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Archive for May 4th, 2015
Polar meltdown sees us on an icy road to disaster
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 4th, 2015
Guardian: The Amundsen sea sector in west Antarctica is almost as big as France. Six glaciers drain into it and one of the largest of these is the Pine Island glacier, a 30-kilometre-wide estuary of ice that is more than 500km in length. Stand on it, on a clear day, and swaths of glittering ice stretch off to the horizon in every direction.
This is one of the world’s greatest bodies of fresh water, a vast frozen reservoir weighing more than 300tn tonnes. With that sort of resource, you could solve a great...
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OHA trustees vote rescind support Thirty Meter Telescope
Posted by Star-Adversiter: None Given on May 4th, 2015
Star-Adversiter: Spectators crowded the Office of Hawaiian Affairs board room as the board reconsidered its support of the Thirty-Meter Telescope Thursday morning.
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs voted Thursday afternoon to rescind its support for building one of the world's largest telescopes near the summit of Mauna Kea.
After hearing four hours of testimony, the trustees voted 6-1 in favor of rescinding their 2009 support of the Big Island telescope. However before the vote, they passed an amendment that...
In symbolic blow, Native Hawaiian panel withdraws support for world’s largest telescope
Posted by Science: Ilima Loomis on May 4th, 2015
Science: Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA)—a state agency established to advocate for Native Hawaiians—voted Thursday to withdraw their support for construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on the summit of the Mauna Kea volcano. The vote follows weeks of protests by Native Hawaiians who say the massive structure would desecrate one of their most holy places. The protests have shut down construction of the telescope, which would be the world’s largest optical telescope if completed....
UN scientists warn time is running out to tackle global warming
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 4th, 2015
Guardian: Governments are running out of time to address climate change and to avoid the worst effects of rising temperatures, an influential UN panel warned yesterday.
Greater energy efficiency, renewable electricity sources and new technology to dump carbon dioxide underground can all help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the experts said. But there could be as little as eight years left to avoid a dangerous global average rise of 2C or more.
The warning came in a report from the Intergovernmental...
World headed for irreversible climate change in five years, IEA warns
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 4th, 2015
Guardian: The world is likely to build so many fossil-fuelled power stations, energy-guzzling factories and inefficient buildings in the next five years that it will become impossible to hold global warming to safe levels, and the last chance of combating dangerous climate change will be "lost for ever", according to the most thorough analysis yet of world energy infrastructure.
Anything built from now on that produces carbon will do so for decades, and this "lock-in" effect will be the single factor most...
Western towns hard-hit by climate change unite, target coal for funds
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 4th, 2015
Denver Post: Ten Western mountain towns feeling the effects of climate change are launching a campaign that targets the coal industry, seeking hundreds of millions of dollars a year from companies to help communities adapt.
The "Mountain Pact" towns in Colorado and neighboring states contend that, because coal is a major source of heat-trapping greenhouse gases linked to climate change, the industry should pay more to help deal with the impact.
In a letter being sent this week to federal officials, lawmakers...
Climate Change Speeds Extinctions
Posted by Scientist: Kerry Grens on May 4th, 2015
Scientist: If increases in greenhouse gases stay on pace, species will go extinct at an ever-increasing rate, according to a study published last week (May 1) in Science. In the worst-case scenario, global warming will contribute to wiping out one of every six species. “Perhaps most surprising is that extinction risk does not just increase with temperature rise, but accelerates, curving upward as the Earth warms,” Mark Urban, a University of Connecticut ecologist and the author of the study, told Smithsonian.com....