A Christian argument for action on Climate Change
How do climate sceptics respond to the cloud of witnesses for global warming? By denying the full body of evidence. ……There are similar false arguments against clean energy. ……
The crux of climate change for Christians is the poorest, most vulnerable countries are those hardest hit by global warming.
The poor are least able to adapt to the impact of climate change and ironically, have contributed least to it. The carbon footprint of the poorest 1 billion people on the planet is estimated to be around 3% of the world’s total footprint. This is the social injustice of climate change: poor, developing countries will suffer because of the fossil fuels emitted by developed nations..
Eternity 16 Aug 11, John Cook a leading campaigner on climate change and, yes, a Christian too, puts the case for taking action.“…….Just as an Old Testament judge required multiple witnesses, scientists look for multiple sources of evidence. Our understanding is considered robust when scientists have found independent measurements all pointing to a single, consistent conclusion.
On the question of global warming, natural witnesses are found in our climate. Warming is directly measured by thermometers scattered across the globe, which find that the two hottest years on record were 2005 and 2010.
In addition, we have many natural thermometers painting a similar picture. Ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are dissipating at an accelerating rate, shedding hundreds of billions of tonnes of ice every year. Scientists are observing tens of thousands of species shift towards cooler regions. Arctic sea ice is melting faster than even the worst- case predictions. Even tree-lines are shifting in response to warming temperatures.
Nuclear power has big carbon footprint, increases global warming
Nuclear Power Boosts Bills and Piles On Radioactive Waste, Kenric Ward, Sunshine State News, August 10, 2011“…..MEASURING CARBON FOOTPRINTS AND FUTURE BILLS
While Gov. Rick Scott and PSC Chairman Art Graham have expressed continued support for nuclear power in Florida, the industry faces high financial and technical hurdles.
“The NRC has yet to even certify the [proposed] AP1000 nuclear reactor design as being safe for construction and operation,” Saporito (Thomas Saporito, a West Palm Beach-based nuclear-power expert who has worked both in the industry and at the NRC) .said.
What’s more, environmentalists say nuclear plants are not as “green” as advertised.
“The carbon footprint made during the years and years of construction significantly contributes to global warming. Once the nuclear plants are operating, billions of BTUs are discharged into the environment. This is heat that was not in the environment prior to the operation of the nuclear power plants. So, these nuclear plants definitely increase global-warming concerns,” Saporito said.
According to the News Service of Florida, most of FPL’s rate request, about $172 million, is related to upgrading its four existing reactors at Turkey Point and St. Lucie. In a filing with state regulators, FPL President and CEO Armando Olivera said the projects would increase the company’s nuclear capacity about 15 percent.– http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/nuclear-power-boosts-bills-and-piles-radioactive-waste
Climate Change Increases Nuclear Danger
In the coming months, you’re going to hear presidential candidates talk about climate change. You probably won’t hear them say much about nuclear safety. But the two are inextricably linked. A warmer climate leads to more severe storms, which increases the chances of a Japan-style nuclear meltdown…..Either we need to get out of the nuclear energy business or reduce our greenhouse gas emissions — or both.-
Climate change, nuclear power risks linked, Sun Sentinel August 05, 2011|By Anthony Orlando
The Japanese tsunami was a freak occurrence. Once in a thousand years. It can’t happen to our nuclear power plants.
But freak occurrences are happening more often nowadays. Continue reading
Record heat forces nuclear plant to half power
River temperature forces nuclear plant to 50 percent power | timesfreepress.com, by Pam Soh 4 Aug 11, Not even TVA can beat the heat.On Wednesday, the utility had to bring a third reactor at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant down to 50 percent power to avoid environmental sanctions because the water in the Tennessee River — where the plant’s cooling water is discharged — already was at 90 degrees.”When the river’s ambient temperature reaches 90 degrees, we can’t add any heat to it,” said TVA’s nuclear spokesman Ray Golden.Similar problems last summer forced the Tennessee Valley Authority to spent $50 million for replacement power, according to Golden. The extra expense translated to something between 50 cents and $1 on most electric bills several months later, officials have said…..
Fighting the heat
Chattanooga’s July clocked in as fifth-hottest July on record, according National Weather Service meteorologist and intern Kate Guillet in Morristown, Tenn. In the Knoxvillle area, the month was the third-hottest July on record, and the Huntsville region near Browns Ferry recorded the 11th-warmest July. Weather Service records date back to 1850.
The rest of August is also going to be above normal in temperature, said Paul Barys, chief meteorologist for WRCB-TV Channel 3.……River temperature forces nuclear plant to 50 percent power | timesfreepress.com
Greenhouse emissions by nuclear industry – the facts are obscured
Most studies,.. obscure the complexity and variation inherent in the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the nuclear lifecycle rather than explaining it…..
