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Climate Change

Chinese Adviser’s Carbon Cap Remarks: Promising But Overblown?

A top Chinese climate adviser signaled Tuesday that the country planned to set a new cap on carbon emissions by the end of the decade, which would be the first such effort from the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

The comments by He Jiankun, chairman of China’s Advisory Committee on Climate Change, came a day after U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration proposed the first-ever carbon limits for existing power plants. (See related story: “Four Key Takeaways from EPA’s New Rules for Power Plants.”)

The adviser, speaking at a conference in Beijing, said that the cap on emissions starting from 2016 would come as part of China’s next five-year plan. “The government will use two ways to control CO2 emissions in the next five-year plan, by intensity and an absolute cap,” he said, according to Reuters. China is responsible for more than a quarter of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. (See related interactive map: “Four Ways to Look at Carbon Footprints.”)

He did not provide specifics about what the target would be, and the comment was not an official announcement. But the way some media outlets interpreted the remarks became a story in and of itself, as The New York Times‘ Andrew Revkin noted that the Guardian and USA Today mistakenly billed the comments as a “pledge” from China to reduce emissions. Reuters later issued a corrected version of its original story, changing the attribution from “China said” to “a senior government adviser said.”

Jake Schmidt, international climate policy director for the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council, said that He Jiankun is “effectively one of the most senior advisers” to the climate minister at China’s National Development Reform Commission, “one of the most powerful ministries in China.”

Schmidt said, “As with many things in China, these officials don’t speak unless there’s some emerging consensus in the government that this is a position that they’re trending toward. I think it’s a very positive sign that this kind of debate has taken hold.” (Take the related quiz: “What You Don’t Know About Energy in Asia.”)

The United States, which ranks second in world carbon emissions, has committed via the Copenhagen Accord to reducing its emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020.

The rules proposed yesterday would require U.S. states to reduce pollution from power plants by 30 percent from 2005 levels over the next 15 years. States will be able to create their own plans for how to meet the targets.

The carbon reductions at stake with the power plant goals are extremely modest from a global standpoint, but have been widely seen as momentous action on climate change from the Obama administration, which has been unable to push major climate legislation through Congress. (See related story: “One Key Question on Obama’s Push Against Climate Change: Will It Matter?“)

Sarah Ladislaw, a director and senior fellow of the energy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said last week that U.S. action on climate change was critical to shoring up confidence from other nations as the world prepares for international climate talks in Paris next year. She said, “It’s really about the United States and China trying to show—and actually define—what leadership is on this issue.”

The next round of climate talks under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change began this week in Bonn, Germany.

NRDC’s Schmidt said that ahead of next year’s climate talks in Paris, key emitting countries including the U.S., China, and India are expected to announce their climate targets beyond 2020. “In that context,” he said, “there’s a very intense debate in China about when its emissions will peak, and at what level.”

Article by Christina Nunez of National Geographic, appearing courtesy 3BL Media.

06/06/2014 1 comment

Renewable Energy

EU Reacts to Obama’s Clean Power Plan

written by Environmental News Network

After the US EPA announced their plan to cut US power plant emissions 30% by 2030, the European Union (EU) reacts, praising the Emission Performance Standard (EPS) for its vision while serving as a “positive signal” to other countries.

”This proposed rule is the strongest action ever taken by the U.S. government to fight climate change,” the EU’s climate action commissioner, Connie Hedegaard said in a reaction statement. “If implemented as planned, this measure will help the country meet its 2020 emissions target.”

2020 emissions targets refer to reductions previously committed to by Obama which are well below the Kyoto Protocol commitments.

Hedegaard saw hope in Obama’s announcement for next year’s Paris summit which is intended to finalize a successor to the Kyoto deal which expired in 2012. “But for Paris to deliver what is needed to stay below a 2°C increase in global temperature, all countries, including the United States, must do even more than what this reduction trajectory indicates,” she said.

The new plan will cap greenhouse gas emissions from 1600 US power stations, even though 600 of them are powered by coal and around half may have difficulty meeting the new standard.

As well as cutting CO2 emissions, the new EPS anticipates a 1.5% annual increase in energy efficiency, and a reduction in particle, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen pollution by more than 25%, according to the US EPA.

The EPA also expects the new rule to cut electricity bills by 8% and avert as many as 6,600 premature deaths, 150,000 asthma attacks in children, and up to 490,000 missed work or school days, saving some $93 billion in the process.

