Not Reality TV by James Cameron

Hey Donald, dya like to eat? Bread basket is dying/drying/crying. TRUMP: "We're going to CANCEL Paris agreement" Get a Grip!!! The Terminator, George Bush Senior. Da Pope and even HRC. James Cameron knocks it outta the park!!!

Rapid Innovation and Growth in Renewable Energy -Jessica Trancik, MIT

30mins

More from Jessika Trancik MIT Technology Improvement and emissions reductions as mutually reinforcing efforts MIT paper Nov 2015 Executive Summary Mitigating climate change is unavoidably linked to developing affordable low-carbon energy technologies that can be adopted around the world. In this report, we describe the evolution of solar and wind energy in recent decades, and the potential for future expansion under nations’ voluntary commitments in advance of the 2015 Paris climate negotiations. These two particular low-carbon energy sources—solar and wind—are the focus of our analysis because of their significant, and possibly exceptional, expansion potential. Technology differs from the static picture we might implicitly assume. Deploying a technology coincides with and engages a variety of mechanisms, such as economies of scale, research and development (R&D), and firm learning, which can drive down costs. Lower costs in turn open up new deployment opportunities, creating a positive feedback, or ‘multiplier’ effect. Understanding this aspect of technology development may help support collective action on climate change, by lessening concerns about the costs of committing to reducing emissions. The deployment of low-carbon energy technologies that are necessary to accomplish greenhouse gas emissions cuts, helps bring about improvements and cost reduction that will make further cuts more feasible. Among low-carbon electricity technologies, solar and wind energy are exemplary of this process. Solar and wind energy costs have dropped rapidly over the past few decades, as markets for these technologies have grown at rates far exceeding forecasts. In the case of solar energy, for example, the cost of reducing emissions by replacing coal-fired electricity with photovoltaics has fallen 85% since 2000. Getting these technologies to their current state of development was a collective accomplishment across nations, despite minimal coordination. Public policies to stimulate research and market growth in more than nine countries in North America, Europe, and Asia—including the U.S., Japan, Germany, Denmark, and more recently, China—have driven these trends. Firms responded to these incentives by both competing with and learning from one another to bring these low-carbon technologies to a state where they can begin to compete with fossil fuel alternatives. Technology has improved as a result of both research and successful private-sector commercialization efforts. Commitments made in international climate negotiations offer an opportunity to support the technological innovation needed to achieve a self-sustaining, virtuous cycle of emissions reductions and low-carbon technology development by 2030. As a way to achieve emissions reductions, solar and wind technologies are already in a cost competitive state in many regions and are rapidly improving. 6 We posit that the more that parties to climate negotiations are aware of the state of these technologies, and especially the degree to which technology feedback stands to bring about further improvements, the more opportunity there will be for collective action on climate change. These are our summary findings. We make several specific observations about the development of solar and wind energy: • Over the past four decades wind electricity costs have fallen by 5% per year and solar electricity costs have fallen by 10% per year, on average. Since 1976, photovoltaic (PV) module costs have dropped by 99%. For the same investment, 100 times more solar modules can be produced today than in 1976. Wind capacity costs fell by 75% over the past three decades. • Solar is now nearly cost-competitive in several locations, and wind in most locations, without considering the added benefit of pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions reductions. When these external costs are considered, the cost competitiveness improves substantially. • Over the last 15 years, the cost of abating carbon from coal-fired electricity with solar in the U.S. has dropped by a factor of seven. Over the last 40 years, the cost has fallen by at least a factor of 50 (given a flat average coal fleet conversion efficiency in the U.S. during this period). • Wind and solar installed capacity has doubled roughly every three years on average over the past 30 years. These