Climate News & Discussion

[B1GTide]

NFTs Are Selling for Millions. Are They Warming the Planet, Too?

When Chris Precht, an Austrian architect and artist, first learned about nonfungible tokens, the digital collectibles taking the art world by storm, he was so enthralled, he said, he “felt like a little kid again.” So Precht, who is known for his work on ecological architecture, was devastated...

news.yahoo.com

Last month, a montage of art that had been turned into an NFT by the digital artist known as Beeple sold for more than $69 million at a Christie’s online auction. (Also last month, an NFT created from a New York Times technology column sold for more than $500,000, with the proceeds going to the Neediest Cases Fund, a Times-affiliated charity.)

But, by Precht’s own calculations, creating the 300 items of digital art that he had planned to sell — 100 each of three art pieces — would have burned through the same amount of electricity that an average European would otherwise use in two decades, he said in an Instagram video late last month.

 

[TexasBama]

Laughable

ERCOT says power conservation request 'has ended without the need for an energy emergency'

A few hours after ERCOT asked Texans to conserve power to avoid an "energy emergency," the group says the request is now over.

abc13.com

 

[TexasBama]

US West prepares for possible 1st water shortage declaration

The man-made lakes that store water supplying millions of people in the U.S. West and Mexico are projected to shrink to historic lows in the coming months, dropping to levels that could trigger the federal government's first-ever official shortage declaration and prompt cuts in Arizona and...

www.yahoo.com

 

[TexasBama]

Something that is being looked at more here in Texas is called aquifer storage and recovery - ASR. The driver for this is avoiding evaporative losses as well as storing water in the non-peak season. I’d guess that 60 percent of Colorado river water is lost to evaporation. Don’t know if that’s being looked at out there, but I expect it is. The hard part there might be adequate geology for storage as well as all the potential nuclear contamination of Groundwater in that area.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

US West prepares for possible 1st water shortage declaration

The man-made lakes that store water supplying millions of people in the U.S. West and Mexico are projected to shrink to historic lows in the coming months, dropping to levels that could trigger the federal government's first-ever official shortage declaration and prompt cuts in Arizona and...

www.yahoo.com

Westerners are water wasters to the point that it's hard to feel sorry for their predicament. They don't even try on conservation. We had a condo in Vail, CO for about ten years and lived there part-time. We decided to replace the shower head in one of the baths and I specified a cutoff valve. The question came back - "Why?" Now, every shower in our house here in HSV has a cutoff. I live on a major river and the northern half of the city is supplied by deep, heavy-producing wells - and we conserve. The link below is illustrative...

Vox

 

[TexasBama]

Westerners are water wasters to the point that it's hard to feel sorry for their predicament. They don't even try on conservation. We had a condo in Vail, CO for about ten years and lived there part-time. We decided to replace the shower head in one of the baths and I specified a cutoff valve. The question came back - "Why?" Now, every shower in our house here in HSV has a cutoff. I live on a major river and the northern half of the city is supplied by deep, heavy-producing wells - and we conserve. The link below is illustrative...

Vox

St Augustine should be outlawed west of IH35

 

[92tide]

What the narwhal can tell us about the climate crisis - High Country News

An analysis of the species’ 10-foot-long tusk shows an accumulation of mercury and a change in diet as sea ice retreats.

www.hcn.org

 

[B1GTide]

Spanish chef introduces us to marine grains, the new sustainable superfood | The Optimist Daily

According to Aponiente’s research, the grains are gluten-free, high in omega-6 and -9 fatty acids, and contain 50 percent more protein than rice per grain.

www.optimistdaily.com

 

[Bamaro]

Gases used in refrigerators and air conditioners will be phased out in a new EPA rule

In the first Biden administration rule aimed at combating climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to phase down production and use of hydrofluorocarbons, highly potent greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners.

The proposed rule follows through on a law Congress passed in December authorizing a 15-year phaseout of HFCs. The new rule is intended to decrease U.S. production and use of the gases by 85% over the next 15 years, part of a global phaseout intended to slow climate change.

HFCs are considered a major driver of global warming and are being targeted worldwide. President Joe Biden has pledged to embrace a 2016 global agreement to reduce them.