Many European green groups though were energized Obama’s move, with 11 heavy-hitters including Greenpeace, WWF Europe and Birdlife putting out a statement calling for reciprocal EU action.

“Europe has long claimed leadership on climate action, but has seen rising emissions from coal power stations due to the low CO2 price and cheaper coal imports,” it says. “This is a threat to both Europe’s delivery of domestic decarbonisation and to its international influence.”

06/04/2014 0 comment

Renewable Energy

To Sway The U.S. Public, ‘Global Warming’ Beats Out ‘Climate Change’

written by Yale Environment 360

If politicians and scientists want to convey the urgency and importance of a warming world, they are far better off using the term “global warming” than “climate change,” according to a new report.

Produced by researchers at the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and George Mason University, the report says that Americans are much more familiar with the term “global warming” and that it engenders more negative associations and concern.

Based on recent surveys, the report said that — to varying degrees — moderates, women, Hispanics, political independents, and younger Americans associate the term “global warming” with alarming developments such as melting glaciers and extreme weather. Among many groups, “global warming” also creates a greater sense of threat to one’s family and future generations.

“Scientists often prefer the term climate change for technical reasons, but should be aware that the two terms generate different interpretations among the general public and specific subgroups,” the report said. The survey found that among Republicans the two terms are generally synonymous.

05/28/2014 1 comment

Renewable Energy

Widespread Greenland Melting Due to Forest Fires and Warming, Study Says

written by Yale Environment 360

Rising temperatures and ash from Northern Hemisphere forest fires combined to cause large-scale surface melting of the Greenland ice sheet in 2012, an echo of a similar event that occurred in 1889, a new study finds.

The massive Greenland ice sheet — the second largest ice body in the world after the Antarctic ice sheet — experiences annual melting at low elevations near the coastline, but surface melt is rare in the dry snow region in its center. In July 2012, however, satellites observed for the first time surface melt across more than 97 percent of the ice sheet, generating reports that the event was almost exclusively the result of climate change.

These NASA maps show how, within the space of four days in the summer of 2012, Greenland’s vast ice sheet faced a degree of melting not seen in three decades of satellite observations. The image at left shows the ice sheet on July 8, 2012, with a large part of it experiencing no melting (shown in white) in summer, as is typical. By July 12, 2012, the surface of virtually the entire ice sheet was melting (shown in red). (Image credit: NASA)

In the new report, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers analyzed an ice core from the dry snow region of the ice sheet. Their findings indicate that in both 2012 and 1889 exceptionally warm temperatures combined with black carbon sediments from Northern Hemisphere forest fires to darken the surface of the ice sheet to a critical albedo threshold, causing the large-scale melting events. Since Arctic temperatures and the frequency of forest fires are both expected to rise with climate change, large-scale melt events on the Greenland ice sheet may begin to occur almost annually by the end of century, the researchers say.

05/21/2014 1 comment

Energy Efficiency

New Climate Assessment Is Wake-Up Call About Need for Energy Efficiency

written by CleanTechies.com Contributor

The federal government’s new climate assessment should serve as a wake-up call that spurs policymakers to promote energy efficiency and microgrid development.

The report, based on information from more than 300 experts, summarizes scientific research about the very real threat of climate change, bringing home its point with many recent examples of the effects of climate change.

“It is important that these findings and response options be shared broadly to inform citizens and communities across our nation,” said the report. “Climate change presents a major challenge for society. This report advances our understanding of that challenge and the need for the American people to prepare for and respond to its far-reaching implications.”

Helping Policymakers Understand

“The report provides a nice summary in the most graphically smart format to help people in different regions of the country, especially policymakers, understand not only what’s projected to come in terms of heat and severe weather but what the recent trends have been,” said Steve Winkelman, director of the Center for Clean Air Policy’s adaptation and transportation programs. ”It is hopefully an entrée into a variety of resources for the federal government to do assessment and planning and increase resiliency and response.”

Energy efficiency and microgrids play an important role in helping the US cope with climate change. For example, said Winkelman, buildings with better insulation and tight envelopes will be more secure. “When the power is out, they will maintain their temperatures. A better insulated building will help get people through a power outage.”

Onsite generation and microgrid options provide an opportunity to provide both efficiency and renewable energy – which help stem global warming – and protect people from power outages, he added.

A CCAP report, “Green Resilience: Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Synergies” quotes Johnson Controls as calling for grid-responsive, energy efficient, net positive and resilient buildings.

“Microgrids, supported by distributed energy generation, are a potential solution, as they allow decentralized energy distribution at a community scale,” said the CCAP report.

