Aa
Billionaire sets up fund for victims of climate change
http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Billionaire-sets-up-fund-for-victims-of-climate-5532918.php
"SAN FRANCISCO -- Billionaire Tom Steyer, the leading financial underwriter of campaigns to combat climate change, says he is putting up $2 million to start a fund for victims of wildfires and other "extreme weather events."
Steyer and his wife, Kat Taylor, are announcing the establishment of the Climate Disaster Relief Fund on Friday. They said the fund, managed by the San Francisco Foundation, will provide grants to organizations serving the victims of "climate-related disasters" in the United States, starting with wildfires in the West states during the last year.
While the causes of wildfires vary, Steyer said it's becoming clear that they're getting worse because of higher temperatures and the droughts and infestations of insects that follow. According to the National Climate Assessment released last month by the government-sponsored U.S. Global Change Research Program, he said, climate change could cause a doubling of burned areas in the Rockies and a 74 percent increase in California.
"Climate change is the defining issue of our generation, and we can no longer afford to wait to address this very real threat," Steyer said in a statement. He said the fund would make future grants available to victims of droughts, floods and weather-related oil spills.
He said he was keeping a promise he made last year to donate to wildfire victims all the profits he made from an investment in the oil and gas company Kinder Morgan.
Steyer, who made his fortune in hedge funds, recently pledged to spend up to $100 million in political campaigns this year against Republican candidates for governor and U.S. Senate who deny that climate change is occurring or oppose reductions in carbon emissions. He and Taylor have also contributed $40 million to establish a center for sustainable energy at Stanford University."
"SAN FRANCISCO -- Billionaire Tom Steyer, the leading financial underwriter of campaigns to combat climate change, says he is putting up $2 million to start a fund for victims of wildfires and other "extreme weather events."
Steyer and his wife, Kat Taylor, are announcing the establishment of the Climate Disaster Relief Fund on Friday. They said the fund, managed by the San Francisco Foundation, will provide grants to organizations serving the victims of "climate-related disasters" in the United States, starting with wildfires in the West states during the last year.
While the causes of wildfires vary, Steyer said it's becoming clear that they're getting worse because of higher temperatures and the droughts and infestations of insects that follow. According to the National Climate Assessment released last month by the government-sponsored U.S. Global Change Research Program, he said, climate change could cause a doubling of burned areas in the Rockies and a 74 percent increase in California.
"Climate change is the defining issue of our generation, and we can no longer afford to wait to address this very real threat," Steyer said in a statement. He said the fund would make future grants available to victims of droughts, floods and weather-related oil spills.
He said he was keeping a promise he made last year to donate to wildfire victims all the profits he made from an investment in the oil and gas company Kinder Morgan.
Steyer, who made his fortune in hedge funds, recently pledged to spend up to $100 million in political campaigns this year against Republican candidates for governor and U.S. Senate who deny that climate change is occurring or oppose reductions in carbon emissions. He and Taylor have also contributed $40 million to establish a center for sustainable energy at Stanford University."
Part of the reason for such large fires in the west, is that we are always putting them out ! Then there becomes such a huge amount of old dry wood, that when these naturally occurring fires do happen, they become bigger than they otherwise would be.
I've ridden on logging trails where the amount of dead wood left after cutting the trees is appalling and the logging companies would not allow the public to use the slag for firewood.
Certainly drought conditions and high temperatures make conditions even worse.
I've ridden on logging trails where the amount of dead wood left after cutting the trees is appalling and the logging companies would not allow the public to use the slag for firewood.
Certainly drought conditions and high temperatures make conditions even worse.
Not to change the subject, just venting.
Is there no such thing as Journalism any more? I found the Link you posted about the heat wave and rioting in India interesting and tried to find out more information.
It was link after link of nothing but basically copying and pasting the story. Maybe more information will come out later (unless a Kardashian stumps her toe forcing the “Media” to put this story on the back burner).
Is there no such thing as Journalism any more? I found the Link you posted about the heat wave and rioting in India interesting and tried to find out more information.
It was link after link of nothing but basically copying and pasting the story. Maybe more information will come out later (unless a Kardashian stumps her toe forcing the “Media” to put this story on the back burner).
Some plants can't seed/reproduce without fire.
Rising temps, big money buying up aquifers and prohibiting the use of catchment. This will get ugly sooner rather than later.
http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/world/article/Indians-riot-as-heat-wave-prompts-power-cuts-5535584.php
Indians riot as heat wave prompts power cuts
"......recent temperatures that soared to 47 degrees Celsius (117 Fahrenheit) have caused power demand to spike..........Residents had been particularly angry about the power cuts after receiving reliable supplies through the Indian elections, which ended May 16. Since then, only some regions have been guaranteed unbroken power supplies, while others have received little to none......."
