Archive for Sciences
Help in finding new solar technologies
Posted by: on December 10, 2008 in Tags: Energy, renewables, Sciences, solar
If you let your computer idle while you are away or asleep, you might consider to allow Harvard and IBM to use it to do calculations for the Clean Energy Project.
Due to find new ways to create more efficient solar photovoltaïc panels and later of batteries, this project already has over a million people donating some of their computer time.
This could shorten an estimated calculation time of 22 years to only two. So, if you want to join this most interesting project, read on. Continue reading »
The European Space Agency (ESA) reported a few days ago that new rifts have developed on the Wilkins Ice Shelf. This could lead to the melting of a lot of ice in Antarctica
Since it would take a melting of only five percent of the sixth continent for sea levels to rise by three meters, each sign of decreasing ice amounts there from has to be reported.
Even if these rifts won’t lead directly to such a phenomenon, they show a direct sign that something is wrong with our climate. Continue reading »
Climate change keeps on accelerating
Posted by: on November 27, 2008 in Tags: Climate change, Sciences
Just after I published an article on how many islands around the world are due to disappear because of climate change, the WWF brings us more data on this very topic.
To their latest studies, it seems that global warming is accelerating as time goes and thus the threat of rising sea levels increases dramatically.
This report is published just days before the discussions in Poznan (Poland) that will prepare the future of the Kyoto Protocol. Time is running out… Continue reading »
What if Antarctica’s ice melt ?
Posted by: on September 15, 2008 in Tags: Climate change, Poles, Sciences
As we saw three weeks ago in my article on the scientific data on level sea rise, the melting of both Arctic and Antarctica are one of the main components of the phenomenon.
Even if the Arctic is quite well documented, Antarctica is not that well known. 25 times bigger than France and weighting billions of tons of ice, the sixth continent is a huge unknown.
If a single percent of all this ice melt, it would represent a sea level rise by a staggering 60 centimeters (two feet)… A serious danger I will study today. Continue reading »
The major threat of rising sea levels : the consequences (2/2)
Posted by: on September 8, 2008 in Tags: Climate change, oceans, Sciences
After my post on the scientific research behind rising sea levels and the one on their dramatic consequences worldwide, I would like to conclude this series with my home country, France.
Even if it won’t be the most stricken by the phenomenon, it would suffer from dire consequences of rising sea levels provoked by a full scale climate change.
You will find below an overview of the main cities, regions and economic activities that will be the most hit. The list is quite impressive. Continue reading »
The major threat of rising sea levels : the consequences (1/2)
Posted by: on September 1, 2008 in Tags: oceans, SciencesAfter last week’s article on the scientific data of rising sea levels, it is time for us to have a look at how they would affect millions of people and possibly destroy assets worth billions.
The OECD report mentioned last week gives us further data on this very topic and the least I can say is that the situation is truly frightening with possible catastrophes in many countries.
The vast majority of risks are located in Asia, and more particularly in India and China as their coastal populations are due to increase in an important way. Continue reading »
The major threat of rising sea levels : the science
Posted by: on August 25, 2008 in Tags: Climate change, oceans, SciencesClimate change will have many impacts, we have seen it throughout many articles. However, one of the main consequences didn’t get much attention here : rising sea levels.
But to the research carried out by several institutions - including the OECD and the World Bank - this may displace and even kill millions of people and cause damages worth billions euros.
In today’s article I will tackle the scientific evidence and data and the next two weeks I will present you the implications this may have worldwide. Continue reading »
I never have been a fan of hydrogen-based energy solutions. Indeed, using energy to produce hydrogen that will produce electricity seems a tad too complex.
This may change with Professor Daniel Nocera from the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who found a fantastic solution to produce Hydrogen in a much more efficient way.
This would make intermittent energy sources like solar and wind power much more interesting as one of their main drawbacks would be solved. Continue reading »
Destruction of Nature costs 2,000 billion euros per year
Posted by: on May 23, 2008 in Tags: Biodiversity, Environment, Sciences, UN
According to a new report from the United Nations, the disappearance of both fauna and floral species costs six percent of the world GDP, or more than $3,100 billion.
The German newspaper Der Spiegel proposes a recap of the new paper, named The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity
So not only does destroying the environment is bad for our health as I related in a previous article, it also costs us a lot of money. Continue reading »
Highest concentration of CO2 over 800,000 years
Posted by: on May 15, 2008 in Tags: Climate change, Poles, SciencesAccording to a study released in the US magazine Nature, the carbon dioxide and methane concentrations are currently at their highest in the last 800,000 years.
This is the conclusion drawn by European scientists after drilling the ice of Antarctica over 3 kilometers. According to Le Figaro it is the result of more than 20 years of work.
This is another sign reinforcing even more the urgency of acting fast and big toward climate change mitigation. Continue reading »