The report identifies potential pilot projects in Washington, D.C. and Boston that would involve adding resilience measures to green building projects, codes and policies. What’s more it calls for installing combined heat and power in hospital and university campuses as a first step toward microgrids.

The CCAP report also suggests that FERC modify policies to facilitate microgrids.

Read the CCAP report here: Green Resilience Report From CCAP

The bottom line: The federal government’s new climate assessment doesn’t pussy-foot around about the very real threat of global warming. And that should be good news for the energy efficiency industry, which provides multiple benefits: Not only does efficiency reduce the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, it can keep buildings comfortable longer during outages. And microgrids take this idea one step further, often providing emission-free alternative energy, plus an off-grid solution.

As Winkelman said, “I’m impressed with the administration putting out such strong, scientifically-backed work.” And it’s also impressive that the administration called for action in what hopefully will be a politically palatable manner.

What’s your take on energy efficiency, microgrids and climate change?

Article by Lisa Cohn, published under a cross licensing agreement with EnergyEfficiencyMarkets.com

05/20/2014 1 comment

Renewable Energy

American Attitudes Towards Energy Policy, Climate Change: Changing at Glacial Speeds

written by 2GreenEnergy

Last week, Charlie Rose presented this summary of a report which laid out how the melting of the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet is “beyond the point of no return,” reminding us of the grim consequences: the slow but significant rise in the earth’s sea levels.

I always wonder when I come across scientific findings like these: what does the common American think about stuff like this? In particular, how long will we go on, month after month, year after year, with reports like these piling up around us, before we ask our leadership to develop an energy policy that makes sense, given the realities of climate change (and the other issues associated with the burning of fossil fuels: ocean acidification, loss of biodiversity, increasing rates of cancer, etc.)?

I’m afraid the answer is that our attitudes towards climate change are shifting at the same pace that the glaciers themselves are melting: slowly. If we’re making progress here, at this rate, it’s happening over a period of decades.

But why?

The answer may be summed up in another event in the mainstream American media this week: Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio’s confident assertion that “the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change is false”. Rubio, highly regarded by almost half of U.S. voters, was unable to cite any sources for his skepticism, but, for reasons I have trouble comprehending, the absence of any facts behind his belief doesn’t make him any less credible among his many tens of millions of supporters.

The bottom line: a frighteningly large percentage of us put more stock in the speeches of politicians who act at the behest of their huge campaign donors than we do in the peer-reviewed publications of many thousands of our top scientists. Until that changes, we may find ourselves “stuck in neutral” with respect to our energy policy — or perhaps, under the circumstances, a more apt term may be “treading water.”

05/19/2014 1 comment

Renewable Energy

Central Texas Poised To Become Regional Clean Energy Leader

written by Marita Mirzatuny

With the recent release of the National Climate Assessment, the threat of climate change has never been clearer. Addressing this will require a fundamental transition away from fossil-fuel sources of energy in favor of renewable energy technologies like wind and solar power. Electric utilities vary in their progress towards delivering a future powered by clean energy. Notably, Central Texas, with its combination of energy know-how, creative thinking, and technology entrepreneurship, is home to many utilities leading the way in clean energy resources and smart grid technology.

Austin & San Antonio are leading the pack

Although Texas has a deregulated, competitive electricity market where most energy companies compete for customers, the San Antonio-Austin-Hill Country corridor is mainly comprised of public electric utilities, like municipals and cooperatives that are community-owned. For years, Austin and San Antonio’s municipal utilities have benefited from an engaged customer base that cares about the transition to a clean energy economy.

The City of Austin passed its landmark Austin Climate Protection Plan in 2007, well ahead of most other utilities. The plan calls for 35 percent of Austin Energy’s electricity generation to come from renewable sources by 2020. Austin Energy’s forward-looking policies have made them a leader in clean energy. Recently, Austin Energy unveiled its largest downtown solar array ever, and made national news by purchasing 150 megawatts of utility-scale solar power at an unprecedentedly low price.

The City of San Antonio’s CPS Energy is another Central Texas clean energy leader. The utility already has nearly 90 megawatts of solar generation online – enough to power over 14,700 homes – and is constructing another 400 MW of solar power, which will catapult Texas into the top five solar-producing states.

