January 25, 2009 - It's a classic case of good news bad news. The good news is that the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica has been closing and may close to pre-1980 levels by 2060. This is one of the great environmental victories scored by the people of earth in the past generation. The bad news is that this success may contribute to global warming. High speed winds created by the hole in the ozone layer help form clouds that reflect the sun and protect the ice against a warming climate. The winds sweep salt spray from the sea into the atmosphere, the salt retains moisture and clouds are formed. As the hole closes the winds may diminish and, possibly, the cloud cover too. Less cloud cover means more sunshine and more melting ice. Maybe. There's always a maybe when it comes to this subject. In this case global warming itself may cause stronger winds that will continue to push salt spray into the atmosphere and keep the cloud cover intact.

The ozone hole was largely caused by the human use of chlorofluorocarbons, chemical compounds found in refrigerants and aerosol cans that dissipate ozone. Under an international protocol adopted in 1987, many countries phased out the compounds, helping the ozone to start reconstituting itself over the Antarctic.

 Here's the full story from Sindya N. Bhanoo at NYTimes.

 

 

 

 

 

January 17, 2010 - White Crest Beach is a quiet place. If a plan being considered by the Town of Wellfleet goes forward it may become noisier. The plan, supported by Wellfleet voters, is to erect a 400 foot tall wind turbine off Ocean View Drive on town-owned property within the National Seashore. The turbine would generate 5,300 megawatts and would provide cost savings and revenue to the Town. The proposal hasn't been formally submitted but word of it has already galvanized opposition. A group has been formed to oppose the project called Save Our Seashore and last week stakes used to mark the proposed site were stolen. Here's the full story from Kaimi Rose Lum at Wicked Local.

January 5, 2010 - On Monday the National Park Service ruled that Nantucket Sound is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The ruling was sought by the Mashpee and Aquinnah Wampanoag tribes who asserted that the wind farm planned by Cape Wind would interfere with their worship of sunrise. The ruling means likely delays, negotiations and changes to the project. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar set a deadline of March 1 for the tribes and the project’s developer, Energy Management Inc., to reach a compromise. If a compromise is not achieved, then Salazar himself could decide the project's fate. Here's the story from Abby Goodnough NYTimes.

December 6, 2009 - Tomorrow some 15,000 delegates from around the world will be gathered in Copenhagen for what is formally called the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The goal of the week long conference is to lay out a plan for a global response to global warming. The core premises of the conference are that climate change is happening and that human activity is either causing or contributing to it. There is a general worldwide consensus on these two fundamental points.

However, a general consensus leaves a lot of room for dissent and the dissenters have had support from a recent controversy at East Anglia University in the UK, a leading university in the field of environmental studies. There, researchers who support strong action to reverse the emissions of greenhouse gasses, emailed each other about how to best present evidence that supports global warming and how to suppress evidence that is contrary. Here's one of the many stories on this subject from Guardian UK. And then there's news that global warming has been stalled for the past ten years as reported in Der Spiegel.

Beyond these disputes about the data, there are deep divisions among the governments and peoples of the world. Countries emerging from poverty, such as China and India blame rich established countries like the US for creating the problem and say that rich countries should do more to mitigate emissions even as they (the emerging countries) contribute an ever larger share. More on this issue.

But even if the issues about the fundamental data and who-to-blame are resolved and the world agrees to take unified action there is the question of what to do? Should the rich countries pay Brazil, Indonesia, Congo and Burma to stop burning and logging timber in their rain forests? Should the world make a concerted effort to switch from coal and oil based sources to non emitting sources such as sun, wind and nuclear?

Here's an illuminating view from aliens written by NY Times science commentator Olivia Judson: Betting on Copenhagen