6-fold increase in annual ice mass loss from the Antarctic ice sheet between 1979 and 2017, according to a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

While the WAIS contains enough ice to raise sea levels some 20 feet, the EAIS contains enough ice to ultimately raise sea levels 170 feet. Although a complete melting of the Antarctic ice sheet will take many centuries, the new study suggests devastating sea level rise in this century

Scientists issue dire warning in new study finding last year was likely the hottest on record
Think Progress January 10, 2019

Last year was very likely the hottest year on record, according to the authors of a new study in the journal Science.

The study examined “multiple lines of evidence from four independent groups” measuring ocean heat and concluded “ocean warming is accelerating.”

Researchers found the rate of warming for the upper 2,000 meters of ocean has increased by more than 50 percent since 1991.

As a result, “2018 is shaping up to be the hottest for the oceans as a whole, and therefore for the Earth,” a press release accompanying the study explains.

Equivalencies:
• 1 gigatonne equals one billion tons
• 1 gigatonne of carbon equals 3.67 gigatonnes of CO2
• 1 part per million of atmospheric CO2 is equivalent to 7.81 gigatonnes of CO2
• 1 part per million of atmospheric carbon is equivalent to 2.13 gigatonnes of carbon

Global Warnings

QMS: Time to disconnect greed from the welfare of earth, if survival means anything. I like trees.

Paul Beckwith: "I declare a global climate change emergency to claw back up the rock face to attempt to regain system stability, or face an untenable calamity of biblical proportions."

Kevin Hester: "There is no past analogue for the rapidity of what we are baring witness to. There has been a flood of articles ... 2C is no longer attainable and that we are heading for dangerous climate change"

Guy McPherson: "The recent and near-future rises in temperature are occurring and will occur at least an order of magnitude faster than the worst of all prior Mass Extinctions. Habitat for human animals is disappearing throughout the world, and abrupt climate change has barely begun."

Magi Amma: We need to turn on a dime at mach nine!

Enjoy!
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magiamma's picture

the eye of the needle is clear
the shuttle is
flying
threading sky
blue threads wide
eyes wide open
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[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXC80ZXQhvQ]

For all the love you left behind you can have mine...

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Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

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Lookout's picture

is a hard sell, but necessary.
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2019/01/green-new-deal-stuff-fantasyland...

It could be part of the Green New Deal...must be a part. As well as my usual comment about reducing military and war...I wish it was renamed the Green Peace Deal.

Leave it in the ground
Stop promoting and fighting wars and use the funds to create a green economy.

It could be our great opportunity to save people and the ecosystem.

We could do it, but they will fight against people and planet (and for more profit) every step of the way. Looks like insects are showing us our future...
https://www.sentinelsource.com/news/environment/new-report-shows-massive...

Thanks for your thorough climate discussion every week and keeping this topic on the front burner so to speak.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

magiamma's picture

@Lookout
Green Peace Deal. Love it!!!

Agree. We must move the money from the military from the top 1% and pu it into the planet. Now.

Thanks for the story on disappearing insects. Sigh. Love the line in the song... for all the love you left behind you can have mine... be here now Lol have a great one

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ggersh's picture

I want to optimistic but tptb seem to have to firm
a grasp on everything that kills all of us. big sigh

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2019/01/this-part-of-antarctica-was-not-suppo...

This Part Of Antarctica Was Not Supposed To Be Shrinking

When scientists talk about Antarctic melting, they’re usually referring to West Antarctica, where giant coastal glaciers are shedding incredible amounts of water. But across the Transantarctic mountains to the east, there’s a much larger mantle of ice that’s generally thought to be keeping its chill. A new study, however, asserts that East Antarctica is also losing weight at a worrying clip.

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

magiamma's picture

@ggersh @ggersh
thanks for the article on east Antarctica. East Antarctica holds 52 of the 57 potential feet of sea level rise.

many studies (coming out ever week now - one or two of them) say the same thing - past geological history shows that temperature changes do not happen slowly. That once it reaches say 2 degrees C above preindustrial, it jumps to the hot earth scenario with up to 5 degrees C temps above. A lot of melting seems to be happening now - just in the five months that I have been blogging on this, keeping a close eye on it, ear to the ground so to speak. and that is that more and more studies are showing glacial melting everywhere. big sigh indeed. Edit

this is an image for west Antarctica that was publishedreported on in Oct 2018
melting glaciers.jpg

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ggersh's picture

@magiamma @magiamma I hope for the best but believe in this
case I'm wrong for thinking that way.

EDIT: adding a link to Coffee going extinct

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2019/01/16/future-coffee-doubt-60-pe...

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

magiamma's picture

@ggersh
trying not to be to selfish here. bc the reality it's just another canary in the coal mine if you will.

