Climate Change / Global Warming Discussion

[SageBrush]

A new study found that if EVs replaced 25% of combustion-engine cars currently on the road, the United States would save approximately $17 billion annually by avoiding damages from climate change and air pollution. In more aggressive scenarios -- replacing 75% of cars with EVs and increasing renewable energy generation -- savings could reach as much as $70 billion annually.

That is more than chump change. It works out ** to $12,000 tax credit per EV in the 75% scenario as a break-even calculation, and the geo-political improvement is free.

Huh. No doubt a tough decision for bought politicians

** 15 year EV life, 1.2E8 households

 

[SR22pilot]

That is more than chump change. It works out ** to $12,000 tax credit per EV in the 75% scenario as a break-even calculation, and the geo-political improvement is free.

Huh. No doubt a tough decision for bought politicians

** 15 year EV life, 1.2E8 households

There was a time when the argument was that you were incentivizing technology development with the hope that someday it would be competitive. Now you EV incentives are incentivizing near term action that results in long term gains. I would love to see the elimination of the oil depletion allowance which is counterproductive to be replaced by stronger EV incentives in a revenue neutral move.

 

[mspohr]

The climate crisis has already arrived. Just look to California’s abnormal wildfires | Alastair Gee, Dani Anguiano

 

[JRP3]

2020: 2 hurricanes at once? Sure, why not.

Here's what New Orleans should expect if 2 hurricanes reach the Gulf Coast

 

[eevee-fan]

Well, looks like another potential fuel storage candidate.

Cambridge researchers develop standalone device that makes formic acid from sunlight, CO2 and water

 

[rays427]

2020: 2 hurricanes at once? Sure, why not.

Here's what New Orleans should expect if 2 hurricanes reach the Gulf Coast

The climate crisis has already arrived. Just look to California’s abnormal wildfires | Alastair Gee, Dani Anguiano

If wildfires are caused by man made climate change why are the number of fires and the acres burned in the US much higher from 1920 to 1950? Here is the data: National Interagency Fire Center In addition Alaska was not included in data until 1959 and Hawaii until 1960.

 

[eevee-fan]

If wildfires are caused by man made climate change why are the number of fires and the acres burned in the US much higher from 1920 to 1950? Here is the data: National Interagency Fire Center In addition Alaska was not included in data until 1959 and Hawaii until 1960.

 

[JRP3]

If wildfires are caused by man made climate change why are the number of fires and the acres burned in the US much higher from 1920 to 1950?

Higher population, more development, fewer trees, more firefighting technology.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Well, looks like another potential fuel storage candidate.

Cambridge researchers develop standalone device that makes formic acid from sunlight, CO2 and water

What we need is a cheap process for making ethanoic (acetic) acid and the global adoption of the fish and chip shop.

 

[SageBrush]

Formic acid is one step away from methanol, and I'm under the impression that methanol fuel cells are a viable technology.

No doubt that we need a liquid fuel to supplement batteries.

 

[JRP3]

We need cheap, durable energy storage, that doesn't mean it has to be in the form of liquid fuel. We also need more and better high power transmission lines between regional grids.

 

[rays427]

Higher population, more development, fewer trees, more firefighting technology.

Actually there are more trees than since 1940. Since many fires are caused by people and development like power lines an increase in population increases potential fires. Firefighting is the one thing that reduces fires but also increases fuel load so it's both positive and negative.

 

[mspohr]

Unless we change course, the US agricultural system could collapse | Tom Philpott

Picture an ideal dinner plate. If you’re like most Americans, it features a hearty portion of meat, from animals fattened on midwestern corn and soybeans, and a helping of vegetables, largely trucked in from California. The unique landscapes we rely on to deliver this bounty – the twin jewels of the US food system – are locked in a state of slow-motion ecological unravelling.

Climate justice and food justice are, in fact, the same fight – the struggle to beat back corporate dominance and make the world livable for everyone.

 

[mspohr]

Population panic lets rich people off the hook for the climate crisis they are causing | George Monbiot

When a major study was published last month, showing that the global population is likely to peak then crash much sooner than most scientists had assumed, I naively imagined that people in rich nations would at last stop blaming all the world’s environmental problems on population growth. I was wrong. If anything, it appears to have got worse.

 

[JRP3]

Actually there are more trees than since 1940.

It's a bit more complicated than that.

By comparing historic (1930s) and contemporary (2000s) surveys of California forests, we document that across 120,000 km2, large trees have declined by up to 50%, corresponding to a 19% decline in average basal area and associated biomass, despite large increases in small tree density.

Twentieth-century shifts in forest structure in California: Denser forests, smaller trees, and increased dominance of oaks

 

[rays427]

It's a bit more complicated than that.



Twentieth-century shifts in forest structure in California: Denser forests, smaller trees, and increased dominance of oaks[/QUO

It's a bit more complicated than that.



Twentieth-century shifts in forest structure in California: Denser forests, smaller trees, and increased dominance of oaks

May also be caused by less fire activity. In per-industrial time an average of almost 4.5 million acres burned per year in California. Fires tend to burn smaller trees and can leave the large ones. https://www.sierraforestlegacy.org/...search/FireHistory/FireHistory-Stephens07.pdf

 

[iPlug]

Close, but record (low) arctic sea ice extent doesn’t look to happen this year:

Charctic Interactive Sea Ice Graph | Arctic Sea Ice News and Analysis

 

[mspohr]

Half of Antarctic ice shelves could collapse in a flash, thanks to warming | Live Science

The new study, published today (Aug. 26) in the journal Nature, suggests that about 50% to 70% of ice shelves that hold Antarctic glaciers in place could become weak and potentially collapse with surges of meltwater.

 

[mspohr]

Rampant destruction of forests ‘will unleash more pandemics’

UN summit on biodiversity, scheduled to be held in New York next month, will be told by conservationists and biologists there is now clear evidence of a strong link between environmental destruction and the increased emergence of deadly new diseases such as Covid-19.

It is estimated that tens of millions of hectares of rainforest and other wild environments are being bulldozed every year to cultivate palm trees, farm cattle, extract oil and provide access to mines and mineral deposits. This leads to the widespread destruction of vegetation and wildlife that are hosts to countless species of viruses and bacteria, most unknown to science. Those microbes can then accidentally infect new hosts, such as humans and domestic livestock.

 

[JRP3]

I'm sure this is nothing to worry about.

Giant new 50-metre deep crater opens up in Arctic tundra