One Less Cup Of Coffee In A Changing Climate

Opinion: Here’s how climate change is affecting your cup of coffee; Colombia’s coffee region is increasingly vulnerable to climate-change-induced disasters like flooding, drought and invasive pests

Jessica Eise and Natalie White, August 27, 2018 (MarketWatch)

“…[The 300,000 coffee-producers in the fertile mountains of Colombia’s coffee-producing region are] increasingly vulnerable to climate-change-induced disasters like flooding, drought,] unpredictable seasons, crop disease and invasive insects associated with climate change…[Over 90% of farmers surveyed by the MarketWatch research team] reported changes in average temperature. Some 74% said droughts had gotten longer and worse, and 61% reported an increase in mountainside erosion and landslides because of more rain…The farmers also perceived impacts of these environmental changes on their crops. Some 91% reported changes in the flowering and fruiting cycles of the coffee plants, 75% had noticed an increase in pests, and 59% reported an increase in crop disease…

…[M]any farmers cannot rely on traditional seasonal indicators to guide them about the right time to plant, harvest or tend to their coffee crops…Organizing labor to pick the coffee beans has also become a struggle because the trees often do not flower at the same time due to unstable seasonal conditions…From 2008 to 2013, Colombia’s coffee production dropped approximately 33%...The country has worked to increase its production since then…But they’re still short of the national production goals…Other developing countries where the coffee industry is being hit hard by climate change, such as Brazil and Tanzania, have tried some successful adaptation strategies…[Farming in this] new and unpredictable environment requires a detailed understanding of…complicated economic, informational, labor and business problems… Colombian coffee farmers want to succeed, but they’ll need help in all of these areas just to survive.” click here for more

Tweet

Fact Check – 100% New Energy Saves Land

How 100% renewable energy will use much less of California's land than fossil fuels

Mark Z. Jacobson, et. al., August 24,2018 (LA Times)

…Senate Bill 100 would transition California to 100% zero-carbon, effectively renewable electricity by 2045. Our studies provide a way to do this for all energy, including electricity…[Claims by Robert Bryce, from the Koch family- and Exxon Mobil-funded Manhattan Institute, are completely wrong that such efforts] would ‘require wrecking vast onshore and offshore territories with forests of wind turbines and sprawling solar project’…

click to enlarge

The fossil fuel footprint in California is 1.6% of the state’s land area…Our solar plan footprint is only 39% of the land taken up by fossil fuels. Bryce claims our onshore wind needs 16,000 square miles based on his use of three megawatts generated per square kilometer of land. However, wind land is not “footprint.” It is mostly open space that also can be used for agriculture, rangeland, wildlife or solar; thus, the same land can be used for two energy sources…Using a conservative estimate of average energy density yields 3,000 square miles of space for wind power, not 16,000…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

12 Artists Face A Changing Climate

12 Artists On: Climate Change; A dozen artistic responses to one of the greatest threats of our time.

Zoe Lescaze, August 22, 2018 (NY Times)

Editor’s note: Only one Quick News piece today because this story is worth the time it will take to use the link at the bottom of the post to click through and take in all the artists’ contributions.

“Human-induced climate change, which certain politicians deny and many of us choose to ignore, threatens the survival of every species on Earth. If emissions continue at their current rate, scientists anticipate widespread coastal land loss, agricultural and economic collapse, food and water shortages, frequent and severe natural disasters, and unprecedented refugee crises…[For an ongoing NY Times arts series, 12 contemporary artists contributed works responding to climate change. Xavier Cortada will ask 6,000 Florida households] to install an ‘Underwater HOA’ yard sign (similar to the 18- by 24-inch ‘Home for Sale” yard signs used by realtors…[showing] how many feet of melted glacial water must rise before a particular property is underwater…

click to enlarge

…[Mary Mattingly’s] photograph was taken in Utah, at a point equidistant from Bears Ears National Monument and Daneros Uranium Mine. A recent order by President Donald J. Trump shrank the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument by nearly 700,000 acres, and it seems likely that more mining will come to the area. The text on the pine box is from Samuel Beckett’s 1953 novel The Unnamable…[It] prompts us to ask: What do people see when they experience this land, and what is hidden? The objects in the photograph — clays used for pigments, tools containing uranium, copper used in bullets — were found in the area, and expose its contradictions: Extraction and smelting processes toxify the land and its dependents, while the extracted elements are simultaneously necessary to create the goods that sustain many ways of life…

click to enlarge

…[Alexis Rockman’s art to] render moments of extinction, genocide, population explosion and political discord visible…[so] we might learn to confront and change the conditions leading to civilization’s collapse…[He has realized] we have a crucial Achilles heel: Our brains are wired to be tribal and to think only in the seasonal short term. Even someone as persuasive as Al Gore could not successfully galvanize the world with his books and films. The idea of ‘sacrificing’ for the future seems ridiculous to most people when they are entrenched in a daily struggle for survival. Even if they will listen, people just don’t have the collective will to do much. The engine of capitalism is too powerful…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Now Is The Time To Demand Action

