News

1. -001 National Climate Assessment Results by Region (Christian Science Monitor)
   "The latest US National Climate Assessment, released May 6, 2014, represents the most comprehensive attempt yet to assess the current effects of human-triggered climate change on America, to set out the anticipated effects if global greenhouse-gas concentrations (mainly carbon dioxide) continue to rise unchecked, and to explore efforts to curb emissions and adapt to climate change." 05-14
   
   
2. -01 China Plans Ban on Coal by 2020 (Huffington Post)
   "China's smog-plagued capital has announced plans to ban the use of coal by the end of 2020 as the country fights deadly levels of pollution, especially in major cities."
   
   Editor's Note: The United States is a major exporter of coal to China. If China and the United States both convert their coal-fired power stations to biomass pyrolysis stations, we may be able to REVERSE the amount of CO2 in the air. Biomass (decaying vegetation) is, by far, the largest contributor of CO2 to the air, far greater a source than human activities. Pyrolysis allows the carbon in decaying vegetation to be converted to a solid carbon instead of CO2. Also try Coal Power to Biomass. 09-14
   
   
3. -01-18-14 Smog So Bad in Beijing, Sun Rise Is Invisible (World.Time.com)
   "Air pollution in the Chinese capital reached new, choking heights on Thursday. Those who still felt the urge to catch a glimpse of sunlight were able to gather around the city’s gigantic LED screens, where this glorious sunrise was broadcast as part of a patriotic video." 01-14
   
   
4. -01-31-14 Carbon-Negative Biochar and the Tipping Point (e360.Yale.edu)
   "As the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere climbs to 400 parts per million and beyond, and the impacts of climate change become more unmistakable and destructive — rapid melting of Arctic Ocean ice, a rising incidence of extreme weather events — the case for extracting carbon from the atmosphere becomes increasingly compelling. Reducing the world’s emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases — the focus of virtually all public discussion and government policy on climate at the moment — remains vital, but as a practical matter that effort only affects how quickly the 400 ppm figure will increase. Turning biomass into biochar and burying it underground effectively withdraws CO2 from the atmosphere; if done at sufficient scale and in combination with aggressive reductions in annual greenhouse gas emissions, biochar thus could help reduce atmospheric concentrations of CO2."
   
   "Johannes Lehmann, a professor of agricultural science at Cornell University and one of the world’s top experts on biochar, has calculated that if biochar were added to 10 percent of global cropland, the effect would be to sequester 29 billion tons of CO2 equivalent — roughly equal to humanity’s annual greenhouse gas emissions." 01-14
   
   
5. -06-24-14 Why Illinois Banned Microbeads (Time.com)
   "Exfoliating microbeads, which are tiny bits of plastic, in your face wash are causing some serious damage to your skin and environment, and states are starting to crack down."
   
   "This month, Illinois banned the sale of cosmetics containing plastic microbeads, becoming the first state to legally take a strong stance against what researchers are calling a serious environmental problem. The plastic waste caused by the microbeads, which are not filtered out during sewage treatment, are damaging water ecosystems. A report recent published by the U.N. Environment Programme says plastic waste causes $13 billion in damage every year to marine life."
   
   "Since the beads are so small, fish and other marine life easily swallow them, causing DNA damage and even death." 06-14
   
   
6. -09-16-14 The People's Climate March (Huffington Post)
   "There won't be a big rally at the finish of the march. Partly this is because of the New York police, who weren't willing to let us use Union Square or Herald Square or Washington Square, or any other such gathering place. Though I wasn't on the organizing committee, I know that those New York locals who led the effort -- folks like Eddie Bautista of the NYC-Environmental Justice Alliance, Elizabeth Yeampierre of UPROSE, Lenore Friedlaender of 32BJ SEIU, Tomás Garduño of ALIGN, and veteran protest organizer Leslie Cagan -- negotiated long and hard. Everyone could have decided, I suppose, to simply ignore the police and risk the consequences, but that would have meant an end to hopes for a family-friendly mass march." 09-14
   
   

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