Earth Hour 2013

Film Review - Silver Linings Playbook

Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence

Silver Linings Playbook is a feel good film within a well defined story telling genre of reaching goals despite adversity. Director and script writer, David O'Russell, well known for various off-beat, black humoured films (Three Kings, Spanking the Monkey) has chosen a topical subject dealing with mental health for this film. The synopsis: Bi-polar Pat Solatano (Bradley Cooper) returns home from a state mental institution as a result of a plea bargain arrangement. Bradley has lost his house, his job, and his wife, Nikki, as a result of his condition. His mother (Jacki Weaver) and father (Robert DeNiro) struggle to ensure he is stable however Pat is also determined to rebuild his life, remain positive and reunite with his wife, despite the circumstances of their separation. Pat's parents also want him to share their family's obsession with the Philadelphia Eagles football team especially as Pat's father is a bookie with bets on various games. When Pat meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) the sister of his best friends's wife, life becomes more complicated. Tiffany strikes a deal with Pat, that she'll help him reconnect with his wife, but only if he'll help her by entering a dance competition and partnering with her in return. Silver Linings Playbook has received considerable attention in film festivals and 8 Academy Award nominations however in many respects, the film is not much more than Saturday afternoon matinee fare. 

Film Review - Lincoln - Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg's biopic on Abraham Lincoln, with the screenplay by Tony Krushner, offers a limited timeline on the life of the 16th president of the United States  focussing on just the last four months of Lincoln's life. In the short period Lincoln sought to both end the incredibly destructive civil war with the Southern Confederate States whilst gaining the approval of Congress to pass an amendment to the US Constitution to formally outlaw slavery. Much of the film is devoted to the complicated dealing-making and legislative hurdles although the wheeling and dealing amongst the lawmakers provides fascinating and dramatic scenes. Daniel Day-Lewis provides a powerful and convincing interpretation of the very canny, almost folksy, Abraham Lincoln balancing a multitude of relationships, both personal and political, during arguably the greatest challenging period in the history of the United States. The film is largely set in the chambers of Congress and the White House with only occasional visits to the battlefield to meet General Ulysses S Grant and as a result, the story often risks falling into an almost airless atmosphere due to these confined settings.  Some lighter moments are provided when Secretary of State William Seward (David Strathairn) hires a trio of agents (John Hawkes, Tim Blake Nelson and James Spader) to lobby for votes supporting the Constitutional amendment from possible waverers in Congress - proferring inducements but never bribes. This trio appears to be the precursor of the modern day lobbyist in Washington. On the floor of the House of Representatives, slave abolitionist lawmaker Thaddeus Stevens  (Tommy Lee Jones) thunders away with provocative oratory against fellow lawmakers he deems to have questionable values.

Lincoln as a film has an excellent cast, dramatic script, high production values and provides some insight into this critical period of Lincoln's presidency. There are scenes of overt sentimentality which appear over contrived both for the characters and for the historical period in which the story is set.  

Global warming audit - better or worse ?

Global warming - on track for 40C increase and beyond

With the IPCC's latest assessment due out towards the end of this year (and given some of the leaks of the draft report have been manipulated by a climate change sceptic), the question arises of where the world's environment currently sits and forward projections. Looking through the various aspects of the measurement of climate and geoinformation available the trend of serious climate change appears to be unstoppable with the reality that current generations will also experience the effects, first-hand. 

  
Loss of sea ice in the polar regions: sea ice has fallen to its lowest levels for at least 1400 years which means heat reflecting white ice has been replaced by heat absorbing black ice. The effect of this change is more extreme weather events in the Northern Hemisphere, melting of the higher level permafrost and hence the  release of more carbon into the atmosphere and faster melting of the Greenland ice sheet which affects ocean levels.

Extreme weather increases: Russia experienced extraordinary hot temperatures above 400C in 2010, North America (Canada and the US) had the converse with record snow  and rainfall  and superstorm 'Sandy' demonstrated the impact of more extreme weather events. 2012 and early 2013 have followed similar weather trends The warming in the Arctic is believed now to have caused the polar jet stream to have slowed thus reducing the movement of patterns of weather. In this sense storms can  become locked in place.

Falling food production: Global production of staple food stocks such as wheat, maize, rice and soybeans between 1980 to 2008 which were expected to increase, in fact have fallen 1%. Extreme rainfall and extreme heat are considered the likely culprits.

Rising sea levels faster than expected: the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have been losing enough ice each year to raise sea levels by 1.3 millimetres per annum which is increasing each year. The expected sea rise is projected at 2 metres which would render many major coastal urban cities vulnerable to flooding and storm surges.

Greenhouse gas levels continue to rise: half of the  CO2 which is emitted is absorbed by land and oceans but with global warming, the capacity for this absorption is reduced and conversely the risk increases of CO2 releases from both may occur instead. The various climate change models which have been used for forecasting did not include the permafrost melting or methane hydrate's being released from the ocean.   

The reality which now underpins all projections of increases in global temperature is that carbon emissions have actually been rising not reducing so the planet is well on course to be between 50C and 60C hotter by 2100 and will reach 40C many years before that.  As yet however the necessary levels of mandatory steps have not been taken as the imperative for immediate action on a greater scale has not been accepted or is being denied. Surely there are few species on the planet that could do more to render their own home uninhabitable.