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I will read some when I get home tonight.
I don't know if this has been posted here before but I think it's interesting. I like the idea of having a volunteer crew that helps. It's like a meetup but with results.

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magiamma's picture

@randtntx
I watched the first few and learned so much. Big thank you ! Permaculture flash mob ! Green Peace Deal ! For all the love you left behind you can have mine... ! Peace love and trees ! Have a very good one... Lol

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@magiamma I like your phrase. How fun would it be to change all of suburbia's front lawns that way? What an awesome transformation it would be.
Regenerative agriculture seems to me to be one of the best things we could do right now. For our industrial food system it's crucial to switch over to those practices. We're killing ourselves with our industrial food system.

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magiamma's picture

@randtntx
we have to start somewhere and while we are doing that we can teach people how to eat better for the planet. and a bunch of other stuff. peace love and trees. seriously.

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mhagle's picture

@randtntx

Really amazing. We've been putting logs at the bottom of our raised beds and last year dug a pit that we loaded with dead trees, cardboard, trimmings, etc. Fall corn grew well on the pit last year. I am doing it all in relative ignorance though, so it was interesting to listen to the designers. Love the group work idea!!! Currently I do most of the work myself.

Thanks!

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

@mhagle "flash mob" as well. It seems like a good idea. I'm glad you saw the video. It sounds as if you are already using some of those methods. Hugelkulture seems promising and it makes sense. I can only try it by building berms because I have too much rock and so can't dig down very far.
Wishing you well with your garden this year. I enjoyed seeing your last season's harvest and hearing about your various techniques.

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mhagle's picture

@randtntx

I watch for your posts as well. Always interested in what you are growing down south of us. It seems like many folks build the hugelkulture mounds.

I watched several videos by the same people. Two other pieces of their advice I plan to follow = 1. Don't pull weeds. Cut them off and drop in place. 2. No monoculture. Mix up all the plants. The main reason for this is pest control. That certainly makes sense in regards to squash bugs. They said they don't have any pest problems at all and they do nothing.

Thanks again for the link!

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Instead of gated communities, they have gated bubbles.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

magiamma's picture

@dkmich
thanks for popping in. maybe gated communities for the trees, not so much for people. peace love and trees ! green peace deal...

just had a thought - what about making hot links out of your comments.

have a great one...

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Electric cars, light rail, trees, wind turbines, co-generation, trees, tidal power, better energy storage, water wheels, trees...
Use less, make more clean (energy).
Cheers

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magiamma's picture

@QMS
Heh. Green Peace Deal - we heard it here first.

The article on the green newpeace deal is a good read...

Have a good one... Lol

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being applied to everything? Why cost/benefit? Why not harm/benefit analysis? Instead of a big ledger totaling up dollars how about a big Harm-O-Meter. Instead of terms of harm per 100,000 people we add up the harms and benefits of everything, say someones trip to Burning Man. I mean, we have computers, right? Instead of harm per hundred thousand we apply the harm to individuals. This much harm would be leathal to 35 individuals. Your trip, your food, your lifestyle, your pollution, all the people exploited to make your Burning Man experience a reality.

Or lethal to puppies. Everybody likes puppies.

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@Snode @Snode Forgot to add that, Magiamma.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@Snode
principle. The US Government specifically rejected the use of the precautionary principal a few years back. Iirc, it was a reaction to its use in the EU with respect to pharma, GMOs, or both.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@enhydra lutris I guess sometimes the precautionary principle could work.

It just hit me, esp. with the environmental damage we're doing, that the "cost" of things put the playing field smack in the domain of those who will eventually accrue the "benefits" of our current level of civilization, and the cost is a known. If they can say for every 1,000 people .23 children will die from additional pollutants from fracking, how many will die from excess pollution from using the fracked oil? The pollution from getting the oil from here to there? The polluted water? How many whole kids from 100,000 people?

Maybe those dead kids are totally worth it, and it's just the cost of our way of life. I don't know. Just trying to look at it a different way.

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magiamma's picture

@Snode @Snode @Snode
yes. puppies. heh. harm/benefit analysis is something the ptb clearly do NOT want to focus on. they have had info on Climate Breakdown since the early 70s.

but, yes, a Harm-O-Meter for all the people that have already been affected and another for those that will soon be. just start with all the people that live near the coasts. They measure the amount of monetary loss to housing but not the lives impacted. que supressa. edit

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Thanks for Hot Air Magi, Happy Thor's day. God of thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing and fertility.

I think no conversation can be had without including the DoD, so in the belly of the beast I found this: https://climateandsecurity.org/podcast/
This is not new, maybe you included in previous editions and I missed it. I am listening this morning to Episode 6: A Conversation with Hon. Sherri Goodman, Senior Strategist, The Center for Climate and Security (January 15, 2019)
From "Bomb Lady" to "Godmother of Climate and Security". She coined the term "threat multiplier" for the death merchants. Good to know she has a clue, I think.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/embed/keyq57qQRvU width:450]

peace on earth

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magiamma's picture

@eyo
well, great find. thanks. I will use this in my next essay. yep, "the bomb lady" had a clue. keep digging this is super. have a wonderful day....

