▬ Note 19 ▬

Climate Changes

It appears that suggested solutions to the changing climate bring little beyond the retort of media spin. Such as:

1. See, we can ride out this climate thing.
2. Yee haw!  Thanks for the data.
3. We think we can geo-engineer with the climate thing.
4. Don’t worry we can fix this climate thing.

So, let’s serve up a dish of old-school climate problems:

Note 1 – GHGs, particularly CO₂ has a persistence in the atmosphere of over fifty years. This means the troubles we are dealing with now will intensify, regardless of what we do. Worse, putting more CO₂ into the atmosphere every year makes the crisis that much more severe.

Note 2 – Flights delayed because of weather events continue to rise. This summer, a US Airways jet became stuck in the asphalt. The asphalt had softened in the 100-plus degree temperatures.

Note 3 – As of December 25, 2012, more than sixty percent of the continental United States remains in drought conditions.

Note 4 – River water level on the Mississippi affects over 500 million tons of cargo each year. Tow operators dealing with the shallower channels in our rivers do so by hauling fewer barges, loading them lighter, and running them more slowly, raising our costs.

Note 5 – A conventional power plant had to temporarily shut down because the body of water from which it draws its cooling water had dropped so low the intake pipe became high and dry.

Note 6 – For every degree Celsius of warming at the Earth’s surface, the water cycle strengthens by eight percent. That means every degree Celsius allows the atmosphere to hold an additional eight percent more water. So the projected four-degree increase will lead to a minimum 30% increase in water vapor carrying capacity for the atmosphere. The dry areas will get much dryer and the wet areas will get much wetter. Fear this event.

Note 7 – As competition for water grows, some of the world’s biggest companies have joined forces to create maps of the aquifers that flow underneath our feet. One risk is that local people might be left behind in a rush to secure access to water and reduce risk for companies. The managing director of Coca-Cola’s Global Water Stewardship, said it was in the company’s business interest to share its water data.

Note 8 – Railroads install tracks in cold weather. During the install process, crews heat the metal to a “neutral” temperature so the rail reaches a moderate length. All this so the tracks will withstand the shrinkage and expansion typical for that climate. With the new changes in climate, rails have an increased tendency to kink.

Note 9 – Highways were also designed for a static climate, taking into account temperature and rainfall for the time they were built. The majority of our Interstate system is over fifty years old. As weather patterns continue to shift, we will see a dramatic increase in failures of highway systems and more intense multi-vehicle accidents.

Note 10 – When scientists at a state commission predicted that North Carolina’s sea levels could rise thirty-nine inches by 2100, coastal business, and development leaders declared the projection could trigger regulations costing millions of dollars. Business interests forced through House Bill 819, a measure that requires sea level forecasts be based on past patterns, ignore projections based on climate change data, and outlaw the use of projections based on climate change for years to come.

Note 11 – Tens of thousands of rats killed by Hurricane Isaac washed up onto the beaches. In addition, rabbits, deer, coyotes, snakes, and dead hogs also washed up on the beaches.

Note 12 – Sea level rise, worldwide, continues to accelerate: From .5mm per year in 1850, to well over 4mm per year over the past three years.

Note 13 – The grid in various parts the Northeast now shuts down regularly due to storm activity effecting millions of households. Each household is a customer–so the number of people impacted is well in the millions.

Note 14 – “The world must tackle the problem of climate change more aggressively,” said World Bank Group President Jim Kim. “We need a global response equal to the scale of the climate problem, a response that puts us on a new path of climate smart development and shared prosperity. But time is very short.”

Note 15 – Rising commodity prices will result in a four to five per cent increase in food prices next year. It does not appear that this trend will lessen over the coming years.

Note 16 – By 2030, if the world fails to tackle climate change, more than 4 percentage points of gross domestic product (GDP) will be cut annually from global economic growth. For last twelve years, the average growth of the world GDP has been around 3.8%.

Note 17 – The National Weather Service began  an experiment this year to scare people into seeking shelter. Offices in Missouri and Kansas have started sending out “impact-based” warnings. Among the messages in the new warnings: “Complete destruction of entire neighborhoods is likely” and “Mass devastation is highly likely making the area unrecognizable to survivors.”

Note 18 – The developed nations depend on large-scale infrastructure (otherwise known as a large-scale climate targets). Once the large-scale infrastructure of developed nations became non-functional, there are few autonomous community-based resources (besides CERTs in the US) below that infrastructure. Oddly, there is a myth that the developed nations will fare better in the changing climate than less developed nations: Yee haw!

Note 19 – Our ability to repair infrastructure before the next catastrophic weather event continues to decline in parts of the country. That trend will spread through the rest of the country over the next twenty years. Within your lifetime, you will see infrastructure damaged repeatedly–while in the midst of repairs.

Note 20 – Congress plans to appropriate $60 billion in disaster relief for the survivors of Hurricane Sandy. Take note of the repairs not completed within the first three months, then the first twelve months. That clarity has long-term benefits for you.