Deutsche Bank’s Report = Clearest Explanation for Why Climate Change Real

This week’s top news story has been hiding in plain sight on the Internet for two years.

Even so, a September, 2010 report from Deutsche Bank Group entitled “Climate Change: Addressing the Major Skeptic Arguments,” is big news. In Earth Preservers’ opinion, the report has the potential to be a game-changer because it has the clearest, simplest explanation for why man-made climate change is real.

“(This report’s) clear conclusion is that the primary claims of the skeptics do not undermine the assertion that human-made climate change is already happening and is a serious long term threat.

“To us,” report continues, “the most persuasive argument in support of climate change is that the basic laws of physics dictate that increasing carbon dioxide levels in the earth’s atmosphere produce warming. (This will be the cause irrespective of other climate events.) The only way that warming can be mitigated by natural resources is if there are countervailing ‘feedback mechanisms’, such as cooling from increased cloud cover caused by the changing climate.

“A key finding of the current research is that there has far been no evidence of such countervailing factors. In fact, most observed and anticipated feedback mechanisms are actually working to amplify the warming process, not cool it.”

The report goes on to answer each argument skeptics make in the often rancorous public debate in the US over whether climate change is real, among them:

* Global average temperatures have not risen since 1998

* Climate models are defective and therefore cannot provide reliable projections of future climate trends.

What makes the Deutsche Bank report compelling reading isn’t so much that the information is new. Rather, it’s the way Mark Fulton, Global Head of Climate Change Investment Research, and his team at DB Climate Change Advisors, have presented the information, the source of which is the Columbia Climate Center at the Earth Institute, Columbia University. Each of the skeptics’ arguments is answered simply and directly.

Download the report here.

How a Sponge may Save the World (We’re Not Kidding)

Let’s start with the basics: the Earth’s atmosphere is heating up and most scientists think this is due to an increase in greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2).

 Burning fossil fuels, especially coal, releases CO2. Countries and companies are working to “capture” the CO2 they generate before it gets into the atmosphere and burying it underground. But if and when so-called “carbon capture and sequestration” technology is perfected, it will cost a lot to put into practice. All of us will have to pay more for our electricity and for all kinds of stuff made in factories.

 Now for the good news – make that the really good news: Scientists in Great Britain have developed a material that absorbs and retains CO2 like a sponge absorbs and retains water.

This “sponge” is made out of a kind of metal which, like an actual sponge, is full of holes on the inside. The material itself isn’t new. What is new is that the scientists appear to have figured out how to direct the material to absorb only CO2.

According to the website Forum for the Future, carbon-capture scientist Hongcai Zhou at Texas A&M University believes that, “The potential scope of (this) research is enormous.” A chemist at the University of California at Berkeley reportedly believes the sponge could become a “low-cost, low-energy” way to capture CO2.

While it would be nice if this sponge were ready to go right now, the success the scientists have had in their laboratory still must be demonstrated in the real world. Often the most promising scientific discoveries fail to achieve lift-off when to put the test.

Here’s hoping the world will soon have a new superhero – the “Carbon-Capturing Sponge.”

To learn more, read this Forum for the Future article.

Except for Nemo, Orange Clownfish May not be around Much Longer

The Center for Biological Diversity has petitioned the US’s National Marine Fisheries Service to add movie star Nemo’s real-life cousin, the orange clownfish, to the federal government’s endangered species list.

“We risk losing the striking fish that inspired ‘Finding Nemo’ forever if we don’t put the brakes on global warming and ocean acidification,” Shaye Wolfe, the Center’s climate science director, said, adding, “Carbon pollution harms these fish and destroys their coral reef homes.”

The orange clownfish is one of seven so-called damselfish that the Center says need protection. According to the Center, without coral reefs, these fish wouldn’t have the ability to protect themselves from predators by living (and hiding) amid the tentacles of sea anemones that grow on the reefs.

Orange clownfish photo © G.R. AllenThe Center says scientific studies are showing that damselfish also are suffering directly from rising ocean water temperatures, which can interfere with reproduction and their ability to swim.

To learn more, read the Center’s press release.

Batteries are Made With Metals, Not Plants. Right?

Today they are. But if research underway in Europe proves fruitful, there may be a new generation of batteries made with plant fiber instead of metals. “Plant batteries” would be cheaper to make and thus would make green power sources like solar and wind, both of which need a way to store energy, more affordable.

The researchers are working with lignin, which is the substance that makes plants crunchy. Specifically, they’re working on converting lignin into the part of the battery where the power flows out (the cathode). They’re trying to combine lignin’s insulating properties with the conductive properties of a polymer called polypyrole to create a composite material that can hold a charge.

Is there anything Mother Nature can’t do?

To learn more, read this Forum for the Future article.

Scientists Still Fear Effects of Dispersants from Gulf Oil Spill

A patch of oil dispersant floats atop the water in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Venice, La., approximately 34 miles from the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, in this May 5, 2010 photo. (Charlie Varley/Sipa Press)

While it’s been over two years, you probably still have vivid memories of that giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Remember the images of oil gushing from that broken pipeline? Remember the birds covered in black gooey gunk?

As much as commercial interests have been advertising that it’s okay again to eat seafood caught in the Gulf of Mexico, some marine scientists aren’t so sure. They’re worried about the long-term impact of the chemical dispersants that were used to dissolve the oil.

“This notion of ‘Come back to the Gulf, eat seafood, it’s fine’ is a problem,” a Louisiana State University professor recently told an ABC News reporter.

An environmental toxicologist at Michigan State University explained to the same reporter that it can take years for chemical contamination that starts in phytoplankton to rise up the food chain to the seafood eaten by humans.

It’s been two years since the Gulf spill. If these scientists are correct, the effects of the Gulf oil spill are far from over, no matter what the TV commercials say.

To learn more, read the ABC News story.