skip to main |
skip to sidebar
The Great March for Climate Action | ThinkProgressStarting March 1, 2014, through a non-profit called Great March for Climate Action, 1,000 climate hawks will march from Santa Monica, CA, across the United States to Washington, DC. This will be the largest coast-to-coast march in American history. It is aimed at inspiring and motivating the general public and elected officials to act now to address the climate crisis.
While marchers will undergo eight months of heat, wind, mountainous terrain, and insects, it will be an incredibly rewarding, life-changing adventure to promote a cause they are passionate about. Marchers will walk 14-15 miles per day and tent camp nearly every night.
I think they should strictly avoid utilizing any roads, gear, food, or medical care that have been made available through the use of fossil fuels.
In Berlin, Obama will invoke JFK, Reagan to push climate change | WashingtonExaminer.comFollowing a well-worn path to Germany's Brandenburg Gate, President Obama plans to invoke America's most important speakers at the Berlin landmark -- John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan -- as he seeks to revive his promise to curb climate change.
...
In his speech, JFK famously called himself "ein Berliner," while Reagan called on the former Soviet Union to "tear down" the Berlin Wall that separated the democratic West from Communist East Germany. Neither mentioned climate change or global warming.
1927 Arctic Trip Ruined By Extreme Heat, Fires And Melting Permafrost | Real Sciencethe motor party journeyed to 270 miles north of the Arctic Circle, prepared for freezing weather. To their continued astonishment the temperature was never’ less than 90 degrees in the shade. The intention was to reach the Arctic Ocean, but 40 miles of marsh country on the coast prevented this
1934 : 100+ Degrees In Alaska | Real ScienceRecord Slow Fire Season Continues : Burn Acreage Less Than One-Third Of Normal | Real Science
The Simple (And Frightening) Climate Math That Not Even Bill McKibben Seems Willing To DoAs a personal challenge for Earth Week, I gave up direct fossil fuel consumption entirely, completely avoiding the use of any fossil fuels for heating, lighting, cooking, or transportation. This meant turning off the heat and hot water in my house, and cooking with an electric crockpot and microwave. I pay a few cents extra for 100% wind electricity at my house, so I didn’t have to turn off the lights. Two days I biked and kayaked to work; three days I rode my electric motorcycle that is charged by solar panels at my house and at the E-House at Pace Law School. The only thing I am really, really missing is a hot shower!
Bill McKibben’s “Fossil Free” campaign means divestment. But, as McKibben points out, the technologies to eliminate fossil fuel use are already available. They just happen to be more expensive and less convenient, so consumers don’t choose them — a classic case of consumer environmental externalities. Why not a “Fossil Free” Campaign for a boycott of the fossil fuels? Now that would really bring the fossil fuel industry to its knees.
Is Obama So Feckless On Climate Change That He's Influenced By Meaningless Dial Testing? | ThinkProgressSo the President is basing his climate policy decisions on something that has no scientific validity. Awesome. Perhaps next time it’ll be Tarot cards — or denier blogs, which are much the same thing.
...
Climate action is not only a political winner according to pretty much every poll, it is a moral necessity, something Obama himself made clear just last year.
Robber Lords and the Marketplace of Bad Ideas » Climate ResistanceFor a chamber that is populated by people who are appointed on the basis of merit, replacing the feudal system, it was a very disappointing experience. It’s not simply that I disagreed with many of the comments; the problem is with their total mediocrity. Nigel Lawson and Matt Ridley made good arguments, but the putative ‘rebuttals’, were all of the kind we’re so used to hearing: the deference to the scientific consensus, and the litany of climate catastrophes that await us. The latter invariably consists of cobbled-together factoids. And the former, as ever, allows someone with very little brain power to marshal ignorance against a better-informed argument.
That much is old news. We’re used to that. But one theme came up often in the arguments in favour of the Bill that I hadn’t given too much thought to before: the apparent need to create ‘investor confidence’ in the renewable energy sector.
