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10 votes
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Teenagers emerge as a force in climate protests across Europe
13 votes -
To save the planet, the Green New Deal needs to improve urban land use
6 votes -
America colonisation ‘cooled Earth's climate’
6 votes -
OECD: Australia needs to intensify efforts to meet its 2030 emissions goal
4 votes -
Thousands more fish found dead at Menindee (New South Wales) as locals fear there will be 'none left'
Thousands more fish found dead at Menindee as locals fear there will be 'none left' Here's the previous story about the last mass death in the area: A million fish dead in 'distressing' outback...
Thousands more fish found dead at Menindee as locals fear there will be 'none left'
Here's the previous story about the last mass death in the area: A million fish dead in 'distressing' outback algal bloom at Menindee (New South Wales)
This is now the third mass death of fish in that area in the past month.
The state government's response: Menindee fish deaths 'out of NSW Government's hands' says Regional Water Minister Niall Blair
5 votes -
New Zealand heatwave - the science behind why it's so hot
4 votes -
On Thorium Power (and the 'hype' thereof)
I've noticed, particularly on reddit but also elsewhere on the english-speaking internet, that thorium nuclear (MSR/LFTR) power is being hyped. And I can't help but feel suspicious. It seems too...
I've noticed, particularly on reddit but also elsewhere on the english-speaking internet, that thorium nuclear (MSR/LFTR) power is being hyped. And I can't help but feel suspicious. It seems too good to be true. "burns our nuclear waste", "infinite fuel", "Absolutely safe", "Proliferation is not an issue". Stuff like that. Not gonna provide much evidence for those claims existing here, but I'll say that you can usually find them in any big thread involving energy sources and there's a few TED talks too. Coal, conventional nuclear, renewables, any of those is apparently strictly inferior and we're complete morons for not switching already. Coal apparently causes more damage through radiation than nuclear, nuclear is dirty and renewables need something... anything.. to keep them company in case we can't get enough wind/sun. (Also, batteries and hydroelectric storage don't exist.)
German wikipedia has this to say about thorium hype: "Der MSR/LFTR als Teil einer Thoriumnutzung erhält etwa seit dem Jahr 2010 insbesondere im angelsächsischen Raum starke Unterstützung verschiedener Organisationen, während Nuklear- und Energieexperten eher zurückhaltend sind. Einige dieser Befürworter halten den LFTR sogar für die Lösung fast aller Energieprobleme.[2][3][4][5] Kritiker sprechen aus unterschiedlicher Motivation heraus vom MSR- oder Thorium-Hype[6] oder sogar von Astroturfing[7]." - https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fl%C3%BCssigsalzreaktor - paraphrased: MSR/LFTR received strong support in english-speaking areas by various orgs, while nuclear- and energy experts are mostly silent. Some supporters regard LFTR as solution to all energy problems. For various reasons, critics call thorium hyped or even astroturfed. [citations are mostly english, for the curious]
Meanwhile, there's major problems regarding practicality, we can't estimate just how secure it is (keep in mind modern reactor concepts are all "theoretically safe" as long as you keep the human out of the loop and maintain the facility properly.) Proliferation risks of thorium fueled reactors are immense due to U233 (232-contamination doesn't make the weapon less dangerous when used, just more dangerous to handle.). Also, no serious evidence for the capability to burn nuclear waste. And decommissioning a thorium plant seems, as of now, to be just as much of a shit job as a conventional nuclear plant - if not worse.
My main question with this is: How do you view thorium power / did you notice the same trends as I did? I'm just trying to form a conclusion between the hype and a maybe cynical pessimism.
18 votes -
Scientists create liquid fuel that can store the sun's energy for up to eighteen years
15 votes -
Adelaide now hottest Australian capital city on record as temperatures soar throughout South Australia
7 votes -
Difficult to overstate crisis - David Attenborough
13 votes -
Analysis: Rat poison found in 85% of tested mountain lions, bobcats, fishers
8 votes -
Cleaning New York's filthy harbor with one billion oysters
11 votes -
How to make sure your recycling gets recycled
8 votes -
What cities are getting wrong about public transportation
7 votes -
Europe’s most important river is running dry
15 votes -
Food in the Anthropocene
The study published in the Lancet: Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems The editorial in the Lancet: The 21st-century great food...
The study published in the Lancet: Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems
The editorial in the Lancet: The 21st-century great food transformation
An article in Cosmos for people (like me!) who don't have access to the Lancet: Feeding the planet: a call for radical action
7 votes -
Desert
5 votes -
Insect collapse: ‘We are destroying our life support systems’ | A look into a Puerto Rican rainforest
13 votes -
Glaciers are retreating. Millions rely on their water.
9 votes -
The environmental impact of music: Digital, records, CDs analysed
11 votes -
Charities spending millions cleaning up fast fashion graveyard
9 votes -
Waste crisis looms as thousands of solar panels reach end of life
8 votes -
The stunning chart revealing Australia's record-breaking run of rising temperatures
10 votes -
The US Supreme Court just declined to hear Exxon Mobil’s appeal in a climate change lawsuit
19 votes -
A million fish dead in 'distressing' outback algal bloom at Menindee (New South Wales)
6 votes -
The infiltrator: A former Marine working for the private security firm TigerSwan infiltrated an array of anti-Dakota Access pipeline groups at Standing Rock and beyond
12 votes -
Tourists hunker down as Storm Pabuk hurtles towards Thailand
4 votes -
How Western Australia's Pilbara region can generate a heatwave that can stretch to Melbourne
3 votes -
What Happened to 90s Environmentalism?
9 votes -
Rescuers search for survivors in deadly Indonesian landslide
4 votes -
Thinking of going vegan for the new year? Think again.
5 votes -
Total fire bans as catastrophic fire conditions predicted for part of South Australia
5 votes -
Japan formally announces IWC withdrawal to resume commercial whaling
17 votes -
Drone operator stops Christmas Day bushfire waterbombing on Bruny Island
9 votes -
Heatwave sees temperatures soar above forty degrees Celsius across southern Australia
7 votes -
Help arrives at areas struck by Sunda Strait tsunami, while death toll reaches 168
7 votes -
Taiwan has one of the highest recycling rates in the world. Here’s how that happened.
8 votes -
A murder over a Monsanto chemical
8 votes -
Plastic water bottles, which enabled a drinks boom, now threaten a crisis
12 votes -
FBI kept files on peaceful climate change protesters in the US
17 votes -
To slow down climate change, we need to take on capitalism
37 votes -
Climate change: COP24 fails to adopt key scientific report
7 votes -
No more of your junk
7 votes -
The 'great dying': Rapid warming caused largest extinction event ever, report says
13 votes -
As US coal use drops to 1979 levels, Environmental Protection Agency may ease rules on new coal plants
7 votes -
Lost lands? The American wilderness at risk in the Donald Trump era.
11 votes -
Magnitude-7.5 earthquake sparks tsunami warning for New Caledonia, Vanuatu, but no major damage reported
5 votes -
Shell yields to investors by setting target on carbon footprint
9 votes -
Qatar says it will leave OPEC and focus on natural gas
11 votes