Texas Climate Emergency

A report released at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union on December 16 provides new insights on the potential for abrupt climate change and the effects it could have on the United States, identifying key concerns that include faster-than-expected loss of sea ice, rising sea levels and a possibly permanent state of drought in the American Southwest. (read more)

The world’s glaciers are continuing to melt away with the latest official figures showing record losses, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) announced today. Data from close to 30 reference glaciers in nine mountain ranges indicate that between the years 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 the average rate of melting and thinning more than doubled. (read more)

By Bill McKibben for the Los Angeles Times

May 11, 2008

Even for Americans — who are constitutionally convinced that there will always be a second act, and a third, and a do-over after that, and, if necessary, a little public repentance and forgiveness and a Brand New Start — even for us, the world looks a little terminal right now.

It’s not just the economy: … It’s that, all of a sudden, those grim Club of Rome types who, way back in the 1970s, went on and on about the “limits to growth” suddenly seem … how best to put it, right.

All of a sudden it isn’t morning in America, it’s dusk on planet Earth. (read more)

Global warming represents not just an environemntal crisis but an economic crisis as well. A recent report estimates that doing nothing to mitigate climate change will cost the U.S. economy more than 3.6% of GDP or $3.8 trillion. Paul Volcker, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve under President Reagan, has flatly stated that “if [nothing is done,] you can be sure that the conomy will go down the drain in the next thiry years.” (full article)

This article outlines science based climate change projections for Texas including rainfall and temperature affects. (full article)

Climate change is effecting communities and habitats around the world. TCE tries to include articles that are relavent both locally and internationally as this global crisis effects us all. Below is an article describng the devastation to Siberian Permafrost. (full article)

The permafrost belt stretching across Siberia to Alaska and Canada could start melting three times faster than expected because of the speed at which Arctic Sea ice is disappearing.

A study found that the effects of sea-ice loss – which reached an all-time record last summer – extend almost 1,000 miles inland to areas where the ground is usually frozen all year round.

Follow this link to send President-elect Obama a message: We want clean, green energy.

Tell Obama No Clean Coal

During the presidential campaign, both Senators Obama and McCain touted their support for “clean coal”.  But they were both missing the point:  Conventional coal-burning power plants are the leading cause of global warming pollution in the United States. “Clean Coal” is a myth–a contradiction in terms.  Coal companies claim they can develop coal plants at some point in the distant future that will capture and sequester carbon pollution.  But carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is unproven and exorbitantly expensive.

Article written by Dr. James Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies,  who has been the leader of the world’s scientific community for over 20 years and acts as TCEC and 1Sky’s climate advisor.

Embers of election night elation will glow longer than any prior election. Glowing even in other nations, and for good reason. We are all tied together, more than ever, like it or not. Barack Obama’s measured words on election night, including eloquent recognition of historic progress, from the viewpoint of a 106-year-old lady, still stoke the embers. But he was already focusing on tasks ahead, without celebratory excess. Well he should. The challenge he faces is unprecedented…..

(full article)

The Bay of Naples is renowned for its breathtaking beauty and glittering clear waters. For centuries, tourists have flocked to the region to experience its glories.

But beneath the waves, scientists have uncovered an alarming secret. They have found streams of gas bubbling up from the seabed around the island of Ischia. ‘The waters are like a Jacuzzi – there is so much carbon dioxide fizzing up from the seabed,’ said Dr Jason Hall-Spencer, of Plymouth University. ‘Millions of litres of gas bubble up every day.’

The gas streams have turned Ischia’s waters into acid, and this has had a major impact on sea life and aquatic plants. Now marine biologists fear that the world’s seas could follow suit. (full article)

Doug Gronau makes money from his soil, not just from his corn and soybeans.

He gets payments each year for farming his rolling western Iowa land without breaking the soil. The ground between the rows of corn and soybeans plants is littered with old corncobs and decaying debris.

But the money is in the stuff that’s out of sight. Such no-till farming keeps carbon under the ground, in the form of roots and other plant matter. Tillage releases the carbon to become a heat-trapping gas, carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere. (full article)