Marshall Islands Has New Climate Diplomacy Advisor He has a doctorate in environmental physics from the UK
Video games (for promoting science) | Dean Burnett | Science | guardian.co.ukIn Grand Theft Climate, you play a climate scientist who, after years of harassment, public attacks and scorn, and political interference and suppression, finally snaps and takes matters into his own hands. Much like the Grand Theft Auto games for which it is named, Grand Theft Climate is an open-world "sandbox" game that the player can explore at will.
The purpose of the game is to defend the environment and punish those who are callously contributing to climate change. Pull people out of cars, but rather than steal them, switch the engine off then throw the keys off a bridge. Plant trees in public areas under cover of darkness. Catch people putting organic waste into recycling bins, fish it out, and then force them to eat it. See people riding bikes or jogging and reward them with money or sandwiches. Break into heavy polluting factories and mess all their files up.
Grand Theft Climate allows you to do all the things climate scientists would never do but probably think about a lot.
Davey: climate deniers are crackpots and conspiracy theorists | RTCC Climate Change NewsUK climate and energy chief Ed Davey has launched his strongest attack yet on hardline climate change sceptics, branding them “crackpots” and “conspiracy theorists”.
...
“There will always be those with a vested interest in the status quo. Who seek to create doubt where there is certainty,” he said. “And you will always get crackpots and conspiracy theorists who will deny they have a nose on their face if it suits them.
“But the truth is this: while forecasts of the future rate at which the world will warm differ, and while many accept we will see periods when warming temporarily plateaus, all the scientific evidence is in one direction.
“And climate change’s long-term impact on the global economy? Well, we can be sure it will make current economic troubles look mild in comparison.”
...
During that debate former UK Chancellor and well-known climate sceptic Lord Lawson told his fellow peers attempts by the UK government to meet climate targets were “stupid”, reportedly adding that the “whole of this filth was predicated on a global [climate] agreement”.
2006: Behind the Ever-Expanding American Dream House : NPRIs it wealth? Is it greed? Or are there more subtle things going on?
...
Another critic is John Halsey, president of the Peconic Land Trust, an organization that tries to protect open spaces and agricultural land. For Halsey, the "Big House" is all about the American lifestyle: how we live, what we drive, and how we fail to appreciate the finite nature of land and energy resources.
"Who needs 15,000-square-foot houses?" Halsey says. "I worry about the future of a culture and a society that has this extent of excess in it. I think there is a disconnect, and we are in a bubble. Somehow, we are just not experiencing the realities that the rest of the world is."
2013: NPR Shows Off New Facility - FishbowlDCNPR recently moved from Chinatown into its new 400,000 square-foot home on North Capitol, and they’re excited about it. Eager to show off the new facility, the organization offered a tour to members of the media Tuesday morning, starting with breakfast from their in-house chefs, along with some talking points from CEO Gary Knell, who outlined some impressive features of the space.
The goal in the new building was to have plenty of open space to promote collaboration, something that was difficult in the smaller, closed-office building NPR used to operate out of. The newsroom is a good example of this. Spreading 100,000 square feet over two floors, the entire room is open, with the second floor operating more like a balcony around the lower level.
...
— The almost 800-person staff is extremely diverse, and they all are really glad the be in the new building.
The tour continued through the wellness center, which is capable of simple medical procedures, the fitness center, which is staffed by a trainer, and the cafe, which utilizes the same catering company as Google.
Seattle Adopts Bold Climate Action Plan, Aims To Be Carbon Neutral By 2050 | ThinkProgressThe Seattle City Council unanimously passed a far-reaching Climate Action Plan Monday, with the ultimate goal of reaching zero net emissions by 2050.
Pool Corp. cuts year outlook due to cold weather - BusinessweekCOVINGTON, La. (AP) — Pool Corp., which distributes supplies for swimming pools, cut its profit estimate for the year because cool, wet weather in North America and Europe is hurting its sales.
The company said the unusually cool weather led to later pool openings and fewer purchases by consumers.
The Green Jobs Fairy Tale | NoFrakkingConsensusPoliticians, having blindly parroted environmentalist rhetoric about green jobs, look increasingly foolish.