Facing the real problem of climate change

Editorial, August 21, 2018 (The Orange County Register)

“…[Among those who agree human-caused global warming is happening, the footnote has been the understanding that no individual weather event or catastrophe is caused by the overall temperature rise…[but climate change] is without a doubt a culprit in the suddenly year-round fire danger we face…[R]esearchers at Columbia University and the University of Idaho showed that human-caused warming had dried out our forests so much that fire seasons throughout the West have expanded by an average of nine days every year since 2000…It’s only human to lament the lost opportunities, the fact that responsible scientists warned us two decades ago that this would come to pass if we didn’t halt the rise in greenhouse-gas production…But humans have faced existential threats before...Now is the time to not give into despair but to lobby our leaders, and governments around the world, telling them to stop sticking their heads in the (hot) sand, believe the science and begin a technical approach to reversing the real problem humans have brought to our planet.” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

The Fossil Fuel-Powered Car

The Modern Automobile Must Die; If we want to solve climate change, there's no other option.

Emily Atkin, August 20, 2018 (The New Republic)

“…Changing the way we power our homes and businesses is certainly important…[but] the only way to achieve the necessary, aggressive emissions reductions to combat global warming is to overhaul the gas-powered automobile and the culture that surrounds it…[Cars and trucks account for nearly one-fifth of all U.S. emissions…[and the U.S. transportation sector—which includes cars, trucks, planes, trains, ships, and freight—produces nearly thirty percent of all US global warming emissions ...[In 2017, as a result of coal plant closures,] the country’s greenhouse gas emissions decreased as a whole…[but] the transportation industry’s emissions increased by 2.3 percent…[The cultural love of cars and the political influence of the automotive industry have] so far prevented the public pressure necessary to provoke widespread change…[To do that, cars must be] charged with electricity…[and] the electricity that powers those cars must be renewable…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

The Climate Will Now Change Faster

Exclusive: Some Arctic Ground No Longer Freezing—Even in Winter; New data from two Arctic sites suggest some surface layers are no longer freezing. If that continues, greenhouse gases from permafrost could accelerate climate change.

Craig Welch, August 20. 2018 (National Geographic)

“…Every winter across the Arctic, the top few inches or feet of soil and rich plant matter freezes up before thawing again in summer. Beneath this active layer of ground extending hundreds of feet deeper sits continuously frozen earth called permafrost, which, in places, has stayed frozen for millennia…[But this past winter, for] the first time in memory, ground that insulates deep Arctic permafrost simply did not freeze…[The limited data suggests the global warming-caused permafrost thaw is beginning] decades sooner than many people expect…releasing trapped greenhouse gases that could accelerate human-caused climate change…Trapped in this frozen soil and vegetation is more than twice the carbon found in the atmosphere…

click to enlarge

…As fossil-fuel burning warms the Earth, this ground is thawing, allowing microbes to consume buried organic matter and release carbon dioxide and shorter-lived methane, which is 25 times as potent a greenhouse gas as CO2…[Signs at multiple sites throughout the Arctic] are emerging that the annual freeze-up can quickly change…Arctic weather is famously variable. A few years of heavy snow in some regions could give way quickly to a long stretch of dry cold years…And even scientists uncomfortable with the limited data say the possibility that something so fundamental could change so quickly gives them pause…Most models suggest just 10 to 20 percent [of the permafrost carbon] would escape even at high human emissions scenarios…But more than a dozen Arctic climate scientists contacted by National Geographic agree that this year's active-layer data highlights the limitations of global climate models…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Steps To A Corporate New Energy Plan

3 steps for creating your company’s renewable energy strategy

Danielle Harrison, August 16, 2018 (GreenBiz)

“…Corporate renewable energy procurement should be guided by a defined strategy based on available options, key priorities and ambition. [The Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance is the best guide.] To create your strategy, you must identify your company’s motivations…adopt supporting goals and commitments and identify available internal human and financial resources to aid execution…The first step is to assess the landscape of renewable energy sourcing options available on the market…Current and future policies will affect renewable energy costs, incentives and availability…After narrowing procurement options based on geography, your company must consider specific site constraints…Once you’ve determined what your renewable energy options are, the next step is to determine your ambition level and define your strategy for renewable energy. To ensure adoption and integration within your company, this should complement both your business and sustainability strategies…[Finally, collaborating with other companies can help you achieve your strategic renewable energy objectives and minimize the barriers to entry…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Talkin’ Climate Change

