Sir, your room in the ice hotel is currently flowing down the St. Lawrence River

A couple of years ago, the biathlon (normally includes cross country skiing) at the B.C. Winter Games had to be replaced by haha the "summer biathlon".

This year, if you had a room booked at the Montreal Ice Hotel during the last two weeks of March, you room is now flowing down the St. Lawrence River!

Just followed a bus that had an ad on the back for the "Village des Neiges" (Snow Village) in Montreal. It said, "...until March 31". Obviously they weren't counting on five straight days of 22+ C (75 F) temperatures in the middle of March. Great for bike riding - but if you had a reservation at the Ice Hotel, your room is now one huge wet bar!

Addled: Smoking is Not a Health Issue

Now smoking, caffeine, sexual harassment and global warming are "political propaganda".

According to Adler, that is.

Well, make that Adler's rewrite of American talk show host Dennis Prager's similar rant.

BP and Major Euro Polluters Funding U.S. Senate Climate Deniers and Tea Partiers

A report released yesterday by the Climate Action Network Europe has revealed that heavy-polluting European corporations are big financial supporters of U.S. Senate climate change deniers and climate legislation opponents.

The report, drawing on analysis of publicly available information fingers such large European emitters as BAYER, BASF, Solvay, Lafarge, BP, GDF-SUEZ, Arcelor-Mittal and EON, for their active support of denier campaigns. In 2009, these seven corporations' GHG emissions were roughly equivalent to that of the entire country of Belgium. 

In the European context, it should be noted that these same companies argue that Europe should not do more to fight global warming until the U.S. starts to act.

The Climate Action Network Europe is a coalition of 130 European environmental and development NGOs working to fight dangerous climate change.

CFL Lights Fail??? Pros and Cons of CFL Lights

These CFL lights are becoming ubiquitous and will be pretty much everywhere by 2012 when most most incandescent bulbs will be banned in the U.S. and Canada.  Yeah. And, even though Europe is banning the incandescent bulbs as of just a couple of days ago, it's beginning to look like we may be jumping the gun on this.

Good news first. Manufacturers have overcome some of the major issues that consumers had with earlier versions of the energy saving bulbs. Typically, these issues were mostly cosmetic in nature.

Among the bigger problems: people did not like the "light" that the bulbs created... and they weren't readily available for purposes such as outdoor porch lights and they couldn't be used in dimmer switches. These problems have been tackled gamely and the "workarounds" are now everywhere on hardware store and supermarket shelves.

OK, so here are the "PROS" of the CFL lights:

1. They last much longer (perhaps 3-7 times longer) than incandescent under perfect conditions
2. They consume less (by some 80%) electricity than incandescent, also under perfect conditions

If there are any other "PROS" I am not aware of them.


OK, so here are the "CONS"

1. Lights switched on only for a few minutes may be even less efficient than incandescent
2. People have reported headaches from sitting "too near" lamps equipped with CFL bulbs
3. There have been reports of skin irritation resulting in itching, rashes and worse, likely caused by electromagnetic radiation emitted by CFL bulbs
4. CFL bulbs take substantially more energy to manufacture - as much as 10-20 times more
5. Cool-burning CFL bulbs produce minimal heat - therefore homeowners (especially in cooler climates) need to increase their residential heating to make up for the heat that would have been produced by incandescent bulbs
6. Workers in the factories where these bulbs are produced in China are suffering from insane levels of mercury poisoning
7. CFL bulbs contain toxic mercury fumes that escape when the bulbs break (recommendations: "open the windows for 15 minutes and keep children away"; "Clean Up Mercury Spill With 'Nanoselenium' Cloth" *LOL*)
8. Need it be added, these bulbs break A LOT - adding also to their cost and manufacturing cost
9. Use in ceiling fans can cause the bulbs to fail due to the vibration
10. CFL bulbs are extremely expensive - compounded by their frequent breaking and failing
11. Long term dangers of prolonged exposure to the cancer-causing short-wave UV light that escapes from the flourescent bulbs
12. The need to equip a hazardous waste disposal infrastructure to safely dispose of these bulbs containing mercury and other toxins
13. Since residential lighting represents only +/- .8% of power consumption in Canada, our spending on CFL lighting would probably be more effective elsewhere, such as on heat-pump residential water heating, which has a lot more potential to bear fruit or, obviously, geothermal heating
14. Most of the electricity used to manufacture CFLs in China comes from high-polluting, coal-fired generators
15. And some people still don't like the light!


