Month: October 2013

Stefan Rahmstorf, physicist and oceanographer, on the new IPCC AR5, and more.

While in Reykjavik last week, we heard that a newly organized Arctic Circle Conference, meant to be an ongoing annual event for those with territory or interests in the Arctic, was going to meet shortly after our Earth 101 conference.

Speakers included Al Gore, Hilary Clinton, and Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski. Here’s the update.

Alaska Dispatch:

REYKJAVIK, Iceland — As the inaugural Arctic Circle conference got officially underway here Saturday, a specter loomed over the proceedings. The conference, which brings together policymakers, business leaders, researchers from across the world to discuss issues important to the Arctic, convened with messages from dignitaries of Iceland, Greenland, the United States, United Nations, Canada and Russia, and all of them shared a concern — the outsized impact of climate change in the Arctic and what it means for far northern populations going forward.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, speaking in a video message, called climate change “the greatest long-term threat to our survival.” Moments later, Greenland Premier Aleqa Hammond said her country “strongly support(s)” the UN’s stance on climate change. One by one, officials from various Arctic countries — including Alaska’s U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski — asserted their concerns over melting sea ice, ocean acidification and the possibility of methane release that could exponentially increase the rate of global warming.

“You can’t afford being a climate skeptic, living in the Arctic,” said Johan von de Gronden, chief executive of the World Wildlife Fund in the Netherlands.

And though much was said, and the agreement was largely unanimous that humans must act to attempt to mitigate the effects of climate change, there were few solutions. Some talked of switching to a low-carbon economy, abandoning fossil fuels and utilizing more renewable resources.

Continue reading “In Reykjavik: Arctic Conference Sounds Climate Alarm”

Hat tip to Planet3.

Three large tropical cyclones blast Asia.

Significant statements on sea level rise, and the shortcomings of IPCC projections.

This 60 year old line runs through one of the most beautiful areas in the world’s largest body of  Fresh water.  An underwater inspection, documented above, reveals cause for concern.

National Wildlife Federation:

An Enbridge pipeline that ruptured near Marshall, Michigan, in July 2010 dumped about one million gallons of tar sands oil into the Kalamazoo River system. Federal investigators were scathing in their critique, likening Enbridge to the “Keystone Kops” and determining that Enbridge could have prevented the disaster if the company had properly maintained the pipeline and fixed dozens of known defects.

The Enbridge pipelines that cross the Straits of Mackinac have never spilled oil into the conjoined waters of lake Michigan and Huron, according to government officials. But evidence is mounting that there is reason to be concerned.

The Line 5 pipeline that crosses the Straits has a history of problems, just like the company that owns it. Pipelines deteriorate as they age, according to engineering experts, and the Line 5 pipes at the Straits have been subjected to fierce underwater currents, intense external pressure and varying water temperatures for nearly 60 years.

Compounding the threat is the fact that the pipelines cross the world’s largest source of surface freshwater, a sensitive ecosystem that cannot readily cope with large quantities of crude oil.

Additionally, Enbridge has set out to expand its Lakehead System—which includes Line 5—to carry more diluted bitumen and tar sands oil from western Canada. All of the lines within the Lakehead System transport Alberta tar sands-derived crude oil. Most concerning is the transportation of diluted raw tar sands oil or diluted bitumen (DilBit). Transportation of this product requires higher operating pressures, which in turn heats the line and could pose significantly higher risks of spills.

The League of Conservation Voters strikes again with a funny video featuring a climate denying Dad who crashes his daughter’s science fair.
Oceanographer Josh Willis has a cameo.

Rather scary exposition of climate change vs mass extinctions.  Associated with a “Take Action” page here.

I covered similar territory below.

One distinct privilege and pleasure of attending the Earth 101 conference in Reykjavik was my opportunity to meet a number of scary smart and fiercely passionate people who are devoting their professional lives to better understanding and communicating the climate issue.
One of those is Stefan Rahmstorf, a globally known oceanographer and physicist with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

Stefan is a co-founder of the invaluable and indispensable Realclimate blog, and those of us who follow the issue have come to rely on his insight and analysis to keep up with fast moving developments.  In person what you get is not only a deep knowledge of the issues, but a wicked  and irrepressible sense of humor and the absurd – a prereq for survival in this terrain.  Stefan and I hit it off, so I’m hoping we’ll have further chances to meet and cooperate in the future. A video of my interviews with him is in the works. For now, there’s this.

