I should hope wind power possibilities are in the air again. It's only one solution and it should be used to displace coal not augment it, but with climate news getting worse every day my already thin patience with roadblocks to windpower from small to large scale, wears thinner every day.
Using windpower to purchase offsets for carbon trading doesn't work either; it still builds in greenhouse gas emissions. Coal generated carbon emissions have to reduced at the source now. It's scary that they're now talking about building more coal plants even in Europe. Jeanne CO2, Methane Levels Rise Sharply in 2007. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080423181652.htm SciDaily, April 24, 2008. "Last year alone global levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide... increased by 0.6 percent, or 19 billion tons. Additionally methane rose by 27 million tons after nearly a decade with little or no increase. NOAA scientists released these and other preliminary findings today as part of an annual update to the agency's greenhouse gas index, which tracks data from 60 sites around the world. The burning of coal, oil, and gas, known as fossil fuels, is the primary source of increasing carbon dioxide emissions. Earth's oceans, vegetation, and soils soak up half of these emissions. The rest stays in the air for centuries or longer. Twenty percent of the 2007 fossil fuel emissions of carbon dioxide are expected to remain in the atmosphere for thousands of years, according to the latest scientific assessment by the International Panel on Climate Change. Viewed another way, last year's carbon dioxide increase means 2.4 molecules of the gas were added to every million molecules of air, boosting the global concentration to nearly 385 parts per million (ppm). Pre-industrial carbon dioxide levels hovered around 280 ppm until 1850. Human activities pushed those levels up to 380 ppm by early 2006. The rate of increase in carbon dioxide concentrations accelerated over recent decades along with fossil fuel emissions. Since 2000, annual increases of two ppm or more have been common, compared with 1.5 ppm per year in the 1980s and less than one ppm per year during the 1960s. Methane levels rose last year for the first time since 1998. Methane is 25 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, but there's far less of it in the atmosphere -- about 1,800 parts per billion. When related climate affects are taken into account, methane's overall climate impact is nearly half that of carbon dioxide." From Telegraph co .UK (excerpt and link) Climate change 'may put world at war' By Charles Clover, Environment Editor Last Updated: 12:01am BST 23/04/2008 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/04/23/eaclimate123.xml&CMP=ILC-mostviewedbox Climate change could cause global conflicts as large as the two world wars but lasting for centuries unless the problem is controlled, a leading defence think tank has warned. · The hidden threat from the world's water shortages · Food shortages: how will we feed the world? · Biofuel rules 'could make millions homeless' The Royal United Services Institute said a tenfold increase in research spending, comparable to the amount spent on the Apollo space programme, will be needed if the world is to avoid the worst effects of changing temperatures. Governments should be preparing for the worst................. _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