Gases used in refrigerators and air conditioners will be phased out in a new EPA rule (wbaltv.com)

 

[crimsonaudio]

Gases used in refrigerators and air conditioners will be phased out in a new EPA rule (wbaltv.com)

"The HFC provision was supported by an unusual coalition that included major environmental and business groups, including the National Association of Manufacturers, American Chemistry Council and the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, which represents companies that make residential and commercial air conditioners, water heaters and commercial refrigeration equipment.

The industry has long been moving to use of alternative refrigerants and was pushing for a federal standard to avoid a patchwork of state laws and regulations."

It's nice seeing groups realize that we can do better and it can help their bottom line as well.

 

[Bamaro]

Tropical Storm Andres on Sunday became the earliest named storm on record to develop in the eastern Pacific Ocean, according to the National Weather Service.

The system formed hundreds of miles off the west coast of Mexico, had sustained winds of 40 mph and was moving out to sea at 6 mph as of Sunday morning. It is not expected to threaten land and will probably dissipate within 48 hours, NWS predicted.

The storm is notable for its early arrival – just beating out the record set by Tropical Storm Adrian, which strengthened to named status on May 10, 2017, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15 to Nov. 30.

Andres becomes the earliest tropical storm on record to form in the Pacific (msn.com)

 

[Bamaro]

This is an actual river in Kenya that is choaked with plastic shipped in from the US and other countries for 'processing'.It sort of speaks for itself but maybe we should think about these things before buying things like cases of water bottles.

 

[92tide]

This is an actual river in Kenya that is choaked with plastic shipped in from the US and other countries for 'processing'.It sort of speaks for itself but maybe we should think about these things before buying things like cases of water bottles.

hell, there are places on the chattahoochee that look similar to that

 

[Bamaro]

Its not all in Kenya and most is on land:

 

[Go Bama]

Same in the Philippines

Plastic Packaging Waste in the Philippines

The vast majority of the debris we found strewn across the beaches across the Philippines was plastic; a significant amount of that was soft plastics which can’t be recycled

www.bioenergyconsult.com

 

[NationalTitles18]

Why electric cars will take over sooner than you think

The BBC's Justin Rowlatt explains why we are accelerating towards an electric car future.

www.bbc.com

 

[B1GTide]

Why electric cars will take over sooner than you think

The BBC's Justin Rowlatt explains why we are accelerating towards an electric car future.

www.bbc.com

The biggest problem with their timeline - almost half of car owners do not have access to a home parking spot which would allow them to charge their car at home. Consider people who live in apartments, condos or cities. The technology to allow them to charge their cars at home does not exist right now. Can this be solved? Sure. But the solution will likely come at a higher cost than that for homeowners with a driveway/garage.

Also, the power grids around the world will likely require massive upgrades to provide all of this new electric power demand. Again, a problem that can be solved, but one that also comes with huge price tags.

I support the idea of electric cars, and will own one eventually - when the infrastructure is ready to meet my needs.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

The biggest problem with their timeline - almost half of car owners do not have access to a home parking spot which would allow them to charge their car at home. Consider people who live in apartments, condos or cities. The technology to allow them to charge their cars at home does not exist right now. Can this be solved? Sure. But the solution will likely come at a higher cost than that for homeowners with a driveway/garage.

Also, the power grids around the world will likely require massive upgrades to provide all of this new electric power demand. Again, a problem that can be solved, but one that also comes with huge price tags.

I support the idea of electric cars, and will own one eventually - when the infrastructure is ready to meet my needs.

I would need to run a dedicated outlet to a detached carport. The entrance panel isn't close. OTOH, I'm thinking about a demand water heater which is about halfway to the carport. If I do that, I'll make provision for extending it on...

 

[NationalTitles18]

It also depends on charging time. If the car can charge in 5-10 minutes then home outlets won't be a huge concern. People don't fill up with gas at home and that's generally how long it takes.

 

[B1GTide]

It also depends on charging time. If the car can charge in 5-10 minutes then home outlets won't be a huge concern. People don't fill up with gas at home and that's generally how long it takes.

Also depends on the cost to "fill up" away from home. Will folks without a home charging option have to pay a lot more to charge at one of these "stations"?