Climate Letter #1129

Remembering Stephen Hawking.  Among pure theoretical physicists, who specialize in more far-out things, he was perhaps the most outspoken about the dangers of climate change.  (Some climate scientists, including James Hansen, have also said we could turn Earth into another Venus through a runaway greenhouse effect, but only if methane hydrates begin melting down on a large scale.  That view has softened considerably, for lack of historical analogs, but cannot be completely ruled out.)

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New understanding about how the increase in ocean acidification affects the health of vital phytoplankton.  There is potential for a strong decline in carbonate ions, causing the organisms to lose there ability to secure sufficient nutrient iron for growth.  Phytoplankton serve as the base of the marine food chain and also have a prominent role in the absorption of CO2 through photosynthesis.  In the Southern Ocean, it was observed, “Certainly by 2100…the uptake of iron by this [primary] mechanism could be reduced by 45 per cent.”
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A major oil company is changing its name and plans to transform itself into a renewable energy company.  That may be good for PR in Norway, but the details are not exactly aggressive in character.  The company said it will continue growing and developing its offshore oil business, including “new growth options internationally.”  As for renewables, it “expects to invest 15-20% of total capex in new energy solutions by 2030.”  The Norwegian government is the largest shareholder.
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The newly designated US Secretary of State is a confirmed opponent of climate action.  He is less likely than Rex Tillerson (the former chairman of Exxon, no less) to reengage constructively in the Paris Agreement.  There is still an option, so far not taken, of actively seeking to weaken the various goals and obligations that were agreed upon by others in the pact, which if accomplished might facilitate US reentry.
https://www.axios.com/modeling-the-climate-effects-of-rexit-1521023786-d201afac-8e61-4f0a-9b77-3b1c296dafbb.html

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A process that speeds up the melting of Greenland’s ice sheet is drawing concern.  The ice has interior plumbing that collects and manipulates drain water from lakes that have formed on the surface.  The newspaper Daily Mail has quite a good story about the things that happen, with illustrations, based on a new study.  “The latest research found that cascading events – including one case where 124 lakes drained in just five days – can temporarily accelerate ice flow by as much as 400 percent.”

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Fuel cell technology has taken another big step forward.  A laboratory at Georgia Tech has come up with some revolutionary changes, designed to work with a variety of fuels.  The technology “can easily convert chemical fuel into electricity with high efficiency….It can let you use readily available fuels like methane or natural gas or just use hydrogen fuel much more efficiently,” Liu said.  This is a fascinating story, and I believe it will have legs.  “The fuel cell work from Liu’s lab has already attracted significant energy industry and automotive industry interest.”
https://phys.org/news/2018-03-turbocharging-fuel-cells-multifunctional-catalyst.html?
Carl

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