Bits n' pieces from east, west and beyond

East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact. A recent sampling:

•Touched or not by climate change — that appears to depend on where you live, according to a recent paper in Science. The southern states are expected to be hit the hardest, with agricultural yields down between 30 to 90 percent in parts of the Midwest, Texas and California. Yields may rise in the Pacific Northwest. As well, the northeast will not experience the degree of climate suffering felt in the South.

•It’s not too late to prevent the worst of global warming calamities, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Key actions required: grow more trees (which store carbon), and push rapid expansion of already available zero emissions technology.

•Georgetown, Texas, is one of the first U.S. cities to run on 100 percent renewable energy. The mayor called the move a “no brainer” since the transition led to lower costs and lower climate emissions.

•Bloomberg.com says climate change will impact the economy — possibly creating a financial crisis — due to infrastructure damage, agricultural losses and price hike for commodities. They cited a study released in late March from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

•General Motors hopes to have 18 new electric vehicles for sale by 2023. Others getting on the electric-powered bandwagon include Volvo, Aston Martin and Jaguar Land Rover. Future bans on gas and diesel cars are planned in France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Norway, China and India.

•The Union of Concerned Scientists reports that for many Americans electric vehicles are less expensive: their power costs less than gas, and they are cheaper to maintain. And now they are also becoming less expensive to purchase. Find the report at www.ucsusa.org/EV-savings .

•We can dodge Depression-era catastrophic dustbowls. The Union of Concerned Scientists outlines how in their new report, Turning Soils into Sponges. The study analyzed 150 field experiments; soils with living roots year around (from cover crops and perennial crops), became healthy and sponge-like. In Iowa those soils saw rainfall runoff from flood conditions reduced by 20 percent. As a bonus, during droughts there was 16 percent more water available for plants.

•Africa’s Great Green Wall has morphed from a tree-planting project that spans the continent’s mid-section into a flexible greening initiative tailored to local conditions. The effort, involving 18 countries, is intended to fight desertification and climate change impacts. Some 350,000 jobs will be created. The plan, using water conservation techniques and native crops, will address food security for 20 million people. Beyond tree planting where it’s appropriate, wetlands will be managed, sustainable farming adopted and rangelands managed protectively, CNN has reported. The enhanced habitat will sequester 250 million tons of carbon while also aiming to protect rural heritage. As of March, the massive project, begun in 2007, is 15 percent complete.

•Blast from the past: A brief history of climate change warnings: In August 1912 (not a typo) several newspapers in New Zealand and Australia reported: “The furnaces of the world are now burning about 2,000,000,000 tons of coal a year. When this is burned, uniting with oxygen, it adds another 7,000,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere yearly. This tends to make the air a more effective blanket for the earth and to raise its temperature. The effect may be considerable in a few centuries.” In 1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson was formally informed about the risks of rising CO2 levels. In 1977 Exxon’s scientists told top executives about the connection between fossil fuels and climate change. In 1988, NASA scientist James Hansen testified before Congress about the risks of climate change. And in 1990, a U.S. panel delivered its first scientific assessment of climate change.

•And another Blast: the first Earth Day was launched 48 years ago. As Negative Population Growth points out, with one person added every 16 seconds, over-population remains a driver of numerous environmental problems. In 1950 the U.S. population was 150 million; today it’s more than doubled. By 2050 the nation’s population is projected to be 400 million. Overgrowth impacts include 50 acres of farm or ranch land lost to development every hour, doubling of water use as compared to 1950, and tripling of garbage — 4.4 pounds per person daily — since 1960. Along with pressure to pass sensible environmental protection laws, early Earth Day activists popularized the call to “Stop at Two.”

Lorraine H. Marie is a writer based in Colville, Washington.