Furthermore, CPS is a long-time investor in the smart grid technologies needed to maximize renewable energy. Ten years ago, CPS worked with Honeywell to implement a residential demand response program for its customers. Demand response is an invaluable component of the smart grid that relies on people, not power plants, to meet electricity demand. Through this innovative tool, utilities reward people or businesses who use less electricity during times of high energy demand. This prevents utilities from having to turn on ‘peaker power plants,’ which only operate for a few hours each year and emit tons of harmful air pollution. Since 2004, 81,000 homeowners have signed up for CPS’s residential demand response program. Recently, CPS announced it would work with Honeywell to expand its demand response program to commercial and industrial customers. Already, their demand response program averts up to 130 megawatts of electricity. By 2020, CPS hopes to grow that number to 771 megawatts—nearly the capacity of an entire coal power plant.

Rural electric co-ops are as advanced as ever

While San Antonio and Austin lead the way on the municipal utility front, rural electric cooperatives, Pedernales and Bluebonnet are keeping pace. Central Texas electric cooperatives (co-ops) have benefited from a strong community of customer-owners. These electric utilities are serving as models for the nation by transitioning to renewable energy resources and implementing technologies that improve customer service and reduce electricity bills.

Despite having limited resources and rural obstacles, co-ops still take on leadership roles and, in fact, co-ops lead the nation in smart meters and demand response. Co-ops are deploying infrastructure for their customers/owners so they can be integrated with smart appliances, thermostats, rooftop solar, and other technologies that allow rural communities to be self-reliant and resilient. This is a good hedge when you’re miles away from nowhere, but cooperatives still need to be further enabled by better policy and more investment.

Bluebonnet was one of the first electric utilities to provide comprehensive electricity use data to their customers by installing thousands of smart electric meters. Bluebonnet’s innovative web portal uses smart meter data to show customers exactly when they use the most energy and how much it costs them—empowering customers to reduce both their energy use and their electricity bill. Similarly, Pedernales Electric Cooperative’s uses smart meters to provide daily energy reports to customers through its MyUse Energy Analyzer.

With clean energy, comes tremendous growth

Not only do Austin and San Antonio have rich culture, nightlife, and charm, but their economies are booming. Austin is ranked at the top of many desirable lists, including the number one economy in the U.S., and has “enjoyed double-digit growth in GDP, jobs, population and birthrate since 2007.” San Antonio, not to be outdone, ranks as the number two city in Texas for economic momentum. CPS Energy, under CEO Doyle Beneby, has used its buying power to lure corporate relocations and investments from renewable energy companies, including KACO and OCI Solar, the developer of San Antonio’s massive solar project that pledged to create 800 jobs.

To further enable Texas’ clean energy ecosystem is CleanTX, a non-profit organization focusing on Central Texas’ clean energy innovators. Through its efforts, CleanTX is able to foster a community of entrepreneurship that will catalyze innovation for utilities and municipalities.

As you drive between these two cities through the rolling Hill Country covered in prickly pears and centuries-old oak trees, it is comforting to know that city leaders are making the right decisions to advance energy resources that preserve this vast landscape (home to one endangered songbird EDF works to protect, the golden-cheeked warbler). As the price of renewable energy steadily decreases and smart grid technologies develop, Texas needs to remain steadfast in removing the barriers that inhibit this growth, lest we fail to transition away from climate-disturbing fossil-fuel energy.

Article by M arita Mirzatuny, Project Manager – EDF, appearing courtesy EDF.

05/16/2014 0 comment

Energy Efficiency Renewable Energy

Committing to a Clean Energy Future

written by

In his State of the Union address, President Obama pledged to make 2014 a year of action. And today, we announced new ways we’re taking action to advance clean energy and create opportunity for hardworking Americans. The Obama Administration has made historic investments in the research, development, and deployment of clean energy. And these investments are paying off; solar power provides a strong example.

Since President Obama took office, U.S. solar generation has grown more than ten-fold. Since 2011 alone, the cost of a solar energy system has dropped by more than 50 percent. And last year, about one quarter of new power generation capacity came from solar.

We know that solar is winning in America: It’s good for our environment, our economy, and our energy security. But it’s not alone. Energy efficiency is one of the easiest and cheapest tools we have for combating climate change while expanding opportunity. That’s why the Obama Administration has developed efficiency measures, such as new appliance standards, that will cut carbon pollution and save consumers billions on their utility bills in the next two decades. The Energy Department has partnered with 190 organizations through the Better Buildings Challenge to advance energy efficiency over the next 10 years – and they are making tremendous progress. And fuel economy standards for our cars and trucks mean we are – and will continue to be – less reliant on foreign oil.

