Situation Report

submitted by Krae Van Sickle

Figure 1: Distribution-scale solar costs more than wholesale power, but it costs less if you fairly value all benefits

rmi.org - by Titiaan Palazzi Thomas Koch Blank - May 1, 2018

“New Record Set for World’s Cheapest Solar.” A headline like this makes for great social media fodder. The downward trend in renewables prices is fantastic—it’s the most important driver for the growth of solar and wind energy.

However, when your business or utility is comparing different energy projects, looking at cost alone is not enough. Even energy projects at very low costs can be “out of the money” if the value created by a project is less than its cost.

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(Photo: Getty Images)

CLICK HERE - Scripps Institute of Oceanography - CARBON DIOXIDE IN THE ATMOSPHERE HITS RECORD HIGH MONTHLY AVERAGE

usatoday.com - by Doyle Rice - May 4, 2018

Carbon dioxide — the gas scientists say is most responsible for global warming — reached its highest level in recorded history last month, at 410 parts per million.

This amount is highest in at least the past 800,000 years, according to the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. Prior to the onset of the Industrial Revolution, carbon dioxide levels had fluctuated over the millennia but had never exceeded 300 parts per million.

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The Everglades wilderness has already been reduced by half by the construction of dams and canals and to accommodate a booming population. Photograph: Getty Images

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - SE Saline Everglades Transgressive Sedimentation in Response to Historic Acceleration in Sea-Level Rise: A Viable Marker for the Base of the Anthropocene?

The ‘river of grass’ wilderness and coastal communities are in peril, with the buffer coastal ecosystems on a ‘death march’ inland

theguardian.com - by Oliver Milman - May 2, 2018

Florida’s mangroves have been forced into a hasty retreat by sea level rise and now face being drowned, imperiling coastal communities and the prized Everglades wetlands, researchers have found.

Mangroves in south-east Florida in an area studied by the researchers have been on a “death march” inland as they edge away from the swelling ocean but have now hit a manmade levee and are likely to be submerged by water within 30 years, according to the Florida International University analysis.