‘Green News Report’ – March 12, 2013

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Anti-nuke protesters mark 2nd anniversary of Fukushima disaster; Navy’s top Pacific commander warns climate change is the biggest threat to national security; Is ‘flammable ice’ the next big energy source?; Forests move into warming Arctic; PLUS: Finally – score one for sharks … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Fracking’s Revolving Door Draws a Warning; Keystone environmental impact report skirts climate question; Bat-killing White Nose Syndrome spreads; Red tide kills 174 Florida manatees; Can wind, water and sunlight power New York by 2050?; Pacific NW: What coal-train dust means for human health … PLUS: China: Public anger rises over secrecy on environment … and much, MUCH more! …

STORIES DISCUSSED IN TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…

• VIDEO: Hilarious Conan Video Skewers Media Reporting On Gasoline Price Rise (Climate Progress)
• NASA Rover Finds Conditions Once Suited for Ancient Life on Mars (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
• Anti-Nuke Protests on 2nd Fukushima Anniversary:
• Thousands in Japan anti-nuclear protest two years after Fukushima (Reuters)
• Fukushima two years on: the largest nuclear decommissioning finally begins: Question marks remain about the plant’s safety, but the estimated $100bn, 40-year clean-up is now underway (Guardian UK)
• Flooding complicates clean-up at Japanese nuclear plant (Reuters)
• Two Years On, Fukushima Evacuees Seek Justice and a Normal Life (Japan Times)
• Depression And Anxiety Could Be Fukushima’s Lasting Legacy (NPR)
• VIDEO: Fukushima anniversary: Tour inside nuclear power plant (BBC)
• VIDEO: Fukushima Meltdown’s 2nd Anniversary Brings Protests Against Japan’s Reliance on Nuclear Power (Democracy Now!)
• In U.S., nuclear energy loses momentum amid economic head winds, safety issues (Washington Post)
• Japan: Methane Hydrate Energy Breakthrough:
• Japan extracts gas from methane hydrate in world first (BBC) [emphasis added]:
  Japan says it has successfully extracted natural gas from frozen methane hydrate off its central coast, in a world first.
• Are methane hydrates the next big energy source? Japan hopes so. (Washington Post)
• More info on Methane Clathrates/Hydrates (Wikipedia)
• Forests Moving North into Arctic:
• Amplified Greenhouse Effect Shifts North’s Growing Seasons (NASA Goddard) [emphasis added]:
  “It’s like Winnipeg, Manitoba, moving to Minneapolis-Saint Paul in only 30 years,” said co-author Compton Tucker of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
  …
  However, researchers say plant growth in the north may not continue on its current trajectory. The ramifications of an amplified greenhouse effect, such as frequent forest fires, outbreak of pest infestations and summertime droughts, may slow plant growth.
• NASA: 30 years of global warming brings trees to the tundra (UPI): A new study of 30 years of satellite data shows vegetation moving northward as climatic conditions shift.
• Updated Hockey Stick Graph: Speed of Warming Unprecedented in 11k Years:
• Recent Heat Spike Like Nothing in 11,000 Years (AP):
  A new study looking at 11,000 years of climate temperatures shows the world in the middle of a dramatic U-turn, lurching from near-record cooling to a heat spike.
• Global temperatures are at a 4,000-year high (Grist)
• We’re Screwed: 11,000 Years’ Worth of Climate Data Prove It (The Atlantic)
• Global temps higher now than for most of past 11,300 years. It’s not a hockey stick. This is a scythe. (Treehugger)
• CBS Ignores Study Finding Temperatures Are Highest In 4,000 Years (Media Matters)
• Atmospheric Warming Altering Ocean Salinity And The Water Cycle (Climate Progress):
  A clear change in salinity has been detected in the world’s oceans, signaling shifts and acceleration in the global rainfall and evaporation cycle tied directly to climate change.
• Atmospheric CO2 Jumps to 395ppm:
• Big One-Year Jump In Atmospheric CO2 Brings Climate Catastrophe Closer (Climate Progress)
• Scientist Rebukes Latest “Factually Wrong” Attempt To Deny Climate Change: News That Rising Emissions Could Lead To Dire Warming Should Prompt Action, Not Denial (Media Matters)
• Study of Ice Age Bolsters Carbon and Warming Link (NY Times):
  A meticulous new analysis of Antarctic ice suggests that the sharp warming that ended the last ice age occurred in lock step with increases of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the latest of many indications that the gas is a powerful influence on the earth’s climate.
• Navy: Climate Change Biggest Threat to National Security:
• Chief of US Pacific forces calls climate biggest worry (Boston Globe) [emphasis added]:
  America’s top military officer in charge of monitoring hostile actions by North Korea, escalating tensions between China and Japan, and a spike in computer attacks traced to China provides an unexpected answer when asked what is the biggest long-term security threat in the Pacific region: climate change.
• VIDEO: Chief of US Pacific forces: Climate Change Top Threat (Climate Crocks)
• Score One for Sharks (and manta rays):
• Sharks, rays win new trade protections (Washington Post):
  Historically, many nations have been reluctant to protect marine species that are in high demand for health remedies and culinary delicacies, primarily in Asia. But faced with scientific evidence that these species risk becoming extinct, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) voted in Bangkok to place trade limits on shark species for the first time in nearly a decade.M
• CITES meeting votes to protect Oceanic whitetip shark (BBC)
• ‘Historic’ day for shark protection (BBC)

‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (Stuff we didn’t have time for in today’s audio report)…

• Fracking’s Revolving Door Draws a Warning: (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette):
  Many of Pennsylvania’s policymakers, regulators and enforcement workers have come from the oil and gas industry they oversee, or they leave state jobs for industry jobs, according to a recent report that questions the impacts of such a “revolving door” on public policy decisions.
• China: Public anger rises over secrecy on environment (Reuters):
  When China’s environment ministry told attorney Dong Zhengwei he couldn’t have access to two-year old data about soil pollution because it was a ‘state secret’, it added to mounting public outrage over the worsening environment.
• Keystone environmental impact report skirts central question of Natl Enviro Policy Act, lawyers say (Inside Climate)
• Bat-killing White Nose Syndrome spreads to South Carolina, Georgia (Scientific American)
• Red tide kills 174 Florida manatees; more deaths likely (Miami Herald)
• Natural Gas Industry Drives a Construction Surge in Ohio (NY Times)
• Can Wind, Water and Sunlight Power New York by 2050? (NYT Dot Earth blog)
• San Onofre nuclear plant’s flawed steam generators (LA Times)
• Pacific NW: What coal-train dust means for human health: (KUOW/EarthFix):
  With five coal export terminals under consideration in Washington and Oregon, Northwest residents are grappling for the first time with issues that are old hat in coal states like West Virginia and Kentucky. One of those issues: coal dust.
• CA Coastal Commission Nixes Navy Offshore Explosives Training Plan (Washington Post):
  The California Coastal Commission on Friday rejected a Navy explosives and sonar training program off the Southern California coast that critics said could harm endangered blue whales and other sea life.
• Don’t Worry: Keystone XL Pipeline Would Be Safe From The Climate Impacts It Would Cause (Climate Progress)
• Why carbon capture and storage will never pay off (Smart Planet)
• Infections With ‘Nightmare Bacteria’ Are On The Rise In U.S. Hospitals (NPR)
• Pesticides are killing our sperm (Grist):
  George Washington University researchers pored over 17 scientific studies that were published between 2007 and 2012 and reported in the journal Toxicology that 15 of them found “significant associations between exposure to pesticides and semen quality indicators.”
• The New Sustainable Energy Factbook: A Strong Case for Consistent Policy (Bloomberg New Energy Finance, via Climate Progress.org):
  The report provides a detailed account of the energy market for investors and policymakers making a strong case for the role of stable policies in leveling the playing field for clean energy technologies in the evolving energy landscape.

