The Rains of Climate Change, Voracious Locust Swarms Wreck Crops in Russia | robertscribbler

Posted on by

This year was supposed to set new records for Russian grain production. But that was before a persistent trough in the Jet Stream funneled storm after storm over the Ukraine through Western and Central Russia setting off record extreme rainfall events. Before a swarm of locusts invading further north earlier than is typical ravaged over 170,000 ares of corn in Southern Russia. Now the combined insect plague and stormy weather has put cereal crops at risk of shortfalls.

Source: The Rains of Climate Change, Voracious Locust Swarms Wreck Crops in Russia | robertscribbler

Spike in Alaska wildfires is worsening global warming, US says | Environment | The Guardian

Posted on by

The devastating rise in Alaska’s wildfires is making global warming even worse than scientists expected, US government researchers said on Wednesday.

The sharp spike in Alaska’s wildfires, where more than 5 million acres burned last year, are destroying a main buffer against climate change: the carbon-rich boreal forests, tundra and permafrost that have served as an enormous carbon sink.Northern wildfires must now be recognised as a significant driver of climate change – and not just a side-effect, according to the report from the US Geological Survey.   Source: Spike in Alaska wildfires is worsening global warming, US says | Environment | The Guardian

Save

Arizona Public Service attempts to weaken net metering – again: pv-magazine

Posted on by

GR:  The Arizona Corporation Commissions accepts public comments on pending cases.  The comment must refer to the docket number.  I do not know the number.   If you find it, put it in a comment and I will be happy to help publicize the opportunity to give opinions.

Here’s another interesting bit about APS in PV Magazine by Christian Roselund:  “Arizona Public Service (APS) was the first major U.S. utility to successfully impose discriminatory charges on its customers who install solar under net metering in 2013. Since that time dozens of utilities around the United States have attempted to do the same, under allegations that PV system owners are shifting the costs to other customers.

“The utility temporarily held off on efforts last fall to introduce further charges for PV system owners, but has not given up. Today APS filed to impose charges and reduce compensation for PV system owners under net metering, as part of a larger rate filing. This filing begins a process under which state regulators will consider the proposal, which is expected to take around a year.”  Source:  Arizona Public Service attempts to weaken net metering – again: pv-magazine

Save

Best Protected Great Barrier Reef Corals Are Now Dead | Climate Central

Posted on by

GR:  Marine parks can’t protect coral from global warming.

 :  The colorless coral corpses of north Queensland will soon be blanketed with mats of algae, and the hard skeletons will begin to crumble. It may take decades for the submerged wonders of what had recently been unspoiled reefs to resprout and recover from the wipeout, if they ever do.

Temperatures continue to rise worldwide. The amount of heat-trapping pollution released every year from fuel burning and deforestation has plateaued in recent years, while the amount of pollution in the atmosphere continues to pile up. Bleaching is caused primarily by warm waters, and the current worldwide bleaching is the third and worst on record, all since the late 1990s.

The extent of the coral wipeout was particularly remarkable because it occurred inside one of the world’s best protected natural areas. Fishing restrictions and other rules are in place to protect reefs that serve as nurseries for large fisheries and as drawing cards for a tourism-heavy economy.

“The coral animal is the keystone species on a coral reef — like the trees in a forest,” Kline said. “When the corals die you lose the three-dimensional structure that’s really important. A lot of these fish, their larval stages depend on hiding in among the corals to hide from predators.”

Kline said the Great Barrier Reef is inside what’s considered to be “one of the best managed and most successful” marine parks in the world.

Source: Best Protected Great Barrier Reef Corals Are Now Dead | Climate Central

 

Save

Arizona Public Service seeks to raise costs for solar customers | azdailysun.com

Posted on by

GR:  The justification for raising costs for solar customers is without merit.  The idea from the start has been to encourage the switch to solar.

BOB CHRISTIE Associated Press:  The most contentious parts of the proposal are likely to be the new “demand charges” and the ending of “net metering” for solar customers.

