People opposed to action on global warming use three arguments most often: global warming is not caused by human activities, reducing CO2 will slow economic growth and really it's just an excuse for eco-liberals to create a neo-fascist nanny state to run everyone's life in an irritating and politically correct fashion.
There isn't much I can add to the debate on the first issue, but let's talk about the other two, with the help of the graph above which I found at the Canadian Green Party website.
Mountains are the "water towers of the world". More than half of the world's fresh water comes from mountain runoff and a large percentage of that runoff is glacial meltwater. The mountain headwaters of Glacier National Park (GNP) drain into the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, and Hudson Bay watersheds so it is an important source of fresh water for the North American continent.
There are apparently some liberals, and some Democrats, and some independents out there, who claim that the media is not only not "liberally biased," but that it in general slants its coverage in order to make the facts come across as less biased to the right and far right. (Most often accomplished, so this claim goes, by largely ignoring or glossing over them, but other times, by miscontruing them or simply parroting misleading arguments with little objective context.)
You can find more posts on climate change science, policy, and news on Climate 411.
Have you ever spent time scrolling through NASA's image gallery? Some of the pictures are absolutely mesmerizing. I particularly like "Blue Marble" (below the fold), which was stitched together using satellite data.
Satellites provide more than pretty pictures, though. Our ability to understand and predict climate change depends on continuous high-quality satellite data.
Unfortunately, this critical data stream is threatened by budget cuts and lack of political support. In 2005, the National Academies assessed the situation and deemed it "alarming". Three years later, the outlook has not improved.
Follow me over the fold to learn more about why this is important, how this critical resource is threatened, and what the next administration needs to do about it.
Who knew that the US is currently exporting 1.8 million barrels of oil a day?
To make sure everybody does, Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, sent a public letter to President Bush, asking him to "keep our oil at home."
As deforestation accelerates and grows ever more concentrated the consequences on climate change are even greater than previously thought. As reported in New Scientist:
Pristine temperate forest stores three times more carbon than currently estimated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and 60% more than plantation forests, according to research in Australia.
You can find more posts on climate change science, policy, and news on Climate 411.
What does "wildlife conservation" mean to you? Setting aside land? Restoring habitat? Reducing local stresses to species or ecosystems? These are the conventional methods. But because of rapid climate change, scientists in a recent paper say this may not be enough:
[T]he future for many species and ecosystems is so bleak that assisted colonization might be their best chance.
Assisted colonization - moving species to sites where they aren't native - is a high-risk suggestion. There are many cases where introduced species have become invasive and wreaked havoc on economies, human health, and native ecosystems.
So why would some of the world's leading biologists make such a suggestion?
Shares in Denmark's Vestas -- the world's #1 wind turbine maker -- shot up 8 percent last Friday on news that the company had an order backlog worth $10.7 billion. The backlog grew 67 percent since a year ago -- a strong indication of continued robust growth.
The company also announced it was investing $120 million in a new factory in Colorado -- on top of $200 million it's already sinking into another factory -- which will bring 1350 new jobs to the state. That is going to put a total of 2450 people on the Vestas payroll in Colorado.
This week, NOAA webcam #1 was moved to a position similar to when I started doing these diaries in early July. There was no still image from the camera today; the last one was from 22:25 UTC yesterday. Temperature at that time was -2°C (28°F) with some ground fog beneath a clear sky.
I've also included an image from today from the "fisheye" lens webcam #3, taken 20:16 UTC, below.
Note the hoarfrost on the pole to the right and the precipitation gauge to the left. It's been colder this past week in the Arctic, at least the part where these webcams are located. See below for more analysis.
"much of the debate over global warming is predicated on fear, rather than science." I called the threat of catastrophic global warming the "greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people"
More and more prominent scientists continue to speak out and dissent from man made global warming. In June, the Nobel Prize Winner for Physics, Ivar Giaever, declared himself a "skeptic" and said "global warming has become a new religion."
One of my friends is very active in Waltham, MA city politics and invited a couple of us energy mavens to a meeting on July 29 to hear the preliminary results from an audit of the greenhouse gas inventory, a proxy for total energy use in that city. The methodology was based upon the ICLEI Cities for Climate Protection program and software. The work was done by an intern, Jake Yarmus, and a Brandeis professor, Eric Olson, and funded, after a state grant fell through, by Genzyme, a local business.
Such an inventory is one of the requirements for joining the Cities for Climate Protection program and 20 cities and towns in Massachusetts are now members. Waltham joined in 2007 and the program requires
a baseline inventory and forecast
reduction targets
local action plan
implement policies and measures
monitor and verify results
This first draft of the baseline inventory provided an enlightening view, that is, if you are an energy maven. Here are this energy maven's notes.
Here's a couple of audio snippets from the show.
Blume claims that cattails, that ubiquitous plant
that seems to be more of a nuisance than anything else
can yield over 7,000 gallons of ethanol per acre [?!?]
Cattails have been a food staple [yes, the things that grow in marshes] of American Indians, something I did not know up until today. If someone had told me you could eat these, I would have said "you're nuts".
Is it because the birds are hanging out in places they are unaccustomed to? Or is it some new twist on kicking the dog after a bad day at work? From the BBC:
[P]olice in Devon arrested a 21-year-old man who had been luring gulls by throwing bread, before attempting to shoot them with a BB gun. The RSPB [Royal Society for the Protection of Birds] said there have also been reports of gulls being kicked or beaten to death. Garden birds like pied wagtails, blackbirds and blue tits have also been hit.
"The statistics and details that have come to light through this report are shocking and disgusting," Ms Atherton added.
With Al Gore's soaring speech last month calling for an America powered with electricity from 100% renewable sources, a stirring vision comes to mind of a Can Do America, an America that looks at the seemingly impossible and says "why not?"
A new study called "The Contribution of Chinese Exports to Climate Change" just published in the journal Energy Policy (firewalled) delivers some sobering news.
All that shopping at Wal Mart has more to do with China's soaring carbon footprint than the lifestyle of the average Chinese person.
I think I can speak for most people on this site and say that Gore or Clark are our dream options for VP (I also like Sebelius). And I'm a former Clarkie, myself.
There's been much noise about how the title of Wednesday's program "Securing America's Future", is the same name as Wes Clark's group.
There's also been some chatter about the fact that Sebelius is speaking, but is not yet scheduled to speak.
It's all wrong. Al Gore will be the VP pick. Obama has been undoubtedly begging him for months. Climate change is a NATIONAL SECURITY issue. It fits PERFECTLY with "Securing America's Future". In fact, it quite literally is all about our future.
A lot of you remember rpritchard's post from April, highlighting the genius of Central PA musician Earl Pickens and his song "Obama Everywhere (in Pennsylvania)." Watch that gem again below the fold.
But in the meantime, enjoy this new video from Earl and his new band the Sweetbriars. They're tackling climate change now, and the song is clever and catchy and IT ROCKS.
With the Climate Security Act, the nation’s first real attempt to curb carbon emissions, a distant and evidently unpleasant memory, Congress has now resumed debate of how to increase the nation’s consumption of oil. Republicans have sacked the House of Representatives to pressure Speaker Pelosi to allow a vote on revoking the moratorium on offshore drilling. Alone in a darkened House chamber (at first) without C-SPAN or, well, legislative significance, their speeches have ranged from vitriolic to simply ludicrous (that is, in the words of The Economist). The Republicans and some in the press have tried hard to gin up the significance of the debate: Politico even ran a headline declaring that the 13-day (including weekends) debate has reached its "third week".
