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November 1, 2011 | 1:49 PM | By

The Easy Fix That Isn’t

Touted as a simple way to combat climate change, white roofs may actually increase global warming, according to a new Stanford study. 

NNSA/flickr.

Installing white roofs (or painting them white) has been promoted as a way to help slow global warming. New research shows that white roofs may actually add to global warming.

By Alyson Kenward

If you’re interested in staving off climate change without trying too hard, painting your roof white seems like a complete no-brainer. It’s far cheaper than trading in your SUV for a Prius, and it turns the laws of physics to best advantage. Dark roofs absorb sunlight that heats up your house, office tower, or apartment building. That means you’re bound to crank up the energy-intensive air conditioner to keep pace in the summer months — and since electricity in the U.S. comes largely from fossil fuels, the net result is more heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions, and more global warming.
Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: The Science, adaptation, Climate Central, Stanford, whte roofs
October 31, 2011 | 1:18 PM | By

Still Worried After All These Years: Paul Ehrlich on a Planet with 7 Billion People

Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich still sees runaway population growth as a threat to the planet, but is hopeful that humans can avoid the first catastrophic collapse of a global civilization.

Stanford News Service

Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich points to population and consumption as equally responsible for producing environmental damage.

By Sarah Jane Keller
Stanford News Service

Today’s the day that, according to a United Nations tally, world population reaches seven billion — and could top ten billion by the end of the century.

In his 1968 book, The Population Bomb, Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich warned of the threat of unchecked human population growth. Over the past four decades, the book has brought attention to the question of how many individuals our planet can sustain. Today, Ehrlich reflects on what the four decades since have taught him. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: consumption, population, Stanford
August 13, 2011 | 2:52 PM | By

Climate News Roundup: the Melting Arctic, Solar Power, and Peak Oil

Rooftop Solar Panels in Vacaville. Photo: Craig Miller

1. MIT study finds IPCC underestimated Arctic ice melt

A forthcoming study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology predicts that Arctic ice sheets are melting four times quicker than was forecast in the latest IPCC report. According to the study, the Arctic may be ice-free several decades sooner than 2100, which was predicted by the Fourth Assessment Report. Study authors say the IPCC data did not include forces such as wind and ocean currents that cause ice to break up.

The Journal of Geophysical Research – Oceans will publish the study next month, but you can read the full news release at MIT’s website. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Power, The Science, IPCC, peak oil, rooftop solar, Stanford
June 7, 2011 | 3:10 PM | By

The Long, Hot Summer: Longer & Hotter

Stanford study predicts the point of no return for hotter summers

By Katrina Schwartz

Just as many Californians are puzzling over winter-like weather in June, climate scientists are saying hotter days are ahead for most of the West. According to a new Stanford study (available soon at this link), we may be in for permanently hotter summers sooner than expected. Of course, for climatologists, “sooner” is a relative term.

Photo: Craig Miller

Plenty of climate scientists have studied the relationship between climate change and extreme temperature shifts, but until now no one has tried to pinpoint a moment when summer temperatures will permanently shift into a new “heat regime”, in which the coolest summer temperatures will be hotter than the hottest summer temperatures of the previous regime. Findings by the Stanford team suggest that the shift will likely happen sooner and be more widespread than expected. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: The Science, heat, Stanford, temperatures
January 29, 2011 | 9:01 AM | By

Citizen Science: The iPhone App

A new iPhone app aims to make recording and sharing observations of the natural world fast, easy, and could eventually help bring climate models into better focus.

Ken-ichi Ueda and Scott Loarie demonstrated the new iNaturalist iPhone app at Stanford's Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve (Photo: Richard Morgenstein)

At Jasper Ridge, a biological preserve and study area on the Stanford campus, a dozen of the preserve’s docents gathered this week to learn about a new iPhone application that could ultimately help scientists study how ecosystems are adapting to climate change.

The new app, called iNaturalist, is the mobile version of a citizen-science website by the same name.  The iPhone app is still in testing and not yet available, but the website, iNaturalist.org, is already an active online community of citizen-scientists around the world who use the site to record and share their sightings. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Get Involved, The Science, app, Citizen Science, Conservation, Ecosystems, iNaturalist, iPhone, naturalists, Stanford, Technology, Wildlife
September 28, 2010 | 3:53 PM | By

California Heats Up

A chilly summer suddenly switches to record-breaking heat in much of California.  Is this climate change?

