Blueprints For Taming the Climate Crisis 389
mdsolar sends this story from the NY Times:
Here's what your future will look like if we are to have a shot at preventing devastating climate change. Within about 15 years every new car sold in the United States will be electric. ... Up to 60 percent of power might come from nuclear sources. And coal's footprint will shrink drastically, perhaps even disappear from the power supply. This course, created by a team of energy experts, was unveiled on Tuesday in a report for the United Nations (PDF) that explores the technological paths available for the world's 15 main economies to both maintain reasonable rates of growth and cut their carbon emissions enough by 2050 to prevent climatic havoc. It offers a sobering conclusion: We might be able to pull it off. But it will take an overhaul of the way we use energy, and a huge investment in the development and deployment of new energy technologies. Significantly, it calls for an entirely different approach to international diplomacy on the issue of how to combat climate change.
I live in Montana. I'm looking forward to it. (Score:4, Interesting)
I live in Montana and I'm rather looking forward to global warming. This place is gonna be even more amazing when it gets warmer. I might even have to buy a summer home in the Yukon.
On a slightly more serious note, as Winston Churchill once said, "You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else."
Wait, did $Deity announce a do-over? (Score:2, Interesting)
The West Antarctic Ice Shelf has already begun its collapse, guaranteeing us 10-12ft of sea level rise over the next 50-200 years (only the timeframe, not the result, remains in question). We have officially lost our "shot at preventing devastating climate change".
We do, however, still have a shot at preventing the necessary abandonment of every major coastal city on the planet, by avoiding another 200ft of sea level rise that would result from the rest of Antarctica melting.
At this point, we need to stop asking how we can go green, and start planning for our new seaside vacation homes in Arizona.
"different approach to international diplomacy" (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:DGW Dinsaurogenic Global Warming - crisis of ti (Score:4, Interesting)
Let's just pretend for a moment the answer to that question isn't yes [tutorvista.com]
That wasn't even the point being made. It's the temperatures that are the threat to modern forms of plant, not CO2 concentration. Any farmer will tell you about the importance of climate to growing a particular crop.
As someone who is hoping for nuclear power ... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Climate Change on Slashdot? Bring on the fun! (Score:4, Interesting)
Are there really more methane-producing animals than there would be if there were no humans? Cows, buffaloes, deer, any other farting animals?
Most cow methane is not farted, it is burped. Bison have a similar digestive system to cattle, and produce similar amounts of methane. Deer and goats are browsers rather than grazers, have very different digestive systems, and produce little methane. Cattle and sheep and being bred to burp less, and strains of gut bacteria are also being modified to generate less methane. Food supplements may also help, mostly by encouraging the "right" gut bacteria.
Quibbling about whether it is our "fault" that animals burp is not really important. If the methane burping/farting can be reduced at reasonable economic cost, then it doesn't really matter how much the bison would have burped.
Disclaimer: I am a vegetarian, so it is not my fault in any case.