More Fusion Research Jobs

Firstly the fact that America is committed to leading the way on green issues is commendable and exciting because how America behaves has always influenced others. Some form of fusion has the true potential to solve the world’s energy crisis. So far decades of research have generated little more than fascination with its possibilities and yet there are those who believe that we could be a lot closer to a breakthrough on this advanced technology than we think....with all the clever brains in America it would be great to see more investment and focus on this essential research Also with the public now quite rightly a bit sceptical about the feasibility of providing energy for everyone using wind and solar, biofuels because of our rapidly expanding world population and with the concern about the future conflicts that may erupt over land use it would be good to put together a strategic team who could draw up a fifty to one hundred year power plan to work to.. .how their recycling and weatherboarding is generally going to help come up with some long-term solution. Mr Obama and your good self campaigned brilliantly with the phrase 'we can' and many of us believe that yes, you can! You can come up with answers to the world's energy crisis. So good luck!

Canada softened by US

Canada is ready to talk with the US on tackling global warming which is fantastic news because it seems that President Obama's commitment to go all out to 'green' America may encourage this other great nation to do the same.

The history behind this is that Canada had agreed years ago to reduce CO2 to 6.0 percent below their 1990 levels by 2012 But instead and recently in particular emissions have increased quite enormously. In 2007 Canada revised their previous target saying that their levels were unattainable and the expectations of a former adminstration were not realistic. In fact this reversal of attitude stemmed more from the US position at the time than anything because Canada and the US are the world's largest trading partners and with America's refusing to comply with Kyoto Canada..not wanting to be disadvantaged .. pulled back a bit.

However with the change in US administration has come a softening of position from Canada and a fresh and more optimistic approach to tackling this problem of their emissions which is good news because Canada is in fact one of the greatest consumers of energy per capita. Much of their energy goes to driving cars...heating homes...operating factories but there are also huge emissions from Alberta's energy intensive tar sands...and the effects of global warming on Canada are many as there are ...right across the world. With Canada it is possibly wildland fires... Their fires have been trending up over the past forty years as temperatures have been rising. Now not only do these wildfires reap human devastation We saw this past week in Melbourne the terrible, terrible loss of life when fires broke out in temperatures of 46.4 degrees and heard of 100 kmh hot winds spreading the fire Canada has similar problems to face..it certainly has had these problems in the past.

Deforestation..however it happens... whether it be by logging... or by these wildfires which are caused by increasing temperatures...the global environmental implications are huge. As we are all in this together, the spirit of the cooperation emerging from North America..to the global problem we face is very encouraging indeed.

Don't Snow Down on Kyoto

“How can we be experiencing global warming,” people ask , ‘When we have conditions like this and we are searching around for warm scarves and boots?”

Right now in the UK we have had the coldest snowiest spell for twenty years. But there are those who believe that despite these cold spells climate change is real and is our responsibility and we should be taking extreme action now and they say that the pattern of warming is long term and that there is obviously short term natural variation and in fact the tendency to look for signs of climate change in the form of temperature rise from year to year can play into the hands of climate sceptics who have used the recent cooler world temperatures as their evidence that global warming stopped in 1998 and that our heating globe is no more than a fantastic myth perpetrated for a dozen or so different reasons. ..but the fact is that we do know we are experiencing extremes in weather right across the world and possibly this is because of the distribution of the energy that has built up as a result of our heating up our globe.

Blown Away in UK

When we think of hurricanes or cyclones we automatically think of the tropics. But Powerful winds could threaten both UK and Europe with the potentially destructive force of a tropical category four hurricane. And all because of global warming.

Why is this happening? There have been large scale changes in the atmosphere itself for example the boundary of the troposphere – where all the weather occurs - has moved higher by 900 feet.

Also the Hadley Cells – the circulation pattern – rising near the Equator – polewards motion in higher up and then descending in the subtropics - have expanded towards the poles by one degree of latitude or 60 nautical miles over the last thirty years.
That change represents a huge volumetric increase in stored heat energy which must be recycled to the poles one way or the other’. It is as if the extra tropic cyclones are part of the planets way of redistributing it.

Last Summer the Global Warming Alliance held a conference at the Institute of Physics Our research has shown an increase in total energy of tropical cyclones of seventy percent, while wind strength itself has increased by fifteen percent. Such an increase in velocity plays out as a doubling in aeronautical force and even more in destructive damage..

The deadly storms that pounded southwest France and northeast Spain this past week end took at least 12 lives. Should these winds hit more densely populated countries and in particular those who are not accustomed to dealing with them these numbers could be greatly increased.

Over the past ten years eighteen ETCs made landfall. We are also seeing typhoon twins or two storms one following another within a day or so. Uk for example, the geographical position where polar air masses meet tropical ones coming up from the equator makes it in particular a fertile breeding ground for tornadoes.

During the half century from 1948 to 1997 thirteen windstorms hit Europe, an average of one every three point eight years.The two most catastrophic in terms of human life, the storms of 1953 and 1962, had almost identical core pressures. Now we are getting extra tropic cyclones with pressures 12 millibars lower than that.

GWA Strong wind warning!

The Global Warming Alliance has issued a warning. Cat 1 Extra tropic Cyclone Alpha 01 heads towards U.K. with potentially gale force winds gusting up to 80 knots or 92 MPH expected along the Irish Sea coast line and across Scotland. An intense Atlantic low with a core pressure of 945 mbs is due to make landfall around midnight Saturday night 17th January . This is the first extra tropic cylone making landfall in 2009. For more information www.globalwarmingalliance.com

Yes We Can!

Yes we can reduce our greenhouse gas emissions says the Obama administration in the States. Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu, if his position is confirmed next week, says he is going to pursue all policies to address just that.

Firstly Mr Chu is committed to reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil which is good news indeed for most Americans (for reasons of economy and security as well) but this fact alone has provoked a conflict of opinion. Senators from states with oil and gas reserves see this– that’s cutting back on foreign oil - as a fine opportunity to increase home production. Currently the US produces around 4 per cent of the world’s oil but that apparently doesn’t take into account potentially untapped resources. But Mr Chu’s focus is on weaning Americans off oil and gas altogether. There has been some concern that the effect the credit crunch has had in reducing the costs of cars combined with the drop in the price of oil has been reviving for example the market for gas guzzlers. But the new administration is intent on promoting more energy efficiency as part of their measures to reduce oil imports as well as encouraging the use of bio fuels and solar energy.

The US oil producers are therefore unhappy about the proposed cap-and-trade system in which oil refineries and industrial facilities that have high emissions will have to pay more than those that invest in technologies that curb emissions.

Two Giants Compare

What do the two highest carbon emitters - US and China – have in common apart from both being dependent on imported oil for their transport and using domestic coal to generate power and both being reluctant to reduce emissions? Well very little it would appear. Their energy expenditure patterns are completely dissimilar and reflect two totally different cultural habits. In the US more than 70 per cent of the emissions come from consumerism – as Americans are more inclined to borrow money if needs be and spend it on their homes and cars where as in China 70 per cent of the emissions come from factories making goods which are then exported. Because their citizens spend less on gas guzzling items. Steel production emits twice as much as Chinese households. Aluminium production takes up another large chunk.
Therefore if the US concentrates on consumer reductions such as upgrading the electricity grid, improving fuel economy and weatherizing homes to reduce their 70 per cent and China on reducing its energy-intensive manufacturing and moving to lighter services to reduce their 70 per cent then maybe both super nations will emerge from the global financial crisis with a greener perspective on our world future.