Climate Change: Trump Golf Expands Water Hazard

President Donald J. Trump has announced that the United States is withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord — not to protect American jobs (it won’t) or to help U.S. industry (it won’t) but because he can. Actually, it will take 4 years for the U.S. to fully withdraw from the agreement, unless Mr. Trump ignores its terms and makes the USA seem even more unreliable to other nations.

Mr. Trump’s determination to ignore climate change will come at personal sacrifice, since the resulting sea level rise will engulf his golf courses in Florida and Ireland. Hey, maybe Eric, Don Jr., and Jared can promote water polo. Ivanka can make the bathing suits!

More:

“5 claims Trump used to justify pulling the US out of the Paris agreement — and the reality,” Dana Varinsky, Dave Mosher and Ariel Schwartz, Business Insider

“Paris Climate Deal’s Demise Means Bannon Wins—And The Planet Loses,” Lachlan Markay and Asawin Suebsaeng, Daily Beast

“Bill Nye hits Trump: ‘You can’t build a border wall against CO2 emissions,'” Brandon Carter, The Hill

“The entire Trump presidency, in 1 mind-blowingly stupid announcement,” Paul Waldman, The Week

“Donald Trump has now pissed off the damn Weather Channel,” Clayton Purdom, A.V. Club

______________

Short Link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-pYO

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Less-Gassy Grass Cuts Cow Burps, Eases Global Warming

Scientists at Denmark’s Aarhus University and the DLF seed corporation are using DNA technology to develop a type of grass that is easier for cows to digest, meaning less gas builds up in bossy’s belly. Bovine burps are a major source of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that promotes climate change.

The project, funded by Denmark’s Ministry of Environment and Food, uses genomic selection to determine promising grass strains for breeding. The project is expected to take about 5 or 6 years, so you’ll have to excuse bovine belching until then. Environmentally-anxious cowboys and cowgirls can follow the project here.

____________

Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-oDf

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

 Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Arctic Elegy

Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi performs one of his compositions on a platform floating near the Wahlenbergbreen glacier at Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway for the Save the Arctic campaign.

Ludovico Einaudi website

______________

Short Link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-o33

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Don’t Say ‘Climate Change’ in Florida

Florida officials have a strategy for fighting climate change: don’t talk about it. Employees at the state’s Department of Environmental Protection were warned not to used the terms “climate change” or “global warming” after Republican Governor Rick Scott took office in 2011. That won’t stop the warming world’s rising seas from swallowing Miami, but mum’s the word until Mr. Scott leaves office.

All I Want is Truth (for Christmas)

“All I Want is Truth (for Christmas),” written and performed by Laura Burhenn with her band The Mynabirds.

____________

Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-kAZ

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Breeding Burpless Bovines

Methane and other greenhouse gasses are heating up the world’s atmosphere, fueling global warming. 18% of those gases come from the burps and farts of the billions of cows in the vast herds feeding the world’s growing appetite for meat. Face it, Earth’s human population isn’t going to go Vegan, and cow-mounted catalytic converters just don’t cut it. What’s to be done?

Venice: Surf’s Up!

New Yorkers learned about Storm Surge last month after a visit from Hurricane Sandy. But with climate change causing rising sea levels, Tidal Surge will be a more frequent threat to coastal cities. If you want to see New York’s future, look at Venice.

Climate Change and Surfing: It’s a Bummer, Dude.

Climate change means extreme weather. When it’s stormy there will be some monster waves, but there will also be long periods of flat water. The really bad news is that climate warming causes sea level rise:

“Even a foot change in the tide line can mean the difference between great and mediocre waves…. Researchers believe sea levels could rise six inches by 2030, and a foot by 2050, or more.”

Except in North Carolina, of course, where sea level change is against the law.

At beaches where the water has a sandy bottom, there will still be some slope and maybe some decent wave formation. Where the bottom is rocky or made of coral, the outlook is not so good.

More:

“Will Climate Change Wipe Out Surfing?” Sam Kornell, Pacific Standard

___________________

Short Link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-dO7

Image (“The Great Wipeout Off Kanagawa, after Hokusai”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

King Canute to Visit Virginia Beach?

Following the lead of the North Carolina Senate, the Commonwealth of Virginia has decided to legislate against the inevitable rise of the sea level along the coastal Atlantic shore. Sounds like King Canute is moving from Hatteras to Virginia Beach.

More:

“Virginia Lawmaker Says ‘Sea Level Rise’ Is A ‘Left Wing Term,’ Excises It From State Report On Coastal Flooding,” Rebecca Leber, Think Progress

“Sink or Swim,” The Colbert Report

“Sea level rise 101,” John Bruno, SeaMonster

“Understanding Sea Level Rise: Why a linear extrapolation is the least reasonable predictor of future changes,” Southern Fried Science

___________________

Short Link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-dl1

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

King Canute Backs North Carolina Shore Bill

North Carolina’s Coastal Resources Commission, using current scientific data, estimated a 39-inch rise in sea level by the year 2100.  Developers of beach houses, marinas, and seaside resorts don’t want to hear about it, so a bill has been introduced in the state legislature making scientific estimates of changes in sea level illegal.

Just like legendary King Canute, North Carolina’s politicians want to order the sea to stop rising. Maybe Canute was really a  Tarheel Republican climate change denialist.

More:

“Climate Change: North Carolinians Hope to Stop It in Its Tracks,” Bill Chameides, Huffington Post

“NC Considers Making Sea Level Rise Illegal,” Scott Huler, Scientific American blog

Read Knight Science Journalism Tracker post here.

___________________

Short Link:  http://wp.me/p6sb6-dfK

Image (“King Canute Tours North Carolina Shoreline”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine