ApocaDocuments (10) for the "Climate Chaos" scenario from this week
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Sun, Feb 27, 2011
from National Geographic:
Small Nuclear War Could Reverse Global Warming for Years
Even a regional nuclear war could spark "unprecedented" global cooling and reduce rainfall for years, according to U.S. government computer models.
Widespread famine and disease would likely follow, experts speculate.
During the Cold War a nuclear exchange between superpowers--such as the one feared for years between the United States and the former Soviet Union--was predicted to cause a "nuclear winter."...
But nuclear war remains a very real threat--for instance, between developing-world nuclear powers, such as India and Pakistan....
The global cooling caused by these high carbon clouds wouldn't be as catastrophic as a superpower-versus-superpower nuclear winter, but "the effects would still be regarded as leading to unprecedented climate change," research physical scientist Luke Oman said during a press briefing Friday at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C. ...
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We'll just call it "nuclear spring"!
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Sat, Feb 26, 2011
from Scientific American:
Can Geoengineering Save the World from Global Warming?
As efforts to combat climate change falter despite ever-rising concentrations of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere, some scientists and other experts have begun to consider the possibility of using so-called geoengineering to fix the problem. Such "deliberate, large-scale manipulation of the planetary environment" as the Royal Society of London puts it, is fraught with peril, of course.
For example, one of the first scientists to predict global warming as a result of increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere--Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius--thought this might be a good way to ameliorate the winters of his native land and increase its growing season. Whereas that may come true for the human inhabitants of Scandinavia, polar plants and animals are suffering as sea ice dwindles and temperatures warm even faster than climatologists predicted.
Scientific American corresponded with science historian James Fleming of Colby College in Maine, author of Fixing the Sky: The Checkered History of Weather and Climate Control, about the history of geoengineering--ranging from filling the air with the artificial aftermath of a volcanic eruption to seeding the oceans with iron in order to promote plankton growth--and whether it might save humanity from the ill effects of climate change....
This idea of detonating bombs in near-space was proposed in 1957 by Nicholas Christofilos, a physicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory....
In short, I think it may be infinitely more dangerous than climate change, largely due to the suspicion and social disruption it would trigger by changing humanity's relationship to nature. ...
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Anything that makes climate change seem tame is a bit of all right with me, even if it's "infinitely more dangerous than climate change"!
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Thu, Feb 24, 2011
from PhysOrg:
US issues cheaper boiler rules
The US administration overhauled rules Wednesday to cut air pollution from industrial boilers and incinerators but at almost half the price of initial plans criticized by industrial groups.
US Environmental Protection Agency Assistant Administrator Gina McCarthy said the final regulations would provide benefits similar to the previous ones but at a reduced cost.
"The Clean Air Act standards we are issuing today are based on the best available science and have benefited from significant public input," said McCarthy, who heads the EPA's air and radiation office....
The initially proposed standard would have cost 20 billion dollars and the loss of 300,000 jobs, according to an industry-financed study. The EPA put its estimate at $3.5 billion.
In comparison, the EPA said the new version of the rule would cost $1.8 billion a year and create over 2,000 new jobs....
Aric Newhouse, senior vice president for policy and government relations at the National Association of Manufacturers, criticized what the called an example of the "EPA's aggressive, overreaching agenda."
"This is a harsh, inflexible rule that will cost jobs, hurt global competitiveness and may discourage projects that could otherwise lead to environmental improvements," Newhouse added in a statement.
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How dare you protect the environment with regulations!
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Thu, Feb 24, 2011
from Washington Post:
UN: Global warming rate could be halved by controlling ground-level ozone and methane, black carbon
The projected rise in global temperatures could be cut in half in coming years if world governments focused on reducing emissions of two harmful pollutants - black carbon and ground-level ozone, including methane - rather than carbon dioxide alone, according to a U.N. study released Wednesday.
The study, "Integrated Assessment of Black Carbon and Tropospheric Ozone," by the U.N. Environment Programme, shows the impact that the two short-lived pollutants have on the environment, compared with carbon dioxide, which can stay in the atmosphere for decades....
The impact from reducing short-lived pollutants such as black carbon and ground-level ozone such as methane is more immediately felt. Carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for years, so the effects of reducing the emissions take longer to register.
To reduce black carbon emissions, the study recommends placing a ban on open-field burning of agricultural waste, replacing industrial coke ovens with modern recovery ovens, introducing clean-burning biomass cook stoves for cooking and heating in developing countries and eliminating high-emitting vehicles. ...
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Am I allowed to light a candle of hope?
