Category Archives: climate

Never thought I’d be quoting Arnold Schwarzenegger on any topic, far less global warming, but I think he more than any other politician deserves credit for nailing the most troubling aspect of anthropogenic climate change–that it’s a "self-inflicted wound." But as climate scientist Brenda Ekwurzel points out in a letter to USA Today, that hasContinue reading “Healing the “Self-Inflicted Wound””

From the just-released report by the California Climate Change Center:

In Greenland, reports the Wall Street Journal [$], temperatures have warmed 2.7  degrees Fahrenheit in the last thirty years. This has been good for Greenland’s farmers and ranchers, even though (ironically) Greenlanders support the Kyoto Protocol, and–according to the story–frequently express concern about warming elsewhere. Still,

For Mr. Magnusson and his reindeer ranch, the longer grazing seasons mean fatter animals for slaughter, since reindeer gain about half a pound per day during the spring and summer grazing season. More abundant grasslands have prompted one farmer to buy cows for a government-funded experiment in dairy farming. A longer growing season allows crop farmers to expand their home gardens into commercial enterprises. Fishermen have begun catching tons of warm-water cod, after that fish’s long absence from the region.

"We have so many cold places in Greenland, and a lot of it is covered with ice," says Mr. Magnusson. "So we are grateful for those two extra degrees we get."

In England, it’s a different story. The warming–which is breaking heat waves records this summer–

Anomaly outlook for Canada this upcoming month…

Check out my post on the subject at Gristmill, please. I’m happy to be one of their new contributors. I’ll cross-post  here too, as soon as I figure out the HTML quirks.

This chart, from a geophysical study published in the journal of the National Academy of Sciences last year at about this time, shows carbon emissions by each recent human generation. Generations before us have not hugely altered the atmosphere, but we’re changing all that. Take a look at how much bigger our contribution to theContinue reading “My Generation’s Biggest Challenge? (Graph of the Week)”

According to a story Friday in The Guardian, a huge chunk of rock–twice the size of the Empire State Building–is about to fall off the famous Eiger mountain in the Swiss Alps.  Since the alarm was sounded for the Eiger tourists have been gathering around the town of Grindelwald in the hope of seeing whatContinue reading “Global Warming: The Spectator Sport”

When An Inconvenient Truth first came out, I saw it and (like most who have seen it) really liked it, and talked about it with my friend Nomi Morris.

Nomi, being a long-term reporter, asked exactly the right question: Do you think it will move the debate?

Well, that it has. Here’s the evidence.

For one, the movie has greatly exceeded expectations. A couple of months ago, for example, sharp-witted box office maven David Poland, who runs a site called Movie City News, called Al Gore’s feature "boring" and estimated it would gross about 6-7 million. But the documentary has already grossed close to $10 million, according to Variety [$], and will surpass "Supersize Me," which grossed $11.5 million. Variety projects that:

Assuming "Truth" continues to play at least in major markets throughout the summer, as Paramount Vantage is hoping, it seems to be on track to end up close to the tally of "Bowling for Columbine," which cumed $21.6 million.

The paper goes on to predict that it will play even better overseas, as is usually the case with movies these days, which would put in the $40 million ballpark…a monster hit for a documentary.

But it’s not just the box office numbers. As Martin Peretz, publisher of The New Republic, points out, the paperback version of "An Inconvenient Truth," which some critics consider even better than the movie, will be number one on the major bestseller lists this Sunday. And the success of the book shows that the message is getting through.

It’s no longer a question of: Is Global Warming Happening?

The question now is: What Will Global Warming Mean?

 

Of all current issues, climate change dominated in the LATimes this Sunday. Does that count as good news? (I wish.) Fire in the Southwest worst in years…in June. "Could be a season of historic severity." Key paragraph: That lack of precipitation created the conditions that are causing so many large fires. Meteorologists believe the WestContinue reading “Fire and Ice”

Over at Gristmill, David Roberts has been trying to drum up interest in a new report on a conference  organized by the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies focused on "closing the gap between science and action" on climate change (Download americans_and_climate_change.pdf). It’s a big report, and along the way mentions that Americans areContinue reading ““Stupid” Thinking on Climate Change at Yale”