Obama considers sweeping climate plan - latimes.com"This is an important issue to the president. It's a question of his legacy," said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), ranking member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "Five years from now, people will be talking about what the Obama administration did on climate change, not entitlements or the deficit or whatever they are talking about now. Because climate change is here and real, and we have to address it."
Twitter / Revkin: Glad @electionate sees #AGW ...Glad sees clarity is on basics. Durable questions on sensitivity etc normal.
How to recruit one million women for a good causeRecipe For Change – a weekend of nationwide chit-chat about how women can be more environmentally friendly – is run by Isaacs' charity, 1 Million Women (1MW). Its mission is to recruit 1 million women to cut 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. Any woman who registers commits to cutting one tonne of CO2 within a year of joining the movement, and she can track progress online.
There are currently 77, 000 women registered.
...
Now, she has some high-profile ambassadors committed to the cause: MasterChef winner Julie Goodwin, surfing royalty Layne Beachley, Terry and Bindi Irwin, Play School alumnus Noni Hazlehurst, and Carnival Australia CEO Ann Sherry. Country singer Melinda Schneider's song Courageous is the campaign's theme song. [Far be it from me to be critical, but since when are these "high-profile" people?] [Via MT]
Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediathe natural decay of organic material in forests and grasslands and the action of forest fires results in the release of about 439 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide every year
Enough is enough on climate change - The Washington PostThe time for pampering the public has long passed, and it is now necessary to push a bitter pill down the throat of Congress. The president has nothing to lose personally; any action to reduce the U.S. carbon footprint will be on the right side of history. I would rather see the president lose the support of some voters by taking the high moral ground on this issue than to see him wimp out just so that another ineffectual Democrat can win the White House in 2016.
Richard Nunno, Washington
The writer is editor of the Sierra Club’s DC chapter newsletter, Capital Sierran.
Advanced Alien Civilization Discovers Uninhabitable Planet | The Onion - America's Finest News SourceThe alien researchers stated that the dramatically warming atmosphere of RP-26 contains alarming amounts of carbon dioxide and methane, as well as an ozone layer that—for reasons they cannot begin to fathom—has been allowed to develop a gaping hole. They also noted the presence of melting polar icecaps, floods, and enough pollutants to poison “every last drop of the planet’s fresh water, if you can even call it that.”
Green Weenie of the Week: Jerry Brown | Power LineNow I know what you’re thinking: doesn’t California Governor Jerry Brown deserve a coveted Power Line Green Weenie lifetime achievement award for some of the things he did 35 years ago, when he was governor first time around? Goes without saying. It was back during Brown’s “Moonbeam” years that California embarked on its dirigisme energy policy, with some of the first major subsidies for wind and solar power that gave the nation its first major wind farms at Tehachapi and Altamont Passes, both of which produce about the same amount of electricity as a coal fired power plant, but take up 100 times the land area, not to mention more steel, etc.
Energy Geek Week: Peak Oil RIP Edition | Power Line...The first figure below displays the 60 percent growth in proven global oil reserves over the last 20 years. This is not just the result of recent technological advances such as directional drilling and fracking: the second figure takes BP’s data back to 1980, which shows a steady increase in reserves throughout the period amounting to a 144 percent increase. (That kink in the line in the late 1990s corresponds to the collapse in oil prices down to about $10 a barrel at the time. Simple lesson: price matters.) Click to enlarge either chart.
All of a Sudden, There Aren’t Enough Electric Cars to Keep Up with Demand | TIME.comFor the time being, Honda is sticking with a plan to sell a maximum of just 1,100 Fit EVs in the U.S. As the LA Times put it, “there is little financial incentive to increase production” on the Fit EV because Honda loses money on each of the cars it builds.
Quite possibly the dumbest example of ‘Tabloid Climatology’ ever from Climate Central’s Andrew Freedman | Watts Up With That?Gosh, I never knew that sea level rise was so abrupt that it would catch those speedy airliners off guard so fast they couldn’t move out of the way. The climate change onset was so fast…that maybe future archeologists will find fossilized passengers with half chewed peanuts still in their mouths.
