Survey: Americans support climate change adaptation

Posted on March 30, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Superstorm Sandy may have been a turning point in public perception

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February temperatures were above normal almost everywhere across the mid-latitudes, but colder than average in the polar regions, compared to the 1951-1980 average. Via NASA.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — While some Americans may still not be convinced that greenhouse gas emissions are heating up the planet, there does appear to be an emerging consensus that the country should prepare for the potential impacts of a changing climate.

Superstorm Sandy may have been a turning point, as images of flooding in downtown Manhattan and shoreline devastation in New Jersey dominated the airwaves for a few days. Americans may have seen Sandy as a sign of things to come, according to a new survey by the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and the Center for Ocean Solutions. (more…)

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Energy: Powering the world with wind

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Given political and social will, windpower could easily meet half the world’s energy needs by 2030

Downstream turbulence is visible in this aerial shot of the Horns Rev turbines off the coast of Denmark. Photo courtesy Vattenfall.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY —By now it should be clear that the main obstacles to making a wholesale switch to clean, renewable energy are social and political — if the will is there to commit to that path, the resources are abundant.

In a hypothetical exercise meant to provide a frame of reference for those renewable energy discussions, scientists from Stanford University and the University of Delaware showed that all of the world’s power demands could be met by wind energy.

The researchers developed a sophisticated model to show enough wind power could be generated to exceed total demand by several times if need be, even after accounting for reductions in wind speed caused by turbines. (more…)

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Wireless system could charge e-cars on the road

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Wireless charging could revolutionize transportation

A system of resonating metal coils could charge electric vehicles as they drive down the road.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — California researchers say a network of metal coils built into road beds could be used to transmit electrical energy to passing cars. The system could wirelessly charges cars and trucks as they cruise down the road, dramatically increasing the driving range of electric vehicles.

“Our vision is that you’ll be able to drive onto any highway and charge your car,” said Shanhui Fan, an associate professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University. “Large-scale deployment would involve revamping the entire highway system and could even have applications beyond transportation.”

The wireless charging system could address the limited driving range of electric vehicles. The all-electric Nissan Leaf, for example, gets less than 100 miles on a single charge, and the battery takes several hours to fully recharge. (more…)

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Urban ‘heat-islands’ only a small factor in global warming

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Thermal (top) and vegetation (bottom) locations around New York City via infrared satellite imagery. A comparison of the images shows that where vegetation is dense, temperatures are cooler.

Painting city roofs white may actually result in a net warming effect, according to new study

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The urban heat-island effect is only a small factor in the total amount of global warming since the Industrial Revolution, according to Stanford University scientists who quantified the contribution of the heat islands for the first time.

The study looked at surface temperatures in urban areas on a very fine one-kilometer-square grid, making the simulation both extremely detailed and globally comprehensive, looking at the impact of urban heat islands on global sea-surface temperatures, sea ice, atmospheric stability, aerosol concentrations, gas concentrations, clouds and precipitation.

“Between 2 and 4 percent of the gross global warming since the Industrial Revolution may be due to urban heat islands,” said Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering who led the study. He and graduate student John Ten Hoeve compare this with the greenhouse gas contribution to gross warming of about 79 percent and the black carbon contribution of about 18 percent. (more…)

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Study pinpoints key ocean conservation areas

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Protecting just 4 percent of the ocean would protect 84 percent of marine mammals worldwide

Marine mammals could benefit from targeted conservation efforts.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Targeted conservation efforts could pay off for marine mammals like  blue whales and sea otters, according to researchers with Stanford University and the National Autonomous University of Mexico, who identified areas off the coasts of Baja California in Mexico, eastern Canada, Peru, Argentina, northwestern Africa, South Africa, Japan, Australia and New Zealand as critical for protecting ocean biodiversity.

The nine key sites could protect critical habitat for 84 percent of all marine mammal species on Earth, the scientists found. That’s because those nine locations have very high species richness, providing habitat for 108 of the existing 129 marine mammal species. The scientists identified the areas by overlaying maps of where each marine mammal species is found. About 25 percent of marine mammal species are facing extinction.

Altogether, the study identified the 20 conservation sites based on three main criteria: how many species were present, how severe the risk of extinction was for each species and whether any of the species were unique to the area. The scientists also considered habitats of special importance to marine mammals, such as breeding grounds and migration routes. (more…)

Filed under: biodiversity, endangered species, Environment, Marine biology, Summit County news | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Wildfires spur emissions of greenhouse gases from soil

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Climate-fire feedback loop likely to accelerate global warming

Wildfires can spur increased releases of nitrous oxide from the soil, adding significantly to greenhouse gas concentrations.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — An accidental grassfire during a series of climate change experiments showed that increased nitrogen deposits in soils, combined with wildfires, can significantly increase the release of nitrous oxide from the soil, which in turn can accelerate global warming.