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Wed, Feb 23, 2011
from BBC:
Coral reefs heading for fishing and climate crisis
Three-quarters of the world's coral reefs are at risk due to overfishing, pollution, climate change and other factors, says a major new assessment.
Reefs at Risk Revisited collates the work of hundreds of scientists and took three years to compile.
The biggest threat is exploitative fishing, the researchers say, though most reefs will be feeling the impact of climate change within 20 years....
"The report is full of solutions - real world examples where people have succeeded to turn things around," said Dr Spalding.
"However, if we don't learn from these successes then I think that in 50 years' time, most reefs will be gone - just banks of eroding limestone, overgrown with algae and grazed by a small variety of small fish." ...
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You guys are forgetting all the flooded coastal cities -- there'll be new reef areas galore!
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Wed, Feb 23, 2011
from ScienceDaily:
6,000-Year Climate Record Suggests Longer Droughts, Drier Climate for Pacific Northwest
University of Pittsburgh-led researchers extracted a 6,000-year climate record from a Washington lake that shows that the famously rain-soaked American Pacific Northwest could not only be in for longer dry seasons, but also is unlikely to see a period as wet as the 20th century any time soon.
Lead researcher Mark Abbott, a Pitt professor of geology and planetary science, said those unusually wet years coincide with the period when western U.S. states developed water-use policies. "Western states happened to build dams and water systems during a period that was unusually wet compared to the past 6,000 years," he said. "Now the cycle has changed and is trending drier, which is actually normal. It will shift back to wet eventually, but probably not to the extremes seen during most of the 20th century." ...
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It never rains in sunny Seattle / and girl don't get rattled / when it pours / man it pours.
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Wed, Feb 23, 2011
from efinancialnews, thru DesdemonaDespair:
Climate change will force 40 percent shift in asset allocation
Institutional investors need to shift 40 percent of their portfolios into climate-sensitive sectors, including infrastructure and agriculture, to safeguard returns against the impact of global warming, according to consultant Mercer.
Mercer is the biggest investment consultant in the world. Its approach, backed in a report by global institutions managing $2 trillion, marks a radical shift of attitude towards climate change by institutions from governance to mainstream investment thinking.
Its 40 percent recommendation, designed to preserve a 7 percent a year return, is the result of a sophisticated investment modelling technique that Mercer will introduce to its clients this year. Using advice from the Grantham Research Institute, it has calculated that weather extremes, for example leading to floods and food shortages, could contribute 10 percent to portfolio risk by 2030....
But in its report - Climate Change Scenarios: Implications for Strategic Asset Allocation - Mercer says the time has come for climate hedging to begin. It suggests a higher allocation to climate-sensitive real estate, infrastructure, private equity, sustainable equity, renewable and commodity opportunities - all of which can produce returns regardless of climate change. ...
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We're getting better all the time at disaster capitalism!
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Tue, Feb 22, 2011
from Albany Times Union:
An assault on the environment
The new House Republican majority likes to say that the American people spoke last year. If the GOP's spending bill is any indication, it seems the American people are clamoring for more mercury in their fish, oil on their coasts and pollution in their drinking water.
Those would be just some of the environmental highlights of a House spending bill to keep the government running through Sept. 30. Or perhaps anti-environmental highlights would be more apt. Anti-health, too.
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It's simply ... anti-life.
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Tue, Feb 22, 2011
from The Daily Climate:
Sniffle, snort, achoo! Allergy season is extending, scientists find.
Bad news for - achoo! - those who sniffle, er suffer their way through ragweed - sniff, snort, itch - season: A team of researchers has found that increased warming, particularly in the northern half of North America, has added weeks to the fall pollen season. It's enough to make you grab a tissue: Minneapolis has tacked 16 days to the ragweed pollen season since 1995; LaCrosse, Wisc. has added 13 days, Winnipeg and Saskatoon in Canada have added 25 and 27 days, respectively. The new research, published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds the longer pollen seasons correlate with the disproportionate warming happening around the planet and attributed to greenhouse gas emissions. ...
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I think I'm allergic to climate change...
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Mon, Feb 21, 2011
from Charleston Daily Mail:
W.Va. Marcellus gas legislation ready for review
West Virginia lawmakers hope to focus this week on a single, catchall bill for developing the Marcellus shale natural gas field.
The legislation up for review seeks to address industry needs, environmental concerns, and the rights of mineral and surface owners.
The proposal would cover everything from applying for needed permits and drawing boundaries for drill sites to storing the large volumes of water needed to extract the gas.
Operators face $10,000 permit fees in the bill, along with paying $100 annually for the water storage impoundments. The measure also increases potential civil penalties, from a maximum of $2,500 to one of $10,000. ...
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Gee, I wonder whose needs will come first?
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