Last week the Democrats in Congress agreed with no apparent debate to forget about trying to do anything to preserve climate stability this year, and, in effect, to move the issue to the back burner. In the widely-quoted words of Senator Claire McKaskill: After you do one really, really big, really, really hard thing thatContinue reading “Climate: Too Big a Problem to Get Excited About”
Category Archives: climate
Climate Stability to Vanish in the 2020’s: Dr. Jeff Masters
Dr. Jeff Masters, a scientist, hurricane watcher, founder of a national Internet weather site, and as respected as any meteorologist in the public eye known to this journalist, predicts when climate stability will collapse: There were 88 presentations on arctic sea ice at the 2008 AGU [American Geophysical Union] conference. None of the presenters expressedContinue reading “Climate Stability to Vanish in the 2020’s: Dr. Jeff Masters”
Fossil Fuel Lobbyists Smoke Enviromentalists in Congress
Before criticizing enviros too harshly for their ineffectiveness, as I did yesterday, and numerous others have as well, perhaps I should have looked at the numbers. The Center for Responsive Politics has done just that, and the results are sobering. Here's how it looks for the environment in the 3rd quarter: ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTA high-profileContinue reading “Fossil Fuel Lobbyists Smoke Enviromentalists in Congress”
Environmentalists Accused of Climate Denialism
Great to see a writer without a famous name roil the blogosphere, as Adam Sacks sets off a storm with an accusation flung in the face of fellow environmentalists on Grist: We're deniers every time we say “80 percent by 2050,” or even “80 percent by 2020”; every time we refer to tipping points inContinue reading “Environmentalists Accused of Climate Denialism”
Why China Needs to Think About Climate
James Fallows, a wonderful writer and blogger for the Atlantic, is not one to panic, but when it comes to the ice at the roof of the world — upon which hundreds of millions of people depend — he sounds scared. Here's his post from today, on what Obama should be talking about on hisContinue reading “Why China Needs to Think About Climate”
Sunbathing in Scotland by 2060?
From the staid London Times: The government’s chief scientific adviser has warned that climate change could destabilise populations across Europe, potentially triggering a wave of migrants heading for cooler regions such as the British Isles and Scandinavia. Professor John Beddington believes that, without deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, average temperatures could rise by aboutContinue reading “Sunbathing in Scotland by 2060?”
The Elephant and the Frog (climate edition)
For the thousandth time, thank you Tom Toles, for publishing your sketchbook:
How the Little Ice Age Reveals Our Climate Control
This month Harper's magazine turns its lead essay over to Stephen Stoll, a historian, who in "The Cold We Caused," delves into the history of climate to show how "nearly incoherent" are the arguments of the likes of climate change denier James Inhofe, Senator from Oklahoma, who continues to insist against the facts that weContinue reading “How the Little Ice Age Reveals Our Climate Control”
End of the Road for Zombie Arguments on Global Warming?
Readers may already have encountered the kerfuffle over a new book by the best-selling Freakonomics team, Stephen Dubner and Steve Levitt, who in a single chapter manage to stand up and push forward most of the brain-dead –aka zombie — arguments on the subject of climate change. It's sad to see such smart guys makeContinue reading “End of the Road for Zombie Arguments on Global Warming?”
More Climate Data for the Fire
As usual, Toles explains the big picture with ease, leaving the rest of us to squabble over the details: To be specific, the last couple of months have brought several grim climate studies to the fore, none of which has raised so much as a ripple of consciousness, as far as yours truly can tell.Continue reading “More Climate Data for the Fire”
Kit Stolz 