Carbon pollution and US coal exports - an unholy connection

Of all the fossil fuels responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, coal remains one of the most prolific, polluting, preferred energy sources despite increased use of renewable energy and the exploitation of gas resources from coal seams in a number of Western countries including the United States. The US, despite reducing its' own direct reliance on coal through natural gas expansion, is instead seeking to increase the export of this fossil fuel to Asia. Of particular interest and public controversy are plans to increase the number of coal export ports along Western seabord of the United States to enable increased exploitation of the Powder River Basin, straddling the states of Wyoming and Montana. Powder River Basin provides 40% of energy in US coal-fired power plants and over 7 milllion tonnes of coal are exported from there to Asia. Three additional ports (Millenium Bulk, Morrow Pacific and Gateway Pacific) are planned for construction which will increase coal exports to 100 million tonnes per annum with an upper target of 135 million tonnes. 

The impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, has been measured as 194 million tonnes of carbon dioxide according to the National Energy Technology Laboratory in Pittsburgh. In effect this would nullify most of the advances made in reducing US energy reliance on carbon-rich fuel by increasing consumption in developing countries. As one hand gives, the other hand takes away.

The US military and renewable energy

Portable solar energy unit carried by backpack

Environmentalists, various supporters of renewable energy uptake and practitioners of sustainable development would most likely be surprised to know that one of the largest investors in renewable energy sources is the United States military. While the world debates the merits and virtues of the Kyoto Protocol, Kyoto II and renewable energy targets in general, the US Department of Defence has set a goal of supplying 25% of the military's energy needs from renewable energy sources by 2025 with the US navy setting a much more ambitious goal of  50% renewable energy by 2020. These ambitious targets are not surprising in one sense as the US military is the 35th largest consumer of oil in the world with a daily consumption of 45 million litres of crude. In 2010, a portable 300-watt solar panel system called GREENS was demonstrated and small flexible panels for individual soldiers backpacks to power personal equipment were also released. There are over 600 soldiers carrying these personal devices and 100 GREENS panels have been deployed.

The Pentagon is also investing heavily in biofuels and commissioning research into ocean thermal energy conversion systems. Biofuels are showing some promise as a 'Green Fleet' being the USS Nimitz carrier group sailed around Hawaii in July 2012. The fleet comprising a cruiser, two destroyers and a fuel tanker were powered on a 50:50 mix of petroleum and biofuels and the Nimitz's strike aircraft were powered the same way. This raises the obvious conundrum, if the US military can see the value and importance of renewable energy, why do so many governments  pay it only lip service ?

Penguins awash - sea ice loss impacts another species

Emperor Penguin - Antarctica

Most people are familiar with the image of an Emperor Penguin even if they are not altogether sure which species of penguin they are looking at. Made famous by the 2005 blockbuster documentary, March of the Penguins, based on the  Dumont d'Urville colony of 2,500 birds, the Emperor Penguin is a native of Antarctica and like polar bears in the Northern Hemisphere, faces a bleak future through the loss of sea ice due to global warming. Sea ice is critical for the Emperor Penguin as all but two of the 46 surveyed colonies in Antarctica are located on the ice and the birds are not agile enough to scale the continent's steep rocky shoreline and ice precipices. Stable sea ice is essential for the birds to moult and their stable diet of krill, which also is dependent on sea ice for survival. The little current evidence of the future for Emperor Penguins is not positive with sea ice declining, on average 1 to 2 % per annum. A small colony of Emperor Penguins located on the Dion Islands has already disappeared. In 1948 there were 300 adults, in 1999 it had reduced to just 40 and a decade later there were none. Other Antarctic native penguin populations, such as the Adelie and chinstrap are also trending downwards for presumably similar reasons.

Coffee and Global Warming - the risk is out there

While most of the effects of global warming and climate change focus on rising seas, higher temperatures, ocean salinity, super storms and so on, a number of other impacts which will affect human population are often overlooked or sparsely presented. One aspect of climate change which will cause concern is the world-wide reduction of coffee supplies. Coffee is grown in over 70 countries around the world, supports over 26 million farmers and generates exports of over $15 billion a year mainly for developing countries. The coffee industry is reliant for two thirds of its production from just one species, Coffea arabica, which originated from Ethiopia over four centuries ago. C. arabica requires temperatures between 180C and 210C with a reasonable mix of dry weather (for buds to grow) and wet weather (for flowering). From 230C upwards the plant exhibits stress and produces poorer quality beans and above 300C the plant develops tumours and loses its leaves.

Between 2009 and 2012 coffee yields fell to a 35 year low due to extraordinary rains and then unseasonable dryness - a portent of events to come. According to the IPCC's most optimistic projections, by 2080 around 65% of current geographic locations for wild coffee will be unsuitable and this rises up to 99.7% at the worst case scenario. Coffee production will fall well before 2080 however and within the next twenty years. Matched with the changing temperature is the expanded proliferation of the coffee weevil,  Hypothenemus hampei which has spread to every coffee-producing country with the exceptions of Nepal and China. This small borer attackes the coffee beans and requires only a small temperature rise to increase the number of generations born in any cycle. On current trends and with estimates of warming up to 4 degrees Celsius higher, up to ten generations of borer could occur each year.

The only option is to find a substitute for C arabica form the 125 other species of coffee which might tolerate global warming and be drinkable. As yet, none have been positively proven although coffea canephora (also known as Robusta) shows promise.