liveonearth: (hotspring geology rainbow)
They're predicting that in most parts of the world the new "average" will be warmer than the previous "hot" (exceeds bounds of historical variability), beginning between 2033 and 2061 (global average 2047 if we keep going the way we are). Local variations are expected. Tropical regions should get uncomfortable before elsewhere. Even a serious effort to stabilize spiraling greenhouse gas emissions will only stave off these changes until around 2069. The study was published in Nature and included 39 different models from 21 teams in 12 countries, which surprisingly all pretty much agreed.

'Uncomfortable' climates to devastate cities within a decade, study says, John Roach NBC News

Study Abstract
Ecological and societal disruptions by modern climate change are critically determined by the time frame over which climates shift beyond historical analogues. Here we present a new index of the year when the projected mean climate of a given location moves to a state continuously outside the bounds of historical variability under alternative greenhouse gas emissions scenarios. Using 1860 to 2005 as the historical period, this index has a global mean of 2069 (±18 years s.d.) for near-surface air temperature under an emissions stabilization scenario and 2047 (±14 years s.d.) under a ‘business-as-usual’ scenario. Unprecedented climates will occur earliest in the tropics and among low-income countries, highlighting the vulnerability of global biodiversity and the limited governmental capacity to respond to the impacts of climate change. Our findings shed light on the urgency of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions if climates potentially harmful to biodiversity and society are to be prevented.
liveonearth: (microbes)
Only one type of plastic does not float *in salt water at least*, and that is type I PETE plastic, the hard clear kind that drink bottles are made of. It is the most abundantly manufactured kind, and it does not float.

Types of Plastic:
1 PET
2 HDFE
3 PVC (rafts)
4 CDPE (bags)
5 PP
6 PS (polystyrene)
7 Other

I posted once about the Great Pacific Waste Dump, basically just parroting media hype. It turns out the plastic in the ocean is mostly in tiny bits instead of in a big island of capped bottles. It is thickest in the five GYRES on the planet, which appear to me to be doldrums where there are no tradewinds or strong currents. The most directly alarming thing about the litter of plastic bits is that it is covered in life that is migrating in a whole new way. Barnacles, biofilm and plankton all hitch a ride or get tangled in the mess. We had NO IDEA what this is going to mean in the long run. A new name has been coined for all the microorganisms on the polypropylene and polyethlene in the ocean: the Plastisphere. The only organism named by Emelia DeForce PhD in last night's Science Pub talk was Vibrio, the same genus as cholera. I was dying to ask if MRSA was on the plastic around Hawaii but we left because the line was long and we were done. All the factoids in this post are courtesy of Dr DeForce.

Plastic is made from crude oil into nerdles (sp?), which are small balls of hard petroleum product. Those can then be shipped to the manufacturers who combine them with additives and make their product.
liveonearth: (Montana Mountains)
‎We need wilderness
whether or not we ever set foot in it.
We need a refuge
even though we may never need to go there....
We need the possibility of escape
as surely as we need hope.

--Edward Abbey

And in case you care, wilderness in Utah and Wyoming just won a reprieve from development. Oil and gas developers want to extract from public lands there, and were thwarted one more time in court.

At the time this appeal began, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management had already issued thousands of leases for energy development in the states with contested leases, including nearly 17,000 leases in Wyoming and more than 4,100 leases in Utah. The oil and gas industry had only developed 33 percent of its leases in Wyoming and 22 percent of its leases in Utah, leaving millions of acres open to energy development where the Interior Department has already issued leases.
liveonearth: (hand)
This engineer (ironically named Mix) knew that the 4/20/10 BP oil geyser was bigger than the company had told the media, and they're arresting him for deleting 300 text messages on that subject. Not to be totally uppity but I KNEW at the time that the guesstimated amount was likely to be false and low. Anybody with half a brain knew the number was not likely to be the eventual truth. They just picked a nice round number and were sticking to it. It sorta sickens me to see an engineer go down for this. Somebody higher on the food chain is more responsible, and for more heinous crimes.

