Sustainability

Category Archives: Climate Change

Cheap renewables undercut nuclear power

Cheap renewables are mounting a serious challenge to nuclear power, which in 2017 has had a difficult year.

Key projects have been abandoned, costs are rising, and politicians in countries which previously championed the industry are withdrawing their support.

Renewables, on the other hand, especially wind and solar power, have continued to expand at an enormous rate. Most importantly, they have got significantly cheaper.

And newer technologies like large-scale battery storage and production of hydrogenare becoming economic, because they harness cheap power from excess renewable capacity.

Cheap renewables undercut nuclear power

Belize Ends Oil Operations in Its Ocean Waters

Belize, home of the largest barrier reef in the western hemisphere, has permanently suspended oil operations in its ocean waters. The legislation marks the first time that a developing country has taken such a major step to protect its oceans—and all the life within—from oil exploration and extraction.

The new suspension of oil activity marks an enormous win for the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System World Heritage site, the wildlife that live there, and the hundreds of thousands of Belizeans who rely on the reef for survival.

https://www.ecowatch.com/belize-offshore-drilling-wwf-2522728566.html

COST OF FOOD COULD GO HIGHER WITH PROPOSED ‘MEAT TAX’

In order to address the harmful impacts of meat on human health and the environment, several different organizations have proposed that the U.S. government impose a tax on one of America’s favorite indulgences—meat.

http://www.newsweek.com/cost-food-could-go-higher-proposed-meat-tax-763151?yptr=yahoo

Keeping global warming within 1.5 °C constrains emergence of aridification

Aridity—the ratio of atmospheric water supply (precipitation; P) to demand (potential evapotranspiration; PET)—is projected to decrease (that is, areas will become drier) as a consequence of anthropogenic climate change, exacerbating land degradation and desertification

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-017-0034-4

As Trump’s Climate Denial Continues, Experts Take Flight to France

Many East Coasters will be returning to work today in bitter cold conditions after the second-coldest New Year on record.

The low temperatures over the festive period did not go unnoticed by President Donald Trump who tweeted in late December:

“In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up!

The utter ignorance and stupidity underlying this tweet is staggering for someone with so much power. As the New York Times noted in response: “Trump’s tweet made the common mistake of looking at local weather and making broader assumptions about the climate at large.”

The paper added: “To use an analogy Mr. Trump might appreciate, weather is how much money you have in your pocket today, whereas climate is your net worth. A billionaire who has forgotten his wallet one day is not poor, anymore than a poor person who lands a windfall of several hundred dollars is suddenly rich. What matters is what happens over the long term.”

 

http://priceofoil.org/2018/01/02/as-trumps-climate-denial-continues-experts-take-flight-to-france/

Why healthy soils and forests are key to climate protection and prosperity

What links climate change, poverty and migration? The Global Landscapes Forum addresses how land-use is central to global challenges that are more interconnected than many of us realize.

http://www.dw.com/en/why-healthy-soils-and-forests-are-key-to-climate-protection-and-prosperity/a-41873961

Author Says Soil Is Key To Addressing Effects of Climate Change

In 2013 the United Nations declared Dec. 5 to be World Soil Day, a recognition of the significance of healthy soil in both improving food security and nutrition, and mitigating the effects of climate change, including drought, flood, soil erosion and sea level rise. This year the U.N. held a conference at its New York headquarters on the theme of “caring for the planet starts from the ground.”

Didi Pershouse, founder of the Center for Sustainable Medicine in Thetford and author of The Ecology of Care, and the downloadable PDF which was released online in August, was one of five panelists invited to speak at this year’s conference.

http://www.vnews.com/Soil-expert-Didi-Pershouse-speaks-at-UN-conference-14410464

and

didipershouse.com

 

Divest Responsibly

Barnard unveils criteria it will use to evaluate whether a fossil fuel company is a good or bad actor worthy of its investment. An emphasis is on climate science.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/12/13/barnard-announces-criteria-evaluating-fossil-fuel-companies-investment-worthiness

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