Tag Archives: climate change

Peat bogs capture much more carbon per acre than forests. Currently, peatlands store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests . One problem is that they are being drained to free up the land. (also but I think less importantly peat and non-rotten sphagnum moss are harvested for gardening). Various sources (most or all of which seem to be advocacy organisations – yes there are pro-bog advocacy organizations) claim that this causes 10% of global...

Wood is a form of natural carbon sequestration. Yesterday, I posted about how wood is making a comeback as a building material. I’ve since found this article announcing that the world’s largest building built (partly) of wood has been greenlit.“Western Australia is set to become home to the world’s tallest timber building, a “revolutionary” 50-storey hybrid design reaching a height of 191.2 metres.Timber will make up 42% of South Perth’s C6 building,...

I attended 7th grade in a building that was built of brick and wood. In 8th grade, I was moved to the new junior high, a formed concrete building in the modern fortress architecture style.Now, it seems, what was old is new again. Wood is making a comeback, with a focus on a green building strategy called “embodied” carbon reduction. The goal is to lower the amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the construction processes.“Buildings account for more...

Two excellent short and very readable mini articles (to be redundant). Both pieces are pointing to a direction the Fed should take in the next year or sooner with regard to Climate Change. It is doubtful they will do so until catastrophe hits. What is a few $billion more in spending, right??? This aspect of our economy and how it can impact the economy should be taken into consideration in decision making and costs. This is partially why, these...

If the world is to decarbonize energy without a major economic collapse, nuclear power must be part of the picture. Solar and wind energy generation are growing world-wide, but both will always have to deal with the intermittency problem. Batteries and hydroelectric storage can address some of this, but alternative energy sources must be available for back-up on cloudy days and during still air. The only realistic alternative is nuclear.Despite the...

I had studied architecture in the Chicago high school I attended and found the idea of drafting homes and buildings with the other features to be interesting. Why(?) is another story. What interfered with my going further into the interest was “not ready for college,” a war-time US, and probably the lack of maturity then. When I left the Corps and returned to Chicago with a wife, I discovered a lack of a college degree impeded my ability to...

The false dichotomy of climate change remediationYears ago, I had a Facebook friend from my hometown who was a big enthusiast of molten salt nuclear reactor technology. He wasn’t a scientist or engineer, but his dad had worked on MSRs in the ‘60s, and he fetishized his dad’s memory. As some point, I mentioned that we had installed rooftop solar on our house, and he began attacking me. Rather than see MSRs and solar as two parallel paths towards...

 – by New Deal democrat For the last several months, jobless claims have been buffeted first by unresolved post-pandemic seasonality, and then also by the effect of Hurricane Debby on claims in Texas. The first is now abating, and the second has ended, as this week claims in Texas declined to their typical level last year at this time. To the numbers: initial claims rose 4,000 to 232,000, while the four-week moving average declined -750 to...

Brief discussion by an intelligent basketball legend on hot weather caused by pollution and the resulting deaths from it. “Heat aggravated by carbon pollution killed 50,000 in Europe last year – study,” The Guardian, as discussed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Summary: Hot weather inflamed by carbon pollution killed nearly 50,000 people in Europe last year, with the continent warming at a much faster rate than other parts of the world, research has...

Believe it or not, there are still some folks who think climate change is a hoax. How many are financially invested in that belief, I don’t know. I do know that folks who are currently in the business of making money in the insurance industry *do* believe that climate change is real. They’re no longer willing to insure residential and commercial buildings in risky areas. This threatens to trigger an insurance crisis with major economic consequences in...