growth rates have exceeded expectations. For example, the International Energy Agency 2006 World Energy Outlook projection for cumulative PV and concentrated solar power (CSP) capacity in 2030 was surpassed in 2012. The Energy Information Agency 2013 International Energy Outlook projection for cumulative PV and CSP capacity in 2025 was surpassed in 2014. • Countries have traded positions over time as leaders in solar and wind development. Japan, Germany, Spain, Italy, and most recently China have led the annual installed capacity of solar since 1992. Japan was the leader in cumulative capacity in the first decade and Germany led in the last decade. Since 1982, the U.S., Denmark, Germany, Spain and recently China have led annual wind installations. Over this period the U.S., Germany and China traded off as the countries with greatest cumulative installed wind capacity. In per capita terms Denmark has dominated wind installations. Sweden and Denmark have led in per capita cumulative wind R&D. Switzerland and the U.S. have invested the most per capita in solar R&D. The U.S. has invested more cumulatively than any other nation in both wind and solar R&D between 1974 and the present day. • Current climate change mitigation commitments by nations in advance of the 2015 Paris climate negotiations could collectively result in significant further growth in wind and solar installations. If countries emphasize renewables expansion, solar and wind capacity could grow by factors of 4.9 and 2.7 respectively between the present day and 2030. • Based on future technology development scenarios, past trends, and technology cost floors, we estimate these commitments for renewables expansion could achieve a cost reduction of up to 50% for solar (PV) and up to 25% for wind. For both technologies this implies a negative cost of carbon abatement relative to coal. Forecasts are inherently uncertain, but even under the more modest cost reduction scenarios, the costs of these technologies decrease over time. From these observations and modeling estimates, we also draw several broad implications for climate change mitigation efforts: • Negotiations as opportunity-building rather than burden-sharing. The potential for reducing emissions in the long-term can grow with global collective efforts to achieve near-term emissions 7 cuts. Climate negotiations may provide an opportunity for nations to take advantage of this multiplier effect and drive down the cost of mitigating carbon emissions by 2030. The cost of mitigating carbon can fall faster if countries increase and sustain over time their commitments to deploying renewable and other clean energy technologies. As today’s commitments are strengthened, the potential emissions reductions that can be made in the post-2030 period may also increase. • Importance of knowledge-sharing and global access to financing. Two challenges should be addressed if renewables growth is to reach its full potential. The upfront costs of renewables can be significant, while the variable costs are low. Equitable financing for all nations will be critical for allowing the global growth of these technologies. Knowledge sharing to bring down the ‘soft costs’ of these technologies, which includes all investments required for onsite construction, will be equally important. Knowledge-sharing and public policy incentives to stimulate private sector development of exportable combined software and hardware systems to reduce construction costs around the world can help support the global growth of clean energy. • Growing need for technologies that address renewables intermittency. As their generation share grows, intermittency will limit the attractiveness of wind and solar technologies, particularly beyond 2030. Further development of energy storage and other technologies, such as long-distance transmission and demand-side management will be needed to reliably match supply with demand. The current electricity share of solar and wind in most nations, and natural gas back-up generation, leaves time for these other technologies to develop. Lessons learned from developing solar and wind energy can be applied to the development of these other technologies, particularly energy storage. • Historical legacy. Developing clean energy is a measurable historical legacy for the nations that take part, with the potential for immeasurable benefit to humankind. Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change represent an all-inclusive gathering of nations that has arguably already left its mark by encouraging commitments by a handful of them to drive down the cost of clean energy. Further progress is within reach.