RealClimate:

Making a film about climate change is difficult, especially if you want it to reach a wide audience. One problem is the long time scale of climate change, which fits badly with the time scale of a typical film narrative. That was the reason why in the Hollywood blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow some laws of physics were treated with a certain artistic freedom, in order to present a dramatic climate change within a few weeks instead of decades.

Mike and I have spent the last few days at a very interesting workshop in Iceland, where climate scientists, social scientists and filmmakers were  brought together in conjunction with the Reykjavik International Film Festival. I will make no attempt to reproduce the many exciting discussions which we had, that often continued into the night. Instead, I’d like to present two short films by workshop participants. I chose a contrast of hot and cold.

First, the cold. The following film is a trailer by Phil Coates, a British filmmaker and expedition leader, who has filmed in extreme conditions on all seven continents. It is a “work in progress” under the working title “North Pole Living on Thin Ice”. Coates was dropped off with three scientists on the sea ice near the North Pole. On foot out on the Arctic Ocean they made oceanographic and ice thickness measurements. Soon you will be able to experience this research expedition on film. The scientific findings of the team will of course come out in the scientific literature.

http://vimeo.com/70558290

Continue reading “Stefan Rahmstorf: The View from Reykjavik and Earth 101”

Description:

Dr. Michael Mann is a world-renowned climate scientist and former University of Virginia professor. This animated interview recounts the grievances Prof. Mann faced at the hand of gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli, and details the threats to all Virginians caused by climate change.

“Virginia Climate Voters” is a video featuring young Virginians talking about the importance of their vote relative to climate action.

The Virginia election is being closely watched, because the Democratic candidate for Governor, Terry Mcaullife, has made climate change, and the anti-science campaigns waged by Tea Party extremist Ken Cuccinelli, an important part of the campaign.  If this plays in Virginia, expect to see a lot more in the coming mid-terms.

The Hellisheiði Power Station is the largest geothermal power station in the world. It was just one of the stops we made today in a quick trip across a small country. Southern Iceland is a great place for a primer on the pluses and minuses of renewable energy, in a country that already produces essentially all of its electricity from renewable sources.

At 300 megawatts, the Hellisheiði installation produces a significant fraction of Iceland’s power.  While the plant is very clean, it is not a perfect system. There are emissions of sulphur which acidify local waters, and corrode equipment in nearby areas.  The impact on water supplies is minimal, but measurable.  The local area has a detectable sulphurous odor – something I’ve gotten used to, as it is readily detectable any time you take a shower or use hot water in Reykjavik. Attempts to re-inject contaminated water into the earth have been blamed for small tremors in the local area, so for the moment, there is no solution to the more-annoying-than-dangerous effluent.

Geothermal heat is a resource that is not infinite.  A given site can eventually be tapped out. Carefully managed, the location is expected to continue to produce power for centuries to come.

Further inland, across flat plains of Iceland’s best agricultural zone, one passes hundreds of grazing sheep and the unique Icelandic horses, that we can see already are beginning to show shaggy winter coats.

The fertile volcanic soils gradually give way to a rocky cold desert, sliced by rivers flowing off spring fed lakes and melting glaciers further east.  Here we took a look at the other terms in Iceland’s renewable equation – hydroelectric, the biggest contributor for now, and the new player, wind turbines.

The Burfell Hydroelectric station, 270 megawatts in capacity, is part of a series of 6 stations which produce in total about a gigawatt of power.  Hydro is the workhorse of Iceland’s electrical output, most of which goes to supplying power to multinational ore processing facilities, some very large, which can be seen in the area surrounding the capital.  Nearby, a pair of 1 MW wind turbines are running as part of a project to demonstrate whether wind and hydro can make a well matched pair.  Wind here tends to blow hardest in winter, while the hydro resource is greatest in summer. The two compliment each other well, as hydro, even in the off season, can be readily matched to strong-but-variable wind, to keep power supplies steady.

Continue reading “Iceland’s Renewable Wealth, from Hot Rocks to Cold Desert”