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Sun cools? How daft! « Calder's UpdatesYou may doubt it, yet the doughty Richard Black of the BBC, who has made a career of rubbishing the solar contribution to climate change, uses the flimsy Haigh report to try to put the knife in once again: “The view that the Sun may be driving modern-day climate change has clouded policy discussions.”
What climate activists could learn from the anti-slavery movement | Mark Hertsgaard - GristConsider the striking parallels between the eighteenth-century campaign to end slavery in the British Empire and today's climate fight: just as the slave trade was central to Britain's prosperity, so the fossil fuel industry and its allies are the most powerful sector of the modern global economy. And just as the victims of slavery were distant unknowns to most Englishmen and -women, so the victims of climate change mostly live in strange, far-off lands (including the future) and thus have no vote.
Eric Felten: It's Better for Whose Environment? - WSJ.comMs. Sheppard may be a bit overwrought, but she has one thing right: You can add the Sun Chip bags to the pile of eco-virtuous products that consumers found less desirable than the traditional products they replaced. Compact fluorescent bulbs are so unloved and so widely unadopted that Congress had to resort to conventional-bulb prohibition, with incandescent bulbs getting Volsteaded come 2014. Low-flush toilets and low-flow shower heads failed to lure consumers from their water-guzzling predecessors, so the new devices were propped up by federal regulations—though resourceful end-users removed the flow-limiting gaskets to make their showers less stingy. Congress, it should be noted, has yet to mandate deafening snack-food packaging.
Why do today's environmentally conscious alternatives so often seem such sad substitutes?
Strassel: The Cap-and-Trade Crackup - WSJ.comMr. Boucher appears to still lead, but with a GOP wave building, no Democrat with an anti-job vote against his own constituents is safe. Virginia's ninth has already delivered one of the lessons of 2010: Cap-and-trade policy is terrible. Cap-and-trade politics is deadly.
Daily Kos: Cuccinelli goes teabaggingIf your child is sick and you want to check for fever, you use a thermometer. You don't care what Rush Limbaugh says, or what Al Gore says, you care what that thermometer says. And if you want to be super careful, you might use more than one thermometer, or different kinds of thermometers, just in case that kid is dipping it in hot chocolate.
That's what two climatologists did when they wanted to check on the earth's past temperature. Just to be safe they used several different kinds of thermometers. Doesn't matter what Rush says, doesn't matter what Gore says, all that matters is what those thermometers say. And guess what they said? The earth has a fever, that fever is rising, and it's approaching delirium.
The work was so exquisitely done, and it's been so well supported by independent studies, that in any other nation the researchers involved would be up for major recognition. But not in teabagger America, where corporate rent-boys bought and paid for by fossil fuel johns drop to their knees on command to kiss some Koch. Which brings us to the latest gigolo, Ken Cuccineli...
Sun's global warming role exaggerated, says study - Environment - NZ Herald NewsAlthough there is an 11-year solar cycle, the overall activity of the sun has risen slightly over the past century, leading some climate "sceptics" to suggest the sun rather then carbon dioxide is causing global warming.
The authors of the study, published in Nature, said solar activity could account for at most about 10 per cent of the extra warming.
The heresy of denial | The SpectatorThis is a sociological problem more than a problem of physics; in truth, they all know so very little, and yet are splenetic with fury when anyone from outside the discipline attempts to challenge their assumptions. They become shrill with rage, like George Monbiot, and hurl all manner of abuse around. And yet they are frequently, almost daily, discovered to be wrong.
The latest research certainly doesn’t disprove AGW, which I still suspect to be more likely than not. But you fear for the future of what has become one of our biggest industries – climate change – when research like this is allowed to be published.
Climate-change witchcraft - The Hill's Pundits BlogRepublican Senate candidates may or may not agree on the science behind witchcraft, but they are united in disbelief in the overwhelming science that demonstrates manmade causes to global climate change. Increasingly, these candidates are doing their best to boil a witch’s stew of doubt by attacking the veracity of science and scientists.