Several of the points above came from an article on Greenmuze called the Dark Side of CFLs.

That latter article has interesting comments, some of which support these points, and some which try to deny them.

Apparently, New Zealand has reversed its ban, presumably for many of the above reasons. Although I couldn't readily find a concise link, there are mentions of it here and there. Also, there are reports that GE is coming out soon with a much more efficient incandescent bulb. Not to mention, that super-cheap, super-efficient LED lighting has been rumoured to be just around the corner. No time to go into that in detail here.

In conclusion, there seems to be enough "CONS" as to raise reasonable doubt whether an all-out ban on incandescent lighting is a smart move at this time. In fact, it doesn't make much sense at all.

Arctic Indian Summer: Sea Ice Melt Restarts

A week after the annual sea ice minimum extent defined by the National Snow and Ice Data Center was attained, the extent of sea ice in the Arctic dropped even lower yesterday.

The NSIDC definition includes the portion of ocean covered by 15% or more sea ice. Based on the minimum reached September 10, this year's ice cover in the Arctic was already the third smallest in recorded history.

I'm wondering if it is possible that the extended period of unusually extreme 30C+ temperatures in Russia and across much of Siberia would have an impact on the Arctic ice or weather this fall. Looks like this could be a possibility.

Effect of Warm Rivers in Russia?

There are many major rivers flowing from Russia into the Arctic. These include the Northern Dvina, Pechora, Ob, Lena, Kolyma and dozens of other rivers. Given the extended hot spell through most of August in Russia, to me it would be reasonable that the water flowing into the Arctic would be significantly warmer this year.

Given the early we spring we had this year in Canada, and also a pretty warm summer, it would be reasonable to assume that our north-flowing rivers are also much warmer than usual.

I've got no idea what the effect of all these warm rivers flowing north will be. Maybe it's insignificant in proportion to the amount of water in the Arctic Ocean. But, let's just see how long this Arctic Indian summer lasts. The four years with the least Arctic ice extent in recorded history are this year and the previous three years.

Time to polish up your climate change denial myths

Bring em on... ...it's a cycle... ...it's the volcanoes... ...it's all normal... ...it's a CBC plot... ...it's a blip...

all welcome!

Hottest June on record worldwide

The article also mentions that the periods of Jan-June and Apr-Jun were the hottest ever recorded worldwide.

Hilarious Stuff Over on "Friends of Gin & Tonic"... CCS: Cash Confiscation & Sequestration

I just started messing around with Twitter and, don't ask me how, I somehow got to be one of 7 followers of "Schweinsgruber".  Schweinsgruber links to Friends of Gin and Tonic, which is a... well, describe it as you want - apparently it is pertinent that there is a link there to "Friends of Science", a climate change denial site.


FoGT is good for a laugh any time, but yesterday's post, "Alberta’s $2B CCS plan: Cash Confiscation & Sequestration" is a classic. 


..."sticking plant food where the sun don't shine..." LOL

 

Arctic Sea Ice Meltdown - Below '07 Record Low

Barely six weeks ago a not-so- freak cold spell in the Bering Sea combined with some weird winds to cause the extent of sea ice in the Arctic to build up to "near normal" levels. (Normal at least in terms of the 1979-2000 average)

This resulted in worldwide headlines blaring from Drudge Report, Faux News and petro-powered right-wing propaganda press word wide.

As in, "Arctic Sea Ice Normal!!".

So, you may be forgiven for being surprised that there are no worldwide headlines today, as the sea ice extent has plummeted sharply to cross the low mark of the 2007 low ice year for this date.

The net result is that the ice levels have gone from relatively high on April 1 to very low and falling on May 23, creating a steep downwards trajectory.

Who knows where this may lead? Given the high temperatures in much of the Canadian Arctic all spring, and that so much of the Arctic ice is already merely single-year ice, rather than an ice cap per se, it looks like another record breaking low ice pack could be in store this year. Then again, another cool snap could reverse the trend enough to fire up the engine on the big anti-environmental propaganda machine once again... Stay tuned!

The Mighty Mekong - First Major Casualty of Global Warming?

Since last September, much of southeast Asia has been caught in the grip of a severe drought. This combined with numerous other factors, including an ambitious hydro construction program and rising sea levels, is creating worldwide concern about the future of the Mekong.

This year, there have been widespread reports that it has been possible to walk across the once-mighty river that upwards of 60 million people depend on in this region. It seems impossible to imagine that this river that runs through the midst of steamy monsoon jungles could now be at risk for its very existence. The fact is there have been reports of "walking across" the Mekong coming out of Laos, Vietnam and Thailand.

