The slowing even the reversal of the Gulf Stream by fresh water discharge has been talked about for at least 20 or 30 years. It could be an “end state” of global warming or climate change, whatever you want to call it. But it is not the BRIEF article citing two studies that caught my eye…it was the snarcky stupid comments that followed. Is it possible for humans to devolve into maggots?

http://www.newser.com/story/257892/the-gulf-stream-is-dying-and-thats-bad.html

Dying Gulf Stream May Trigger a Global Nightmare

Scientists say climate change plays a role

By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff Posted Apr 15, 2018 4:00 PM CDT Updated Apr 16, 2018 5:03 AM CDT

(Newser) – Scientists are raising alarm bells after two studies found that the Gulf Stream—an ocean current key to regulating Earth’s climate—is the weakest it’s been in 1,600 years, the Guardian reports. The culprit is apparently melting sea ice and glaciers, which inject fresh water into the North Atlantic and weaken the stream. “Fiddling with [the Gulf Stream] is very dangerous, because you may well trigger some surprises,” says climate scientist Stefan Rahmstorf. “I wish I knew where this critical tipping point is, but that is unfortunately just what we don’t know.” If the stream dies, scientists say, its equatorial heat would stop reaching the North Atlantic—plunging Europe into bone-numbing winters and affecting weather worldwide. Even subtler changes “could wreak havoc” on the Atlantic Ocean’s “delicate ecosystems,” Smithsonian reports.

wboehmer

Apr 17, 2018 5:24 PM CDT

To claim the Gulf Stream “is the weakest it’s been in 1,600 years” requires having collected a lot of data which is impossible to have collected. For starters, since the Gulf Stream was only first discovered in 1513 by the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, for the first 1,095 of those 1,600 years its existence was not even known, let alone how strong or weak it was. Like many claims about the Earth’s climate, this one is utter nonsense.

Francis Kennedy

Apr 16, 2018 11:23 PM CDT

It’s OUR fault, right?? Since humans are the cause, that’s also the solution? You just have to decide how many humans need to die, to save the earth. Simple.

:}

Go there and comment. Oh I mean read. More next week.

:}

Once renewables get a bite of the apple eating it down to the core does not take long. I know that is a really bad metaphor, but right now besides doing my happy dance it is the best I can come up with.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/03/renewables-conservation-start-pushing-fossil-fuels-off-the-us-grid/?comments=1&post=35009197

Former Vice President Dick Cheney once said that “Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy.” But in the US, increased energy efficiency has helped drive a drop in total electricity use. That, combined with the rise of renewable power, caused the use of both coal and natural gas to decline last year.

The changes, according to the Energy Information Agency, are relatively small. Total electric generation last year was down 1.5 percent compared to the year before, a drop of 105,000 GigaWatt-hours. But both coal and natural gas saw declines that were even larger. Coal use was down by 2.5 percent, a smaller decline than it has seen in many recent years. But the numbers for its future aren’t promising; no new coal plants were opened, and 6.3 Gigawatts of coal capacity were retired in 2017.

Continuing recent trends, 9.3GW of natural gas capacity were brought online, although that was partly offset by the retirement of 4.0GW of older gas plants. Despite the additional capacity, however, natural gas use was also down, dropping by nearly 8 percent.

:}

Go there and read. More next week.

:}

I will keep this short and simple. The Big Greens screwed us. Yah you know who your are, The Sierra Club, The National Resources Defense Fund, The Illinois Environmental Council,  The Nature Conservancy,  and  Environmental Law & Policy Center. Those Chicago based groups shoved fracking down our throats. Now here is a chance to push back.

http://www.illinoispeoplesaction.org/fracking.html

Fight fracking.  Do this one thing today.

IPA’s fracking transparency bill (SB3174) is going before the Senate Subcommittee at 11 AM on this Thursday, March 15.  Please take a few minutes and “slip support” for this bill today.  Click here to read the bill.  The bill amends the Illinois Oil and Gas Act to de-classify information on the length and direction of horizontal or directional extensions from a vertical bore hole.  (Right now, they can be kept confidential for up to 2 years).  It also provides that all chemicals used during the drilling and completion of these wells be contained in public records.

THEN, Click here to submit your witness slip.  Scroll down to SB3174 and then, on the right hand side of that line, click the little icon with the pencil and paper that says “Create Witness Slip.” If you previously set up a witness slip account, you may click the Log On link to auto-add your personal info to the slip, otherwise you will need to add this information (See Witness Slip Personal Info below).  In parts III and IV, choose Proponent and Record of Appearance Only.  Click the box that says you agree to the terms and then click the Create(Slip) button.   You should get a response that has a green checkmark that says “Witness Slip Created” and that a confirmation has been sent to your e-mail.  If you do not get that, try again.

Witness Slip Personal Info:

•    Enter your name, complete address and phone number
•    Firm/Business or Agency:
  •   Enter Self
  •   Do not enter the name of an entity such as an organization unless you are authorized to represent that organization
•    Representation:
  •   Enter Self
  •   If you are representing an organization, enter the name of the organization
•    Title
  •   Enter Self or NA.  Do NOT type N/A, just NA as special characters such as back-slashes are not allowed.
  •   If you are representing an organization, enter your title in that organization

FINALLY, plan to attend the hearing at 11 AM this Thursday, March 15 at the State Capitol.  We want to pack the hearing room with as many people as we can holding small signs calling for passage the bill.  If you are available on Thursday, please join us.  We anticipate that the industry will be there testifying to the fact that THEY can and should be the ones to decide what transparency looks like.  They are already asking for the bill to be “pulled” in exchange for them to disclose their version of the facts in an industry website.  We say NO; the public has a right to all of the information on the IDNR website.

Thank you for joining us in the fight to put People and Planet First,

Dawn

Dawn Dannenbring, Environmental Organizer

Illinois People’s Action

To remove your name from this email list click here. To unsubscribe from all emails from us click here.

:}

Be there or be square. Go to the website and read. More next week.

:}