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Take a picture — it’ll last longer than the snow cover.
You may have noticed it’s been a hot summer so far. June temperatures were above average across the world, and both NASA and NOAA ranked the month among the top five warmest since record keeping began in the late 1800s.
Not surprisingly, snow extent in the Northern Hemisphere was at its third-lowest on record by June. But what makes the current paltry snow cover more significant is the fact that, just a few months ago, the Northern Hemisphere was unusually snowy — April 2013 had the ninth-highest snow extent since 1967. A month later, half that snow had melted away. The Washington Post reports:
“This is likely one of the most rapid shifts in near opposite extremes on record, if not the largest from April to May,” said climatologist David Robinson, who runs Rutgers University Global Snow Lab.
The snow extent shrunk from 12.4 million square miles to 6.2 million square miles in a month’s time. By June, just 2.3 million square miles of snow remained in the Northern Hemisphere (a decline of 63 percent from May), third lowest on record.
“In recent years it hasn’t seemed that unusual to have average or even above average winter snow extent rapidly diminish to below average values come spring,” Robinson said.
It’s the same story for ice. Although Arctic sea ice extent is not as low as it was in mid-July of 2012 (the year that Arctic ice dropped to its lowest level on record), over the last two weeks, the ice has melted 61 percent faster than average, with 51,000 square miles disappearing every day. The Arctic Sea Ice Blog writes that despite the slower start to this year’s ice-melting season, 2013 could still approach 2012’s record.
Meanwhile, new research from the State University of New York at Albany purports to have narrowed the window of when we can expect to see an ice-free Arctic to some time in the mid-2050s, under a high-emissions scenario (and with the way things are going, it’s hard to imagine any other scenario playing out over the next 40 years).
Mark Serreze of the National Snow and Ice Data Center thinks the ice will melt even sooner, according to NBC News:
“But I still think you are conservative here,” he [said of the SUNY-Albany study], sticking to his earlier projection of ice-free conditions by the year 2030. “Because what we’re seeing here is that the sea ice cover continues to surprise us.”
For example, he explained, there are poorly understood changes in the flow of ocean heat from the Atlantic to the Arctic, as well as evidence that the heat absorbed by the Arctic Ocean in the summer lingers around through the winter, affecting ice melt the following year.
It’s not just the amount of melting ice and snow but the speed at which they are melting that continue to increase, meaning the effects of warming snowball every year — pun intended.
Claire Thompson is an editorial assistant at Grist.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) asked her colleagues Wednesday to oppose Michael Froman, President Barack Obama’s pick for US Trade Representative, charging that he is not committed to giving the American public information about a sweeping trade deal now being negotiated between the US and 11 other countries.
The massive free trade agreement, called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, would affect everything from intellectual property rights, to product safety standards, to financial regulations. Many lawmakers criticized the previous trade representative, Ron Kirk, for the secrecy surrounding the deal; certain members of Congress can see the proposed text of the deal, but the public cannot. Warren has called on the office of the US Trade Representative to release the full text of the TPP deal to the public. But in a floor speech Wednesday, she said Froman has made clear he would not release the text of the deal and is not interested in making the negotiations more transparent:
I asked the President’s nominee to be Trade Representative—Michael Froman—three questions: First, would he commit to releasing the composite bracketed text the full text of the TPP as it currently stands? Or second, if not, would he commit to releasing just a scrubbed version of the bracketed text that made anonymous which country proposed which provision…
Third, I asked Mr. Froman if he would provide more transparency behind what information is made available to the trade office’s outside advisors. Currently, there are about 600 outside advisors that have access to sensitive information, and the roster includes a wide diversity of industry representatives and some labor and NGO representatives too. But there is no transparency around who gets what information and whether they all see the same things, and I think that’s a real problem.
Mr. Froman’s response was clear: No, no, no.
Warren has raised concerns that Wall Street is trying to weaken financial regulations through the TPP. Rep. Darrell Issa (D-Calif.) is worried that the deal could imperil an open internet. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) says the trade agreement could move jobs overseas. The TPP is not final yet, so no one can say for sure what will be in it. But Warren says the American public deserves to be a part of the discussion.
“The American people have the right to know more about the negotiations that will have dramatic impact on the future of the American economy,” Warren said. “I believe in transparency and democracy, and I think the U.S. Trade Representative should too.” A vote is expected Wednesday afternoon.
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VIDEO: Elizabeth Warren Opposes Obama’s Nominee for Trade Representative
Japan wants to make sure its noodles remain untainted by GMOs.
Japan cancelled a bid on 27,500 tons of Pacific Northwest wheat on Thursday — the first bite taken out of America’s wheat export market after a rogue genetically engineered strain was discovered growing like a weed on an Oregon farm.
Other international buyers also reacted negatively to the news, with South Korea suspending its tenders to import U.S. wheat and European Union countries being urged to step up genetic testing of American imports. Taiwan said it may seek assurances that all imported wheat from the U.S. is GMO-free, the Wall Street Journal‘s MarketWatch reports.
