Can you put a price on nature? A Californian nonprofit thinks it can

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“Everyone agrees that nature has value. It clothes, feeds and shelters us – and provides a spectacular playground. Yet we have never put a value on everything nature offers.

“Now, environmental and sustainable business consultants want to change that by forcing corporate leaders to take stock of the economic impact of how they manage natural resources. By accounting for this so-called natural capital, the advocates hope to see more businesses adopting practices that are both good for the environment and long term profitability, especially as climate change will further deplete natural resources, causing their values to climb and increase the cost of running business. In a 1997 paper in Nature that first introduced the natural capital concept, the 13 researchers involved pegged the Earth’s worth at $33tn. A 2014 revision raised that figure to $134tn.”  From: www.theguardian.com

GR:  Natural ecosystems are the outcome of hundreds and thousands of years of trial and failure. The high cost of replicating the process and thus the high value of nature will not make many businesses happy.  Perhaps “natural” is a standard too high.  Unfortunately, so many attempts to create man-made versions of nature have failed; natural may be the only goal that is reasonable.

Clinton-Sanders fracking fracas heats up

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“Their feud is exposing a rift among Democrats that could haunt Clinton beyond the party’s convention in July.”  From: www.politico.com

This Is Why the Great Barrier Reef Is Dying

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“The Great Barrier Reef is one of the most celebrated ecosystems on Earth—and it’s dying. Months of extreme heat have turned thousands of miles of pristine habitat into an endless watery graveyard. This year’s coral bleaching event comes as a warning.”  From: gizmodo.com

With citizen science, people take research into their own hands

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“From CNET Magazine: Around the world, regular people with no formal training are contributing to some of today’s most exciting scientific research. You can join them.”  From: www.cnet.com

GR:  We sometimes refer to volunters as citizen naturalists as well as citizen scientists.  There are many ways to join.  Check with the Citizen Science Association (https://garryrogers.com/2015/01/17/new-journal-citizen-science) for more information.

Climate change has dropped off the political radar (and this is a big problem)

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“The aversion to talking about climate change during the election campaign reflects a wider problem: our concern for this issue has fallen even while it has become larger and more urgent.”  From: www.abc.net.au

GR:  During Friday’s Democratic Presidential debate, Sanders said we needed climate action “yesterday.”  He received huge applause.  I’d say that keeps the topic on the radar.  Unfortunately, more familiar concerns–economy, war, and human problems–receive more media presentation.  We need more organizations like The Guardian to help keep critical issues out front.

Conditions Promoting Arctic Sea Ice Collapse Are Exceptionally Strong This Spring

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We knew that El Nino would release some of the ocean’s stored heat, but the consequences are stronger than expected. There are justifiable fears that we’ve lurched up to a new normal that’s warmer, stormier, wetter, dryer, and more acidic. Our continuing war on wildlife and Earth ecosystems just took a giant step forward.

robertscribbler's avatarrobertscribbler

It didn’t take long for Arctic sea ice to start to respond to a fossil-fuel based accumulation of hothouse gasses in the Earth’s atmosphere. For since the 1920s, that region of ocean ice along the northern polar zone has been in a steady, and increasingly rapid, retreat. Rachel Carson wrote about the start of the Northern Hemisphere ocean ice decline in her ground-breaking 1955 book — The Edge of the Sea.

But it wasn’t until the late 1970s that consistent satellite observations began to provide an unbroken record telling the tale of Arctic sea ice decline. The National Snow and Ice Data Center, The Polar Science Center (PIOMAS), Japan’s JAXA, The Danish Meteorological Institute, and others have since that time provided a loyal recording of the stark impact human-forced warming has had on this sensitive and critical region.

(Severe sea ice volume losses since 1979…

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Climate Change and Violence in the Philippines

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“From Syria to Kidapawan: time to look at climate change as a peace issue

“On April 1, the Philippines was shocked by violence in Kidapawan City, the capital of Cotabato Province, where police opened fire on farmers protesting and asking for rice, killing three and injuring 116.

“Eighty-seven were listed as missing in the incident, which erupted over frustrated farmers experiencing an intense drought brought on by the El Nino climate phenomenon who felt the government was doing nothing for them. The Philippines is an island nation frequently battered y weather, often typhoons. Now it is drought.

From: www.asiasentinel.com

GR:  According to the MIT computer model commissioned by the Club of Rome (Limits to Growth, 1974), the collapse of human civilization begins around 2020 (https://garryrogers.com/2014/09/03/limits-to-growth/).  The collapse results from our growing population’s use of the planet’s limited resources, and the environmental pollution accompanying use of those resources.  The severity of climate-change impacts may have moved up the beginning of the collapse.  To this year.
However, the collapse will be gradual.  Many people will not feel the shocks of our failing civilization for another 10-20 years.

Heatwave Mass Casualties Strike India in April Amidst Severe Drought, Water Shortages

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Probably another dangerously hot summer ahead.

robertscribbler's avatarrobertscribbler

Loss of water from snow melt in the Himalayas, increasing temperatures and instances of drought over the food-producing plains, and a potential endemic weakening of the annual monsoonal rains. These are all climate change related impacts that appear to be settling in over India as global temperatures consistently begin to hit levels higher than 1 C above 1880s values. Impacts that are setting up conditions for sustained and increasingly severe droughts and heatwaves.

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Yesterday, temperatures rocketed to 114.44 degrees Fahrenheit (or 45.8 degrees Celsius) in Bhubaneshwar, the capital of Odisha, on the Indian east coast. It was the hottest April reading ever recorded for a region that typically sees daily highs in the upper 90s this time of year. A level of heat that’s excessive even for this typically warm region.

India Heatwave

(Most of India baked under a severe heatwave yesterday [April 11] as the number of lives lost…

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Better land use one of the keys to slowing global warming

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Soil Erosion--3GR: Carbon storage in soils equates to fertility. Over most of the Earth’s land surfaces, grazing and farming lead to loss of topsoil, the upper soil layer that holds the carbon. It will be very difficult to improve the current wasteful practices since the growing human population is urgently demanding more meat and potatoes. Unlike disaster movies with a positive conclusion, our waste of the soil will lead to a bad ending. Unlike the alien invaders in the movie Independence Day, we humans cannot move on when our resources are exhausted.

Bob Berwyn's avatarSummit County Citizens Voice

Study quantifies climate benefits of sustainable land use

Staff Report

Switching to more sustainable forms of land use management could significantly boost the carbon-storing capacity of the planet’s soils — by up to 8 billion tons of greenhouse gases, scientists reported in a new study. Previous research shows that soils currently lock away around 2.4 trillion tonnes of greenhouse gases, which are stored underground as stable organic matter.

The measures identified by the researchers include growing crops with deeper root systems and using charcoal-based composts. Widespread adoption sustainable land use practices and and application of best available technologies could help soils store up to 80 percent of greenhouse gases released by fossil fuel combustion, the researchers calculated.

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