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Climate change – hot weather is bad for nuclear reactors

Hot weather, hot water pose challenges for TVA nuclear, local utilities
By Brian Lawson, The Huntsville Times  , June 30, 2012, “….   Browns Ferry’s operator, the Tennessee Valley Authority, faces the same paradox every summer: the plants are designed to help meet the valley’s power demand amid the swelter, but when it gets too hot the plants may have to scale back.  Under TVA’s water discharge permits with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, the water temperature downstream from the plant cannot be higher than upstream when the water reaches a temperature of 90 degrees….. David Lochbaum, a former engineer at Browns Ferry who now works with the Union of Concerned Scientists, said last week that nuclear power plants are about 33 percent efficient, so two-thirds of the waste heat they generate has to be cooled using water. Lochbaum said increasingly hot water in the Tennessee River places another potential burden on Browns Ferry operations.

Lochbaum was part of a conference call last week with area environmental advocates who said electricity generation poses an ongoing strain on water resources, especially in times of drought or the reduced rainfall levels being experienced in North Alabama this year.

A study by the River Network, released last week, found that it takes on average 40,000 gallons of fresh water to produce a megawatt of electricity. The water is used, polluted or consumed in making the electricity, said Wendy Wilson, national director of the River Network’s energy and climate programs.

July 2, 2012 Posted by | climate change, USA | Leave a comment

Climate change: global sea level rise is uneven: USA’s East coast to cop it big

US East Coast a ‘hot spot’ for sea level rise: study http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/65757 by Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent 26-Jun-12 Sea levels from Cape Hatteras to Cape Cod are rising at a faster pace
than anywhere on Earth, making coastal cities and wetlands in this densely-populated U.S. corridor possibly more vulnerable to flooding and damage, researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

Climate change is causing higher sea levels around the world, as land-based glaciers like those on Greenland melt and slide into the oceans and as warming ocean water expands.

But seas don’t rise at the same rate, and for 600 miles along the U.S. Atlantic coast, the water is rising more rapidly than elsewhere on the globe, USGS scientists reported on Sunday in the journal Nature Climate Change. In this “hot spot” of rising sea levels, variations in ocean currents and sea water temperature and salinity push oceans upward along the
coastline, the scientists said.

It could have an impact on some of the biggest urban areas along and near the East Coast, including Boston, Providence, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Norfolk-Virginia Beach, especially when storm surges push water inland. Continue reading →

June 28, 2012 Posted by | climate change, USA | Leave a comment

The way to win over climate sceptics

How to convince climate sceptics to be pro-environment, New Scientist,   17 June 2012 by Michael Slezak, Climate change might eventually cause millions of deaths and all kinds of natural disasters. But don’t tell that to a climate-change sceptic if you want them to do anything about it.

Instead, focus on how mitigation efforts can help people become more warm and caring towards others or how it can promote economic and technological development. That’s the advice psychologists give after confirming the strategy in an experiment. Continue reading →

June 20, 2012 Posted by | climate change, psychology - mental health | Leave a comment

So far, 2012 USA’s warmest year on record

Warmest U.S. Spring On Record: NOAA, PLanet Ark, 08-Jun-12,  Deborah Zabarenko,  So far, 2012 has been the warmest year the United States has ever seen, with the warmest spring and the second-warmest May since record-keeping began in 1895, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported on Thursday. Continue reading →

June 9, 2012 Posted by | climate change, USA | Leave a comment

Climate change, hot summers, having a bad effect on nuclear power plants

US, European nuclear and coal-fired electrical plants vulnerable to climate change: study Phys Og, June 3, 2012 Warmer water and reduced river flows in the United States and Europe in recent years have led to reduced production, or temporary shutdown, of several thermoelectric power plants. For instance, the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Alabama had to shut down more than once last summer because the Tennessee River’s water was too warm to use it for cooling.
A study by European and University of Washington scientists published today in Nature Climate Change projects that in the next 50 years warmer water and lower flows will lead to more such power disruptions. The authors predict that thermoelectric power generating capacity from 2031 to 2060 will decrease by between 4 and 16 percent in the U.S. and 6 to 19 percent in Europe due to lack of cooling water. The likelihood of extreme drops in power generation—complete or almost-total shutdowns—is projected to almost triple. Continue reading →

June 4, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, climate change | Leave a comment

UK govt secretly trying to weaken European Union’s climate regulations

Leaked documents reveal UK fight to dilute EU green energy targets Allegations of coalition hypocrisy over green issues as critics say documents show UK has caved in to fossil fuel lobbyists, Fiona Harvey, environment correspondent guardian.co.uk,   3 June 2012 The government has been trying to water down key environmental regulations in Brussels despite trumpeting its commitment to green issues at home, leaked documents show.