READ ALL ABOUT IT
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/energy-environment/justice-dept-makes-1st-arrest-in-bp-oil-spill-ex-engineer-accused-of-obstruction-of-justice/2012/04/24/gIQAOuKieT_story.html?wpisrc=al_comboNE_b
liveonearth: (mad scientist's union)
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2011-temps.html <---On this page there's a super illustration of the changes in surface temperatures since we humans started writing down our findings.
liveonearth: (part of the solution)
ENERGY LITERACY
CONSERVATION
RESILIENCE
RELOCALIZATION
FAMILY PLANNING
BEAUTY
BIODIVERSITY
the Post Carbon Institute, that is )
liveonearth: (Default)
http://www.postcarbon.org/blog-post/523782-memo-to-the-occupied-movement-a

His point: we need a new paradigm, because the era of oil-fueled expansion, growth and "progress" is OVER. The new paradigm must involve a sustainable economic model which will be more local.
liveonearth: (Default)
....this is a "holy shit!!" for me....

from the Washington Post:
----------------------------------------
Economy/Business News Alert: Apple surpasses Exxon to become world's largest company
August 9, 2011 1:35:58 PM
----------------------------------------

Apple overtook Exxon Mobil as the world’s most valuable company Tuesday, as the computer company’s stock continued to defy a slowing market.

The changing of the guard is due in part to a market slowdown that has depressed oil prices and taken Exxon Mobil stock down significantly. But the switch is also a testament to Apple’s gravity-defying growth.
liveonearth: (Default)
It's a great idea: base our hopes and dreams on a Happiness Index instead of the GDP...
liveonearth: (Default)
Here's the text of a speech given by Richard Heinberg (the peak oil guy) to a set of college grads about entering the world as it exists today----on the downslope of the production curve. His words are oriented at helping them get past the denial that grips their parents, and "make the best of it".

... if you apply the critical thinking skills that you’ve learned here at WPI to an examination of the relevant data, you’ll probably come to the same conclusion as has been reached by the overwhelming majority of scientists who have studied all of these questions in great depth. Indeed, the scientific community is nearly unanimous in assessing that the Earth is warming, and that the only credible explanation for this is rising levels of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels. That kind of consensus is hard to achieve among scientists except in situations where a conclusion is overwhelmingly supported by evidence.
liveonearth: (Default)
Everyone is so upset about it. The lady next to me on an airplane said "It's not fair!" and I had to ask her what wasn't fair about gas costing $4/gallon. I didn't understand her answer. And I tried. It had to do with corrupt politicians, but corrupt how? What exactly are the politicians doing that makes the price of gas unfair? How exactly is it Obama's fault? Someone said he wanted the US price of gas to go up to European levels. Please inform me if you understand this. It seems to me that we as a nation have been paying off the gas companies in the form of subsidies and lax regulation. They claim the opposite, that the burden of regulation and taxation is destroying them. But then the numbers come through, how much money Exxon makes, or Chevron, Citgo or whoever. These companies are raking in billions, and getting tax breaks to boot. It's not clear exactly how those billions get distributed to humans who can spend them. Except for the CEO, who is not going hungry. Maybe the money America gives to gas companies is why gas prices are as low as they are. Maybe if we stop subsidizing oil, the prices will go up. To the real price. That would be the only way we could stop subsidizing them, is if we'd be willing to pay the cost directly instead of through our system of government. And the only way we'll get our gas for cheaper is if we get it ourselves with less waste, extravagance and middle men. I wouldn't be surprised if Obama has this in mind with his plan to expedite drilling in Alaska and the Atlantic. And I'm certain he wouldn't mind depriving the big oil companies of some profit, but he's not allowed to say or act on that. I am, though, being nobody out here on the web.
liveonearth: (Default)
In order:
1) EXXON Mobil: 2009 $19 billion in profits, paid no taxes and got a $156 million IRS rebate according to SEC
2) BANK of AMERICA: 2010 $4.4 billion in profits, nearly $1 trillion bailout, and $1.9 billion tax refund
3) GE: $26 billion in US profits past 5 years, $4.1 billion tax refund (friends work there)
4) CHEVRON: 2009 $10 billion profits, $19 million tax refund
5) BOEING: $30 billion Pentagon contract, $124 million tax refund in 2010 (plant in my hometown)
6) VALERO Energy: 2010 $68 billion in sales, $157 million tax refund, and $134 million tax break from the oil and gas manufacturing tax deduction (25th largest co in US)
7) GOLDMAN SACHS: 2008 profit $2.3 billion, $800 billion bailout, paid 1.1% of its income in taxes
8) CITIGROUP: 2010 over $4 billion in profits, $2.5 trillion bailout, paid no federal income taxes (worst credit cards I ever had, except maybe for AmEx)
9) CONOCOPHILIPS: 2007-09 made $16 billion in profits, received $451 million in tax breaks (oil & gas deduct) (#5 oil co in US)
10) CARNIVAL Cruise Lines: 2005-10 made $11 billion in profits, fed income tax rate 1.1%

