Climate Articles
Paying it forward
Convincing stakeholders to commit to green design requires demonstrating a satisfactory payback period. With ultra-efficient new systems, those paybacks come faster than ever, and that's especially clear when you're designing greener schools.
In addition to the immediate benefit of reducing energy usage, building a greener school is one of the most cost-effective ways to improve student learning and reduce a school's health and operational costs. According to a national review of 30 green schools published by the U.S. Green Building Council,* green schools cost about two percent more - or $3 per square foot - to design and build than conventional schools. The payoffs for the school system, though, are much larger.
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Answers about R-22
The worldwide phase-out of R-22 refrigerant has left several customers with questions about obtaining and using the HCFC refrigerant for servicing their installed systems. While manufacturers will stop producing cooling systems that use R-22 at the end of 2009, building owners can continue to use their installed R-22 equipment, and the refrigerant itself will still be available in limited quantities for the next few years.
That key phrase - "available in limited quantities" - is why many industry experts expect the cost of R-22 for servicing to rise. In fact, R-22 is already more expensive in many cases than R-410A, the refrigerant commonly being used in new HVAC equipment.
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Permafrost's future in Alaska looks poor, but the forecast isn't all bad
FAIRBANKS - Alaska will probably see most of its surface permafrost vanish by the end of this century, but researchers believe vast areas of frozen soil will remain deeper underground even as air temperatures increase.
The future of Alaska's permafrost is being closely watched by scientists because of the implications it may have on the climate as a whole. Vladimir Romanovsky, a professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, discussed evolving permafrost research this week during a teleconference through the Alaska Center of Climate Assessment and Policy.
Using models that predict a 4 to 6 degree rise in Alaska air temperatures by 2100, Romanovsky projects slowly vanishing areas of permafrost in the state. Dozens of bore holes are being monitored throughout Alaska to see how permafrost reacts to changing temperatures.
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Climate bill will save households money - ACEEE
Cannons are firing in the battle to explain what cap and trade will cost, and one group thinks it has pierced the hull with its latest estimate.
According to a report released last month by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, climate legislation won't just have a low cost. Once the energy efficiency programs kick in, it says, the average household would actually save more than $300 a year, and the economy would gain 1 million net jobs.
Strengthen the bill, the report says, and the benefits multiply. In the best case, households save triple the original amount, and the economy gains two and a half million jobs.
The finding differs vastly from the growing body of cost studies that have become a political turf war in the climate debate.
In June, the Congressional Budget Office concluded that House-passed climate legislation, H.R. 2454, would cost the average household $175 a year - a cost the administration likened to buying a postage stamp a day.
"It depends on how you write the bill," said Paul Werbos, a legislative fellow for Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.). Werbos said his remarks were made on his own behalf, not the senator's.
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Warming Drives off Cape Cod's Namesake, Other Fish
Fishermen have known for years that they've had to steam farther and farther from shore to find the cod, haddock and winter flounder that typically fill dinner plates in New England.
A new federal study documenting the warming waters of the North Atlantic confirms that they're right - and that the typical meal could eventually change to the Atlantic croaker, red hake and summer flounder normally found to the south.
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Oceans face acid test
Ocean acidification is dramatically changing the chemistry of our oceans and affecting sea creatures like the humpback whale. Is it too late to turn the problem around?
It's well known that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing because of the fossil fuels we're burning.
It's less well known that the ocean soaks up a lot of this carbon dioxide, buffering humans from some of the impacts of climate change. However in acting as a giant CO2 sponge, the ocean's chemistry is affected, causing ocean acidification.
Dr Ben McNeil, a climate scientist at the University of New South Wales explains that acidity is measured on the pH scale from one to 14, with one being very acidic, seven being neutral and 14 being very basic or alkaline. Measuring the amount of free hydrogen ions in a substance gives the pH value.
"Normal pH of seawater is around 8.1. It's weakly alkaline," he says.
Dissolved CO2 reacts with ocean water to form carbonic acid. Until the industrial revolution this chemical reaction had not been a problem because it was - quite literally - a drop in the ocean. But then humans started burning fossil fuels more rapidly which ramped up CO2 production.
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Glorious vision in Kenya's sky melts away
Mt. Kenya's ice cap was so stunning that some began revering it as God's home. But most of the shining glacier has now disappeared, robbing communities of water and leading to a crisis of faith.
For 7 million Kenyans who rely on the runoff of Africa's second-highest peak to survive, evaporating springs and dry riverbeds are making life harder. In the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, reduced melts have contributed to rolling blackouts when rivers fed by the mountain are unable to run hydroelectric plants.