The papers, seen by the Guardian, reveal British officials repeatedly trying to prevent the adoption of European Union rules on energy efficiency, curtailing the proposals and making them voluntary rather than mandatory in many cases. In addition, the UK has tried repeatedly to ensure that the EU does not adopt a new target for renewable energy generation. Continue reading →

June 4, 2012 Posted by | climate change, secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | Leave a comment

Large scale study shows Australia is warming, due to global greenhouse emissions

“Our study revealed that recent warming in a 1,000-year context is highly unusual and cannot be explained by natural factors alone, suggesting a strong influence of human-caused climate change in the Australasian region,” 

1,000 years of climate data confirms Australia’s warming  http://phys.org/news/2012-05-years-climate-australia.html  May 17, 2012 By Alvin Stone In the first study of its kind in Australasia, scientists used 27 natural climate records to create the first large-scale temperature reconstruction for the region over the past 1,000 years. The study led by researchers at the University of Melbourne, used a range of natural indicators including tree rings, corals and ice cores to study Australasian temperatures over the past millennium. They then compared these with climate model simulations.

Dr. Stephen Phipps, a researcher with UNSW’s  Research Centre and the Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science led the climate model simulation research. He said the results showed there were no other warm periods in the past 1,000 years that match the warming experienced in Australasia since 1950. Continue reading →

May 18, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, climate change | Leave a comment

Heartland Institute’s heartfelt attack on climate science

The chimerical construction of an ideologically-driven topsy-turvy reality by Heartland and its Australian equivalent, the IPA, is neither new nor surprising.

As the evidence for climate change continues to pile up, and as the frequency of severe weather events continues to sky-rocket, we can therefore be fairly certain that climate denial will take ever more scurrilous forms.

Are Heartland billboards the beginning of the end for climate denial? The Conversation, Stephan Lewandowsky 7 May 2012, The inversion of reality and morality has been a long-standing attribute of the climate “debate,” which reached a new watershed low a few days ago with the latest travesty from the Heartland Institute, a Chicago “think” tank.

Heartland posted on its website that “the people who still believe in man-made global warming are mostly on the radical fringe of society. This is why the most prominent advocates of global warming aren’t scientists. They are murderers, tyrants, and madmen.” Continue reading →

May 10, 2012 Posted by | climate change, spinbuster, USA | Leave a comment

Climate change causing groundwater problems, as sea levels rise

Why Groundwater is Another Sea Level Rise Concern, Climate Central by Andrew Freedman, 4 May 12 Sea level rise brings to mind the threat of coastal flooding from menacing storm surges, with growing risks to shore-based infrastructure — but a new study indicates there’s another sea level rise-related threat that has so far slipped under the radar. Continue reading →

May 7, 2012 Posted by | climate change | Leave a comment

President Barack Obama on Climate Chnage

Ready for the Fight: Rolling Stone Interview with Barack Obama The president, in the Oval Office, discusses his job, the opposition and the coming campaign By JANN S. WENNER APRIL 25, 2012  “…...those who have looked at the science of climate change are scared and concerned about a general lack of sufficient movement to deal with the problem. Frankly, I’m deeply concerned that internationally, we have not made as much progress as we need to make.
Within the constraints of this Congress, we’ve tried to do a whole range of things, administratively, that are making a difference – doubling fuel-efficiency standards on cars is going to take a whole lot of carbon out of our atmosphere. We’re going to continue to push
on energy efficiency, and renewable energy standards, and the promotion of green energy. But there is no doubt that we have a lot more work to do…..

it’s been easy for the other side to pour millions of dollars into a campaign to debunk climate-change science. I suspect that over the next six months, this is going to be a debate that will become part of the campaign, and I will be very clear in voicing my belief that we’re going to have to take further steps to deal with climate change in a
serious way.