Disobedience: #ExxonKnew

Exxon was on the cutting edge of climate science 40 years ago. When their senior scientists told their senior executives what was coming, Exxon started climate-proofing all their drilling rigs to withstand the rising sea level. But they did not tell the rest of us. Just the opposite. #exxonnew Tweets

South Africa’s great white sharks heading for extinction

Reasons for the decline:Trophy hunting, pollution, shark nets and baited hooks South Africa's great white shark population is heading for possible extinction after a rapid decline in numbers, say researchers. Facing extinction A six year study of the country's coastal waters concluded that only 350 to 500 great white sharks remain. This is half the level previously thought, the researchers from Stellenbosch University said. The numbers in South Africa are extremely low‚" confirmed Sara Andreotti of the Stellenbosch University Department of Botany and Zoology.

Three heat related deaths in Arizona state

Registered on Jun 19, 2016 Arizona's Future Climate: Temps Rising, Water Disappearing the annual minimum and maximum temperatures have been increasing across all six Southwestern states and will continue to do so, resulting in a possible increase by 8 degrees Fahrenheit by the year 2099. The implication is that somewhere between the middle and the end of the century, Tucson's annual average temperatures will be more like Yuma and see longer heat waves, more days over 100 degrees, and fewer cool nights, in addition to a decrease in spring precipitation, all under the assumption of continued high greenhouse gas emissions

Dr John Schellnhuber (PIK)-civil society and investors Post COP21

So you have to look, if you drive up the global mean temperature by human interference, where are the big accidents, so to speak, in the system. When will the Greenland ice sheet start to melt, and possibly in an irreversible way? When will the Amazon rainforest be transformed into a steppe, a savanna, whatever? and so on and so on.

How Can Business Action Bend The Curve Below 2 Degrees? - Business & Cli...

The Paris Agreement is based on the twin pillars of collective action and the individual Nationally Determined Contributions put forward by countries in the lead-up to COP21. These NDCs are designed to represent the maximum possible ambition that nations believe they can achieve over the next decade and a half. Yet, although countries committed to a net zero carbon emissions world with a temperature increase well below two degrees above pre-industrial levels, current commitments leave us well short of these goals. Business has demonstrated the economic case for ambitious leadership across energy, transport, supply chains, industrial processes and the built environment. How can this leadership be scaled up to get us on track for a sub-two degree world? Where are the biggest opportunities? What would the impact be if the business community as whole delivered the maximum possible ambition it could achieve?

The Energy Transition - Business & Climate Summit 2016

	The Energy Transition - Business & Climate Summit 2016

Day 2, Session 1 - Business & Climate Summit 2016

	Business & Climate Summit 2016 Carbon Tax Worldwide

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon video message for Business & Climate Su...

	The UN Secretary-General is Ban Ki-moon opens the Business & Climate Summit 2016 in London

The Open Mind: The Climate... In Your Backyard - James Hansen

	James Hansen of Columbia University's Earth Institute talks about preserving the planet for the next generation. (Taped 05-09-16)

Climate Inaction Figures

	Despite what many Climate Inaction Figures would have us believe, there is meaningful action we can take to deal with climate change. Visit theclimatesolution.com to see more.

Mark Jacobson: A 100 Percent Renewable Economy

	Mark Z. Jacobson, PhD, of Stanford, has modeled a transition to 100 percent renewable, carbon free energy, for 138 countries and all 50 US states. He was interviewed in San Francisco, December,2015.

Canada to Introduce National Carbon Price in 2016, Minister Says

Canada will have a national price on carbon emissions by the end of this year, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna says. The federal government will publish an emissions reduction plan this fall that could include expanded, standardized emissions disclosure requirements for companies, McKenna said in an interview with Danielle Bochove on Bloomberg TV Canada. See More

Climate and Hurricanes 2016

	Leading Atmospheric Scientists weigh-in on impacts of climate change on this year's hurricane season and beyond.

Time to Choose Official Trailer 1 (2016) - Environmental Documentary HD

	Academy Award® winning director Charles Ferguson's new film investigates global climate change villains and heroes, and reveals practical solutions to act on. Put it on your list!

Prosperity without growth: Professor Tim Jackson, University of Surrey

	Professor Tim Jackson, University of Surrey, discusses capitalism and its links with sustainability.

Capitalism and sustainability: Professor Tim Jackson, University of Surrey

	Professor Tim Jackson, University of Surrey, discusses capitalism and its links with sustainability.