The Best Ways to Communicate Climate Change

Heather Goldstone and Elsa Partan, August 13, 2018 (WCAI/National Public Radio)

“…[Fear is an avoidance emotion, and doesn’t necessarily lead to motivation becausepeople tend to become overwhelmed and shut-down.] Often it can lead to increased skepticism…[According to the University of Utah’s Meaghan McKasy, who won the International Association for Media and Communication Research’s 2018 Climate Communication Award,] facts are the most important part of disseminating climate information…[But it must be presented in a way that increases] people’s understanding and motivation…[It is important to] leave people with the notion that they can do something…[and] present people with tangible actions…[Emotions can inhibit or increase] motivation…[While fear can cause shut down, anger] is trickier…[It can lead to impulsive decisions, but it] can also lead people to more buy-in…[The whole strategy is engage] but be respectful. Stick to facts. And don’t overload the facts…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

By 2030, New Energy Could Be Free

Analyst: Renewable energy will be ‘effectively free’ by 2030

Bryan Clark, August 13, 2018 (TNW)

“Analysts at Swiss investment bank UBS believe that by 2030, we could all be living without much of a carbon footprint — at least at home…[because by 2030, [New Energy] costs will be so low they will [‘effectively be free…’ With the increased popularity of New Energy among consumers and energy providers and the economics of scale of bigger and more efficient solar and wind projects, the prices are becoming too low] to ignore…[Approximately a dozen major European utility companies] have announced significant changes to their previous business models — most of which relied on coal or natural gas during the past century — that could usher in a new era of clean, renewable energy. As demand increases and prices continue to fall, it’s hard to imagine a trend reversal in the near future…[Places] with plentiful sun like California and Florida have seen precipitous drops in the cost of installing solar panels. In some areas, the hardware and installation are now free, with the companies providing the materials profiting from selling excess energy back to the grid. In these places, the bulk of new construction features renewable energy sources, and solar in particular…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Utility Giant’s CEO Talks Fires And Climate Change

Facing $17 Billion in Fire Damages, a CEO Blames Climate Change

Mark Chediak, August 13, 2018 (Bloomberg News)

“…[California authorities don’t yet know the cause of some of the 2017 and 2018 wildfires], but the region’s giant utility, PG&E Corp., sees a culprit at work -- climate change. The blazes in recent years, it said, are the latest example of how global warming has produced unusually hot, dry conditions that spawn more frequent and intense fires. ‘Climate change is no longer coming, it’s here,’ Geisha Williams, chief executive officer of PG&E, said in an email. ‘And we are living with it every day.’ Scientists tend to agree…But California’s biggest utility has an especially compelling reason to link the fires to the environment. State investigators have tied PG&E equipment, such as trees hitting power lines, to some of the blazes…It faces damage liabilities totaling as much as $17 billion, and possible financial ruin -- its stock is down about 37 percent since the fires -- unless Williams can convince California lawmakers that the company’s problem is, in fact, a climate change problem…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

A Buyer’s Market For New Energy

It's a buyer's market for renewable energy procurement

Heather Clancy, August 3, 2018 (GreenBiz)

“…[B]usinesses already have disclosed at least 31 transactions for solar, wind and other renewable generating sources this year…[That is] more contracts for clean power in the first half of 2018 than for all of 2017, according to ongoing research by the Rocky Mountain Institute's Business Renewables Center…One model that many companies are especially eager to see mature is aggregation — deals in which multiple companies come together in order to sign up for the power generated by a new solar or wind project. The notion is that this sort of deal structure will enable more midsize and smaller organizations to more directly procure renewable energy…[The offtake requirements are much smaller, less than 20 MW, and the tenure requirements are] shorter…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Climate Change – Never, Never, Never, Never Give In!

Don’t despair – climate change catastrophe can still be averted; The future looks fiery and dangerous, according to new reports. But political will and grassroots engagement can change this

Simon Lewis, 7 August 2018 (UK Guardian)

“This is the summer when, for many, climate change got real. The future looks fiery and dangerous…[It is now clear the permafrost is melting, which means] a chain reaction around the world that pushes Earth into a terrifying new hothouse state from which there is no return…[And] even without a hothouse we are on track to transform Earth this century…[It could] lock-in of a deteriorating, isolationist, fascist future…[We face] three choices…Reduce greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation), make changes to reduce the adverse impacts of the new conditions we create (adaptation), or suffer the consequences…[W]e are heading for some mitigation, very little adaptation, and a lot of suffering…[But solving] climate change is about power, money, and political will…Thinking about climate change as a practical political problem helps avoid despair because we know that huge political changes have happened in the past and continue to do so. The future is up to us if we act collectively…[The] future is the politics we make today.” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