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@magiamma thanks, I downloaded the whole batch after watching Ep 6, it made me feel so good. Those people are Bernays specialists for sure, after Ep 2 I was all "maybe I really am a centrist capitalist"... LOL! nah, but I am loving Ep 3 'cause that guy coined the term "Natural Defense" he is my hero. I am learning a lot from these vids, from people I would never ever think about listening to. The solutions are all local and doable, get the DoD money and make it so. Let go of the free market death grip and let healing begin. good luck

peace

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magiamma's picture

@eyo
learning what from which videos - curious - if you have pointers. seemed like the one you posted - the grandma one - she was pretty mainstream with the lets not let the russians etc get any of our resources sort of like we need to be the ones that extract them. on the other hand there is a bit of realism to what she was saying. bc the world is not an ideal place. yet. I remember a time when we were all brothers and sisters and I could go pretty much anywhere, hitchhike, whatever and sync in w folks. was it bc we were young. but there was something there that is important - that we have lost. and I miss it. now is not then, but that does not mean that now it is not possible to have a unified feeling and a unified plan of action. just sayin'. wtf happened. peace love and trees.

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@magiamma right, that gave me a Sting earworm, thanks.

I learned things most people already know, probably. Like I forgot that congress ordered the DoD to pay attention in 2017, it's the law now. I never knew who Langevin was, I didn't even know we had congress people whose transport is a wheelchair right on D-Rhode Island, glub glub.
https://langevin.house.gov/press-release/langevin-amendment-climate-chan...

“This amendment is a responsible first step in recognizing what most of the world already knows – that climate change is real, and it will have a devastating effect on the readiness of our armed forces. I deeply appreciate the support of my colleagues in bringing a sober, fact-based approach to this critical issue of national security,” Langevin added.

Codified by congress now, so stfu Oklahoma snowball. heh

The interviewer, Sweta Chakraborty PH.D, asks each one "What keeps you up at night?" and by the end of my binge I was thinking "all one people"... about pentagon heads! heh love, Bernays.

I didn't know the military stops training soldiers at 90F, so they don't die. Also, they don't fire off live rounds when it's hot, because firestorms are a thing now.

Didn't know DoD spent a billion dollars on an F-35 building on an island in the Pacific that will be uninhabitable (no fresh water) by 2035. oops! Thank you for planning ahead now.

I didn't know there is some caucus in congress where they can't join unless they "bring someone from the other side", let me look it up on the wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_Solutions_Caucus
I didn't know there were so many caucuses! lol

I didn't know how DC talking heads pronounced "Norfolk", and it is funny as hell if you ask me. Funny! Boy do I feel like a west coast dweeb. Imagine Obomba pronouncing "folks" like that, that made me lol. Sorry I did not know the history of Norfolk Shipyard in total, it is amazing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_Naval_Shipyard

I didn't know so much about the coal yards in Maryland either, seems the east coast is sinking faster than the west, but it's 'cause the DoD is there focusing attention. "Don't rebuild in flood plains"? How about "Don't rebuild in areas that have burned twice already"?

King Julian says "You got to move it move it" because climate change sea level goes glub glub. Locals have only seen the beginning of DoD money, is what I am thinking and hoping now. Public/Private. What almost every one of those pentagon talkers says to the interviewer when asked what us normals can do, the answer was "contact your representative". So, they are still in wake up stage, trying to get the messages out to every budget planner everywhere. Where is the press? Still fighting about snowballs in Oklahoma. duh Regular citizens could and should agitate their legislators for local DoD money, why not. get creative

From Ep3 synopsis: "about the delicate relationship between “natural” and “national” security, how lessons and solutions from the Mississippi River Basin can inform the Mekong Delta (and vice versa), examples of nation-wide community resilience, solar power for dams..."

Oh man I did not know what a complicated mess the Mekong Delta is, so many borders to cross. In '95 I was all "Free Tibet", now wah. There are yuge water issues the world needs to work together on to avoid mass starvation. At the end, we are All One People. hurry up stop fighting

Ep 4. We removed a shit ton of weapons out of Syria before bombing them to death, I didn't know the extent. After that episode, and Rupert Read talking "what if we can't stop the end of civilization?" I think no way should there be hot cores left for the kids to cool down and clean up. No way! short-timers get lost

Blah! There is so much I don't know about the pentagon because war and killing repel me, they are not attractive or necessary in my view. DoD has more money than gawd, and now I see they have the knowledge and ability, why aren't they just saving people and the planet, not destroying them? War is not so smart if ya ask me, but I'm not the one with a PH.D.. good luck

This is too long already, blah blah blah. I wonder who sponsors that podcast?