But there’s more we can do. That’s why today we announced new executive actions to cut energy waste, create jobs, and reduce carbon pollution. These initiatives will help build a skilled solar workforce, provide innovative financing for deploying solar, improve appliance efficiency, strengthen building codes, and drive investment in energy upgrades to federal buildings. You can read more about our announcements on this fact sheet.

We’re making great progress. But we can’t do it alone. That’s why we asked leaders from every sector to build on the momentum that’s driving solar deployment and efficiency investments throughout the country – and make a commitment to do more.

Today, more than 300 organizations have partnered with us and committed to deploy clean energy and cut energy waste. Our partners span every corner of the United States – from a vegetable farm in California to a rural electric co-op in Kentucky, the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority to a homebuilder in Texas. Together they show us that no matter where you live in America, cleaner, more efficient power is becoming increasingly accessible and affordable for you and your family.

All in all, these commitments represent more than 850 megawatts of solar that will be deployed – enough to power nearly 130,000 homes. And with more businesses, rural cooperatives, and homeowners choosing solar, prices will keep going down, manufacturers will keep innovating, and more jobs will be created.

That’s what we heard from folks all across the solar supply chain who joined us for the April White House Solar Summit – from installers like Evergreen Energy Solutions to suppliers like Soligent – they all recognize the economic opportunity of clean energy and see solar demand as a job creator.

In the coming weeks, our efforts to deploy clean energy, cut carbon pollution, and fight climate change will take new aim. And we will continue to work with our partners – from every sector and every corner of America – to implement the President’s Climate Action Plan and advance this country toward a cleaner energy future.

We know that we can address climate change in a way that creates jobs and grows the economy. As we deploy solar power, we spur innovation. As we cut our energy waste, we create jobs. And as a result, cleaner efficient forms of energy are powering more of this nation every day.

That’s what today is about. That’s what President Obama’s year of action means. We’re acting now because we need to. The opportunity couldn’t be bigger.

Article by Dan Utech, Special Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change.

05/10/2014 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Natural Variations May Account for Up to Half of Greenland’s Warming

written by Yale Environment 360

Up to half of the recent climate change in Greenland and surrounding regions — which have warmed at roughly twice the pace of the rest of the planet since 1979 — may be due to natural climate variations that originate in the tropical Pacific and are not connected with the overall warming of the Earth, a new study says.

Still, at least half the warming remains attributable to rising global carbon dioxide emissions, according to research published in the journal Nature. Climate data and advanced computer models show that changes in the western tropical Pacific Ocean, which has been about 0.3 degrees warmer than normal, have caused shifts in atmospheric pressure over the North Atlantic. Those changes set off a stationary wave in the atmosphere that arcs in a great circle from the tropical Pacific toward Greenland, pulling warmer air over that massive island.

“Along this wave train there are warm spots where the air has been pushed down, and cold spots where the air has been pulled up,” one author explained. “And Greenland is in one of the warm spots.” The natural atmospheric variations may have warmed the region’s surface by about a half-degree C per decade since 1979, the researchers said. Overall, Greenland and surrounding areas have warmed by roughly 1 degree C per decade during that time, causing widespread melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet.

05/09/2014 0 comment

Water & Conservation

Unsustainable Use of Water Raises Questions

written by 2GreenEnergy

Last week’s “To The Contrary” on PBS did a fabulous job on the growing water shortage in the Western U.S. It seems that climate change and population growth have gotten the better of our ability to deploy technology and conservation, and are putting a severe crimp on agriculture in this part of the world, thus endangering the food supply and the jobs that are associated with this sector.

Like so many other things, our entire approach to water is unsustainable. Over a period of thousands of years, nature built huge aquifers that now, through just a few decades, are largely depleted.

At the root of humankind’s problems lies this: we don’t have a problem behaving as though there is an inexhaustible supply of water–or crude oil, or fish, etc.—when this so clearly is not the case. Few people in our world today ask, when they develop a certain practice with respect to natural resources: What will be the effects of continuing—and expanding—that practice as our population continues to grow?

Of course, the population growth rates are higher in the developing world, where the per capita rates of resource consumption are far lower than they are in ther developed world. But let’s look at the U.S., whose population (317 million today) will reach 400 million in 2039. It’s not a good scene.

04/28/2014 1 comment

Renewable Energy

Soils Release Far More CO2 Than Previously Thought

written by Yale Environment 360

As atmospheric CO2 levels rise, soils will likely store less carbon than scientists and climate models had predicted, according to new research published in Science. Scientists have long understood that rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere spur photosynthesis and plant growth, adding more carbon to the soil.