Nuclear Industry Must Be Transparent on Uranium Mining, Carbon Output Before New Plants, The Energy Collective, by David Thorpe, July 19, 2011 ”….significant grounds for concern. In this piece I will discuss firstly uranium mining and then the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the nuclear power life cycle before asking – if this industry has nothing to hide – why isn’t it more transparent?… Continue reading
The Science Tells Us That Climate Change Is An Urgent Global Problem
The window of opportunity to turn the climate trend would close unless a coordinated global effort is made to reduce emissions and a technological breakthrough is made to draw-down atmospheric CO2.
According to Schellnhuber “We are simply talking about the very life support system of this planet.” What is required is what has never been done before in human history — a plan for the future…
An Orwellian climate: carbon price and the atmosphere, July 15, 2011 , by Crikey, Andrew Glikson, earth and palaeoclimate scientist at the Australian National University, writes: Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, chief climate science advisor of the German government and keynote speaker at the Four Degrees or More? Australia in a hot world conference held this week in Melbourne, made a point on Lateline that even the least-informed should be able to understand: “Our body temperature is about 37 degrees. If you increase it by two degrees, 39, you have fever. If you add four degrees, it is 41 — you are dead, more or less. And you have to think about the body temperature of our planet, which has been brought about through many, many processes over many, many millions of years.” Continue reading
Global warming a factor, as nuclear plants hit by jellyfish explosion
“Global warming increases the water temperature. These animals are cold-blooded so the warmer you make it the quicker they grow,”
Jellyfish force shutdown of nuclear power plants, Sydney Morning Herald, Glenda Kwek, July 11, 2011 – Huge amounts of jellyfish have forced the shutdown of nuclear power plants in Japan – already hit by the earthquake and tsunami – Israel and Scotland in the past few weeks. Continue reading
Global warming poses unusual threats to nuclear power plants
Jellyfish Invasions Force Shutdowns at 3 Separate Nuclear Plants– MSNBC.com By Natalie Wolchover, 7 July 11, A nuclear power plant on the coast of Israel was forced to shut down this week when its seawater cooling system became clogged with jellyfish. A similar incident temporarily disabled two nuclear reactors at the Torness power station on the Scottish coast last week. A week before, a reactor in Shimane, Japan was crippled by yet another jellyfish infiltration.
Amid speculation that warm waters and ocean acidification — both driven by climate change — are boosting jellyfish populations, are these three incidents signs of a growing trend?…………
Some researchers do suspect that populations are rising, as jellyfish may thrive in warmer oceans. “Jellyfish populations spike and wane with climate variability, so it’s not hard to make the logical leap that if climate is changing long-term, we’ll likely see a population change,” Graham said. He is conducting research to investigate whether jellyfish populations are increasing globally, and if so, why.
Nuclear power a tragic cause of global warming, rather than a solution?
That which cannot be controlled must be prevented. Today, that means preventing the threat of climate change and eradicating nuclear weapons. But we cannot afford efforts to address one challenge that end up aggravating the other. Attempting to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions through nuclear energy, thereby fueling the dangers of the ultimate global incendiary – nuclear war – could be the most tragic of all miscalculations…….
From Fukushima to disarmament, BY MALCOLM FRASER, ABC Environment | 5 JUL 2011 In our rush to find a solution to climate change, nuclear energy has again been promoted. But the disaster at Fukushima reminds us of just how devastating nuclear can be.
MONTHS AFTER THE devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, the ongoing nuclear disaster at Fukushima compounds the humanitarian tragedy and impedes recovery. The damaged reactors and spent-fuel ponds contain around 10 times as much nuclear fuel as did the Chernobyl reactor that exploded in 1986. In three reactors, the fuel has melted, almost certainly through the reactor vessels; primary containment structures have been breached; explosions have torn away the secondary containment (the buildings); radioactive releases continue; and closed-loop cooling has not been re-established.
Fukushima has highlighted how vulnerable spent-fuel ponds are to direct damage or disruption of power, water, or pumps for cooling. Continue reading
Global warming will bring increased wildfire threats to nuclear installations
While there are a range of findings, the majority point toward greatly increased stresses upon western North American forests due to climate change. There are even detailed studies, nearly all of them, indicating that climatic changes will increase the number and severity of fire events beyond the parameters reconstructed through paleodendrological evidence. Wildfires are likely be the punctual culmination of various stresses, in one quick moment transforming forests into deserts where trees may never again grow in any great numbers…….While building nuclear weapons might not quite be fiddling, you get the idea. While America burns, its leaders are busy pouring scarce money and manpower into nuclear weapons. The fire in New Mexico is both symbolic and literal in this sense..