“As long as the situation remains unchanged, we have no choice but to avoid bidding for the product,” [a Japanese government] official said …
“We are asking US authorities to disclose information related to the incident as quickly as possible,” the official said. …
Japan imports around five million tonnes of wheat a year, 60 percent of which is from the US, making it one of the largest importers of the crop. …
In Brussels, the European Commission said Thursday it has asked EU member states to check imports of wheat from the United States which may be tainted with the genetically modified strain.
The budding global backlash is a reminder that while America is a friendly place for most GMO crops, other countries consider transgenic foods to be abhorrent. GMO wheat has not been authorized to be grown or sold anywhere in the world. Monsanto ceased efforts to market the transgenic wheat in 2005 when it became clear that America’s export-dominated market would not tolerate it.
America is the world’s biggest wheat exporter, shipping $8 billion worth around the world every year. Australia is No. 2. While many wheat buyers may now look to Australia to boost its exports, experts told Reuters that it was unlikely the country’s growers could meet a spike in demand.
This is not the first time that transgenic crops have popped up where they were not wanted. From Reuters:
The latest finding revives memories of farmers unwittingly planting genetically modified rapeseed in Europe in 2000, while in 2006 a large part of the U.S. long-grain rice crop was contaminated by an experimental strain from Bayer CropScience , prompting import bans in Europe and Japan.
The company agreed in court in 2011 to pay $750 million to growers as compensation.
Monsanto should prepare to face the ire of the world. And it was already very unpopular. Just last weekend saw rallies held around the globe in opposition to the company’s genetically modified products and business practices.
John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who
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Japan and other nations say no to U.S. wheat, worried about GMOs
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Investments in solar and green power are on track to blow away fossil fuels by 2030. Fossil fuel cheerleaders take note: Renewable energy ain’t going nowhere—and it may prove to be the better bet in the long run. By 2030, renewables will account for 70 percent of new power supply worldwide, according to projections released today from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Bloomberg analysts examined gas prices, carbon prices, the dwindling price of green energy technology, and overall energy demand (which, in the US at least, is on a massive decline), and found solar and wind beating fossil fuels like coal and natural gas by 2030. The chart below shows annual installations of new power sources, in gigawatts; over time, more and more of the new energy supply being built each year comes from renewable sources (like wind turbines and solar panels), by 2030 representing $630 billion worth of investment, while new fossil fuel sources (like coal- or gas-burning power plants) become increasingly rare. Courtesy BNEF The effect of this projected growth, BNEF CEO Michael Liebreich told Climate Desk at a gathering of clean energy investors today in New York, is that damage to the climate from the electricity sector is likely to taper off even as worldwide electricity use grows. “I believe we’re in a phase of change where renewables are going to take the sting out of growth in energy demand,” he said. Signs of this transformation are already appearing: Solar power workers now outnumber coal miners nationwide, wind power was the United States’ leading source of new power in 2012, and financial analysts warn that fossil fuel investments are poised to become a very bad bet. But that doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods yet: Fossil fuels have such a historic grip on the power market that even this projected massive growth isn’t enough to tip the scales fully towards sustainability. By 2030, non-renewable sources will still account for half of the world’s total power supply, according to the analysis. The chart below shows the world’s total energy use, again in gigawatts; while total use grows, more comes from renewable sources: Courtesy BNEF Liebreich cautioned that the accuracy of BNEF’s projection will hinge on China, which may have up to 50 percent more natural gas than the United States and seems to be on the brink of a fracking gold rush. The question, Liebreich said, is how renewables investors might react if China is able to exploit its gas resources cheaply. For now, he said the renewable renaissance is driven mainly by the bottom line: High returns and ever-cheaper technology make putting money into renewables good business. “If it’s attractive to the investors,” he said, “they invest.”
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Charts: The Smart Money is on Renewable Energy
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The Chevron refinery explosion was visible from far away.
An August fire and explosion at a refinery in Richmond, Calif. — which sickened 15,000 residents of the San Francisco Bay area — was the result of Chevron not giving a shit about safety.
That’s the paraphrased conclusion of an investigation into the accident by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. While releasing an interim report Monday, the board said a regulatory overhaul was needed to protect the public from such accidents.
At a news conference in Emeryville, officials from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board portrayed a refinery that took a Band-Aid approach to plant maintenance — pipes were often clamped as they aged rather than being replaced, and the section of pipe that ruptured had deteriorated to less than half the thickness of a dime. …
“The regulatory regime in which the refinery worked allowed this to happen,” Rafael Moure-Eraso, chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, told a room full of news cameras and reporters at the Hilton Garden Inn.
Moure-Eraso said the refinery industry nationwide is “a very old industry … and there is very little reinvestment by the companies. What happened here is a reflection of the sector in general. We need to be looking at inherently safer technologies. The approach must be not to manage risk but to avoid risk from the beginning.”