Scientists had thought this soil carbon was relatively stable and could remain locked away for centuries. But the new study, from researchers at Northern Arizona University shows that increasing soil carbon actually spurs microbes to produce more CO2. Higher atmospheric CO2 levels added roughly 20 percent more carbon to the soil, through increased photosynthesis, but they also increased carbon turnover by microbes by 16.5 percent.

Many climate models had previously assumed that far more of the carbon absorbed by soils stayed there for long periods of time. “Our findings mean that nature is not as efficient in slowing global warming as we previously thought,” the lead researcher said. “By overlooking this effect of increased CO2 on soil microbes, models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change may have overestimated the potential of soil to store carbon and mitigate the greenhouse effect.”

04/28/2014 1 comment

Renewable Energy

The Keystone XL Pipeline: More Symbol Than Substance

written by

The State Department is delaying its decision on the Keystone XL pipeline, pushing the controversy past this fall’s midterm elections. That removes it from being an election political football, but not from the front pages, where’s it’s the environmental hot topic that won’t cool down.

The proposed project, which would carry carbon-heavy crude from Alberta’s oil sands fields to Gulf Coast refineries, has become the rallying point for liberal environmental activists and conservative Republicans alike. Activists have tagged it as symbolic of President Obama’s rejection of fossil fuels and of commitment to renewable energy. Republicans have termed it a symbol of job creation and energy security, and of “can do” technological know-how. But the pipeline may be more powerful as a rhetorical trope than as a real game-changer in our energy future.

The numbers tell the story. The oil that would move through the Keystone pipeline is estimated to add 18.7 million metric tons of carbon to the atmosphere annually—less than one percent of annual American greenhouse gas emissions, 5.5 billion tons, and a tiny part of the annual global total, 32.6 billion tons of carbon pollution. No wonder that those in the know are looking to new EPA regulations that would require deep cuts in emissions from coal plants and cars, the principal sources of GHG in the U.S., to make a real difference in addressing climate change. Here’s hoping that there’s a room in all the overheated political rhetoric for a cooler look at solutions that might have a major effect on climate change.

Article by John Howell

04/25/2014 1 comment

Renewable Energy

Browning of Congo Rainforest is Depicted in NASA Satellite Data

written by Yale Environment 360

Persistent drought has taken a major toll on Africa’s Congo rainforest, with large-scale browning intensifying and affecting a growing portion of the forest over the past decade, an analysis of NASA satellite data shows. A browning trend significantly dwarfed smaller areas of “greening” — a satellite-derived indicator of forest health — during April, May, and June each year from 2000 to 2012, according to research published in Nature.

The browning of Congo’s rainforest is significant, researchers said, because most climate models forecast that tropical forests may face increasing stress and rainfall shortages in a warmer and drier 21st century. A continued drying trend might alter the composition and structure of the Congo rainforest, affecting its biodiversity and carbon storage, the study said.

“Forests of the Congo basin are known to be resilient to moderate climate change because they have been exposed to dry conditions in the past few hundred years,” a NASA researcher said. “However, the recent climate anomalies as a result of climate change and warming of the Atlantic Ocean have created severe droughts in the tropics, causing major impacts on forests.

04/25/2014 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Australian Attorney General Sounds Off on Climate Change – Is He Right?

written by CleanTechies Staff

The Australian government intends to abolish the carbon tax effective July 1, 2014, thereby dismantling one of the hallmark policies established under former Prime Minister, Julia Gilliard. In a recent interview in free speech NOW!, George Brandis, the current attorney general for Australia voices his opinion on the climate change debate.

Although Brandis is not a climate change denier and believes something should be done about it, he does believe the debate was pedantic and found himself “really shocked by the sheer authoritarianism of those who would have excluded from the debate the point of view of people who were climate change deniers.” Brandis, a fan of free speech, describes the debate in Australia as “deplorable….where one side [has] the orthodoxy on its side and deligitimises the views of those who disagree, rather than engaging with them intellectually and showing them why they are wrong.”

In response to those who believe that the science of climate change is settled, Brandis noted that this speaks to the emergence of “a habit of mind and mode of discourse which would deny the legitimacy of an alternative point of view, where rather than winning the argument [they] exclude their antagonists from the argument.”

Brandis’ comments are certainly very interesting and likely to spark additional debate. Is he right or is he just adding more fuel to an already hotly debated topic in Australia and the rest of the world?

04/20/2014 2 comments

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