Photo: Craig Miller

It reached 113 degrees in Los Angeles on Monday, a record. And while a string of hot days in California doesn’t signify climate change any more than do record snowstorms in Washington D.C., the summer of 2010 did set quite a few records for high temperatures and heat waves. Although for us here in California, this week notwithstanding, we’ve had a pretty cool summer.

But this week’s heat — especially in Southern California — is a reminder of the ripple effects that could become commonplace if predictions of more frequent and severe heat waves come to pass, with a changing climate. Utilities pleaded with customers to conserve power as temperatures triggered record spikes in the electricity load and subsequent strain on the electrical grid. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: The Science, heat wave, Los Angeles, Quest, Stanford, Temperature, weather
August 2, 2010 | 4:26 PM | By

Creating Power from Both Light and Heat

A key component of new solar panel technology being tested at Stanford. (Photo: Nick Melosh)

In a kind of cruel paradox, heat has always been the enemy of solar panels.  At higher temperatures, photovoltaic cells become less efficient, which is problematic in an industry where efficiency is the name of the game. That heat also represents wasted energy.

Today, researchers at Stanford University announced that they may have helped solve that problem. Nick Melosh of Stanford’s Materials Science & Engineering department set out to make use of the wasted heat. He and his colleagues created a solar cell technology that uses both light and heat to generate electricity. It’s called “photon-enhanced thermionic emission” (or PETE for short). “This is the first time that a process has been reported that can use the heat and the photons together harmoniously,” says Melosh. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Power, Electricity, photovoltaic, Power, renewable, solar, solar energy, Stanford, Technology
July 30, 2010 | 5:21 PM | By

Coal, Soot and A Mighty Wind

This week in climate news: coal dollars in California, soot in the air, and wind in the desert.

1. Big Coal Donates to Fiorina Campaign

Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina received $63,000 in donations  from out-of-state coal mining interests. About a third of that money is from Murray Energy Corporation in Ohio, the largest privately owned coal producer in the U.S. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Power, Assembly Bill 32, Prop 23, Stanford, Technology, Tesoro, Urban Planning
July 20, 2010 | 11:11 AM | By

Schneider’s Legacy: Speaking Truth to Power

There’s been much hand-wringing of late over the disconnect between science and “Main Street.” When it comes to communicating complex concepts to the general public, even many scientists admit that they haven’t been making the light bulb come on.

(Photo: Stanford University)

That was never an issue for Steve Schneider. He never had any problems communicating. Most colleagues of the Stanford climate scientist, who died this week, remember him not just for his science resume, but also for his laser-like approach to getting the point across. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: The Science, Stanford
July 19, 2010 | 1:15 PM | By

Climate Science Loses a Bright Light

Shock spread through the climate science community today with the news that Stanford’s Stephen Schneider has died.

Steve Schneider was a fearless advocate of climate action (Photo: Stanford University)

Schneider reportedly suffered a heart attack on a flight from Stockholm to London. Schneider founded a scientific journal on the subject of climate change and was a vocal advocate of the need for policy action, to respond to the threat posed by global warming.

A release issued by  Stanford today reads, in part:

“Steve, more than anything, whether you agreed with him or not, forced us to confront this real possibility of climate change,” said his colleague at Stanford’s Woods Institute for the Environment, Jeff Koseff.

Schneider was influential in the public debate over climate change and wrote a book, Science as a Contact Sport: Inside the Battle to Save Earth’s Climate, about his experiences. He also wrote a book about his battle with leukemia, Patient from Hell.

He had been a White House consultant in the Nixon, Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama administrations.”

Schneider last appeared on KQED’s air just after the UN climate talks ended in last December, with what many considered a whimper. His disappointment was palpable as he spoke with Forum host Dave Iverson over a tenuous cell phone connection from Copenhagen (Schneider joins the program about 30 minutes in). He also made Forum appearances in programs in 2007 and 2004.

On his widely read Dot Earth blog for the New York Times, Andrew Revkin offers a personal perspective on Schneider, his work, and his bigger-than-life personality.

FILED UNDER: The Science, Stanford