2008: Year of Hope, Year of Fear. Essay 2

Seattle seems to shine in theory, but as the response (or lack of it) during our December snow storm, the city often can't be counted on when it comes to the nitty gritty details. Mayor Greg Nickels has received recognition for his maverick diplomacy preaching the gospel of the Kyoto climate accords, but few are happy with his hometown leadership. The mayor gave himself a "B" grade in snow storm response, but when KING-5 TV asked viewers to weigh in, 37 percent gave the city a "D" and 40 percent gave an "F." That means nearly 80 prcent of citizens rated the city's performance a complete fiasco, as close as you ever get to consensus in this town. Finally, Greg Nickels brings us together in 2008.

The Reference Frame: La Niña conditions are back

According to the newest, today's weekly ENSO status report, La Niña conditions are back and they are likely to continue at least for a few months.

Australian Climate Madness: Canberra Times journo can't think of a decent argument . . .

... so resorts to petulant ad hominems instead. Always the last chance saloon for someone unable to counter the substantive arguments of "skeptics", Rosslyn Beeby attempts the impossible: portraying alarmists as reasonable chaps, always open for debate and discussion (like Al Gore, I suppose, who refuses to debate AGW with anyone who might ask a half-intelligent question, which of course rules out most journalists), and skeptics as the hysterics of the piece...

A self-described "Boulder tree-hugging hippie" throws in the towel on global warming

I am one of the Boulder tree-hugging hippies (to a certain extent), but even I have made that joke: “Where is Global Warming when my drive needs to be shoveled?” It’s simply perplexing that the globe could be heating up yet 2008 is shaping up to be one of the coldest years in… years.

I’m no scientist—I’ve never even played one on TV—but the use of the term global warming has outstayed its welcome. That doesn’t mean I think An Inconvenient Truth is a load of bull, nor does it mean that effects the Kyoto Protocol and other political measures are trying to counteract aren’t real. What it means is that we need to shift our terminology. We need to forget global warming and start thinking about it as climate change.
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Rising temperatures isn’t the only worry of climate change. If it were, I wouldn’t be able to argue that climate change is helping things get colder in the winters.