Saturday, November 30, 2019

Secretive energy startup backed by Bill Gates achieves solar breakthrough - CNN

New York (CNN Business)A secretive startup backed by Bill Gates has achieved a solar breakthrough aimed at saving the planet.



Heliogen, a clean energy company that emerged from stealth mode on Tuesday, said it has discovered a way to use artificial intelligence and a field of mirrors to reflect so much sunlight that it generates extreme heat above 1,000 degrees Celsius.



Heliogen, backed by Bill Gates, has achieved a breakthrough that could allow cement makers to transition away from fossil fuels. The company uses artifical intelligence and an array of mirrors to create vast amounts of heat, essentially harnessing the power of the sun.
Heliogen, backed by Bill Gates, has achieved a breakthrough that could allow cement makers to transition away from fossil fuels. The company uses artifical intelligence and an array of mirrors to create vast amounts of heat, essentially harnessing the power of the sun.

Continue reading at: Secretive energy startup backed by Bill Gates achieves solar breakthrough - CNN

The Project Drawdown of Agriculture - Growing Better: Ten Critical Transitions to Transform Food and Land Use

Attached is the executive summary of the executive summary of this important initiative to reshape agriculture. In my view, it compares to a “Project Drawdown” to radically reshape agriculture to be truly sustainable and unleash the full potential of agriculture for climate mitigation and adaption.


My 5-page compilation of the report can be downloaded at: http://wassmer.org/Adrian/Growing Better.pdf
The full report can be found at: https://www.unsdsn.org/growing-better-ten-critical-transitions-to-transform-food-and-land-use

Friday, November 29, 2019

Products – The Meadow Project

Best resources to restore pollinator gardens and native prairies. Black Friday Discount

Products – The Meadow Project

SCI Blog :: Solar Cookers International

SCI Blog :: Solar Cookers International

Newsletter 32: "Yet My Hunger for Change Propels Me" - Extinction Rebellion

Newsletter 32: "Yet My Hunger for Change Propels Me" - Extinction Rebellion

Fifty percent more atrazine coming to your water | Pesticide Action Network

Fifty percent more atrazine coming to your water | Pesticide Action Network

Pollution from planned fossil fuel production would overshoot Paris climate goals » Yale Climate Connections

Pollution from planned fossil fuel production would overshoot Paris climate goals » Yale Climate Connections

13 new books and reports about the future of food » Yale Climate Connections

13 new books and reports about the future of food » Yale Climate Connections

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Protect the Great Lakes from Factory Farm Pollution | Help Wildlife, Protect the Environment, Support Nature Conservation, Save the Planet

Industrial agriculture operations like CAFOs are like fossil fuels, unnecessary, immoral and unethical. In the age of the climate catastrophe with a rapidly closing time window for global reorientation, we can simply not afford business as usual that pollutes our water and air, produces substantial amounts of methane and is severely inhumane to farm animals. As it is way overdue that we switch our energy supply to 100% clean renewable sources, we need a new agriculture based on agroecology, which protects the environment, produces healthy, pesticide-free food and rewards farmers with better earnings. Protecting soil carbon is also one of the most effective ways to reduce greenhouse gases. It is inevitable that the world will go this way - the only question is - are we going to do it before we doom the livelihood of our children and grandchildren - and before we loose most of the precious species that we share this planet with.

Protect the Great Lakes from Factory Farm Pollution | Help Wildlife, Protect the Environment, Support Nature Conservation, Save the Planet

Italy passes law to send unsold food to charities instead of dumpsters

Italy passes law to send unsold food to charities instead of dumpsters

Massive Attack help create carbon-zero tours

Up to now only a handful of artists are doing this but it will spread and shows how everybody needs to transition into a low carbon economy.

Scientists from the University of Manchester are creating a blueprint to help bands and pop stars to perform live and tour the world without contributing to climate change.

It's after the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research were approached by the group Massive Attack who say they want to help find solutions to the climate crisis.

The findings will be shared with musicians from across the industry and, it's hoped, will inspire millions of fans to live more sustainably.

Continue reading at: Massive Attack help create carbon-zero tours

Coldplay pause touring over environmental concerns

Great gesture and educational for the fans:
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Continue reading at: Coldplay pause touring over environmental concerns

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Climate Action Tracker: Independent scientific analysis that tracks government climate action and measures it against the globally agreed Paris Agreement aim of "holding warming well below 2°C, and pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C.

It is easy to know how bad it is and how little most countries are doing...