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Yet, inexplicably, Republican leaders — and many Democrats in Washington — continue to block action on clean energy and climate legislation. Their excuse is that the American people don’t want action. Nothing could be further from the truth.
THE HOCKEY SCHTICK: Paper: Sun affects Climate much more than thoughtAdding the the recent spate of papers showing that - surprise - the Sun has much, much more to do with climate change than previously thought, the respected German Physics Journal Annalyn der Physik recently published a paper analyzing solar irradiance data from 1905 to 2008 which finds cosmic rays modulated by solar activity cause a large portion of atmospheric aerosols (clouds) with profound effects on climate [see the cosmic ray theory of Svensmark et al]. The paper concludes, "The contribution of the active sun, indirectly via cosmic rays, to global warming appears to be much stronger than the presently accepted [IPCC] upper limit of 1/3."
Crop Failures to Increase on Climate Change, Researchers Say - BusinessWeekOct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Crop failures such as this year in Russia are likely to become more common as climate change causes more extreme weather with heat and drought stress, according to a study led by the U.K.’s University of Leeds.
A simulation of climate change’s effect on spring wheat in northeast China showed that in the worst case, more than 35 percent of crops may fail through 2099, compared with a baseline rate of about 13 percent, the study showed.
Another James takes a peek at oilsandsHansen has never made a billion-dollar-grossing movie. So, there was lukewarm interest in his visit to testify at the Energy Resources Conservation Board hearing into a new oilsands project by the Frenchbased energy company, Total.
Where Cameron had 60 journalists signed up for a news conference last week, Hansen had maybe a half-dozen reporters and cameras drop by for a brief scrum in a Sherwood Park hotel hallway on Tuesday.
Which was too bad.
In the world of climate-change science, Hansen is a rock star. Think Mick Jagger in a tweed jacket. You half expect scientists to have his poster pinned up on their bedroom walls -- and you wouldn't be surprised if oil company executives had his picture pinned to dart boards on the back of their office doors.
Why Blowing Up Kids Seemed Like a Good Idea - Warren Meyer - Coyote Den - ForbesRather than an isolated aberration, then, the 10:10 video can be seen as the end result of years of ad hominem attacks meant to marginalize skeptics and make it unnecessary to actually address their concerns about the science. Perhaps this video will mark a turning point where we can finally start talking about the science rather than attacking motivations.
C3: U.S. Cooling Continues At -8.3F/Century Rate: IPCC/NASA's Climate Model Warming Predictions Still WrongThe 12-month period ending September 2010 was the 2nd coldest September-ending period since 1998. Of course, this U.S. cooling trend will eventually revert to a warming trend, but the current decade-long plus global cooling trend has not yet abated. This has been a major surprise for all global warming alarmists. This trend has persisted since the super 1997-98 El Niño event.
Let There be Lightbulbs - WSJ.comThe perfect symbol of the Pelosi Congress.
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The frequently invoked, less frequently consulted American public hasn't responded as the planners, well, planned. Some 89% of the residential market continues to be dominated by normal bulbs, according to the Energy Department. One reason may be that consumers prefer the incandescent style of lighting. Another may be that fluorescents cost at retail 10 times more than the ordinary bulbs that continue to work perfectly well.
Obama Flips While Germany Flops on Solar Panels - By Chris Horner - Planet Gore - National Review OnlineSo the lesson from the past few days’ pander, after looking at the facts, is that President Obama is seeking to fundamentally transform America, using failed, expensive policies of Europe’s social democracies as his models. Toward his political end, he is rebranding central planning as the ‘green economy,’ and he and his doppelgangers make claims that simply do not survive scrutiny. They’re not only unsupportable, but what he and his enablers claim has time and again proven to be the opposite of reality.
I think where these people are living is what was meant by “Planet Gore.”