Thom Hartmann and Prof Jason Box (July 2016)

	2 to 3 times faster; Changing weather patterns, Extreme weather not Extreme anymore, just call it weather

ECOSTRESS: Monitoring plants from space

Plants to be studied for ECOSTRESS! Can Prozac for Plants be far off?	Water is an essential element of life, whether it is being used for drinking or for growing our food. The ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) instrument will study plant health and water stress from the vantage point of the International Space Station.

Gauging Greenland's Melt

	Dr. Laurence Smith and his team are on the ice in Greenland measuring how rapidly meltwaters are finding their way into the global ocean.

Unlocking The Trillions - Business & Climate Summit 2016

	How do we shift and scale-up the financing needed to turn the ambitions of 2015 into a reality? As investors with over US$600 billion in assets have decarbonized portfolios, the financial risks of climate change and stranded assets are increasingly clear.

Bold New Climate Policy In Canada’s Oil Sands: How Oil Companies And Environmental Organizations Are Creating New Conversations About Decarbonization In A Resource Rich Economy'

	Almost missed this one: Fly on the wall insight into us vr them??? Something close to (my) home, Alberta. Interesting!!! Tzeporah Berman (silent T) and Steve Williams of Suncor Energy And then theres this... Strange Bedfellows? Alberta Brings Former Adversaries Together for New Oilsands Advisory Group

Once-in-a-Thousand-Year Flooding Devastates West Virginia, Killing At Le...

	Democracy Now  - In West Virginia, at least 23 people have died in once-in-a-thousand-year flooding. West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin has declared a state of emergency in 44 counties and has deployed the National Guard to help with search and rescue efforts. A number of people remain missing across the state.

sheldon whitehouse calls out the media

SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-RI): You have also America's national security, military and intelligence leaders warning us of the threat. You have the pope calling on us to take action, and most world leaders. So, if you are the fossil fuel industry, what do you do? You come to Congress, to the choke point for legislation, and you put a choke chain on the Republican party so you can snap it to heel. And in support of that they perpetrate this web of climate denial. This is actually a graphic of the web that was done by one of the academic researchers who specializes in this area. Why did they do this? Well, to do their best to fool the public about the risk of climate change, to provide talking points to right-wing talk radio, to take advantage of a lazy media's impulse to offer both sides of the story even when one is false, and of course to hide the hands of the fossil fuel protagonists who are behind the scenes. Media Matters

Smart Talk: Herman Daly on what’s beyond GNP Growth

	Henry George School  Smart Talk with Andrew Mazzone and Dr. Herman Daly discussing worldwide gross national product (GNP) and averting environmental catastrophy

Understanding environmental risk in the UK: Professor Nick Pidgeon, Card...

	21st Century Challenges Professor Nick Pidgeon, Cardiff University, talks about the importance of understanding environmental risk in the UK.

'Delivering on 2 degrees' - panel discussion

	Carbon Neutral Climate change: triumph and tragedy in Paris', Prof Kevin Anderson (University of Manchester), Julia Carrell (Sheffield Renewables) and Prof Peter Styring (University of Sheffield) debate how to deliver on the 2 degrees target with the 200 strong audience. The debate took place on April 28th 2016 at the University of Sheffield.

Solar Impulse

	The Solar Impulse #INSIDERs went to uncover how ABB contributed to building the plane. They found an engineer that works on the ground crew team, following the plane around the world.

Stranded Assets Research Network Webinar - Alexander Pfeiffer (May 2016)

This webinar was recorded on 31st May 2016 as part of the Stranded Assets Research Network (SARN), Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford. Alexander Pfeiffer, from the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET; University of Oxford), presented the following published paper: Pfeiffer, A., Miller, R., Hepburn, C. and Beinhocker, E. “The ‘2°C Capital Stock’ for Electricity Generation: Committed Cumulative Carbon Emissions from the Electricity Generation Sector and the Transition to a Green Economy.” Applied Energy (In Press) (2016).