But for those Kenyans who still practice tribal religions and revere Mt. Kenya as the home of God, the environmental alterations mean more than a threat to their livelihood. For them, the melting ice and other changes on their mountain have triggered a crisis of faith.
"This is where our God lives and it is being destroyed," said Mwangi Njorge, 95, one of those mostly older Kenyans who continue to make sacrifices to the deity they believe resides on Mt. Kenya. He worries that the disappearing ice is a sign of God's fury. "God is very angry, and if things don't change, I fear he might abandon us forever."
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Sediment in the Gulf of Mexico
Clouds of sediment colored the Gulf of Mexico on November 10, 2009, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite captured this photo-like image. Much of the color likely comes from resuspended sediment dredged up from the sea floor in shallow waters. The sediment-colored water transitions to clearer dark blue near the edge of the continental shelf, where the water becomes deeper.
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Toxic Fish Found in Lakes, Reservoirs Across 47 States
WASHINGTON, DC, November 11, 2009 (ENS) - Fish from lakes and reservoirs accross the Lower 48 U.S. states are riddled with toxic chemicals, according to a new study released Tuesday by the U.S. Enviromental Protection Agency.
Mercury and PCBs were detected in every fish sample from all 500 lakes and reservoirs tested.
The data showed mercury concentrations in game fish exceeding EPA's recommended consumption levels at 49 percent of all lakes and reservoirs nationwide, and polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs, in game fish at levels of potential concern at 17 percent of lakes and reservoirs.
The findings are based on a comprehensive four-year national study using more data on levels of contamination in fish tissue than any previous study.
For four years, EPA staffers worked with 47 states, three tribes, and two other federal agencies to collect fish from 500 lakes and reservoirs selected randomly from the estimated 147,000 target population of lakes and reservoirs in the 48 states.
The study excluded the Great Lakes and Great Salt Lake. Delaware is the only state in the Lower 48 where no fish were tested.
For the first time, based on these results, EPA is able to estimate the percentage of lakes and reservoirs nationwide that have fish containing potentially harmful levels of chemicals such as mercury, PCBs, arsenic, dioxins and furans, DDT, and chlordane.
Peter Silva, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Water, said the agency is taking action to lower toxic concentrations in fish.
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Frigid Antarctica Loaded with Viruses
Antarctica's icy lakes are home to a surprisingly diverse community of viruses, including some that were previously unidentified, a new study finds.
At first glance, Antarctica's freshwater lakes don't seem very hospitable to life. They remain frozen for a good nine months out of the year, and they contain very few nutrients. Some of these lakes have little animal life and are dominated by microorganisms, including algae, bacteria, protozoans and viruses.
With few animal and microbial predators around, viruses likely play an important role in controlling the abundance of other microorganisms, the researcher say. However, these viruses have been historically hard to study since many cannot be grown in a laboratory. But thanks to new genome sequencing technology, scientists can identify viruses without needing to grow them.
"We are just starting to uncover the world of viruses, and this is changing the way we think about viruses and the role they play in microbial ecosystems," said Antonio Alcami, a researcher from the Spanish Research Council.
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Mini ice age took hold of Europe in months
JUST months - that's how long it took for Europe to be engulfed by an ice age. The scenario, which comes straight out of Hollywood blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow, was revealed by the most precise record of the climate from palaeohistory ever generated.
Around 12,800 years ago the northern hemisphere was hit by the Younger Dryas mini ice age, or "Big Freeze". It was triggered by the slowdown of the Gulf Stream, led to the decline of the Clovis culture in North America, and lasted around 1300 years.
Until now, it was thought that the mini ice age took a decade or so to take hold, on the evidence provided by Greenland ice cores. Not so, say William Patterson of the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada, and his colleagues.
The group studied a mud core from an ancient lake, Lough Monreagh, in western Ireland. Using a scalpel they sliced off layers 0.5 to 1 millimetre thick, each representing up to three months of time. No other measurements from the period have approached this level of detail.
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Hawaii's Beaches Soon To Be Lost To The Sea?
Hawaii's beaches are infamous. The sparkling sands here attract around 7.5 million people a year who spend nearly $13 billion on their lodging, food, and souvenirs. But this bustling industry is under siege, as Hawaii's beaches are shrinking dramatically every year.
Already, estimates published in 1997 found that ~24% of Oahu's sandy shores had been lost. Now geologists warn that the other islands are shrinking, too - up to 70% of Kauai's beaches may be eroding, with Maui's shores in hot pursuit. It's not just hawaii's problem. Experts have estimated that 60% to 80% of the nation's shoreline is chronically eroding, but Hawaii's economy is so dependent on healthy beaches that the loss of shoreline here is a much bigger deal.
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