The Reference Frame: Does increased solar activity lead to cooling?So in our scenario, effects different both from CO2 and from the solar activity had to warm the Earth (or Central England) up by +1.86 °C per century - which is three times the warming we have observed during the 20th century. Clearly, if that's the case, the man-made warming caused by the recent level of industrial activity is even more negligible than previously thought, relatively to these extra natural effects even when you integrate it over a century.
I don't personally believe the new paper's claim that a higher solar activity leads to a cooling on Earth.
The global warming witch hunt continues | Bad Astronomy | Discover MagazineCuccinelli was essentially riding on the coattails of the now totally-discredited Climategate fiasco. You may remember how lots of people got very upset that scientists were sending emails to each other that, when taken grossly out of context and misinterpreted, made it look like those scientists were engaged in cooking the data. Once people looked a little more carefully, it became clear that no shenanigans were going on. Interestingly, although it was hugely covered in the media and by the usual antiscience mob in politics, you hardly hear about Climategate anymore.
Inevitable: Hitler Learns of the Climate 10:10 Video - By Chris Horner - Planet Gore - National Review OnlineBest moment: “Oh wait–I AM a vegetarian environmentalist”.
Obama vs. West Virginia Coal - By Chris Horner - Planet Gore - National Review OnlineHow’s this for “the most transparent administration in history”?
Some weeks ago, I submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). I asked for 8,000 pages of “climate”-related documents (think Hockey Stick, Michael Mann, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). I still haven’t received a single page. I’m not sure what the holdup is — maybe it has something to do with some “climate” litigation, early November, or a lame-duck push on related issues.
At first, they first told me they were sorting through the documents to determine “which are agency records and which are IPCC records.” Yes, you read that correctly; and you are right as well that there are no such thing as “IPCC records” sitting on taxpayer-funded computers produced by taxpayer servants in their official time in officially assigned roles. It should come as no surprise that three days after I confirmed this statement in writing, they wrote back to say they never said that, presumably after speaking with their lawyers.
Environmental Skeptic Offers Fresh Perspective on Global Warming Debate | The Foundry: Conservative Policy News.But the federal government has already decided for us that global warming is a pressing issue, and its solution, is once again, more taxes. If individuals decide for themselves that global warming is a serious threat, the solution would mean voluntary, private funding for the things that made America great in the first place: ingenuity, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Global Warming Hoax Weekly Round-Up, Oct. 7th 2010 « The Daily BayonetAn explosion of outrage was triggered by the detonation of children by alarmists at 10:10, Bill Gates wants fewer customers and the Maldives installed solar panels and blondes.
There’s only three days left before the green day of action on 10/10/10, but I hesitate to start a countdown in case hippies gets the wrong idea.
EU could profit from slashing emissions further: MEPs The EU would be acting in its own economic interest if it raised its 2020 CO2 emissions reduction target from 20% to 30%, agreed the European Parliament's Environment Committee this week.
The Committee on Tuesday approved a report, with 35 votes in favour, 20 against and one abstention, which argues that the EU should not only raise its emissions target to 30%, but should also aim to restrict global warming to a 1.5°C temperature rise - and not the 2°C increase which is the limit of current ambitions.
James Cameron [on the oilsands] | Mother JonesJC: I don't think banning it outright is practical. I don't think anybody's going to go for that. But I'm not even sure that that's the right answer, because energy security is an issue for North America, and right now any war that we're in in the Middle East, we're funding both sides of it by buying our oil there. So the geopolitics of it suggest that having an onshore North American secure supply that is bigger or as big as Saudi Arabia is an important driver. Set aside the greed aspect of it, and there are political aspects of this that are huge.
Global warming’s latest offense « Don SurberSo far they are not acting upon these fantasies. I mean who would send homemade bombs to universities and airlines protesting what he saw as destruction of the environment.
I mean besides Ted Kaczynski. Wasn’t he brilliant, Harvard trained, and teaching at the University of California at Berkeley by age 25?
Of course, one terrorist cannot tar an entire movement.
For that, you need idiots making films of blowing up non-believers (or as Taranto pointed out in the case of the blow-them-up video, people simply are not all that enthusiastic) or the hanging of children.