As they say, ‘the stupid, it burns’.
G8 Meeting: Climate Change Laid To Rest :: The Market Oracle :: Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting Free WebsiteRitual whines that this meeting is yet another “last hope for an international agreement that could avert catastrophic climate change” have worn thin, very thin. The real world potential for any international climate change pact setting European-style ETS carbon taxes and tradable permits is zero and not worth talking about. Linked whining about “rising concern” that the UK government is watering down its climate change mitigation ambitions, the same way these are on the point of being watered down in Germany, other European countries and the European Commission, are also not worth talking about – because the die is cast and change is coming.
Run of wet summers could last another 10 years - TelegraphBritain has a higher chance of wet summers for up to the next ten years, the Met Office has predicted, after a new weather pattern was identified in the North Atlantic.
Stephen Belcher, the Head of the Met Office, said there is a “glimpse” of hope that the run of wet summers could come to an end within five to ten years.
The national forecasters called a summit to discuss the strange seasons in the UK after the freezing winter in 2010, followed by the soggy summer 2012 and this year’s cold spring.
The high level meeting concluded that climate change is a major factor in colder winters.
...
This “North Atlantic Oscillation” pushes the jet stream south...It caused a run of wet summers in the late 1950s and early 1960s and in the 1880s.
The Met Office do not know exactly what causes the pattern to repeat but predict it will last for another ten years. The current run of wet summers began in 2007 and usually the pattern lasts for ten to 20 years.
Stephen Belcher, the Head of the Met Office, said there is a “glimpse” of hope that the run of wet summers could come to an end within five to ten years.
“There are hints that in five to ten years it [the chance of wetter summers] could end.”
However, it could last longer.
2006: Drought, gales and refugees: what will happen as UK hots up | Science | The GuardianSummer fetes are less likely to be rained off...Rainfall will decline in the summer...
A Reality Check on a Plan for a Swift Post-Fossil Path for New York - NYTimes.comEnergy Policy, the journal that recently published a paper laying out an ambitious plan to end fossil fuel use in New York State within a few decades, has now published a short critique by four researchers in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University.
Germany’s Solar Industry “Ends In A Debacle”, Resulting In 21 Billion Euros Of Destroyed CapitalJust call it the Great Solar Energy Bubble! It has popped for good, and what’s left behind is a whopping 21 billion euros in destroyed capital, Germany’s flagship daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) writes today.
THE HOCKEY SCHTICK: Paper finds ~50% of warming over past 30 years was due to natural ocean oscillationsA paper presented at the NTU International Science Conference on Climate Change finds that the natural Pacific Decadal Oscillation [PDO] and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation [AMO] are responsible for about 50% of the warming observed over the past 30 years. According to the author, "In the past 30 years, the two multi-decadal oscillations contribute about half of the global mean surface temperature warming." Prior research has shown that solar activity changes were responsible for at least 50% of the observed warming over the past century. In addition, solar activity has been shown to influence ocean oscillations. Thus, most of the observed warming in recent decades can be attributed to natural causes.
Global Warming and Our Inconvenient Minds - NYTimes.com[At the 22-min. mark in the video, Richard Alley says "The people who are benefiting right now are rich people in cold places who are burning a lot of fossil fuels. The people who are getting hurt are poor people in hot places who aren't causing much of the change, or people who haven't been born yet."]
[On a Penn State web site] Dr. Richard Alley, received the Nobel Peace Prize for work on climate change Dr. Richard Alley is a Penn State professor, environmental scientist, PBS host, book author, polar ice expert, bicycle enthusiast, geologist, Nobel Prize winner, Johnny Cash impersonator, former oil company employee
AAAS - Richard B. Alley Receives 2012 AAAS Public Engagement with Science AwardAAAS has named Richard B. Alley as the recipient of the 2012 AAAS Public Engagement with Science Award, recognizing “his decades-long, broad-based and exceptionally effective efforts communicating the best of climate science to excite the interests of the general public and policymakers.”
