Lifeboat Foundation

Europe baked in near-record temperatures on Monday but hopes were for some respite after weeks of non-stop sunshine as people come to terms with what may prove to be the new normal in climate change Europe.

Here is a roundup of recent developments:

The Manastash Ridge Fire burning 12 miles south of Cle Elum has closed areas used by hunters in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in the south fork of the Manastash Creek drainage.

Lightning started the fire in August, and the U.S. Forest Service has no estimate as to when the area might reopen, Cle Elum Ranger District spokesperson Nancy Jones said.

She recommends hunters check information about the closed area at http://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/okawen/alerts-notices/?aid=19608 before venturing into the Manastash.

Continue reading “Wildfires past and present could hamper local hunting” »

It’s official: 2017 was the third-warmest year on record for the globe, behind 2016 (first) and 2015, according to the 28th annual State of the Climate report. The planet also experienced record-high greenhouse gas concentrations as well as rises in sea level.

The annual checkup for the planetoffsite link, led by scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information and published by the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, is based on contributions from more than 500 scientists in 65 countries and offers insight on global climate indicators, extreme weather events and other valuable environmental data.

Notable findings from the international report include:

As heat and humidity soared and New Yorkers slowed their famously fast strides to cope, a small miracle happened in Midtown: A single-family house was assembled in three days.

The tiny 22-square-meter (237-square-foot) prototype, on display on United Nations Plaza, is designed for a family of four. It’s self-sustaining, producing drinkable water from the air, energy from the sun and food from a vertical vegetable garden embedded in the exterior walls. And at an expected price of about $35,000, it may provide an affordable answer to a global housing shortage.

“In this climate, this home would produce enough food for a family of four for about 260 days” out of a year, said Anna Dyson, a professor of architecture and forestry and environmental studies at Yale University. “In better climates — in Africa, for example — it could actually produce a surplus of food.”

Continue reading “Miracle in Midtown: Tiny House May Be Answer to a Global Crisis” »

If people cannot adapt to future climate temperatures, deaths caused by severe heatwaves will increase dramatically in tropical and subtropical regions, followed closely by Australia, Europe and the United States, a global new Monash-led study shows.

Published today in PLOS Medicine, it is the first global study to predict future heatwave-related deaths and aims to help decision makers in planning adaptation and mitigation strategies for climate change.

Researchers developed a model to estimate the number of deaths related to heatwaves in 412 communities across 20 countries for the period of 2031 to 2080.

Continue reading “Heatwave deaths will rise steadily by 2080 as globe warms up” »

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson says lawmakers and the media cherry pick scientific papers to reinforce political ideals on climate change and says it’s irresponsible to create public policy while ignoring the scientific community’s consensus.

The financial costs of flooding in Canada’s maritime region could spike by 300 per cent by the end of the century if steps are not taken to address the impacts of climate change.

A study done by researchers at the University of Waterloo looked at the Halifax, Nova Scotia area, a region hard hit by recent riverine flooding. The team, made up economists, geographers and political scientists, merged data on flood probability, climate change and financial payout information from the insurance/re-insurance market and used the information to develop a forecast.

“Until recently there hasn’t been a lot of work exploring what increased flooding will cost, and who will get stuck with the bill,” says Andrea Minano, coordinator of the Canadian Coastal Resilience Forum (CCRF) and a researcher at Waterloo’s Faculty of Environment. “The increases in flood losses put into question the long term insurability in the Halifax area, and highlight a broader problem facing many other areas in Canada if no actions are taken to mitigate and adapt to climate change.”

A new study carried out by an international team of researchers, using the chemistry of ocean sediments has highlighted a widespread picture of Atlantic circulation changes associated with rapid climate change in the past.

The new integrated dataset, published today in the journal Nature Communications, provides new insights into the interactions of melting ice, ocean circulation and climate change, with potential implications for future long-term changes in the Earth systems with global climate change.

Dr. Hong Chin Ng from the University of Bristol’s School of Earth Sciences, is the study’s lead author.

Continue reading “Deglacial changes in western Atlantic Ocean circulation” »

In the end, however, if the critics quoted in the Science article don’t care about global warming, fine – many people don’t. If they think renewables alone can do it, fine – some people do. I’m sure they’re well-intentioned. However, every leading climate scientist from Jim Hansen on down knows that we will not achieve any of our climate goals without a dramatic increase in both nuclear and renewables.

Since fast-reactors, like those that will be tested in the VITR, can get ten times the power out of the same fuel, can burn spent fuel and even depleted uranium like our old Iraqi tank armor, when we get to fast reactors as a significant portion of our energy we will have several thousand years of low-carbon power on hand.

That’s more energy than exists in all the coal, oil and natural gas in the ground right now.

Continue reading “Should We Build A Fast Nuclear Test Reactor Or Continue To Be Beholden To Russia?” »