A resource for people looking to find out about the science and the impacts of Climate Change and Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW). This is accomplished by curating scientific, political and business videos, news reports, surveys and polls as well as creating original content. (CHECK OUT OUR HSAWR ORIGINAL VIDEOS) The Pentagon," calls CLIMATE CHANGE an “urgent and growing threat to America's national security” and blames it for “increased natural disasters” that will require more American troops designated to combat bad weather.
Passive house (German: Passivhaus) is a rigorous, voluntary standard for energy efficiency in a building, reducing its ecological footprint. It results in ultra-low energy buildings that require little energy for space heating or cooling.
the Passive House standard for buildings...
a design method from Germany that results in 90% reductions in the energy needed for heating and cooling. Building to the standard is commonplace in many parts of Europe, but has been slow to catch on in the U.S., though a burgeoning community of American Passive House enthusiasts seek to spread the idea and change the fundamentals of how we build.
By Charlie Hoxie who is a filmmaker and editor based in Brooklyn.
Air pollution plagues the lives of millions of people in India.
Climate change is increasingly recognized as the driver of change to the world’s biodiversity, ecosystems and oceans. It is one of the most important global problems with unique characteristics.
Among the developing countries, the less developed countries are especially vulnerable because a large share of their economic is in climate-sensitive sectors and their adaptive capacity is low due to limited human, financial and natural resources and institutional and technical capacity.
As has been repeatedly addressed, the third world nations will be the first to face adversity due to our changing natural environment.
Costal nations like Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh and seven out of ten countries in the African continent will be submerged due to the rising sea level and changing climate. more
Oil & Money 2017 Environmental Policy. Biased / Un-biased Opinion Take a look you be the judge.
Deborah Gordon - Director, Energy and Climate Program
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Mark Lewis - Managing Director, Research
Barclays
Laurence Tubiana - Chief Executive Officer
European Climate Foundation
This October, over 500 senior executives, policy makers, financiers, strategists and experts from the international oil and gas industry convened in London for the 38th annual Oil & Money Conference.
Co-hosted by The New York Times and Energy Intelligence, this world-class gathering, for another time, set the standard for frank discussion and stimulating debate on the key issues facing the global petroleum sector. With an assembly of delegates and speakers which will once again feature senior executives and government ministers from the world’s leading oil companies and oil producers, Oil & Money delivered high-level networking opportunities with international business leaders and opinion makers.
Among the topics discussed at this year’s event were the outlook for oil prices, the challenge of profitable upstream development, the impacts of geopolitical uncertainties in the Middle East and elsewhere, the rebound in U.S. shale, and the disruptive capacity of new transport technologies. In addition, a special extra day was devoted to the global gas industry focused on changes in international L.N.G. markets, uncertainty over gas demand growth, new business models for gas producers and the changing profile of gas and L.N.G. buyers.
Republican and Democratic getting it together on Climate Change
Florida’s 26th Congressional District is home to some of our country’s greatest natural treasures, including the Everglades and Biscayne National Parks and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. In my first term as a Member of Congress, I have made securing appropriations for the restoration of both National Parks a major priority. I am proud to be a leader of the bipartisan efforts of conservation and land management to ensure future generations can enjoy the Florida Keys, our Coral Reefs, and all the beauty South Florida has to offer.
While we have made great strides in protecting these ecosystems, we must acknowledge the direct threats posed by rising sea levels and the erosion of our coastal communities. A crucial step in the right direction is moving past the debate of whether or not climate change is real and towards solutions that will mitigate its detrimental effect on our communities. I recently lead the effort to introduce a House Resolution calling for increased environmental stewardship through economically viable solutions to address the ramifications of measured changes to our climate. An important step for leaders on both sides of the aisle is to pursue policies that better understand climate change’s effects on our environment. Carlos Curbelo
Dear Administrator Pruitt,
We affirm our support for the Clean Power Plan regulations on the building of new power plants, also known as the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS). The Plan recognizes that states can regulate the construction of new power plants to significantly reduce the emission of carbon and support a favorable environment for a clean energy economy.