The Future of Fossil Fuels in a Climate Challenged World

Sydney Environment Institute Over the last two centuries, the growth of our modern global economy has been fundamentally based upon the exploitation of cheap fossil fuel-based energy. However, as climate science has highlighted, the combustion of fossil fuels and resulting greenhouse gas emissions now pose an existential threat to our environment, and indeed, the very future of human society. Anthropogenic climate change is now underway, evident in a warming world, increasingly intense droughts and floods, sea-level rise and ocean acidification. While politicians and business obfuscate over the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the latest climate science emphasises our window of opportunity in avoiding catastrophe is closing. To avoid dangerous climate change, scientists have demonstrated that the vast majority of known fossil-fuel reserves must be left in the ground. In response, new social movements have emerged aiming to reduce humanity’s addiction to coal, oil and gas. Technological developments in renewable energy also offer the potential to fundamentally disrupt the fossil fuel economy. In this special Sydney Ideas event, a panel of leading thinkers will address the issue of the future of fossil fuels in a climate challenged world.

Climate Change Capitalism and Corporations

Sydney Environment Institute Climate change is the greatest challenge we will face this century. Indeed, the worst-case scenarios paint an unimaginable vision of large tracts of the Earth rendered uninhabitable, the collapse of global food production, mass species extinction, the acidification of the oceans, substantial sea-level rises and storms and droughts of growing intensity. Yet, despite the need for dramatic economic and political change, corporate

The Tech That Could Fix One of Wind Power's Biggest Problems

	Bloomberg Hello World’s Ashlee Vance paid a recent visit to Iceland’s capital city of Reykjavik to see the next part of the green energy story. He found a start-up called Icewind that is building a new type of funky wind turbine designed to perform well in low-wind conditions but also to slow itself down in high-winds, preventing it from catching on fire or ripping apart.

California: Fires Burn at "Exponential Rates" Amid Blistering Heat Wave ...

	Democracy Now- Wildfires are raging up and down the state of California. At least two people have died, and hundreds of homes have been destroyed. We speak to Ken Pimlott, the director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and a 30-year fire service veteran. He joins us from Sacramento, where temperatures hit 107 degrees on Monday, one degree shy of the record.

How Deforestation in the Amazon Contributes to Climate Change

Council on Foreign Relations The Amazon is a massive carbon sink, meaning it absorbs more carbon dioxide than it emits. But the forest may only be soaking up half as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it did twenty years ago, according to researchers. They say deforestation and tree die-offs, possibly due to higher carbon dioxide levels in the forest, may be to blame. Deforestation may also be disrupting regional precipitation patterns

Republicans Are Too Scared To Let The Pentagon Talk About Climate Change!

	thomhartmann Thom talks about the recent Republican vote to bar the Pentagon from dealing with climate change. If you liked this clip of The Thom Hartmann Program, share it with your friends. Don't forget to hit that "like" button, and remember Tag, You're It!!

Collect Earth - land monitoring through visual interpretation

	Open Foris This video demonstrates the functionalities of Open Foris Collect Earth and its integration with Bing Maps, Google Earth, Google Earth Engine and Saiku. Collect Earth is a Free and Open Source tool that allows easy land monitoring, using freely available services, through a visual interpretation process which allows for collection of IPCC compliant data.

Climate Change:How Skewed Are We... Really? Originals Index

This new Antarctica study is bad news for climate change doubters

This new Antarctica study is bad news for climate change doubters

For a number of years now, climate change skeptics have argued that there’s a key part of the Earth’s climate system that upends our expectations about global warming, and that is showing trends that actually cut in the opposite direction.
Read More

EU Far from Meeting Paris Climate Goals

Neil deGrasse Tyson on Climate Change and Elon Musk

Ed Whittingham: Is the Alberta Climate Change Leadership Plan a Game Cha...

How we got to be here - The Alberta Story 2016

Happy Fourth

Canada Day Maple Green Leaf 2016