Carbon emissions reduction 56th on G8 96-point list | JunkScience.comAnd the “strong commitment” to the “urgent need” comes with a big escape hatch — action “consistent with science.”
Twitter / rtcc_edking: Ed Davey: "you will always ...Ed Davey: "you will always get crackpots and conspiracy theorists who will deny they have a nose on their face if it suits them" #climate
Gulf of Boothia, unheralded Arctic utopia, has the highest density of polar bears worldwide | polarbearscienceIn other words, despite there being no trend in either sea ice conditions or habitat for seals – and a yearly harvest of 40 bears – polar bear numbers in the Gulf of Boothia increased significantly (by almost 700 bears) during the twenty years between 1980 and 2000. Even if the 1986 estimate of approximately 900 bears was somewhat less accurate than the more recent one, the fact that tiny Gulf of Boothia can support 1,592 bears is surely a remarkable feat.
Interview: John Ashton CBE on climate change, politics and leadership - Clean Tech - Clean Tech | siliconrepublic.com - Ireland's Technology News ServiceSince leaving his post in the Foreign Office in June 2012, Ashton says he is still in touch with the organisation he founded Third Generation Environmentalism (E3G), but is taking some time out from a formal role, as he tries to find "a richer and more compelling way of thinking and talking about the issue of climate change".
The Citizen Online | Carbon tax must protect poorNational Treasury's proposal to introduce a carbon tax should ensure the poor are protected from high energy prices, an analyst said on Tuesday.
U.S. Airports Face Increasing Threat From Rising Seas | Climate [Hoax] Central[caption] What La Guardia Airport could look like with 5 feet of sea level rise, an amount that could occur by 2100, according to some estimates.
PCC | Shared Resources
Target grade: 1
1st grade introduction to carbon emissions and how as an individual, family and class we can lower our carbon footprint. [PDF]
From the PDF above:
RESULTS: As a class we voted to plan a “Walk to School Day!”
We have also started a garden to grow food for our pet tortoise
Meteorological Soc. President plays race card against wrong opponent | JunkScience.comThere is no credible evidence that American ambient air — even in urban areas — hurts anyone, whether black, white, brown or whatever. Blacks may indeed be more likely to have asthma than whites, but the reasons are not understood — but it certainly has nothing to do with global warming. Cities are warmer because of the urban heat island effect — not global warming. Finally, air quality and climate change are not at all the same issue.
Climate Commission’s dupe: “one in two chance” of no humans by 2100 | Herald Sun Andrew Bolt BlogRetired admiral Chris Barrie is disturbingly prone to alarmism. He tells the ABC he’s read a book, Lord Rees’ Our Final Hour, which he says warned we’d be wiped out if we didn’t face “the climate change consequences and some other behaviours that are not so good”:
There’s a one in two chance that by 2100 there’ll be no human beings left on this planet. The planet will exist, but it’s just that my granddaughter won’t be part of it. And I think that’s a pretty alarming statistic, probability, one in two chance if we don’t correct out behaviours.
How Climate Science Works | NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THATWhen giving evidence at the Parliamentary Science & Technology Committee in 2010, Phil Jones was asked how often scientists reviewing his papers for probity before publication asked to see details of his raw data, methodology and computer codes.
"They’ve never asked," he said.
Smithsonian anthropologist Rick Potts answers questions about the AnthropoceneQ: Can we reverse some of the negative effects of the Anthropocene?
Potts: I think there are some things that are too late. For example, the use of carbon-based fuels. Even if we stop right now the earth is going to warm immensely. Population increase – it’s hard to get people to stop having fulfilling lives with families. I think a vision for the Anthropocene is really a matter of–do you try to lower the river or raise the bridge? Lowering the river is really hard to do when the flood of Anthropocene events are coming closer to our own communities. Is raising the bridge an option? Well, I think we need to look at a third option: that is, accommodate the rising tide of problems that the Anthropocene poses and realize we’re all in the same ship together. I believe we need to figure out a way to have a ship that is larger than ourselves and includes as much biological diversity and cultural diversity that can fit into the large boat
Posts