New record low temperature set in Orlando breaks 31-year markTemperatures Thursday morning bottomed out at a “chilly” 57 degrees, breaking a 31-year-old record of 58, set in 1979.
KyleSmithOnline.com » Blog Archive » Hate, Actually: Richard Curtis vs. Climate ChangeMoreover, the sort of ingratiating, I’m-just-getting-a-show-of-hands-here do-gooder niceness that blends smugly into savage violence strikes a very creepy note. How many of us have dealt with smiling clean-cut activists and sensed a streak of contempt or even cold hatred underneath?
Curtis is a funny guy and it would be easy to forgive him if this film were funny. Is it? It’s the same joke repeated about four times. Its message is coarse and obvious, not wickedly satirical. The movie is really beneath him. And it does set back Curtis’s cause substantially. It’s just one more clue that fabulously wealthy Hollywood types are living in a completely different world from the rest of us, for whom the hazy specter of supposedly catastrophic climate change is much less worrisome than immediate economic hardship, either real or potential.
Indiana still awaits Obama's promised green recovery | World news | guardian.co.ukMore than a year after the president visited to announce a new era of green jobs, the grant he promised has not materialised and unemployment is high
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Fourteen months on, fewer than a dozen of the 700 promised jobs have appeared – and there is no sign of the promised $39m grant. An additional $44m in government loan guarantees has also failed to materialise.
The recovery funds that did flow in, such as the $4m for a 1,800m (6,000ft) runway for a local airport that gets no commercial traffic and is only open to private jets, have come under attack from conservatives.
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The spotlight produced by Obama's presidential visits also attracted a number of clean energy scam artists – willing to set up shop to Elkhart, but only if they got stimulus funding first.
Rich nations 'slow to start climate aid flow' | Environment | guardian.co.uk"The US says it is doubling or tripling climate finance, but there is very little clarity and very little sense that it is new and additional from existing aid flows. A lot of countries are doing this," said Steve Herz of Greenpeace. "They look at what they are doing in other parts of their aid budget, such as on food security, and double count it."
CBC News - Technology & Science - Tropics more affected by global warming: study"The expectation was that physiological changes would also be greatest in the north temperate-Arctic region, but when we ran the numbers that expectation was flipped on its head," said lead author Michael Dillon, an assistant professor of zoology and physiology at the University of Wyoming, in a release.
The researchers believe that increases in temperature are raising animals' temperatures and metabolic rates, stressing their bodies by requiring them to seek more food and oxygen, rather than focusing on reproduction. Organisms in the Arctic are more adaptable to temperature fluctuations because of the seasonal changes in temperature, other research has shown.
Flashback: Arctic Is the Canary in the Coalmine QUEBEC CITY, Canada, Dec 12, 2008 (IPS) - Nearly 1,000 scientists and representatives of indigenous peoples from 16 countries have braved a major winter storm to share their findings and concerns about the rapidly warming Arctic region at the International Arctic Change conference in Quebec City.
The Arctic is "ground zero" for climate change, with temperatures rising far faster than anywhere else on the planet. Some predict an ice-free summer Arctic in less than five to 10 years - the first time the Arctic Ocean will be exposed to the sun in many hundreds of thousands of years.
BBC News - Climate and humans: the long viewThe 40-odd thousand years leading up to the last Ice Age included countless wild and sharp climatic oscillations that would have provided the most sensational of world headlines had our Neanderthal cousins had satellite television, mobile phones or internet.
The regularity of drastic climate change would soon have offered little by way of breaking news.
So, in terms of the well-being of our planet, little of what is coming will scare it. It has seen extreme global warming, as when tropical forests covered the poles, and extreme deep freezes, as when icebergs reached the latitude of Lisbon, Portugal - with strays drifting into the Mediterranean.
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The Neanderthals, who had been so successful in Europe for much longer than we have been around, vanished because of too much global cooling. [Via Steven Goddard]
- Bishop Hill blog - Jones in Times top 100 scientistsApparently Phil Jones appears in the Times top 100 people in British science (not online).
