The dull factual scientific answer to Alissa Walker's provocative question is: Probably not. Or: Not yet. After all, even climatologists who spend a great deal of time discussing global warming in the media, such as Gavin Schmidt of Real Climate, are not ready to attribute the cold couple of weeks we had recently to rippleContinue reading “Are frequent fliers to blame for extreme weather delays?”
Category Archives: activism
2010: three or four things not to forget
We can't remember everything. Blessedly. But some things from 2010 are too good to forget: Why telling the truth about climate change is good politics, from David Roberts: No matter what derangements currently hold sway over American politics, eventually, reality will out. The crazy weather will get worse, ice fields will melt, agriculture will suffer,Continue reading “2010: three or four things not to forget”
Seeing the stars in the 21st century…or not
Yesterday the Los Angeles Times ran a superb story called A Desert Plea: Let there be darkness about light pollution spreading from the city out into the desert, many many miles away. This is something we noticed when we moved from the city out to the sticks ourselves — in ourselves. Put simply, country people areContinue reading “Seeing the stars in the 21st century…or not”
Obama admin: We’re “not giving up” on climate action
From a press conference today at the AGU, with the prez's chief science advisor: Bud Ward: It seems that over the last two years the momentum on climate change has been lost. The Obama administration came in with climate as one of the adminstration's top priority, and the President is a great communicator. Two years agoContinue reading “Obama admin: We’re “not giving up” on climate action”
Cancun talks do not end in failure
Newspaper headlines by their nature are expected to state what happened, not what did not happen, because what did not happen is not, after all, news. Unlike the headline above. But the truth of the modest deal that emerged between 190 nations negotiating at Cancun, under the auspices of the United Nations, is that theContinue reading “Cancun talks do not end in failure”
Data-driven journalism: Factory Farm Map
Though newspapers are, blessedly, finding a way to hang on through hard, hard times, the real cutting-edge in journalism is arguably found at the intersection of data and the web, with relatively little writing involved. Here's a prime example, via the hard-working activists at food&waterwatch. The future: It's much more statistical than the past. (Here'sContinue reading “Data-driven journalism: Factory Farm Map”
Climate scientists not pushing back against denialism, says American Geophysical Union
A story Sunday in the Los Angeles Times reported that climate scientists were joining in an effort to "push back" against a rise tide of climate change denial. The story said that Monday the American Geophysical Union would announce an effort by 700 scientists to "speak out as experts." But today the AGU said no,Continue reading “Climate scientists not pushing back against denialism, says American Geophysical Union”
“We will not leave our problems for our children unresolved”: Marco Rubio
Senator-elect Marco Rubio gave a fascinating speech Tuesday night in Florida. It's been widely broadcast, major portions even on All Things Considered, but hasn't been available in print on the Web (not that I have found, anyhow). So here, as a public service, let me present the two-edged sword of Republican idealism and denial. Americans believeContinue reading ““We will not leave our problems for our children unresolved”: Marco Rubio”
Climate karma: Texas to catch hell
According to the EPA, Texas emits a far higher volume of greenhouse gases than any other state — more than 676 million tons a year. For the sake of context, that's more than many entire regions put together; more than twice as much as Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Utah combined, for instance. CaliforniaContinue reading “Climate karma: Texas to catch hell”
Plan Z: preparing for the mega-catastrophe
This week our nation's most influential newspaper ran a thoughtful, tough-minded op-ed on what to do about climate change that broke a lot of new ground…and seems to been overlooked. I haven't linked previously, because I'm still mulling its ideas. But the time has come to recommend it to my readers. It's called Disaster atContinue reading “Plan Z: preparing for the mega-catastrophe”
Kit Stolz 