The Plan will ensure that the construction of new power plants incorporates technology that will result in a significant reduction of carbon emissions. Upon being finalized, it was estimated that the Plan could result in a 32 percent reduction in carbon emission by 2030. Such a reduction in carbon emissions is critical to addressing the growing threat posed by climate change to our states and communities. Climate change is already a threat to life and property, as it drives rising temperatures, sea levels, and worsening impacts from severe weather events.
Reasonable people can disagree about how to respond to the risks of climate change. But there should be little disagreement that something must be done. We must work towards addressing the challenges posed by a changing climate.
The Climate Solutions Caucus, of which we are all members, seeks effective market-based solutions to address this serious issue. Given the reductions we’ve already seen, our government and private sector are positioned to make the United States the leader in the fight against climate change. We urge you to consider how you can put your own agency to work to achieve solutions that will provide good jobs, economic growth, and a safe climate for us and future Americans.
Given its importance, your Agency should maintain the Clean Power Plan standards for the building of new power plants. We appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to continuing to work with you in the future.
The Economist is an English-language weekly magazine-format newspaper owned by the Economist Group and edited at offices in London. Continuous publication began under its founder, James Wilson, in September 1843.
The Department of Environmental Health (EH) believes that the essence of public health is the primary prevention of disease. EH’s mission is to contribute to the maintenance and improvement of the health of all people through global leadership in research and training in environmental health.
To fulfill its mission to advance the health of all people around the world through research and training in environmental health, the department emphasizes the role of air, water, the built environment, and the workplace as critical determinants. Faculty members study the pathogenesis and prevention of environmentally produced illnesses and act as catalysts for scientifically based public health advances. Research approaches range from molecular studies to policy evaluation. Visit the Department of Environmental Health.
360Billion commitment by 2020 creating 13 million jobs Alas not the US or Canada or Europe tis China is crushing it in renewables
The fight against climate change has taken some big hits in the U.S. as President Donald Trump continues to dismantle environmental regulations and policies.
China, on the other hand, is aggressively moving forward to reduce carbon emissions by increasing renewable energy sources, much like the state of California, which has always led the green tech movement.
So it makes sense that China and California are increasing ties to work together, often times leaving the U.S. government out of the conversation.
Mary Nichols serves under the governor as head of the California Air Resources Board, the state’s clean air agency. She admitted the leadership role by the U.S. on climate change is evaporating.
“The Paris Accord came about because President Obama reached out to China, but the two countries together brought the rest of the nations of the world to the table and got that agreement,” said Nichols. “With the United States now with a leader who wants to pull away from that role, there is this vacuum.”
He is co-author of the best-selling textbook Biodiversity: An Introduction, Blackwell Science, 2003
"Prof Spicer spells out the chilling message in a new book -- Biodiversity: A Beginner's Guide -- the findings of which have been backed by respected scientists from the United Nations, Yale University and the Eden Project." Herald, the Interview with John Spicer entitled 'My Fight For Planet' was published. Herald, the "Will appeal to intelligent non-specialists and may provide the incentive to study the subject in greater depth" Journal of Biological Education.
Dr. James Hansen, former director of NASA’s Goddard Institute and Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, discusses the urgent need to radically change our relationship with the
planet
Snow leopards have evolved to live in some of the harshest conditions on Earth. Their white-gray coat spotted with large black rosettes blends in perfectly with the steep and rocky mountains of Central Asia
The third pole which is home to the snow leopard is made up of all the highest mountains in the world and is the source of major rivers used by 2 billion people downstream.
The snow leopard’s presence indicates the health of the whole ecosystem however it is increasingly becoming vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Find what you can do to help secure the future of the snow leopard, the vast landscape that it calls home and all the people whose lives depend on it.
In the first three months of 2016, Norway registered 11,124 pure electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), representing 24.4 percent of all new vehicles.
The reason isn’t because Norwegians care more about the environment than anyone else. The reason is, of course, money. Essentially, Norwegians have been financially incentivised by their government to buy electric cars over the previous decade, at a cost to the state of tens of thousands of kroner per car.
