When the canary dies, you don't walk deeper into the mine

Startling news came out this week on the island nation of Kiribati, in the south Pacific, purchasing land in Fiji to start growing food.  On the tiny island nation, rising sea levels have made former agricultural land unfit for growing the food that the citizens of the country need.  As sea levels continue to rise, the country will run out, and would otherwise have to turn to buying food from other nations - which will prove tough given their economic standing.  This investment in land gives them an opportunity to stave off starvation, at least for now.

The president of Kiribati has a longer-term strategy for the land purchase: A future home for the people of Kiribati when the islands fall completely under the sea.  As an article in the Guardian points out, the president does not know if the land purchased will provide enough space for the population of just over 100,000 people, but they will do what they must to survive.  For island nations like Kiribati and the Maldives (per capita income $6,000 and $9,000 respectively; US at over $50,000) the prospect of paying to move the equivalent of an entire American suburb poses challenges that these nations do not have the resources yet to overcome.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change notes in detail the challenges these countries will face due to sea level rise, and identifies rising CO2 in the atmosphere as part of the cause.  Although large-scale phenomena like this have many causes, it appears likely that carbon emissions in developing countries have contributed to the rate at which this change occurs, if not the entire event.  If this is the case, then who should pay for the relocation?  Should these nations bear all of the burden?  Should developed nations bear the responsibility?  

The questions become even more interesting when we consider the possibility that we may soon feel this sort of impact closer to home.  Miami has already experienced severe weather events that have submerged large portions of the city. As sea levels continue to rise, by the end of the century, Miami may sit completely under water.  The Outer Banks of North Carolina may experience a similar fate, to the point where propertyowners have lobbied the legislature to prevent their property values from declining.  Who wants to buy a property that will likely sit underwater in a couple of decades?

We need to change our practices related to energy use and carbon emissions immediately.  That will do little to solve the problems of Kiribati, as sea levels would continue to rise even if we stopped all carbon emissions today.  As President Tong has noted, however, these island can serve as a "canary in the coal mine", warning us of what our future can hold if we do not act.  As we act, we must also take responsibility for our actions and provide the resources that the people of Kiribati, Maldives, and all the other nations who must relocate or significantly adapt their infrastructure to survive.  If we deny this help, and bury our heads in the sand, then eventually, we seal our own fate as Miami, New Orleans, and even New York or D.C. become the next areas that must relocate to survive. 

Moving 100,000 people presents challenges that we can overcome as a world....moving 10 million or more would present economic challenges from which we may never recover if we have to bear the cost alone.  Better to heed the warning of the canary than to end up standing knee deep on Broadway thinking we were sure that climate change was not real.

Friday Five(s): March 7, 2014...Cabin Fever Edition

Through a combination of cabin-fever-inspired restlessness, and a measurable uptick in environmental news this week, I cannot bring my brain to choose only five, so I am going with a double-dose...including shorter intros by me.


This should scare the livin' bejeezus out of everyone. (And note, 'bejeezus' is recognized as a word by my autocorrect.)
Chevron launches "news" site
"Ritchie said the site also offers a new model for the future of journalism — one that is funded directly by corporations. 'We believe the website has the potential to blaze the trail for a new model of corporate-sponsored, community-generated news,' the website reads."

The market has changed, and large energy companies - and especially investor-owned utilities - face extinction if they do not find new models.
Schadenfreude about RWE unwarranted
"What should RWE do? ... Maybe we need to be open to the idea that large power corporations were needed for central-station power plants, but that their role in a renewable future will be much smaller. At the moment, even the proposal to have them leverage their size to set up an enabling infrastructure – such as charging stations for electric cars – seems unlikely. The firms don't even have the liquidity anymore."

I forgive the inappropriate use of 'global warming' in the headline because the article discusses an industry I love. I am inspired to act.
Slope & change: The ski industry struggles to get its act together on global warming
"So what, you might ask, does the ski industry lobby for in Washington, if not for climate action? In the past, it has pushed for looser immigration rules (who’ll wash all those restaurant dishes and change the hotel sheets?) and to make sure that we can continue to import cheap shred threads from China (because, you know, we’ve gotta look good out there)."

In principle, I do not have an issue with natural gas as a bridging fuel if it is employed in retrofit of existing plants, and if carbon capture is required...but until the methane leakage issue is 100% solved, natural gas is as bad as coal...period.
How to make natural gas more climate-friendly
"It doesn’t have to be this way. The technology already exists to dramatically reduce methane leakage for a reasonable price. Environmental groups have put out reports outlining how. They could serve as a template for the oil and gas industry to follow voluntarily, or for the EPA to require under the Clean Air Act."

Good consequence, incentives for industry to capture, sequester, and even mine CO2...unintended consequence without regulation, continue depleting fossil fuels as source of "high quality CO2".
Don't waste CO2, turn it into bottles and glue
"If humanity is to avoid dangerous climate change, we need to capture hundreds of billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide. But what to do with it all? There is no shortage of places to bury it, but we can at least put some of it to good use. A few start-up companies view CO2 as a resource rather than a waste product. They are using CO2 as the raw material for making products including superglue and fertilizer."

It's said that collapsing societies burned their last tree to boil their last pot of water to eat their last meal...if we are to avoid that fate, we need to examine our priorities. Maybe cultural icons will help awaken minds.
Syndey Opera House and Statue of Liberty 'will be lost to sea level rise'
"Marzeion said that in Europe, particularly vulnerable sites included the leaning tower of Pisa, which is not directly on the coast but would be affected by sea level rises as a result of even a low temperature increase because it is very low-lying. He also cited Venice, which 'in a sense you can say is being impacted right now' and Hanseatic League cities including Hamburg, Lübeck and Bremen in Germany."

If the loss of Lady Liberty doesn't move us, how about the loss of large sections of a state?
Louisiana's coastline is disappearing too quickly for mappers to keep up
"Each year, this part of the coastline loses around 16 square miles of land, according to David Muth, the state director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Mississippi River Delta Restoration Project. And until quite recently, even the most advanced maps of the area did little to reflect the changing environmental reality. But in the last few years, renewed mapping efforts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have begun to catalog these changes. These new maps show water where there was once marshy land, and bays where there were once small inlets."

Speaking of water, unless you live in CA or SD, you may not know how tentative our life is under "feast and famine" deluge-drought cycles.
Americans have no idea how much water we use - or how to conserve it
"Perhaps most troubling, Americans overwhelmingly believe that changing their habits, as opposed to improving the efficiency of their plumbing, is the most effective way to cut down on water consumption. Seventy-six percent of those surveyed said curtailment methods, such as flushing less frequently, are the best way to reduce water use. Only 10 percent chose more preventative measures, such as installing new toilets that use just 1.6 gallons per flush in lieu of old toilets that use five to six gallons."

Of course there is hope if we listen to free market economists and make rational decisions that are in our best economic self-interest. (Hint: That means divesting from fossil fuels and investing in clean energy & energy efficiency solutions.)
Energy efficiency creates 387% return on investment for US Southeast
"A wide range of economic benefits contributed to the overall $78.3 million in regional economic output created by SEEA’s energy efficiency upgrades. $55.7 million in economic output and 240 jobs were created through direct effects from program spending, while $22.2 million in economic output and 106 jobs were created via direct effects like efficiency goods and services. Induced effects from households or workers spending newfound money on consumer goods or services created an additional $366,471 in economic impacts."

And maybe there is something with tapping into the "keeping up with the Jones'" zeitgeist. Whatever it takes to give my grandkids a high quality of life.
With energy reports, it's game on
"But research has shown that neighbor comparisons are the most effective way to get people to conserve energy, he said. More people respond to hearing what their neighbors are doing than to the prospect of helping the environment or saving money. The comparisons work, he said; the first group of ComEd customers to get the reports, in 2009, reduced their electricity use by 2 percent."

Happy Friday!