10:10's 'No Pressure' exploding kids campaign: why it was such a success – Telegraph BlogsThere’s press intern Josefine Thieme, for example, whose job description includes “Keeping a record of 10:10 press coverage”. My, you’ll have been busy lately then, Josefine.
Then there’s Robin Houston, technical director, who admits to “Laughing too loudly at inopportune moments.” Robin, you must be in very heaven!
C3: Why Climate Scientist Michael Mann Should Be Forced To Have His Day In Court - A Clear, Rational ExplanationMichael Mann is suspected of defrauding taxpayers due to his work in climate science. Science fraud is not unusual, yet Michael Mann refuses to cooperate with various individuals and organizations seeking information about his taxpayer funded scientific work that could actually exonerate him. Michael Mann seeks to be placed above the law, namely the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The FOIA is designed to establish essential expectations of transparency of the government funded bureaucracy and its minions, which categorically applies to both the University of Virginia and Michael Mann. Both UofV and Mann have refused to comply with the FOIA thus putting themselves in harm's way of the law.
The Savoy hotel's green ambassador - TelegraphWe’re considering a beehive on the roof but I have a dilemma. We currently get our honey from a little Shropshire company, and I want to keep supporting them.
Maldives President Installs Solar Roof - NYTimes.comAccording to the president’s office and Sungevity, the American company that designed the installation, the panels, from LG Electronics, will save $300,000 in avoided conventional electricity costs and avoid 195 tons [Over many years, "worth" a total of 10-20 dollars at the Chicago Climate Hoax Exchange!] of carbon dioxide emissions over the life of the system.
AFP: UN climate [scam] chief urges grassroots movementTIANJIN, China — The United Nations' climate change chief on Thursday urged people around the world to join in a "global work party" this weekend that is part of a growing grassroots movement to curb greenhouse gases.
More than 7,000 events to fight climate change will be held in at least 180 countries around the world on Sunday, with the day gaining massive support largely through 350.org, tcktcktck.org and other Internet-based groups.
"I congratulate you on your work and I want to offer my personal support to the... Global Work Party," UN climate chief Christiana Figueres said in a video message posted on tcktcktck.
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Figueres said the Global Work Party could help push governments into making compromises in their efforts to forge a treaty.
"That is exactly what governments need to rally around urgently," she said of the grassroots campaign.
Breaking News – The Sun Influences Temperatures On Earth | Real ScienceTurns out that the Maunder minimum must have been hot. Throw all the historical records out, we have a new three year study.
- Bishop Hill blog - Victory for Kiwi scepticsAs the story makes clear, there are interesting parallels to Climategate, with government scientists resisting requests for data and then claiming the data was lost. With the raw data apparently showing no warming trend, something that only appears once these scientists have homogenised and adjusted the figures, it does look suspiciously as if books may have been cooked.
March Of The Computer Models | Real ScienceBut wait, there is just one minor problem with the computer model.
Antarctic sea ice is increasing, not decreasing.
William M. Briggs, Statistician » Hollywood: Stop Making Movies And Lower Your Carbon FootprintIf all the actors and technicians who traipse about spewing CO2 in their efforts to make these superfluous movies would instead sit quietly in their homes, we would all be saved.
I thus call on Hollywood, and the British equivalent, to cease producing new movies until this crisis passes.
No caviling! This is for the People. Your sacrifices will be duly noted by future historians.
Enemies Among Us: Environmental Terrorists Release Disturbing TV Ads - FoxNews.comMr. Curtis and the 10:10 campaign have done psychological injury to anyone young who sees these ads, because it will be hard for that child to dismiss the association between speaking his or her mind and being butchered. If this man makes a film, I will not see it. If there is a campaign to shut down the organization with which he works, I will donate my money and time. If there's one thing we should have learned in our long history of defending liberty, it is to not doubt the presence of its enemies among us.
Peter Foster: The U.K.’s climate killers | FP Comment | Financial PostSide-splitting! Literally.