Net metering pays homeowners with rooftop solar full retail rates for excess power sent back to the grid. APS is proposing to pay only wholesale market rates for that power, a rate that will dramatically cut the amount of credits solar customers receive. APS and other utilities have been pushing for the changes in recent years, arguing that they unfairly benefit solar customers while shifting costs of maintaining the grid to non-solar customers.  Source: APS seeks 8 percent rate boost, solar changes | Local | azdailysun.com

Save

Save

Voluntary family planning to minimise and mitigate climate change | The BMJ

Posted on by

What is the relation between population and environmental impact?

During 1971-72, Ehrlich and Holdren identified three factors that create humanity’s environmental (including climatic) impact, related by a simple equation2:Environmental impact, I =P×A×T.  in which A is affluence (material consumption and the concomitant “effluence” of pollutants such as carbon dioxide (CO2) per person); T is technology impact per person (in which fossil fuels measure more highly than solar based energy); and P is population (the number of people).

Population’s effect on the other two factors is multiplicative. Reducing P can reduce environmental impact if the other factors are constant. In fig 1⇓, for example, fewer people requiring food would manifestly reduce the startling 30% of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and meat production combined (including CO2 from deforestation, methane from livestock, and nitrous oxide from fertilisers).3 That said, other contributory factors, including the worldwide trend towards higher meat consumption, must also be reversed.

Source: Voluntary family planning to minimise and mitigate climate change | The BMJ

Save

Save

Australian state MP admits eating elephant he shot in Zimbabwe | Australia news | The Guardian

Posted on by

A member of the New South Wales parliament belonging to the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party has revealed he once shot and ate an elephant while hunting in Zimbabwe.Robert Borsak has previously admitted shooting an elephant during an African hunting tour, with a picture of the state senator kneeling beside the kill sparking controversy.

According to the Zambezi Society, a conservation group, elephant populations in Zimbabwe have fallen dramatically in the past 15 years, particularly in the Middle Zambezi Valley, where last January there were around 11,500 elephants, down from 18,000 in 2001.

Source: Australian state MP admits eating elephant he shot in Zimbabwe | Australia news | The Guardian

Save

Elephants could vanish from one of Africa’s key reserves within six years | Environment | The Guardian

Posted on by

Elephants could disappear from one of Africa’s most important wildlife reserves within six years unless industrial scale poaching is stopped and mining is brought under control, the WWF has said.

Selous national park, a world heritage site in southern Tanzania, has lost an average of almost 2,500 elephants a year since the 1970s. But it has now reached a crtitical stage with only about 15,000 left, according to the latest census.

“The population is at an historic low. and urgent measures are required to protect the remaining animals and return the population to a stable and sustainable size. If this trend continues, elephants could vanish from Selous by early 2022,” says the WWF in a new study.

Source: Elephants could vanish from one of Africa’s key reserves within six years | Environment | The Guardian

Save

Simulated Global Temperature Change–Updated

Posted on by

This animated spiral portrays the simulated changes in the global averaged monthly air temperature from 1850 through 2100 relative to the 1850 – 1900 average. The temperature data are from Community Climate System (CCSM4) global climate model maintained by the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The simulation is for the IPCC Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 (RCP8.5) emission scenario. RCP8.5 is the most aggressive scenario in which green house gases continue to rise unchecked through the end of the century, leading to an equivalent of about 1370 ppm CO2, which is roughly four times the concentration at present. The CCSM4 simulation is part of the 5th Climate Model Intercomparison Program (CMIP5) and the data can be downloaded at https://pcmdi.llnl.gov/projects/cmip5/. The 21st century animations are an extension of the graphic (http://www.climate-lab-book.ac.uk/2016/spiralling-global-temperatures/) for the 1850-2010 observed air temperature created by E. Hawkins at Reading University, UK.

Source: Simulated global temperature change

Save