Ironically, just yesterday, the southern Vietnamese delta region of Ca Mau Cape received its official certification as a UNESCO Global Biosphere Reserve.

Ca Mau Province and most of the Mekong delta is under heavy siege from salt water infiltration due to rising sea levels, combined with low levels of fresh water from the feebly flowing Mekong.

This situation is threatening the livelihood of farmers and fishermen and production of rice and shrimp in Vietnam on a massive scale. It's a classic Catch-22 situation as the water level in the ocean becomes increasingly higher than fresh water levels in the delta. So sluices that could allow salt water needed for shrimp farms cannot be opened, because it then further contaminates low-lying rice fields with salt water.

Vietnam is one of the world's largest rice exporters, with a significant portion of the harvest going to feed poor populations in Africa. The drought has of course affected rice production in other ways
 
Because the future and present of four countries - Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos depend so heavily on the Mekong, a number of organizations have either taken an interest or are completely concerned with the Mekong. Among these, Save the Mekong, the Mekong River Commission, TERRA (Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance) and others.

Complicating matters is that much of the upper Mekong is in China and that country has initiated a massive damming program, under which three of 14 planned dams have been completed. All four countries of the lower Mekong are suspicious and critical of Chinese plans, already putting a lot of the blame for the current situation on the Chinese. China, for its part, denies that its three operating dams have had a significant impact, and say that the low water is due only to the drought, which has also affected Chinese regions along the Mekong.

Meanwhile, the lower Mekong neighbors have their own damming programs, as shown on the map here. These ambitious multi dam projects are now coming into serious question as authorities begin to realize that, if the river is already near dry, building further dams may be dreaming in technicolor.

Global warming is throwing all these plans asunder, perhaps giving temporary relief to the multitides of species that could be threatened by dams in the world's most intensely biodiverse region.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen stated April 6 that China should not be blamed for the Mekong situation, given that China's own rivers are dry and that the entire world is suffering the effects of global warming just as the Mekong has.

Of course, any ground gained by canceling dam projects, either in China or in the lower Mekong countries, could easily be lost by the effects of whatever alternative power projects and of course drying across the region. The need for power is verging on desperate - hospitals, schools and other essentials have had their power cut off this March and April in parts of Vietnam as surging demand and 40+ C temperatures have created a nightmare scenario.

Long term prognosis: Vietnam has entered a period of runaway change, with its citizens rushing to adopt the benefits of a modernizing economy. Its population is forecast to explode and its consumer demands are going exponential. I wish I could see how this is going to work out well for everyone and the planet.

Another great source for further information is Mekonginfo.org.

Film "Home" puts our planet in perspective

Very impressive film that puts the problem out there all right. I saw it before but never took the time to watch it through. Embedding is disabled on the actual film but below is a trailer, or the full 93-min version is here.


IMO turning it around is going to be agonizingly slow and difficult.

However a fatalistic response is the worst possible reaction.

We in the wealthy west need to take the lead ~ to show the people in developing nations that 3 gas hogging vehicles and 3 homes per household is not the Holy Grail of all human aspirations. So that all people might learn and be able to attain a lifestyle of higher ideals and lower consumption.

As it stands right now, we are blocked from doing so by a tiny minority of like 1/10th of 1% of the people ~ who are afraid. Afraid of losing their chance to enrich themselves even more at the expense of the planet and the poor. Afraid of strange people and strange ideas. Afraid of losing control. Afraid that their way of life and their beliefs and they themselves may really be irrelevant. Afraid of generosity and giving.

The next biggest mistake is to say, "look at the other guy".

As in I dunno, "Bruce Springsteen what a hypocrite - preaches conservation and then takes his whole entourage by jet plane week in week out.." or "look at the Chinese, building a coal plant every week..."

We all have to show leadership in our own way. If Springsteen or Suzuki or even Elizabeth May takes more plane rides than you or I, you may want to recognize travel is a job requirement of these people who might try to lead the millions of us out into a more sustainable future. These millions of people who have been brainwashed for decades to believe that the road to Nirvana runs through their two-car garage and a stock portfolio of resource companies.

Influencing many of these people is going to be a very tough job.

Many truly believe that we are entitled to a privileged existence. Many really believe with all their hearts it is a total coincidence that there was no winter in Canada this year.

