Source: http://phys.org/news/2013-04-smog-eating-pavement-greenest-street-america.html

Chicago city officials have dubbed Cermak Road in Chicago, Illinois, the greenest street in American on April 1, 2013. This city roadway includes smog-eating pavement, streetlights that run on solar and wind power, sidewalks made with recycled concrete, and shrub-filled “bioswales” to keep storm water out of overtaxed sewers. The Windy City has been experimenting with greener approaches to urban planning for years as part of a broader plan to mitigate the impacts of climate change: more intense storms and more extreme temperatures. The $14 million project to reshape two miles (3.2 kilometers) of the industrial Pilsen neighborhood incorporates pretty much everything city planners could come up with to cut energy use, fight pollution, reduce waste, manage water use and help build a sense of community. The project amazingly costs 21 percent less than a traditional road resurfacing project and should be cheaper to maintain. Chicago is one of a growing number of cities that are no longer waiting for the federal government to deal with climate change and are instead finding local, “no-regret” solutions, said Karen Hobbs, a water analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council. Chicago is planting more trees, improving public transportation and improving bicycle lanes, and using more efficient street light bulbs. Chicago says it is the first in the nation, however, to lay down smog-eating cement. Because it’s significantly more costly than traditional pavement, Chicago is using this material in thin, permeable pavers for the bicycle and parking lanes along Blue Island Avenue and Cermak Road. Project manager Janet Attarian insists that while the smog-eating pavers are pretty impressive, it’s the combined approach that is going to make a real difference. Officials hope that this project will inspire others to take advantage of the many opportunities there are to improve our roads. Choosing drought-resistant plants for the bioswales means they ought to be able to withstand the hotter summers forecast as a result of climate change without wasting fresh water. The city is currently drafting new guidelines that will incorporate many of these green approaches as requirements for any new road work going forward.

Source: Smog-eating pavement on ‘greenest street in America’ by Mira Oberman, April 7, 2013

source: treehugger.com

While the latest Energy Information Administration numbers show that there is a decrease in coal demand in the U.S., coal is being exported to other parts of the world where demand is going up. This recent trend is a good example of why the issue of global warming must be looked at for the planet as a whole, because what matters is the absolute amount of greenhouse gas from fossil fuel sources that we pump into it. Europe and Asia have shown the most dramatic upward trends in coal usage while the U.S. is the only region going down. The reason for the drop in demand for coal in the United States is due primarily to the availability of cheap gas. So while coal demand growth is slowing, coal’s share of the global energy mix is still rising, and by 2017 coal will come close to surpassing oil as the world’s top energy source. Coal needs to be at the top of the priority list for environmentalists and policymakers right now because it is the most carbon-intensive source of energy and has many other detrimental effects to our health and environment.

Source: Coal use declining in the U.S. (yay!) but going up everywhere else (boo!) by: Michael Graham Richard

Source: www.wri.org

A new analysis by the World Resources Institute finds that the United States is not currently on track to meet its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 17% in 2020, however the tools do exist to get there. The Administration and individual states can take steps to reduce emissions without Congressional action, as stated in the report, “Can the U.S. Get There from Here?” President Obama has stated that tracking climate change is high on his agenda, and the U.S. will be taken more seriously about climate change if the 17 percent goal is achieved. Actions that can be taken by the Administration include implementing strong standards for carbon dioxide pollution from existing power plants and limiting methane emissions from natural gas production. States can also take meaningful action on their own, such as implementing renewable energy standards or placing a cap on emissions in the power sector. Although the U.S. can quite easily reach the 17 percent reduction goal by taking such action, much deeper reductions are necessary to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. These long-term reductions will most likely need Congress intervention, however in the mean time the Administration and states can have an influence on reducing U.S. emissions.

Source: World Resources Institute – News Release

Photo Credit: Jose Miguel Gomez, Reuters

The reasoning for this plant being so susceptible to climate change is because Arabica already grows in the upper zones of vegetation on mountains. There is only so much space for the species to move up when the climate warms, therefore it’s at the last zone it can physically survive in. Even Arabica produced from cultivated seeds rather than wild seeds are threatened because the seed itself is what is so climate sensitive.

