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11 votes
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Iceberg twice the size of New York City about to break off Antarctica, says NASA
12 votes -
CO2 emissions fall in eighteen countries with strong policies, study finds (in the journal Nature Climate Change)
18 votes -
A world without clouds
12 votes -
Botswana mulls lifting elephant hunting ban
5 votes -
Climate change enters its blood-sucking phase - as winters grow warmer in North America, thirsty ticks are on the move
13 votes -
Powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake hits Ecuador
6 votes -
Not seen for 100 years, a rare Galápagos tortoise was considered all but extinct – until now
10 votes -
Glencore bows to climate lobby and caps coal production
9 votes -
Yes, the Green New Deal is audacious. But we have no choice but to think big.
12 votes -
Wallace Broecker, the geophysicist who popularized the term 'global warming,' has died
8 votes -
Five Melbourne councils forced to dump recycling in landfill as Victoria crisis deepens
5 votes -
The 'nightmare' California flood more dangerous than a huge earthquake
11 votes -
"Insectageddon" is a great story. But what are the facts?
13 votes -
Having children is one of the most destructive things you can to do the environment, say researchers
38 votes -
Florida is drowning. Condos are still being built. Can't humans see the writing on the wall?
18 votes -
Scientists lay out new plan to save the Darling River
6 votes -
Australia to plant one billion trees to help meet climate targets
11 votes -
Where will the materials for our clean energy future come from?
7 votes -
Time to panic - The planet is getting warmer in catastrophic ways. And fear may be the only thing that saves us.
20 votes -
Living plastic-free: One activist fights a rising tide of pollution
7 votes -
If sea levels rise and Pacific nations go under water — what happens to maritime boundaries?
9 votes -
Solar farms shine a ray of hope on bees and butterflies
5 votes -
Climate of North American cities will shift hundreds of miles in one generation
13 votes -
How to solve the world’s plastics problem: Bring back the milk man
21 votes -
You May Be Surprised To Learn Which 2 Countries Are Making The Globe A Lot Greener
4 votes -
Brazil's Pataxo depended on a river that's now polluted with mud
7 votes -
Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature'
34 votes -
2019 Annual Letter from Bill & Melinda Gates: "We didn’t see this coming"
16 votes -
Green New Deal doesn't include nuclear. Good? Bad? What do you think?
18 votes -
Atlantic City is really going down this time
8 votes -
A Green New Deal for housing
12 votes -
A hole opens up under Antarctic glacier — big enough to fit two-thirds of Manhattan
12 votes -
The ‘coal curtain’ is the new Iron Curtain
5 votes -
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez releases Green New Deal outline
29 votes -
UK ban on discarding edible fish at sea thwarted by industry
4 votes -
NSW Land and Environment Court dismisses Gloucester Resources's Rocky Hill Mine appeal
5 votes -
Earth marks fourth hottest year on record as Congress opens climate hearings
10 votes -
'A red screaming alarm bell' to banish fossil fuels: NASA confirms last five years hottest on record
10 votes -
A grand plan to clean the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
10 votes -
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