From the Miami Herald: CHACALTAYA, Bolivia — — If anyone needs a reminder of the on-the-ground impacts of global climate change, come to the Andes mountains in Bolivia. At 17,388 feet above sea level, Chacaltaya, an 18,000 year-old glacier that delighted thousands of visitors for decades, is gone, completely melted away as of some sad,Continue reading “End of the “Cold Road”: 18,000 Year-Old Glacier Vanishes”
Category Archives: climate
Climate Scientists See a Different Planet On the Way
According to a poll of top climate scientists attending a conference last month in Copenhagen, the world will not succeed in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in what James Hansen likes to call "A Different Planet." According to The Guardian: Of more than 250 experts surveyed, more than half said the 2C target could stillContinue reading “Climate Scientists See a Different Planet On the Way”
George Will is an Irresponsible Jerk
Okay, that's putting it bluntly, and perhaps on matters besides global warming, Will is a trustworthy friend, a good father, faithful husband, a and so on and so forth. On all that, I have no idea. But when it comes to climate change, Will is the bow-tied personification of another George — Bush. He's incuriousContinue reading “George Will is an Irresponsible Jerk”
On Climate: “The Expert is Scared”
From the Aspen Environment Forum: “Maybe that’s the narrative: The expert is scared.” —Robert Socolow, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Co-Principal Investigator, Princeton University’s Carbon Mitigation Initiative Note that Socolow in the climate/energy field is considered something of a hopeful moderate. Probably should have attended this conference. List of speakers, beginning with Lisa Jackson,Continue reading “On Climate: “The Expert is Scared””
Geo-Engineering: The Ecologist Doesn’t Like It
According to The Ecologist, the technological fixes for global warming are untested, dangerous, expensive, and probably ineffective. (See the chart below.) This may all be true, but as more than one scientist pointed out at this year's American Geophysical Union conference, if the news about global warming is as bad as some fear, we reallyContinue reading “Geo-Engineering: The Ecologist Doesn’t Like It”
Climate: It’s Not Just a Metaphor
Hope you can read my Climate: It's Not Just a Metaphor op-ed, published this Sunday in the Ventura County Star…here with links. "Something a little strange has happened in our national conversation about the economic crisis. Our economic experts frequently speak and write of the fiscal climate as if it were the physical climate. ByContinue reading “Climate: It’s Not Just a Metaphor”
Bad News: Methane Release Threatens Planet — Good News: LA Times Still on the Climate Beat
Here's a strange good news/bad news story. This Sunday the top story on the front pages of the Los Angeles Times was a full-scale feature, complete with excellent graphics, on methane released by the softening of the permafrost. The good news is that the newspaper is still covering the climate beat in a serious way.Continue reading “Bad News: Methane Release Threatens Planet — Good News: LA Times Still on the Climate Beat”
The Melting in Antartica: Much Worse Than Predicted
Yale's potent Environment 360 site interviews a leading glaciologist, Richard Bindschadler, and hears some alarming news about the melt in the coastal Pine Island and Thwaites ice shelves…. e360: I know that the IPCC was saying maybe 1 ½ feet or a half-meter of sea level rise in the 21st century. Is it your opinionContinue reading “The Melting in Antartica: Much Worse Than Predicted”
Climate Change and Drought: Quote of the Week
"Water will be the delivery mechanism of climate change in the West." (From Kathy Jacobs, who once managed water for the Tucson area, and until now headed up the Arizona Water Institute, which unfortunately is going down to budget cuts. Its work was backed by the outgoing governor Janet Napolitano: When she left to becomeContinue reading “Climate Change and Drought: Quote of the Week”
“A Crisis into a Catastrophe”: How to Frame the Economic Meltdown — and Global Warming
Tuesday Steven Chu, the newly-appointed Secretary of Energy, warned that if global warming is not slowed, California agriculture could be destroyed this century. He told the Los Angeles Times: California's farms and vineyards could vanish by the end of the century, and its major cities could be in jeopardy, if Americans do not act toContinue reading ““A Crisis into a Catastrophe”: How to Frame the Economic Meltdown — and Global Warming”
Kit Stolz 