Sponsorship opportunity
Exclusive Sponsor (Annual): $475k
Platinum (24 episodes): $120k
Gold (12 episodes): $60k
Silver (8 episodes): $40k
Bronze (4 episodes): $20k
Standard: (2 episodes): $10k
Friend: (1 episode): $5,000

thanks

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mhagle's picture

@eyo

This is very encouraging! I will watch them all. Great. Smile

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

@mhagle thanks, you inspire me so much I hope we meet someday too. I don't have any children of my own to worry about, but my neighbor's son is 14, old enough to read and understand the IPCC reports. What am I supposed to say to him? sheesh

Did you see the Rupert Read lecture and Q&A last week? Not one word about war or military, that blew my mind. No wonder it's the end of civilization if the main problem keeps getting ignored. wtf Oxford, they are slipping toward Cambridge. heh No, it was a good talk though, end timers unite.

something anything

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magiamma's picture

@eyo
for a great rundown. tmi indeed. heh. Think I will start with the one that has Rupert in it. I like him a lot and he is new to me.

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smiley7's picture

size atomic bombs exploding every second." ~ the ocean's warming article.

Good morning, magi; Another excellent Hot Air, thank you.

Hoping you've a joyful day.

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magiamma's picture

@smiley7
the ocean warming rate is worrisome. understatement. sigh.
thanks for the music always - loved the magic
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRg_8NNPTD8]

green peace deal, peace love and trees, have a wonderful day sir...

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mhagle's picture

Lots of good material to ponder in the OT and comments! Thank you!

In a bit I am going to endeavor to work outside. In the big picture there is much to do. However, I try to think in terms of the many small projects.

Wishing you a great day! Smile

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

magiamma's picture

@mhagle
torrential rains here 2" by the end of the day, and sustained winds last night of 35 mph for hours and hours. poor trees. I didn't think there was anything left to blow off. wrong. massive. I too really enjoyed the flash mob sustainable gardening video. hope to share that with folks around here.

have a good day in the garden...

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enhydra lutris's picture

rundown. I had an involuntary chuckle triggered by this bit:

Could all of Earth’s C-neutral power be derived from sources that produce electricity?

No. Electricity is considered to be “high-grade” form of energy and is 3x more expensive than energy burned directly to power vehicles or heat houses. To be cost-competitive with current fuels, the price would have to be reduced to $0.02/kWh.

Hello? Their assumptions and cultural bias is showing. No, can't be done, but it we made it profitable, then, it would get done. The whole world must always operate on a "profits first and foremost" capitalist basis and model. Heh.

Gotta go finish getting ready to head on out of here. Take care.

Have a great one.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

enhydra lutris's picture

@enhydra lutris
getting it together here.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

magiamma's picture

@enhydra lutris
have a good trip wherever you are off too. if the rains have not hit you yet, hold on to your socks. (heard that first at a gathering for the karmapa in the sf laundry agitator building near japan town. intro by trungpa. last thing he said was hold onto your socks. heh.) anyhow, have a great one.. and yeah, absolutely biased but much of the math is good. Lol (I loves me my math stuffs)

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divineorder's picture

As to

Whatever you think about nuclear energy,

Solar:

Food choices

#

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

magiamma's picture

@divineorder
thanks for the tweets and links. I am seeing a lot of news about not eating red meat in the msm now. at least.

hmmm... the amount of co2 that needs to be captured and sequestered is challenging. I am not sure what the answer is. I just keep throwing stuff out there so people can be informed. this sandia paper is very coherent and accurate. the best collection of info I can find so far.

what I think today is that...

-nuclear is not going to work. that's the bottom line. it's too expensive to build and it takes a long time to build even one reactor. and great number of them would be needed to do the job. not to mention all the other problems/issues. there are people/countries researching other types of nuclear reactors. I know little about that at this point.

-there are people researching other types of solar and the folks that wrote this paper think that solar is the way to go. solar is a lot easier and faster to get up and running. time is of the essence. lots of research into new kinds of solar also.

I think that there are probably things that have not been realized yet. thanks for keeping the focus on this. have a good one...

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smiley7's picture

@magiamma

should be pleased, too. Have to share this news with my son. Smile

Haven't read the latest Nature briefing; but it appears women in nature sciences receive less money for awards than men; imagine that?

Your latest music playing for first time as i write, smiling.

Stay as dry as one can when the rain pours down, be safe.

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magiamma's picture

@smiley7
and I didn't melt. learned that growing up in oregon. diet for a small planet has some good stuff on complementing proteins. no, not in as what a nice protein you are. but how to match them to make a perfectly balanced protein like an egg has. thanks for the latest installment of tunes. the visuals on it were amazing. hope you are feeling better as well. take good care.

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