Rising temps, big money buying up aquifers and prohibiting the use of catchment. This will get ugly sooner rather than later.
http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/world/article/Indians-riot-as-heat-wave-prompts-power-cuts-5535584.php
Indians riot as heat wave prompts power cuts
"......recent temperatures that soared to 47 degrees Celsius (117 Fahrenheit) have caused power demand to spike..........Residents had been particularly angry about the power cuts after receiving reliable supplies through the Indian elections, which ended May 16. Since then, only some regions have been guaranteed unbroken power supplies, while others have received little to none......."
I think it is great he is helping people that has fell victim to Wildfires but I think connecting Climate Change to Wildfires is a bit of a stretch. The evolution of plants to adapt to them pretty much debunks the theory for me. The link I was looking for was one that I read awhile back about seeds that actually needs the Fires.
I don't consider myself a "climate change denier". It's Obvious to me we are hurting our planet and are affecting Climate Change but I am not buying the entire package. We have far too much evidence of Climate Changes long before we had Industrial Plants, Automobiles, Fertilizers, etc. Again, don’t take this as if I’m denying our effect on the planet. I will say I have very little respect for Al Gore.
I don't consider myself a "climate change denier". It's Obvious to me we are hurting our planet and are affecting Climate Change but I am not buying the entire package. We have far too much evidence of Climate Changes long before we had Industrial Plants, Automobiles, Fertilizers, etc. Again, don’t take this as if I’m denying our effect on the planet. I will say I have very little respect for Al Gore.
I have no problem with wildfires per se and $2 million helping people who lose their homes is always good PR. But $100 million in political contributions against climate change deniers - priceless.
This is not the Links I was looking for but I have read that some plants have Evolved to adapt to Wildfires. Since it takes quite awhile for the Evolution process, I have to question if Wildfires are caused by Climate Change.
Fire ecology is concerned with the processes linking the natural incidence of fire in an ecosystem and the ecological effects of this fire. Many ecosystems, particularly prairie, savanna, chaparral and conifer forests, have evolved with fire as a necessary contributor to habitatvitality and renewal. Many plant species in naturally fire-affected environments require fire to germinate, establish, or to reproduce. Fire suppression not only eliminates these species, but also the animals that depend upon them. Finally, fire suppression can lead to the build-up of flammable debris and the creation of less frequent but much larger and more destructive wildfires.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_ecology
“Finally, as mentioned above, wildfires can also generate benefits. Many plants regrow quickly following wildfires, because fire converts organic matter to available mineral nutrients. Some plant species, such as aspen and especially many native perennial grasses, also regrow from root systems that are rarely damaged by wildfire. Other plant species, such as lodgepole pine and jack pine, have evolved to depend on stand replacement fires for their regeneration; fire is required to open their cones and spread their seeds. One author identified research reporting various significant ecosystems threatened by fire exclusion — including aspen, whitebark pine, and Ponderosa pine (western montane ecosystems), longleaf pine, pitch pine, and oak savannah (southern and eastern ecosystems), and the tallgrass prairie. Other researchers found that, of the 146 rare, threatened, or endangered plants in the coterminous 48 states for which there is conclusive information on fire effects, 135 species (92%) benefit from fire or are found in fire-adapted ecosystems.
http://www.coloradofirecamp.com/congressional_research/forest-fire-wildfire-effects.htm
Fire ecology is concerned with the processes linking the natural incidence of fire in an ecosystem and the ecological effects of this fire. Many ecosystems, particularly prairie, savanna, chaparral and conifer forests, have evolved with fire as a necessary contributor to habitatvitality and renewal. Many plant species in naturally fire-affected environments require fire to germinate, establish, or to reproduce. Fire suppression not only eliminates these species, but also the animals that depend upon them. Finally, fire suppression can lead to the build-up of flammable debris and the creation of less frequent but much larger and more destructive wildfires.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_ecology
“Finally, as mentioned above, wildfires can also generate benefits. Many plants regrow quickly following wildfires, because fire converts organic matter to available mineral nutrients. Some plant species, such as aspen and especially many native perennial grasses, also regrow from root systems that are rarely damaged by wildfire. Other plant species, such as lodgepole pine and jack pine, have evolved to depend on stand replacement fires for their regeneration; fire is required to open their cones and spread their seeds. One author identified research reporting various significant ecosystems threatened by fire exclusion — including aspen, whitebark pine, and Ponderosa pine (western montane ecosystems), longleaf pine, pitch pine, and oak savannah (southern and eastern ecosystems), and the tallgrass prairie. Other researchers found that, of the 146 rare, threatened, or endangered plants in the coterminous 48 states for which there is conclusive information on fire effects, 135 species (92%) benefit from fire or are found in fire-adapted ecosystems.
http://www.coloradofirecamp.com/congressional_research/forest-fire-wildfire-effects.htm
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