Or, you know, they'll say, "it's a cycle". Sure. Suddenly cycles that normally run tens of thousands of years are going to kick in overnight.

Overpopulation is definitely a large part of the problem. This just makes it more obvious that lifestyle changes are needed at the top in a hurry.

If 20% of the people consume 80% of the world's resources, then clearly the effect of reducing the consumption of the wealthiest by even 10% will have a major impact. Even more important, hopefully the rising middle classes of developing nations will be able to set their own consumption ideals lower.

Climate Denial Machine Financing Exposed

Koch Industries, a huge privately-owned U.S. multinational oil company, has been exposed as the mastermind behind much of the climate change denial propaganda disseminated over the past number of years.

Between 2005 and 2008, Koch dwarfed even the  $8.9 million ExxonMobile has poured into climate denial groups. According to an in-depth study released today by Greenpeace, Koch Industries has spent $25 million.

Groups funded by Koch include the Mercatus Center, which received nearly $10 million between 2005 and '08, the Cato Institute, the Heritage Foundation and the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, all of which are deeply involved in the climate denial industry, as well as numerous other groups.

“...the biggest hoax our world has ever seen”

Remember that line?

How they operate: For example, it seems that the so-called "Climategate" scandal, timed precisely to coincide with last December's climate conference in Copenhagen, was nothing more than an illusion generated by numerous Koch-supported groups repeating the same message.

Americans For Prosperity (received over $5 million from Koch since 2005) Steve Lonegan, AFP’s New Jersey Director, said “ClimateGate” could have uncovered “the biggest hoax our world has ever seen”

The Heritage Foundation (received over $1 million from Koch since 2005) has posted several articles on its website regarding “ClimateGate.” The blogs run the gamut of possible climate-denier angles on the incident

The Cato Institute (received over $1 million in grants from Koch since 2005) is the frontgroup for climate-denier Patrick Michaels, who has been a vocal spokesperson regarding “ClimateGate”. Within two weeks following the email breach at East Anglia University, Patrick Michaels had appeared in over twenty media interviews on shows including CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, NBC’s Nightly News, FOX’s Fox & Friends, C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, and BBC’s Have Your Say.

Climate Point of No Return May Already Be Upon Us

Sub-sea methane in the Eastern Siberia Arctic Shelf area is already bubbling to the surface at a rate 200 x faster than in the world's other oceans. According to a recent study, this release of sub-ocean floor methane reservoirs, due to destabilization of melting permafrost ice caps on the seabed, could represent the initial signals of a climate Armageddon that has been feared.       

There is an area in the Arctic, just north of eastern Siberia, where vast amounts of methane gas have been stored for eons, locked into place by permafrost on the floor of the Arctic Ocean. It has long been presumed that frigid Arctic seawater would keep the permafrost frozen in place.

Now, according to a study published in Science Daily, scientists have discovered that the permafrost "cover" has become unstable and that unprecedented amounts of the gas, which has a 30 times more potent greenhouse effect than Co2, are already being released.

According to the scientists, led by Natalia Shakhova and Igor Semiletov of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, methane is already escaping from the Siberian Arctic at a rate of approx. 7 teragrams, roughly 1 million tons, per year.   The concentration of methane in the Arctic has already reached 1.85 parts per million, a level unprecedented in 400,000 years.

None of the current climate models even include the feedback from methane being released from the permafrost covered tundra, let alone this methane from below the ocean floor.

 According to the Science Daily article, "Release of even a fraction of the methane stored in the shelf could trigger abrupt climate warming."

If these findings are confirmed, the next step, I suppose, will be to determine the extent of the deterioration of the ice on the seabed. Given that this one patch of ocean is already expelling as much methane as the rest of the world's oceans combined, I would say the chances are very strong that significant perforation of the ice cap on the sea floor has already occurred. If so, I don't know what could realistically be done to even slightly mitigate the effects of this. Could millions of collectors that would collect the methane either by a chemical or mechanical process be suspended in the sea somehow? Could the ice melting be slowed? I can't even imagine...


The difficult thing here is that the aspect of this equation that has been possibly human-triggered, that is the warming of ocean currents and the melting of the ice on the seabed, would be very difficult to reverse by any estimation. As temperatures in the Arctic have increased more than elsewhere on the planet, and have already resulted in the melting of almost all the multi-year ice in the Arctic, the chances of getting anything to cool down in the Arctic in the near future just seem extremely remote.

The size of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf is approx 2 million sq. kilometers, which represents about .5% of the Earth's ocean surface.