That there’s a way to do it that is entirely compatible with strong economic growth and job creation – that taking steps, for example, to retrofit buildings all across America with existing technologies will reduce our power usage by 15 or 20 percent. That’s
an achievable goal, and we should be getting started now……”
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/ready-for-the-fight-rolling-stone-interview-with-barack-obama-20120425#ixzz1tTnVSje7

April 30, 2012 Posted by | climate change, USA | Leave a comment

Latest evidence for man-made global warming

On Wednesday, scientists showed in an article published in the journal Nature that rising CO2 preceded warming at the end of the last ice age

Sceptics’ case melts more, Gerard Wynn, SMH, April 6, 2012 A clutch of recent studies reinforces evidence that people are causing climate change and suggests debate should now move on to a more precise understanding of its impact on humans.

The reports, published in various journals in recent weeks, add new detail to the theory of climate change and by implication cast contrarians in a more desperate light. To be clear: there’s nothing wrong with doubting climate change; but doubts based on ignorance, a political bias or fossil fuel lobbying don’t help.


The basics, well known, are that rising greenhouse gas emissions are almost certainly responsible for raising global average surface temperatures (by about 0.17 degrees Celsius a decade from 1980-2010), in turn leading to sea level rise (of about 2.3 millimetres a year from 2005-2010) and probably causing more frequent bouts of extreme heatwaves and possibly more erratic rainfall. Continue reading →

April 7, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, climate change | Leave a comment

Rise in carbon in the atmosphere leads to rise in global temperature

As more and more CO2 enters the atmosphere, Shakun said, the global warming trend continues

While the research strengthens the link between CO2 and the Ice Ages, Shakun believes it also reinforces the importance of addressing CO2-driven climate change in our own time.

Confirming carbon’s climate effects, Eureka Alert, Harvard University, 7 April 12, Researcher helps paint the fullest picture yet of how increases in CO2 helped end the ice age

Harvard scientists are helping to paint the fullest picture yet of how a handful of factors, particularly world-wide increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide, combined to end the last ice age approximately 20,000 to 10,000 years ago. Continue reading →

April 7, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, climate change | Leave a comment

Addressing Climate Change: lessons from Indigenous Peoples

“Modern education and knowledge is mainly about how to better dominate nature. It is never about how to live harmoniously with nature.”

“Living well is all about keeping good relations with Mother Earth and not living by domination or extraction.”

Indigenous Peoples Can Show the Path to Low-Carbon Living If  Their Land Rights Are Recognized  http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/04/04/indigenous-peoples-can-show-the-path-to-low-carbon-living-if-their-land-rights-are-recognized/  National Geographic, by Stephen Leahy in Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples  April 4, 2012  Indigenous peoples are living examples of societies living, sustainable low-carbon lifestyles. Successfully meeting the global climate change challenge requires that much of the world shift from high carbon-living to low.

This shift is daunting. Current emissions for Australia and United States average about 20 tonnes of carbon dioxide per person. In the coming decades that needs to fall to two tonnes per person as it is currently in Brazil or Dominican Republic.

Emissions from most Indigenous peoples are even lower and are amongst the lowest in the world. Continue reading →

April 5, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, climate change, indigenous issues | Leave a comment

Runaway global warming – it may soon be irreversible

Global Warming Close To Becoming Irreversible-Scientists, Planet Ark,  27-Mar-12, LONDON, Nina Chestney  The world is close to reaching tipping points that will make it irreversibly hotter, making this decade critical in efforts to contain global warming, scientists warned on Monday.

Scientific estimates differ but the world’s temperature looks set to rise by six degrees Celsius by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions are allowed to rise uncontrollably. Continue reading →

March 28, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, climate change | Leave a comment

Is the Earth hotting up faster than anticipated?

If people keep emitting fossil fuels in the way we expect, with no price on carbon or no future policy initiatives, we expect a range of 1.4 to 3 degrees by 2050,”

Impact of climate change may be underestimated, ABC News, The World Today By David Mark,  March 26, 2012  A new study suggests climate scientists may have underestimated the effect of greenhouse gases, with global temperatures now predicted to rise by between 1.4 and 3 degrees Celsius by 2050. Continue reading →

March 27, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, climate change | Leave a comment

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