Sanders suggests:
--closing corporate tax loopholes
--eliminating tax breaks for oil and gas companies
--introduced legislation to impose a 5.4% surtax on millionaires-->$50 billion a year
--spending cuts must be paired with new revenue

SOURCE
compiled by Senator Bernie Sanders
http://carloz.newsvine.com/_news/2011/03/27/6355442-tax-time-not-for-giant-corporations-the-top-ten-tax-avoiders-who-refuse-to-pay-up-and-share-the-sacrifice
Hat tip: BuzzFlash.com
liveonearth: (Default)
That's what it sounds like from the letter behind the cut (at bottom), anyway. Then I searched and found that there are some senators working to strengthen the Clean Air Act on some specific pollutants, specifically with regard to coal. And frankly, I'm all for it. We need clean air. Clean air makes all the difference. I come from East Tennessee, the land of acid rain and asthma. And I have lived where the air is clean. I know the difference.

The specific proposals are to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 80% by 2018, mono-nitrogen oxides by 53% and mercury by 90% by 2015. I don't know a thing about the technology involved, but if these adjustments ARE technologically feasible we absolutely should require that our plants do them. Even knowing that we have to pay for it. Sulfur dioxide is the main thing that causes acid rain, and acid rain kills the trees and depletes the soil and turns the land into waste. It is the nightmare that people have when they think about nuclear devastation, only it happens. Nitrogen oxide contributes to acid rain. Mercury is just plain old toxic, neurotoxic and hard to get rid of. If we can stop plants from blowing mercury into the air, it won't get rained into the water, and it won't concentrate in the fish or come pouring through our taps. We won't be so poisoned.

Oh, you say, you're not poisoned? Don't check your own heavy metals if you don't want to know.

On the subject of fossil fuel dependence, here's a short history from the Post Carbon Institute.


this letter from CREDO action in my email inbox today )
liveonearth: (Default)
I know that burning fossil fuels has changed the gas content of the atmosphere such that polar ice is melting and sea levels are rising faster than they would have because more of the sun's rays are trapped. I know this. It isn't just some theory to me, it is something backed up by so many streams of evidence that I can't argue against it any more than I can argue against evolution. And unfortunately I totally forgot all the specific factoids that I assimilated to arrive at that view. I'm sure there were bajillions of them. Now my mouth is to a different firehose.
more )
liveonearth: (Default)
Texas and the Republicans are dead set against requiring utilities to generate x power per y emissions, but it sounds like a good idea to me. I'd like to breathe good air, please. I don't want anyone else in my family to become asthmatic because of coal burning in their region. And as for global warming, well, it's not easy to pin down and it's hard for me to get as excited about it as some people do. I do think our climate is changing and that we have increased the rate of change by our burning of fossil fuels. I am not sure that we can change that rate of change now that it has been initiated. But I'm diverging from the subject, which is that the Obama administration, specifically the EPA, is moving forward to enforce the Clean Air Act after Congress has failed to take any action on the issue. They've begun to take on specific state officials in the state of Texas who refuse to enforce federal laws.

I am going to begin to make posts in defense of Obama. Somebody needs to.
Notes from a 12/23/10 Wall St Journal article )
liveonearth: (Default)
What a wild ride 2010 has been! A Gulf oil rig blows up; a West Virginia coal mine explosion kills 29; Greece and Ireland teeter on the edge of default; governments around the world rearrange the deck chairs through austerity measures and quantitative easing; the hottest year on record creates catastrophic floods and fires across the globe; the International Energy Agency finally acknowledges peak oil (saying that it happened five years ago!); and US midterm elections promise another two years of gridlock and political grandstanding.

from the Post Carbon Institute

also interesting, a view of where we are in the pattern of resource and culture:
http://www.postcarbon.org/article/178709-the-end-of-growth

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liveonearth: (Default)
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