The Many Benefits Of New Energy

Renewable Energy Saves Water and Creates Jobs; Eight graphs tell the story; see for yourself

Luciano Castillo, Walter Gutierrez, Jay Gore, August 7, 2018 (Scientific American)

“Only about 3 percent of the Earth’s water is freshwater…[and, in] the U.S., 45.3 percent of the water withdrawn from lakes, rivers and underground aquifers is used to cool off thermoelectric power plants: nuclear reactors and plants that burn fossil fuels...This is more water than used nationwide [public consumption or] for irrigation…[It] threatens the U.S. water supply…[To conserve] freshwater, it seems clear that the country should shift toward renewables. This move would make more freshwater available for food production and human consumption…

click to enlarge

…[And] expanding renewables creates far more jobs than expanding fossil-fuel and nuclear power plants combined. Some of the benefit is from construction jobs to build out solar infrastructure. U.S. coal and oil jobs have been disappearing, and the delivery and burning of more natural gas adds few jobs because the operations are highly automated, requiring few people…Solar jobs pay roughly the same median salaries as fossil fuel jobs…Wind jobs pay less, on average…[The levelized cost of electricity from solar panels and wind (on land) is very similar to that of natural gas…[and] less than that from nuclear and especially clean coal…[which means a shift to renewable energy in the U.S. can greatly reduce water use, lower carbon dioxide emissions, create new high-paying jobs and keep electricity costs low…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Millennials Could Be The Deciders In November

Climate Change Is Hot Wedge Issue For 2018 Midterms, Polls Indicate; The US electorate is ready for candidates willing to protect environment

Anna Fahey, August 6, 2018 (Sightline Institute)

“…Recent polling makes climate change look more like a wedge issue…especially for younger and Latino voters…Polling shows that US voters not only understand climate science, but more and more are increasingly worried about it—including hefty shares of moderate Republicans and Independents…There’s also strong bipartisan support for a range of policies to address climate change and voters support a stronger Environmental Protection Agency—even Trump backers…And climate change is a particular focus for millennial and Latino voters…[Millennial generation voters—ages 22 to 37 this election season—are considerably more liberal than older Americans…[and] are considerably more likely to support climate action and the Congressional candidates who talk them up…

click to enlarge

Pew notes that millennials are more than 40 percent nonwhite…Racial demographics in general are a factor in the electoral equation. Latinos are now the largest non-white racial group in America and…poll after poll reveals strong environmental values among Latino voters, including support for aggressive action to address global warming…EcoAmerica’s 2017 survey showed many voters under 30 (44 percent), Black voters (45 percent), and strong Democrats (51 percent) said they contacted or voted for an elected official based on support for taking action on climate change…[A]dd it all up and climate looks a lot more like a winner than a loser…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Hoover Dam’s Massive Potential As Energy Storage

Hoover Dam was a public works project likened to the pyramids. Now, after channeling a river, what if it could tap the power of the sun and wind?

Ivan Penn, July 24, 2018 (NY Times)

Hoover Dam helped transform the American West, harnessing the force of the Colorado River…to power millions of homes and businesses. It was one of the great engineering feats of the 20th century…[Now, the 21st-century challenge is] turning the dam into a vast reservoir of excess electricity, fed by the solar farms and wind turbines that represent the power sources of the future…The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, an original operator of the dam when it was erected in the 1930s, wants to equip it with a $3 billion pipeline and a pump station powered by solar and wind energy…

click to enlarge

The pump station, downstream, would help regulate the water flow through the dam’s generators, sending water back to the top to help manage electricity at times of peak demand…The net result would be a kind of energy storage — performing much the same function as the giant lithium-ion batteries being developed to absorb and release power…[It could help provide affordable and efficient power storage for renewables’ overgeneration and replace the natural gas generation now used to up the West’s abundant but variable solar and wind resources. It could be] key to transforming the industry and helping curb carbon emissions…[When completed in 2028, it] could inspire similar innovations at other dams…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet

Hot New Energy Jobs

Hot Shots & Hot Jobs: Powering Up with Renewable Energy

Debbie Mickle, August 3, 2018 (Science Matters)

“….[Without New Energy, the power crucial to running the modern economy] can take a heavy toll on the environment…[Delivering New Energy is] a big responsibility, and doing it well requires all kinds of people with different skills and talents…[A] Project Engineer at one of Dominion Energy’s solar farms [suprevises the design, building, and maintenance of the complex system through which] huge panels are used to capture the energy from sunlight and direct it into the supply…[A Groundman, also called a Line Worker Helper coordinates and supports installation, repair and maintenance of systems that deliver electricity to keep the solar farm] running smoothly…[A Biologist focuses on how the collection and distribution of energy] affects the wildlife where it is harnessed and transmitted…” click here for more

Tweet