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Feb

2012

Roger Pielke Jr.'s Blog: Research on Climate Change and Conflict

The journal Peace Research has just published a special issue on climate change and conflict. The introductory essay, by Nils Petter Gleditsch, says this:
On the whole, however, it seems fair to say that so far there is not yet much evidence for climate change as an important driver of conflict.
Gleditsch also offers a gentle suggestion to the IPCC:
The IPCC is currently working on its Fifth Assessment Report, scheduled for release in 2013. For the first time, this report will have a chapter on the consequences of climate change for human security, including armed conflict (IPCC, no date). We hope that the studies reported here will contribute to a balanced assessment by the IPCC, built on the best peer-reviewed evidence.

rogerpielkejr.blogspot.com/...imate-change-and-conflict.html

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Climate Change Conflict Resources

Sep

2011

6 Things You’d Never Guess About Google’s Energy Use - Techland - TIME.com

Google uses enough energy to continuously power 200,000 homes.

Google's many data centers around the world burn through 260 million watts—one quarter of the output of a nuclear power plant—the New York Times reports. The company had been cagey about revealing energy usage stats in the past, probably because it didn't want to reveal to competitors how quickly its data centers were growing. It's no longer a secret that Google needs a crazy amount of data centers to keep things running smoothly.

techland.time.com/...guess-about-googles-energy-use

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Google Energy Data Cost Resources

Google uses enough energy to continuously power 200,000 homes

Google's many data centers around the world burn through 260 million watts—one quarter of the output of a nuclear power plant—the New York Times reports. The company had been cagey about revealing energy usage stats in the past, probably because it didn't want to reveal to competitors how quickly its data centers were growing. It's no longer a secret that Google needs a crazy amount of data centers to keep things running smoothly.
Google accounts for roughly 0.013 percent of the world's energy use

Data centers in general are responsible for 1.3 percent of the world's electricity consumption, according to one estimate, and Google says it accounts for a mere one-hundredth of that statistic
3 more annotation(s)...
- One Google search is equal to turning on a 60W light bulb for 17 seconds
  
  Google says it spends about 0.0003 kWh of energy on an average search query, translating to roughly 0.2g of carbon dioxide. Related fact: searching the web 100 times is equivalent to drinking 1.5 tablespoons of orange juice, Google says
- YouTube can stream for three days on the energy it takes to make a DVD
  
  That stat includes manufacturing, packaging and delivery of the DVD, Google says. One minute of streaming YouTube video consumes 0.0002 kWh of energy, which is about the same amount of energy your body uses in eight seconds.
- Google's carbon footprint is zero (after offsets)
  
  No, Google doesn't get all of its energy from wind farms and solar panels. But to make up for the 1.46 million metric tons of carbon dioxide that Google emits every year—mostly from purchased energy to power its data centers—the company buys and generates its own renewable energy or purchases carbon offsets (essentially, funding green efforts elsewhere). The company invests in enough renewable energy to power more than 350,000 homes.

May

2011

NASA Satellites Reveal Where the World is Running Out of Water | The Utopianist - Think Bigger

For the last 6 years, NASA scientists have used satellites to detect changes in underground mass. Specifically, they’re looking at those changes in underground stores of water that are so necessary to human survival around the globe.
It turns out that many of these aquifers have been heavily stressed and depleted over the course of the study — the scientists reckon that the water level in California’s Central Valley aquifers has fallen 25 million acre-feet in just six years. That, NASA notes, is nearly enough to fill the nation’s largest reservoir, Lake Mead. See below a chart of California’s underground water loss:

utopianist.com/...-world-is-running-out-of-water

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Water Earth Resources

See below a chart of California’s underground water loss:
The satellites have noticed similar trends in other water-strapped regions around the world too — the US Southeast, northern Australia, parts of China. And often, the aquifers seeing increasing strains lie beneath border regions between nations, where each draw water from.
2 more annotation(s)...
- we rounded up a list of the top nations that are running out of water just a few months ago. And many of them have unstable governments and poor populations that would make dealing with further strain — and thirst — much more difficult.
- As the world population continues to grow — we’ll hit 7 billion this year and 10 billion by 2100 — and as climate change continues to make droughts more severe in those water-strapped regions, this issue is only going to come to the fore quite soon. As such, we need to start seriously retooling consumer and corporate relationships with water — corporations can currently extract the stuff from the ground for bottling essentially for free — and dedicating large-scale efforts to exploring how to use water more sustainably.

Apr

2011

WP’s electoral strategy | Sgpolitics.net

Many opposition candidates have to make big sacrifices coming in to serve. Is it realistic that they should not expect anything in return? Political ambition, like gaining a Parliamentary seat, goes hand in hand with the game.
But is its justified for an opposition party to advance its political ambition at all cost, or is there is some higher purpose to ascribe to? This is a complex question indeed.
On one extreme end of the spectrum, I think SDP is a truly selfless party. They have adhered so steadfastly and consistently to what they believe in, that sometimes I get the feeling they don’t even care whether they lose votes, as long as they speak the truth and walk their own talk.
The WP is at the other extreme end of the spectrum. I feel they have compromised more and more as the years go by, because they think this will endear them more to the electorate.

www.sgpolitics.net/?p=6535

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Politics Resources Academic Research Singapore

Many people believe the WP is a credible opposition party that debates policies in a moderate manner. They take great pains not to be seen or labelled as being confrontational. They have position themselves primarily as a watchdog, serving as a check on the incumbent PAP.
Yet, a growing number also believe that the WP has been too silent and quiet in recent years. The WP is increasingly seen as a meek party. For example, Mr Low failed to respond in Parliament when PM Lee posed him the question whether DPM Wong Kan Seng should resign as a result of the Mas Selamat fiasco.
2 more annotation(s)...
- An important facet of WP’s political philosophy is that the party agrees that the overall system is sound, even if some government policies need to be improved upon.
- Apart from the GRC system which the WP has rightfully criticized, the party does not seek to challenge the political system as a whole. They only seek to criticize government policies. They do not even attempt to devise comprehensive alternatives to existing policies because they believe they lack the manpower and resources to do so in a sufficiently credible fashion.