State subsidies, intended to promote a less polluting form of travel and cut greenhouse gas emissions, help bring the price of buying the top-selling electric Nissan Leaf in Norway down to 240,690 kr, which is competitive with similarly powered petrol cars.
In addition to these benefits, commuters driving into Oslo from the surrounding areas save up to 10,000 kr in road tolls over the course of the year, and get free parking which is also worth thousands of kroner per year.
As the bills from climate change start to pile up, Shane Smith investigates the true cost of denial.
The first effects of climate change are already being felt, and projections show that if the world doesn’t take action, there could be over $40 trillion worth of damage around the globe over the next five decades.
Scientists say warmer winters have lured the mammals northwards, bringing with them parasites and diseases.
Armadillos are small to medium-sized mammals. The smallest species, the pink fairy armadillo, is roughly chipmunk-sized at 85 g (3.0 oz) and 13–15 cm (5.1–5.9 in) in total length.
The largest species, the giant armadillo, can be the size of a small pig and weigh up to 54 kg (119 lb), and can be 150 cm (59 in) long. They are prolific diggers. Many species use their sharp claws to dig for food, such as grubs, and to dig dens.
The nine-banded armadillo prefers to build burrows in moist soil near the creeks, streams, and arroyos around which it lives and feeds. The diets of different armadillo species vary, but consist mainly of insects, grubs, and other invertebrates. Some species, however, feed almost entirely on ants and termites.
Learn how greenhouse gasses, smog, and toxic pollutants effect climate change, and human health.
THE LEADING POLLUTANT
Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is the main pollutant that is warming Earth. Though living things emit carbon dioxide when they breathe, carbon dioxide is widely considered to be a pollutant when associated with cars, planes, power plants, and other human activities that involve the burning of fossil fuels such as gasoline and natural gas. In the past 150 years, such activities have pumped enough carbon dioxide into the atmosphere to raise its levels higher than they have been for hundreds of thousands of years.
When the people of Jefferson County, Texas, narrowly voted majority Trump last November, climate change rarely came up as an issue. Then they were devastated by Hurricane Harvey. AP Video by Martha Irvine.
In cities, small towns and rural communities throughout southeast Texas, the floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey have receded, but mountains of debris remain. A month after the storm, people are living in tents and trailers or sleeping on the couches of friends and family as they take stock of the damage to their homes and wait for promised help to arrive. After the Category 4 storm made landfall near Rockport on Aug. 25, it lingered inland over the Gulf Coast for four days, dropping almost 50 inches of rain in the Port Arthur-Beaumont area alone.
Thousands of firefighters have been battling a series of catastrophic blazes that began Sunday night in the North Bay. As of late Friday afternoon, the death toll had risen to 35.
The Politics of Disasters
As fires raced unchecked through California wine country this week, Vice President Mike Pence was in Sacramento raising money for the Republican Party. He stopped to assure Californians that the Trump administration stood ready with federal resources to help manage the disaster. In Washington, D.C., Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced that she was going to run for re-election.
Scientists had begun to warn electric utilities about climate change by 1968, and by 1988 the industry’s official research and development organization had acknowledged that, “There is growing consensus in the scientific community that the greenhouse effect is real.”
"Americans sent more than 8 million comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in support of standards limiting carbon pollution from new and existing power plants – the most ever received by the agency.
Clearly the public wants the EPA to protect it from dangerous carbon pollution."
Jonathan Pershing previously served as the US Department of State's Special Envoy for Climate Change. State has worked to increase the participation and representation of women in climate change discussions. Pershing discusses why he is motivated to pursue this work and the role women have played in combating climate change worldwide.
He leads a team of grantmakers focused on climate change in the U.S., China, India, Europe and Latin America, and conserving the North American West. He joined the foundation in January 2017.
Can geoengineering save the planet from climate change?
One company, Climeworks, reckons it now costs about $600 to extract a tonne of carbon dioxide from the air and the plant’s full capacity due by the end of 2017 is only 900 tonnes a year. That’s equivalent to the annual emissions of only 45 Americans.
