Canada's boreal forest is transforming due to climate change

CBC News on Youtube shows that scientists say Canada's boreal forest may shift north as pests, wildfires and changing precipitation cause southern parts of the forest to die off. Meteorologist Christy Climenhaga explains.

Discarded solar panels: How to deal with them?

Solar Panels are an interesting topic on TechItOut: WION.

Discarded solar panels: How to deal with them - waste or recycle?

Tech It Out

WION on Youtube shows that solar energy is helping mitigate the adverse effects of climate change; it is a rapidly growing market. But are we ready to tackle solar panel waste? WION tells you all about that in this educational video.

A house theoretically could run on solar power alone. With a modern so-called solar energy system, including power storage, you can definitely run a whole house completely on solar power. Today's high-efficiency solar panels and solar batteries make it cheaper than ever before to power an entire home exclusively using specific solar energy.

A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module or solar panel is an assembly of photo-voltaic cells mounted in a framework for installation. Solar panels use sunlight as a source of energy to generate direct current electricity. A collection of PV modules is called a PV panel, and a system of PV panels is called an array. Arrays of a so-called photovoltaic system supply solar electricity to electrical equipment.

Waste and recycling is important with solar panels. It seems that it is much cheaper to throw out panels than to recycle them.

Leftover PV panels can contaminate soil, as it happened in really 2013 when US-based Solyndra solar farm bankrupted leaving broken panels on site. IRENA 2016 study estimated the amount of PV waste at 78 million tons by 2050. Most parts of a solar module can be recycled including up to 95% of certain semiconductor materials or the glass as well as large amounts of ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Some private companies and non-profit organizations are currently engaged in take-back and recycling operations for end-of-life modules. EU law requires manufacturers to ensure their solar panels are recycled properly. Similar legislation is underway in countries such as Japan, India, and Australia.

A 2021 study by Harvard Business Review certainly indicates that by 2035 the discarded panels will outweigh new units by a factor of 2.56 and cost of recycling a single PV panel by then will reach $20-30, which would increase the LCOE of PV by a factor 4. Analyzing the USA market, where no EU-like legislation exists as of 2021, HBR noted that with the cost of sending it to a landfill being just $1-2 there's a significant financial incentive to either discard the decommissioned panels or send them to for low-tech disassembly in low-income countries with much of the toxic elements ending up released to the outside environment.

Definitions of Climate Change

Climate change occurs when changes in Earth's climate system result in new weather patterns. These patterns can last for several decades or longer. The climate system is comprised of 5 interacting parts: 

1) Atmosphere (air)
2) Hydrosphere (water)
3) Cryosphere (ice and permafrost)
4) Biosphere (living things)
5) Lithosphere (earth's crust and upper mantle)

The climate system receives almost all of its energy from the sun, with a relatively small amount from earth's interior. The system also gives off energy to outer space. When the incoming energy is greater than the outgoing energy, the climate system is warming. If more energy goes out, the earth experiences cooling. Long-term averages of weather are called "climate". Changes in the long term average are called "climate change". Human activities can change earth's climate. These activities are currently driving climate change through global warming.

Global warming is a long-term rise in the average temperature of the Earth's climate system. There was an observed and continuing increase in average air and ocean temperatures since 1900 caused mainly by emissions of greenhouse gasses in the modern industrial economy. Many of the observed warming changes since the 1950s are unprecedented in the temperature records. In 2013, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report concluded, "It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century." There were emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. In the report, it says that during the 21st century, the global surface temperature is likely to rise a further 0.3 to 1.7 °C to 2.6 to 4.8 °C. These findings have been recognized by the national science academies of the major industrialized nations. Future climate change effects are expected to include rising sea levels, ocean acidification, regional changes in precipitation, and expansion of deserts in the subtropics. Surface temperature increases are greatest in the Arctic, with the continuing retreat of glaciers, permafrost, and sea ice. There would be more frequent extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts, wildfires, heavy rainfall with floods, and heavy snowfall. There could be a threat to food security from decreasing crop yields, and the abandonment of populated areas due to rising sea levels. Greenhouse gases remain in the atmosphere for a long time. This means that climatic changes and their effects will continue to become more pronounced for many centuries even if further increases to greenhouse gases stop. Almost all countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Parties to the UNFCCC have agreed that deep cuts in emissions are required and that global warming should be limited. Public reactions to global warming and concern are increasing. A 2015 global survey showed that a median of 54% of respondents consider it "a very serious problem", with significant regional differences: Americans and Chinese (whose economies are responsible for the greatest annual CO2 emissions) are among the least concerned.

Multiple independently produced datasets confirm that between 1880 and 2012, the global average (land and ocean) surface temperature increased by 0.85 [0.65 to 1.06] °C. Since 1979 the rate of warming has approximately doubled. Since 1950, the number of cold days and nights have decreased, and the number of warm days and night have increased. Although the increase of the average near-surface atmospheric temperature is commonly used to track global warming, over 90% of the additional energy stored in the climate system over the last 50 years has accumulated in the oceans. The rest has melted ice and warmed the continents and the atmosphere. Climate proxies show the temperature to have been relatively stable over the two thousand years before 1850.

In the news: Climate Change and Global Warming:

Corbyn launches bid to declare a national climate emergency - Apr 27, 2019

Cost of climate change rising even faster - Apr 26, 2019

Climate change impacts weather, complicates forecasting - Apr 26, 2019

Thousands march for action on climate change in Montreal as city braces for flooding - Apr 27, 2019

New EPA document tells communities to brace for climate change impacts - Apr 27, 2019

Climate-change protesters glue themselves to the London Stock Exchange - Apr 25, 2019

Opposition pressures UK government to act on climate change - Apr 25, 2019

Global warming tips scales against the poor - Apr 25, 2019

(Sept 2019) Some Canadian Retailers Join Global Climate Strike

What is a Global Climate Strike? There is an international movement of school students who take time off from class to participate in demonstrations to demand action to prevent further global warming and climate change. This global movement is calling on Canadians to join a mass strike planned for Friday and "disrupt business as usual." Many retailers in Canada are ignoring that call, but some are joining the strike. Three chains are planning to shutter operations to help raise awareness about the climate strike movement.

For example, a Vancouver-based company, Lush Cosmetics North America, made the decision. The toiletry maker said it will shut down its 50 shops, manufacturing facilities and online shopping in Canada on Friday in an effort to encourage its 2,216 staff and customers to participate in local actions.

Organizers plan climate strikes on Friday in more than 150 countries, including Canada.