Wednesday, January 18, 2012

China realizes the risks of climate change

The Chinese government has released a new report indicating that they are starting to get the threat that climate change poses to their populace -- not to mention their own internal stability.  Because if the people are getting sick from pollution and aren't getting fed due to pollution, they're going to blame someone.  And if they end up blaming the government that encouraged all the businesses that generated all the pollution, then that government is going to be in TROUBLE.

China report spells out 'grim' climate change risks

 
Water, either too much or too little, lies at the heart of how that warming could trip up China's budding prosperity.

"Climate change will lead to severe imbalances in China's water resources within each year and across the years. In most areas, precipitation will be increasingly concentrated in the summer and autumn rainy seasons, and floods and droughts will become increasingly frequent," says the report.

"Without effective measures in response, by the latter part of the 21st century, climate change could still constitute a threat to our country's food security," it says.

That's why, I think, that the window is budging open regarding getting China (and hopefully India) to sign on to real climate change action.  And that action can begin real soon:

Slashing global warming by 2050:  a 12-step program (from NASA)

Here are 2 of my favorite points:



Make Fuel and Vehicle Standards More Stringent

Many cars around the world, but especially in Africa and Asia, lack particle filters or access to clean burning fuels. Shindell’s team calculated that upgrading the world’s fleet to comply with current European standards would reduce black carbon emissions by 18 percent.




Compost Biodegradable Garbage

If we universally separated out compostable material from landfills, the amount of methane produced by them—currently about 22 percent of all human sources of methane—would be reduced.  (And though they don't say it, you could also use this stuff as a biofuel feedstock.)


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