Although David Keith Environmental scientist also proposes a cheap, effective, shocking means to address climate change:
What if we injected a huge cloud of ash into the atmosphere to deflect sunlight and heat?
Climeworks and CarbFix2: The world’s first carbon removal solution through direct air capture
“I don’t accept global warming on faith: I crunch the data, I analyze the models, I help engineers and city managers and ecologists quantify the impacts. The data tells us the planet is warming; the science is clear that humans are responsible; the impacts we’re seeing today are already serious; and our future is in our hands. As John Holdren once said, ‘We basically have three choices: mitigation, adaptation and suffering.’ We’re going to do some of each. The question is what the mix is going to be. The more mitigation we do, the less adaptation will be required, and the less suffering there will be.” K Hayhoe
Geoffrey Ayeni's move aims to create awareness about climate change and inspire people to take action through tree planting.
Ayeni is a charity walker. His latest was to create awareness about climate change and inspire people to take action through tree planting.
As he walked, Ayeni planted trees at district headquarters and iconic places, such as Mabira Forest Reserve and the source of the Nile.
In addition to WWF, Ayeni also got support from the National Forestry Authority, who provided him with seedlings and the Ministry of Water and Environment.
"We are currently witnessing the largest forest fire in British Columbia's history, the Atlantic Ocean recording record temperatures, and the second flood of the century in 12 months in Windsor," McKenna wrote. "And the conservatives are still saying that the environment and the economy can be separated! Climate change is real and environmental protection is essential. It is time for the conservatives to understand the message." Canada's Environment Minister Catherine McKenna
Flights all around the world will be encountering lots more turbulence in future, according to the first ever global projections of in-flight bumpiness.
A new study led by the University of Reading has calculated that climate change will significantly increase the amount of severe turbulence worldwide by 2050–2080. Severe turbulence involves forces stronger than gravity, and is strong enough to throw people and luggage around an aircraft cabin.
This problem is only going to worsen as the climate continues to change
Professor Paul Williams, University of Reading
REDD Plus (+) stands for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, as well
as conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.
REDD+ encourages countries to incorporate forestry and land management into national strategies to combat climate change. REDD+ will deliver benefits beyond financial incentives, which includes environmental services and biodiversity conservation, vital for Papua New Guinea's economy and growing population.
At the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation, bringing low carbon leaders and practitioners from business, finance and the public sector together to turn good ideas into reality.
Climate change is widely regarded as one of the most significant concerns facing our economy, health, and natural environment.
Failure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the impacts of climate change will result in greater risks for Canadians.
This audit focused on whether Environment and Climate Change Canada, with support from other government departments and agencies, made progress toward meeting Canada’s commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
This audit is important because failing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions increases the risks of pollution, natural disasters, forest fires, and floods.
We concluded that Environment and Climate Change Canada worked collaboratively with provinces and territories to develop a new national climate change plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030—the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change.
However, the measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions contained in this plan had yet to be implemented.
We concluded that Environment and Climate Change Canada, with support from other government departments and agencies, did not make progress toward meeting Canada’s commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Department did not implement measures that would be sufficient to reach the 2020 target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and it shifted its focus to the 2030 target.
Plant ecologist Dan Metcalfe is in the midst of a bold experiment:
by eliminating the cloud layer from a portion of the forest, he is attempting to see what exactly will happen as the cloud forest dries out.
Published works:
1) Metcalfe DB & Kunin WE (2006). The effects of plant density upon pollination success, reproductive effort and fruit parasitism in Cistus ladanifer L. (Cistaceae). Plant Ecology 185: 41-47.
2) Metcalfe DB et al. (2007). A method for extracting plant roots from soil which facilitates rapid sample processing without compromising measurement accuracy. New Phytologist 174: 697-703.
3) Metcalfe DB et al. (2007). Sample sizes for estimating key ecosystem characteristics in a tropical terre firme rainforest. Forest Ecology & Management. 255: 558-566.