Nuclear Fiddling, While Los Alamos Burns, The 4th Media, DARWIN BOND-GRAHAM | BeiJing Time, July 5, 2011 LANL is not just any government lab. LANL is the epicenter of the US nuclear weapons program. It is the home base of the weaponeers, the thousands of Department of Energy employees and subcontractors who have tethered their careers, livelihoods, and identities to the atom bomb’s continuing role in American foreign, and domestic policy. In this respect LANL is the brain trust (or moral pit, if you prefer) of US nuclearism. LANL is also now the center of US plutonium manufacturing for nuclear weapons; the Lab is host to billion dollar factories dedicated to storing, milling (one could even say supplicating to) this most deadly material. Expansions are underway Continue reading
Global warming causes jellyfish surge, causes nuclear plant shutdowns
Increasing fishing activity and global warming are giving jellyfish populations a boost, scientists said, potentially making jellyfish invasions at nuclear power plants located near the open sea more common in the future
Jellyfish keep UK nuclear plant shut, Reporting by Karolin Schaps; editing by Jason Neely), Scientific American ,| June 29, 2011 An invasion of jellyfish into a cooling water pool at a Scottish nuclear power plant kept its nuclear reactors offline on Wednesday, a phenomenon which may grow more common in future, scientists said. Continue reading
Global warming increases jellyfish, jellyfish shut down nuclear plant
The surge of jellyfish in the area is believed to have occurred because of a rise in the temperature in the North Sea.Since 2002 scientists have noted massive increases in jellyfish populations around the world. Some attribute this to overfishing, declining water quality and rising sea temperatures.
Jellyfish Shut Down Nuclear Power Plant, Care 2, by Sharon S. June 30, 2011 An invasion of jellyfish managed to stop operations at a nuclear power plant in eastern Scotland after high volumes of the creatures flooded water filters and clogged the cooling system. Continue reading
How humans are geo-engineering the planet
“…….Aren’t we too puny rival the great forces of nature that shape our planet? . But the facts show that we are fundamentally impacting planet Earth in unprecedented ways, and we’ve known about it for a century…..
we are well on the way to doubling CO2. In the past 100 years we have added almost 40 per cent, and warming that can only plausibly be attributed to a greenhouse effect is not only heating the atmosphere, but is also pumping heat into the oceans and the crust at a phenomenal rate.
How we’re geo-engineering the planet, Climate Spectator Mike Sandiford 16 June 11 Continue reading
Dim outlook for real action on global warming
One Week on Earth” – Michael Tobias – Green Conversations – Forbes 13 June 11 The Netherlands: Ten Dutch Greenpeace lobbyists chain themselves to a train carrying nuclear waste to a reprocessing plant in France, while nations throughout the world debate the future of nuclear power, attempting to somehow reconcile greenhouse gas mitigation in a post-Fukushima minefield of unclear energy calculus. The status quo of coal/oil/natural gas/nuclear power slams nascent alternative energy enthusiasts (particularly in Russia) dimming hopes for anything like the carbon neutral renaissance so many green ethicists have urged at one carbon-indebted global conference after another. “One Week on Earth” – Michael Tobias – Green Conversations – Forbes
UK govt should promote renewable energy, says Committee on Climate Change
More renewables needed to power low carbon Britain , Imperial College London Reporter 18 May 11, The UK needs a portfolio of renewable energy and low-carbon alternative energy sources, according to a new energy review by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), which was launched at Imperial in the second week of May.
The scientific experts on the committee, including Professor Sir Brian Hoskins, Director of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change, and Professor Jim Skea (CEP), said that renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar and geothermal heat, should be able to contribute at least 30 per cent of all power generated in the UK by the year 2030. This would make a major contribution to reducing the UK economy’s carbon footprint over the next few decades.
The committee also suggested that a higher share of up to 45 per cent would be feasible, if the cost of renewable technologies were to fall and if the government pursued policies that would allow low-carbon technologies to be implemented. Current plans, they say, could lead to unnecessary costs that would be passed on to the average household energy user.
Professor Hoskins said: “In order to limit the risks of climate change, it is necessary to significantly reduce global emissions of carbon dioxide by 2050. We know this can be done but only by starting now on a major programme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop new low-carbon technologies, which themselves could also bring significant economic opportunities.” http://www2.imperial.ac.uk/blog/reporter/2011/05/18/more-renewables-needed-to-power-low-carbon-britain/
1 This Month
PLEASE OPPOSE HR 8255 AND S.3639 – bills would accelerate satellite deployment, with no environmental review or safeguards – https://ncstd5li.quorum.us/campaign/169331/
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