Photo Credit: Grist

Thankfully, there are numerous species of coffee in the wild with more being found each year. Robusta, another popular species used for coffee production, is wildly cultivated currently so the world has alternatives. This species can grow at lower altitudes and isn’t as climate sensitive. The problem with this species is that the coffee it produces is much stronger, has a harsher taste, and has almost twice as much caffeine as Arabica.

Read more about the potentially coffee disaster in National Geographic’s article The Last Drop? Climate Change May Raise Coffee Prices, Lower Quality.

In President Obama’s acceptance speech, he noted the importance of acting on climate change. He states:

We want our children to live in an America that isn’t burdened by debt, that isn’t weakened by inequality, that isn’t threatened by the destruction power of a warming planet [...] freeing ourselves from foreign oil.”

So, one thing is for sure, the President is not a climate change denier and it is one of the top issues he wants to focus on. He realizes that there is a big problem here, especially after Sandy hit. Post-Sandy, Mayor Bloomberg endorsed Obama because Bloomberg realized the President wants to curb climate change and put more focus on clean-energy. In Obama’s first term, he had a few successes that benefit the environment like increasing fuel-economy standards for vehicles, increasing restrictions on cardon dioxide emissions, and he supported stimulus money for clean energy companies.

What’s next for climate change then? It is obvious that the President believes what is going on, so does that mean that environmentalists can hope for an even greater change in his second term? With a plethora of new Senate members being huge supporters of clean water, air, and energy, there is hope that whatever legislation Obama proposes can get passed in the Senate, but the House might hold it up. Only time will tell the possibilities of making a change to our environment in Obama’s second term.

Source: LA Times Obama finally talks climate change; green industry wants more

Photo Credit: CBS News

With such a massive superstorm happening, of course the question of climate change came up. Many reports were released immediately following the storm about whether or not this massive storm was fueled by climate change. Out of all these reports, one report from TIME Magazine  written by Bryan Walsh talked about the possibilities of linking the Hurricane to climate change but makes the point clear that there is yet to be enough scientific data to determine the definite connection. Walsh starts off his report by talking about the lack of climate change throughout the presidential election, something that has disappointed many environmentalists and Americans. He then proceeds to explain that it is too early to blame powerful storms on climate change, but we also can’t deny that climate change is happening, because that has been scientifically confirmed. Instead of focusing on the actual climate of the storm, Walsh turns the argument around to no matter what the climate is, it is fact that sea-levels are rising and a majority of the world’s population lives on coasts. With so many people living on coasts, their lives and homes are threatened especially when superstorms take place like Sandy, leading to the idea that in order for a community to thrive and prosper it needs to be in a location that is resilient to extreme weather cases like this.

Some facts were presented that relate climate patterns to the intensity of this specific storm, though. The conditions were perfect to allow this storm to have the power it did and even though the evidence isn’t fully there yet, it sounds like climate change definitely played a role for this dangerous storm. Sea water off the East coast was warmer than usual for this time of year, and that is definitely related to the fact that air temperatures for the past year have been one of the hottest on global record. Warm water is connected to more intense tropical storms because it provides more power for the cyclone. Warm air also holds more moisture than cool therefore when it’s warmer outside, more rain gets dropped during a storm. But even with those two facts, it is still thought to be too large of a stretch to blame strong hurricanes on climate change.

Photo Credit: Telegraph

All and all, Hurricane Sandy was devastating to the victims of the storm and to the areas where it hit. Billions of dollars will be spent on cleanup for the destruction. Climate Change is happening but it is too early to blame climate change for the intensity of the storm. Hopefully, with more research, answers will be made to this question. Until then, people need to realize the reality of the changing climate and work to find solutions so that our world is protected against whatever forces, natural and unnatural, hit the people living here. Walsh’s last point was the most promising:

We don’t demand absolute certainty before we take action in foreign policy, the economy, or health. We’d be fools to wait until there’s perfect scientific consensus on the role that global warming may be playing in tropical storms before we take action to prepare for both.”- Bryan Walsh, TIME

Source: TIME Climate Change and Sandy: Why We need to Prepare for a Warmer World