Monday, January 10, 2011

Climate change: Scientist proves conservatism and belief in climate change aren't incompatible - latimes.com

Climate change: Scientist proves conservatism and belief in climate change aren't incompatible - latimes.com: "Scientist proves conservatism and belief in climate change aren't incompatible
MIT professor Kerry Emanuel is among a rare breed of conservative scientists who are sounding the alarm for climate change and criticizing Republicans' 'agenda of denial' and 'anti-science stance.'"

State study says climate change impacts are real

State study says climate change impacts are real: "DES MOINES, Iowa --- Climate change is affecting Iowans' lives and work in the form of longer growing seasons, increased precipitation and temperatures and transition in the state's prominent insurance industry, according to a report released this week.

Researchers from the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa conducted the report, 'Climate Change Impacts on Iowa,' and they hope it brings awareness and informs future discussions.

'We are already living with climate change, and we need to be aware of its ramifications for planning for the future,' Jerry Schnoor, a UI professor of civil and environmental engineering who helped author the report, said."

Consequences of Severe Climate Change Outweigh Partisan Agendas | The Daily Nexus

Consequences of Severe Climate Change Outweigh Partisan Agendas | The Daily Nexus: "Consequences of Severe Climate Change Outweigh Partisan Agendas

By Derek Palmer
Published on January 4, 2011

Public health and safety is not a partisan issue. Ensuring the welfare of American citizens is arguably the most important job of the federal government. Therefore, we should question why, when the Environmental Protection Agency sets out to regulate harmful greenhouse gasses, we let rhetorical attacks about economic devastation or job destruction influence the rational restriction of a proven health threat to not only U.S. citizens, but the entire world.

The Clean Air Act and 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA make the Obama administration legally responsible for protecting citizens from the harmful effects of greenhouse gasses and other pollutants. The upcoming EPA regulations are not a case of the president trying to force his agenda through a regulative agency when legislation has failed. Instead, this is a case of performing his obligation to protect health and safety through whichever agency is best equipped to do so."

Climate Change Media Coverage - Global Warming Media Coverage - The Daily Green

Climate Change Media Coverage - Global Warming Media Coverage - The Daily Green: "Media coverage of climate change in 2010 slipped to levels not seen since 2005, after spiking in in late 2009 in the run-up to the much-hyped United Nations climate talks in Copenhagen and the release of private emails from climate scientists stored on a English university server.

Analysis of DailyClimate.org's archive of global media coverage shows that journalists published 23,156 climate-related stories in English last year -- a 30 percent drop from '09's tally.

Those stories came from 8,710 different reporters, columnists and editorial writers at 1,552 different media outlets. Last year, according to the Website's database, more than 11,000 reporters tackled the subject -- a 22 percent drop for 2010."

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

NEWS RELEASE: Independent Global Network Launched to Track Countries' Climate Change Progress | World Resources Institute

NEWS RELEASE: Independent Global Network Launched to Track Countries' Climate Change Progress | World Resources Institute: "Open Climate Network (OCN), a global network that will track countries’ progress toward cutting emissions and providing climate finance, was launched this week at the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties in Cancun, Mexico. Led by the World Resources Institute (WRI), OCN convenes independent research institutes around the world to provide consistent and peer-reviewed information on major economies’ actions on climate change."

November 16, 2010

November 16, 2010: "But, without the focus on storage devices, it will be difficult to meet proposed renewable electricity standards, the report asserts. Wind and solar energy are variable by nature: The sun doesn’t always shine, and the wind doesn’t always blow. The amount of electricity a consumer has available to complete household chores could change in a matter of seconds, hours or days—placing great importance on the need for robust storage methods."

Another challenge facing the grid involves the long-distance transmission of renewable electricity from places that receive a lot of wind and sun to those that do not. “We need to move faster to have storage ready to accommodate, for example, 20 percent of renewable electricity on the grid by 2020,” said George Crabtree, co-chairman of the POPA study panel and a senior scientist at Argonne National Laboratory. “And, by devoting the necessary resources to the problem, I am confident that we can solve it.”