• COVER STORY: It’s Global Warming, Stupid (Businessweek):
  Yes, yes, it’s unsophisticated to blame any given storm on climate change. Men and women in white lab coats tell us-and they’re right-that many factors contribute to each severe weather episode. Climate deniers exploit scientific complexity to avoid any discussion at all.
  …
  If all that doesn’t impress, forget the scientists ostensibly devoted to advancing knowledge and saving lives. Listen instead to corporate insurers committed to compiling statistics for profit.
• CO2 Emissions Rises Mean Dangerous Climate Change Now Almost Certain (Guardian)
• Study: Sea Levels Rising 60% Faster Than Projected, Planet Keeps Warming As Expected (Climate Progress)
• Ocean Acidification: Animals are already dissolving in Southern Ocean (New Scientist)
• Global warming targets further out of reach, UN says (Phys.org):
  Based on current pledges, global average temperatures could rise by 3 to 5 degrees Celsius (5.4 to 9.0 degrees Fahrenheit) this century — way above the two degrees Celsius being targeted, said a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report.
• Thawing of permafrost to be ‘major factor’ in global warming, warns UN report (UN News Centre)
• Must-Read: Economist William Nordhaus Slams Global Warming Deniers, Explains Cost of Delay is $4 Trillion (Climate Progress):
  Nordhaus’s blunt piece – “Why the Global Warming Skeptics Are Wrong” – is worth reading because he is no climate hawk.

• Skeptical Science: Get the FULL DEBUNKING of ALL Climate Science Denier Arguments
• Report: Humans near tipping point that could dramatically change Earth (CS Monitor) [emphasis added]:
  Human activity is affecting Earth in many ways, but a new study suggests that continued population growth and its impact on climate and ecology could trigger a more profound chain reaction of effects within little more than a decade.
• VIDEO: James Hansen: Why I must speak out about climate change (TED Talks):
  Top climate scientist James Hansen tells the story of his involvement in the science of and debate over global climate change. In doing so he outlines the overwhelming evidence that change is happening and why that makes him deeply worried about the future.
• VIDEO ANIMATION: Time history of atmospheric CO2 (NOAA Carbon Tracker YouTube channel):
• VIDEO: Animation Charts Modern Global Warming (NYT Green)
• Thinking Big: NREL Study Shows 80 Percent Renewables Possible By 2050 (Climate Progress)
• Part 1: The brutal logic of climate change (David Roberts, Grist) [emphasis added]:
  It’s simple: If there is to be any hope of avoiding civilization-threatening climate disruption, the U.S. and other nations must act immediately and aggressively on an unprecedented scale. That means moving to emergency footing. War footing. “Hitler is on the march and our survival is at stake” footing. That simply won’t be possible unless a critical mass of people are on board. It’s not the kind of thing you can sneak in incrementally.

  It is unpleasant to talk like this. People don’t want to hear it.

• Part 2: The brutal logic of climate change mitigation (David Roberts, Grist)
• How to Buy Time in the Fight against Climate Change: Mobilize to Stop Soot and Methane: A short list of relatively simple actions taken to reduce greenhouse gases other than CO2 could help put the brakes on global warming–if implemented globally (Scientific American)
• World headed for irreversible climate change in five years, IEA warns: If fossil fuel infrastructure is not rapidly changed, the world will ‘lose for ever’ the chance to avoid dangerous climate change (Guardian UK) [emphasis added]:
  The world is likely to build so many fossil-fuelled power stations, energy-guzzling factories and inefficient buildings in the next five years that it will become impossible to hold global warming to safe levels… “The door is closing,” Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency, said. “I am very worried – if we don’t change direction now on how we use energy, we will end up beyond what scientists tell us is the minimum [for safety]. The door will be closed forever.”
• Concise Overview: The IPCC report on extreme climate and weather events (Real Climate)
• The Real Global Warming Signal (Tamino)
• No, global warming hasn’t stopped (New Scientist)
• VIDEO: Climate Scientists Michael Mann on “A Look Into Our Climate: Past To Present To Future” (TEDx, YouTube)
• Earth’s Plant Growth Fell Because of Climate Change, Study Finds (NYT Green)
• Heads in the Sand: Warning: “Climate change is occurring … and poses significant risks to humans and the environment,” reports the National Academy of Sciences. As climate-change science moves in one direction, Republicans in Congress are moving in another. Why?