Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics of Energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bearcatbob who wrote (52202)	5/21/2014 10:20:55 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 86354

"What has changed?" Now we have fires in the redwoods of Big Sur in Dec. The fire season here in the hot, dry West now lasts roughly 75 days longer than it did a decade ago, nytimes.com "nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing can be done that will change the climate California lives in." Something has already been done which is changing it. Climate change, once considered an issue for a distant future, has moved firmly into the present,” begins a new 1,000+ page report on U.S. climate released May 6. The National Climate Assessment, issued every four years by NOAA, is an effort by more than 300 U.S. scientists to assess how the climate is changing in the U.S. The report was supervised and approved by a 60-member committee representing a cross section of American society, including representatives of two oil companies. “Summers are longer and hotter, and extended periods of unusual heat last longer than any living American has ever experienced,” the report continues. “Winters are generally shorter and warmer. Rain comes in heavier downpours. People are seeing changes in the length and severity of seasonal allergies, the plant varieties that thrive in their gardens, and the kinds of birds they see in any particular month in their neighborhoods.” The National Climate Assessment lists hotter heat waves, more intense droughts, coastal inundation due to rising seas, heavier downpours, melting of glaciers and permafrost, bigger wildfires, worsening air pollution, stronger storms, increased diseases transmitted by insects, food, and water, and threats to mental health, as being of particular concern for Americans. If you want a thorough understanding of how climate change is affecting and will affect the U.S., this highly readable document is a great one to read, and I plan to frequently reference it in the coming years. Coming on the heels of a major 3-part report released by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in September - April, the National Climate Assessment presents the same key themes: climate change is already having widespread impacts and will get much worse, but there are cost-effective measures we can take to adapt to it and help reduced it. “Climate change presents a major challenge for society,” the report warns. “There is mounting evidence that harm to the nation will increase substantially in the future unless global emissions of heat-trapping gases are greatly reduced.” What’s particularly handy about the NCA is that it is U.S.-specific, and discusses in great detail the specific impacts in eight different regions of the U.S.: Northeast, Southeast and Caribbean, Midwest, Great Plains, Southwest, Northwest, Alaska, and Hawaii and Pacific Islands. I present here a few highlights. wunderground.com