Continue reading at: Home | Climate Action Tracker

From Uniformity to Diversity - IPES Food Report - Agroecology Now!

There are paths out of the worst of the crisis...



Continue reading and download the report at:

Thai deer found dead with 7kg of 'underwear, plastic bags' in stomach - BBC News

Unlike most “developed “ countries, Thailand is to ban single use plastic next year...


Image copyrightTHE PROTECTED AREA REGIONAL OFFICE 13 (PHRAE)The deer
Image captionThe 10-year-old deer was found dead with various items inside its stomach
Image copyrightTHE PROTECTED AREA REGIONAL OFFICE 13 (PHRAE)The deer
Image capti
Continue reading at: Thai deer found dead with 7kg of 'underwear, plastic bags' in stomach - BBC News

Could Victoria Falls dry up?

Climate criminals and deniers Brave New World: Droughts in California, Zimbabwe and many other places- and flash flooding and mudslides in others...

Victoria Falls during dry season. Picture: Victoriafallstourism.or

Continue reading at: Could Victoria Falls dry up?

Friday, November 22, 2019

The discrepancy between countries’ planned fossil fuel production and global production levels consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C or 2°C

The discrepancy between countries’ planned fossil fuel production and global production levels consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C or 2°C

Image result for The Production Gap



Continue reading at: Home - Production Gap

Sunday, November 17, 2019

World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency | BioScience | Oxford Academic

...we declare, with more than 11,000 scientist signatories from around the world, clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency.


Change in global human activities from 1979 to the present. These indicators are linked at least in part to climate change. In panel (f), annual tree cover loss may be for any reason (e.g., wildfire, harvest within tree plantations, or conversion of forests to agricultural land). Forest gain is not involved in the calculation of tree cover loss. In panel (h), hydroelectricity and nuclear energy are shown in figure S2. The rates shown in panels are the percentage changes per decade across the entire range of the time series. The annual data are shown using gray points. The black lines are local regression smooth trend lines. Abbreviation: Gt oe per year, gigatonnes of oil equivalent per year. Sources and additional details about each variable are provided in supplemental file S2, including table S2.
Figure: Change in global human activities from 1979 to the present. These indicators are linked at least in part to climate change. In panel (f), annual tree cover loss may be for any reason (e.g., wildfire, harvest within tree plantations, or conversion of forests to agricultural land). Forest gain is not involved in the calculation of tree cover loss. In panel (h), hydroelectricity and nuclear energy are shown in figure S2. The rates shown in panels are the percentage changes per decade across the entire range of the time series. The annual data are shown using gray points. The black lines are local regression smooth trend lines. Abbreviation: Gt oe per year, gigatonnes of oil equivalent per year. Sources and additional details about each variable are provided in supplemental file S2, including table S2.



Continue reading at: World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency | BioScience | Oxford Academic

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

World Scientists' Warning to Humanity

World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency (Condensed Version)

William J. Ripple, Christopher Wolf, Thomas M. Newsome, Phoebe Barnard, William R. Moomaw, xxxxx scientist signatories from xxx countries







We scientists have a moral obligation to clearly warn humanity of any catastrophic threat. In this paper, we present a suite of graphical vital signs of climate change over the last 40 years. Results show greenhouse gas emissions are still rising, with increasingly damaging effects. With few exceptions, we are largely failing to address this predicament. The climate crisis has arrived and is accelerating faster than many scientists expected. It is more severe than anticipated, threatening natural ecosystems and the fate of humanity. We suggest six critical and interrelated steps that governments and the rest of humanity can take to lessen the worst effects of climate change, covering 1) Energy, 2) Short-lived pollutants, 3) Nature, 4) Food, 5) Economy, and 6) Population. Mitigating and adapting to climate change entails transformations in the ways we govern, manage, feed, and fulfill material and energy requirements. We are encouraged by a recent global surge of concern. Governmental bodies are making climate emergency declarations. The Pope issued an encyclical on climate change. Schoolchildren are striking. Ecocide lawsuits are proceeding in the courts. Grassroots citizen movements are demanding change. As scientists, we urge widespread use of our vital signs and anticipate that graphical indicators will better allow policymakers and the public to understand the magnitude of this crisis, track progress, and realign priorities to alleviate climate change. The good news is that such transformative change, with social and ecological justice, promises greater human wellbeing in the long-run than business as usual. We believe that prospects will be greatest if policy makers and the rest of humanity promptly respond to our warning and declaration of a climate emergency, and act to sustain life on planet Earth, our only home.

Continue reading at: World Scientists' Warning to Humanity