4) Metcalfe DB et al. (2007). A comparison of methods for converting rhizotron root length measurements into estimates of root mass production per unit ground area. Plant and Soil 301: 279-288.
5) Metcalfe DB et al. (2007). Factors controlling spatio-temporal variation in carbon dioxide efflux from surface litter, roots and soil organic matter at four rainforest sites in the eastern Amazon. JGR-Biogeosciences Vol.112, GO4001, DOI: 10.1029/2007JG000443.
6) Högberg P, Högberg MN, Gottlicher SG, Betson NR, Keel SG, Metcalfe DB, Campbell C,Schindlbacher A, Hurry V, Lindmark T, Linder S & Nasholm T (2007). High temporal resolution tracing of photosynthate carbon from the tree canopy to forest soil microorganisms. New Phytologist 177: 220-228.
7) Ostonen I, Puttsepp U, Biel C, Alberton O, Bakker MR, Lohmus K, Majdi H, Metcalfe D, Olsthoorn AD, Pronk A, Vanguelova E, Weih M & Brunner I (2007). Specific root length as an indicator of environmental change. Plant Biosystems 141: 426-442.
8) Cameron TC, Metcalfe DB, Beckerman AP & Sait SM (2007). Intraspecific competition: the role of lags between attack and death in host-parasitoid interactions. Ecology 88: 1225-1231
9) Meir P, Metcalfe DB & Costa ACL (2007). The fate of assimilated carbon during drought: impacts on respiration in Amazon rainforests. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London-Biological Sciences DOI:10.1098/rtsb.2007.0021
Interviewed by Yale Climate Connections regular videographer Peter Sinclair in Kangeraussuaq, Greenland, this past summer, Steffensen, a professor of glaciology, sees an analogy between the continued emissions of greenhouse gases and the rises posed to the U.S. and global economy by the 2006/2007 widespread sales of subprime loans.
Catch up with, Fellow Brit/Taffy (so why aren't we both called David?), Robert Llewellyn as he delves into:-
A massive EV quarry truck, huge offshore wind turbines, cars with solar PV and yes.... a Giraffe charger!
Fully Charged is an online show hosted by Robert Llewellyn looking at why we need to change how we travel and where our energy comes from
Fully Charged is a Youtube channel focusing on electric vehicles and renewable energy hosted by writer, broadcaster and actor Robert Llewellyn. The channel has covered a wide range of topics around electric vehicles including electric cars, electric bikes, electric aircraft, electric vehicle charging infrastructure.[1] Fully Charged also covers a wide range of renewable energy topics including solar power, wind power, UK energy policy, cycling infrastructure, air pollution and air pollution monitoring.[2]
Fully Charged began in 2010 and has since reached 197,000 subscribers and 22 million views as of August, 2017.[3] The channel is viewer supported through the crowdfunding platform Patreon and previously through advertising and partnerships with Ecotricity, Bosch and British Gas.
Youtube Channel
From the damage wrought by Hurricane Sandy to the upheaval caused by drought in the Middle East, this groundbreaking documentary series provides first-hand reports on those affected by, and seeking solutions to, climate change.
Today’s young people can and should hold their parents’ generation to account for their present actions. They can elicit an emotional response that can motivate action. If thinking about the lives of unborn future generations seems too abstract to motivate you to act, try instead looking a young child or grandchild in the eye and asking yourself what sort of future you are leaving for them. There is something that, on reflection, many adults would surely find repugnant in the idea that they will leave their children a damaged planet that will radically affect their life possibilities. Lord Nicholas Stern
Kiribati President Anote Tong
"…I remember I had been trying to convince him to visit Kiribati and he did in 2011. He came to Kiribati and I remember he went to visit one of these communities that was flooded every time there is very high tides and there was this young boy who stepped up to the Secretary General and said Mr. Secretary General, you are a very important man you know, is there something that you can do to ensure I will have a future, that I will have a home. And the Secretary General came back and he said Mr. President I have been listening to you at the General Assembly but I never truly understood what it was you trying to communicate but now I do and I feel and I understand I would do everything that I can”