“Soils are the major source of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere,” said Jamie Brown, graduate student in biological sciences at Northern Arizona University and co-author of the study. “So increased soil emissions of nitrous oxide will accelerate global warming.”

Brown worked with colleagues from NAU, Stanford University, the University of Paris and the University of Lyon. The study used an experimental grassland at Stanford, where researchers exposed the grassland to simulated environmental changes — heat, extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, more rain, more nitrogen deposition, and, when part of the experiment accidentally burned, wildfire. (more…)

Filed under: air quality, climate and weather, Colorado, Environment, forest fires, forests, global warming, Summit County Colorado | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Global warming hits crop yields, affects food prices

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Spikelets of hulled wheat. PHOTO COURTESY USDA.

North America not affected yet, according to new Stanford study

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Climate change has significantly affected global wheat and corn yields since the 1980s, but North America hasn’t been affected yet, according to a new study from Stanford University. The researchers also said that those climate change impacts have caused food prices to surge.

“We found that since 1980, the effects of climate change on crop yields have caused an increase of approximately 20 percent in global market prices,” said Wolfram Schlenker, an economist at Columbia University and a coauthor of the paper in Science.

The United States, which produces about 40 percent of the world’s soybeans and corn, experienced a very slight cooling trend and no significant production impacts.

“It appears as if farmers in North America got a pass on the first round of global warming,” said David Lobell, an assistant professor of environmental Earth system science at Stanford University. “That was surprising, given how fast we see weather has been changing in agricultural areas around the world as a whole.”

“It will be interesting to see what happens over the next decade in North America,” Lobell said. “But to me the key message is not necessarily the specifics of each country. I think the real take-home message is that climate change is not just about the future, but that it is affecting agriculture now. Accordingly, efforts to adapt agriculture such as by developing more heat- and drought-tolerant crops will have big payoffs, even today.” (more…)

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Powering the world with wind, water and solar

Posted on January 30, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Innovative Energy underwrites coverage of energy stories.

High efficiency offshore wind farms are part of a plan to convert global energy use to renewable resources in the next few decades. Photo by Hans Hillewaert under a Creative Commons, share-alike license.

Detailed plan outlines total global conversion to renewable energy sources

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Most of the world’s energy demands could be met from renewable sources within the next 20 to 40 years — without waiting for a technological magic bullet, according to a pair of California researchers who said the only obstacle is the lack is the political and social will.

The study was co-authored by Stanford University’s Mark Z. Jacobson and  Mark Delucchi, of the University of California-Davis. It outlines the costs, technology and material requirements of a complete conversion to renewable energy sources based on a plan they developed. The researchers approached the conversion with the goal that, by 2030, all new energy generation would come from wind, water and solar, and by 2050, all pre-existing energy production would be converted as well.

“Based on our findings, there are no technological or economic barriers to converting the entire world to clean, renewable energy sources,” said Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering. “It is a question of whether we have the societal and political will … We wanted to quantify what is necessary in order to replace all the current energy infrastructure – for all purposes – with a really clean and sustainable energy infrastructure within 20 to 40 years,” Jacobson continued (more…)

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Humans part of fire ecology in Australia

Posted on May 9, 2010 by Bob Berwyn

A running wildfire alongside a highway. PHOTO COURTESY U.S. FOREST SERVICE.

New research looks at basic ecological assumptions about the role of humans in nature

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Like most Americans, Australians tend to view fire as a destructive force on the landscape, and not as a natural part of ecosystem cycles that have been shaping plant and animal communities for millennia.

In Australia, where indigenous people have been part of those ecosystems for a very long time, there is evidence to suggest that  fires set as part of their hunting practices have made some parts of the land more biologically diverse than areas that are untouched by human hands.

In research news from Stanford University, a recent article explains how  anthropologists are trying to demonstrate what could happen if the indigenous people and their practices of setting fires were to be pulled off the land. The results of the research could be used to help shape fire management programs for Australian national parks, for example.

Specifically, the Stanford team is working with a group of about 800 “Martu” people who live in Australia’s Western Desert. Early results show that their practices of setting small fires to help hunt giant monitor lizards has played a key role in shaping the region’s ecosystems. The small-scale fires leave a patchwork quilt of habitat that encourages more plant and animal diversity.

Along with the research on how the fires affect the landscape, the work could challenge some fundamental ecological assumptions that humans are an outside destructive force that disturbs the balance of nature. (more…)

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