We know that the sun is only partly the cause of climate change (most of it, alas, is caused by us), but periodic solar flares (or coronal mass ejections–CMEs) can have profound "space weather" effects on power grids and the communication satellites that power our cell phones and (in some cases) cable TV. They can also be dangerous to astronauts.
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Planets die (NOTE: Subscribers can still listen to this provocative interview). The Earth is still alive, despite having had at least two major extinctions in the past.
The most-studied mass extinction in Earth history happened 65 million years ago and is widely thought to have wiped out the dinosaurs. New research has discovered that a separate extinction came shortly before that, triggered by volcanic eruptions that warmed the planet and killed life on the ocean floor.
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The US isn’t the only country facing the coal conundrum, meaning we have plenty of coal, but don’t want to burn it, because it causes pollution and climate change.
On oilprice.com, Charles Kennedy reports that the Australian state of Queensland could become the seventh largest contributor of greenhouse gases on the planet, behind only China, the US, India, Russia, Japan, and Germany, if plans to create nine huge coal mines go through.
Greenpeace Australia analyzed the proposed mines and found that they would release an extra 705 million tons of carbon dioxide every year. The International Energy Agency describes this as "catastrophic."
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For the last 60 years, the Arctic has warmed twice as fast as the rest of the Earth, and some Asians business people are taking advantage of this fact. The thawing at the top of the globe gives access to incredible mineral wealth and drastically shorter shipping routes to the Atlantic through the now reopened Northwest Passage.
The Arctic waters not only contain fish, the US Geological Survey estimates that 30% of the world’s undiscovered reserves of natural gas, and 13% of the undiscovered oil, are there–as well as coal, iron, uranium, gold, copper, rare earths and gemstones.
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