The explosion was caused by a rupture in a corroded pipeline that allowed vapor to escape and ignite. Chevron knew for a decade that the pipeline was corroding away. But Chevron didn’t do anything about it, and then the inevitable happened. From Reuters:
The Safety Board … said Chevron did not act upon six recommendations over 10 years to increase inspection and replace the line at its Richmond, California, refinery with upgraded pipe.
During the 10 years before the August 6 blast, refinery officials saw signs the pipeline’s walls were thinning due to corrosion from rising sulfur content in the increasingly diverse crude oil grades the refinery was processing, the CSB found.
Chevron’s apparent negligence cost its CEO some of his potential bonus payment last year, but he still took home a gargantuan paycheck. From a Contra Costa Times report published last week:
Chevron’s top boss, John Watson, received 30 percent more in total compensation in fiscal 2012, despite a cut in his bonus after a string of accidents for the energy giant, a regulatory filing Thursday shows.
The company awarded Watson a total compensation package of $32.2 million last year. That was up 30 percent from a total pay package of $24.7 million in fiscal 2011, a proxy filing ahead of the company’s annual meeting showed. …
Chevron’s board of directors last month decided to cut the bonuses for the CEO and other top executives after a series of mishaps jolted the company, including an August 2012 fire at the company’s refinery, a November 2011 oil leak from the ocean floor near Brazil and a January 2012 explosion on a oil rig off the coast of Nigeria that killed two.
Glad to hear Watson is going to be OK, despite all those terrible accidents that affected other Chevron workers and innocent nearby residents.
John Upton is a science aficionado and green news junkie who
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Chevron ignored a decade of warnings before Richmond refinery explosion
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A new survey from Gallup shows Americans oppose the use of drone strikes to kill suspected terrorists who are Americans whether those Americans are on American soil or abroad. But Americans still overwhelmingly back strikes against suspected terrorists abroad who are not American.
Here are the results, which suggest the public debate over targeted killing is affecting perceptions of the policy:
The most surprising result may be that 25 percent of those surveyed are okay with using drone strikes to target non-citizen terror suspects in the US. Maybe they just really don’t like their neighbors?
Nevertheless, the premise of Gallup’s question remains flawed. Although most of the debate over targeted killing has focused on drones, the survey is of limited usefulness because it focuses on the method of killing rather than the authority to kill. As far as Americans are concerned, the question is really whether and under what circumstances the government has the authority to use lethal force and what the limits are on that authority.
Although the use of drone airstrikes in the United States remains a far-fetched hypothetical, the use of targeted killing abroad is not. Between 3000 and 5000 people have been killed in US drone strikes abroad, including many civilians. Based on what we know publicly, only four Americans have ever been killed in drone strikes. Yet the kind of strikes the US is overwhelmingly engaged in are so popular that the number of people who oppose them is similar to the number who think the government should be firing missiles at terror suspects inside the United States.
Correction: This post originally stated that three Americans have been killed in drone strikes. The correct number is four.
Mother Jones
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Converting your home to green energy can provide numerous benefits to you as the home owner, as well as, to the environment and future generations. In this article, you will learn how to incorporate greener energy into your home, which will save you a considerable amount of money and reduce your carbon footprint.
Turn your computer off when you are not using it. This includes anything connected to the computer, such as the printer. When these are on, even if in hibernate mode, they are drawing electricity. When you are done browsing or working, turn off the computer and turn off the strip plug to save electrical energy.
Switch plates and outlets are a necessary evil when it comes to holes that may cause energy or heat loss. That said, you can reduce the amount of energy lost through such openings by installing foam gaskets behind their face plates and then by sealing their edges with a quick application of caulk.
Try to install some new, high-performance windows that can improve your home’s energy efficiency. While it can take multiple years for these new windows to pay off with your energy savings, their benefits of added comfort, better aesthetics, and much better functionality can offset the cost in the long run.
Those looking to save energy and live a greener life may want to consider reducing the amount of lighting in their house. Ask yourself if you really need four lamps in a single room, or read with a book light rather than using your rooms lighting at night. This simple tip can go a long way to reducing your energy consumption.
When finishing up your work for the day, turn off your home office equipment including your computer. These modern work machines eat up a lot of energy, even when not in use. Taking the initiative to shut them down completely can save a lot of energy and money for you!
Think about going green in terms of energy use in small steps, especially if your home cannot accommodate the solar panels or wind turbines necessary for a major infusion of green energy. Things like laptops, cell phones, iPods and other small gadgets can easily be powered up with smaller solar cells.
Purchase solar lights for your garden and outdoor walkways. Tou learn more about green energy. We all have a responsibility to take care of our world, and finding better energy sources is key to fulfilling that responsibility.
Steel deck stock which usually are generally providing a few items for development function and those products are Composite metal decks