When I first saw it, I thought it had to be a spoof of the insanities of environmental extremism. Who would believe that any green organization would cast themselves as potentially murderous eco fascists? What message could one take from the movie but “Those who fail to agree with us will die,” even if we’ll just kill them tongue in exploding cheek. But the video, which was written by Richard Curtis, who penned Four Weddings and a Funeral, was comedically dead serious.
Global warming theory in chaos: Increased solar activity may COOL Earth | Mail OnlineProfessor Joanna Haigh, from Imperial College London, who led the study, said: 'These results are challenging what we thought we knew about the Sun's effect on our climate.
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Speaking at a news briefing in London, she denied that it would fuel scepticism about climate change research.
'I think it doesn't give comfort to the climate sceptics at all,' she said.
'It may suggest that we don't know that much about the Sun. It casts no aspersions at all upon the climate models.'
Behind the meltdown of the climate-change billGore has warned that global warming will cause the sea to rise 20 feet and that the next generation could live a decade without winter. Yet Gore and his co-believers don't act as if they believe their own schtick.
Czech President Vaclav Klaus and author Bjorn Lomborg have challenged Gore to a debate. He won't bite. If the health of the planet really were at stake, you would think Gore could give up an hour or two to argue his case.
After all, Gore found time to fly to the U.N. climate change conference in Copenhagen last year so that he and other true believers could talk to each other about the evils of greenhouse gases. Then-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Prince Charles arrived in separate private planes.
Montana's melting glaciers: The poster-child for climate change - CNN[Daniel Fagre, a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) ecologist] says mountains are the "water towers of the world" with 70 percent of the world's fresh water frozen in glaciers.
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There is a general consensus that man is contributing to the planet's changing climate. Some skeptics remain, but Dan Fagre isn't one of them.
"I think on a global scale when you look at all the ice disappearing all around the world, there is no other explanation for that then climate change that is driven by people," he said.
Dr. Daniel B. Fagre | Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK)Postdoctoral Fellow. Wildlife Biology. 1981-83. University of California, Davis
Ph.D. Animal Ecology. 1981. University of California, Davis
Environmentalist pioneer offers views during OSU-M lecture | mansfieldnewsjournal.com | Mansfield News JournalMANSFIELD -- Nicole and Ashley Thoerner do their part to help the environment. The sisters make jewelry from recycled beads.
"If everyone can do little things to help the environment, it can change a lot," Ashley Thoerner said.
The Ohio State University-Mansfield freshmen attended a lecture Wednesday. Colin Beavan talked about his book, "No Impact Man," and how everyone can do their part to protect the environment.
Donna Hight, director of student life at OSU-Mansfield, said students are taking a one-credit class in which they read the book along with the professor and participate in discussions. Students at the main campus in Columbus also are reading the book.
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"If you reduce the negative impact you have on the environment with an increased positive impact, you can add that together and get no impact," he said.
The Silence Of EmbarassmentSo with Germany so deep in Green, with everything at stake, it risks losing its very purpose, its mission, the imagined moral high ground that green promises to deliver, it’s entire bank-rolled future. Germany, like many other European countries, has put itself in a position where it simply cannot afford seeing the green movement collapse. Therefore it is doing everything possible to sustain it, and to bury anything that could threaten it.
No, 1010 must never reach public awareness. People could start thinking that the movement is run by zealots. That must never happen.
The deafening silence speaks volumes.
PM - Citizens assembly idea buried 07/10/2010MARK COLVIN: The Prime Minister has formally killed off her plan for a citizens' assembly on climate change.
Mr Gore goes to Trinidad and TobagoThe Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers Association (TTMA) has for some years been pushing for a cleaner environment, by insisting on changes in the country’s waste disposal systems and establishing modern recycling plants.
Taking the initiative one step further the association has organised “An Evening with Al Gore ,” one of the world’s foremost advocates for climate change and a cleaner environment. It takes place at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) on November 4.
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“An Evening with Al Gore” is a once in a lifetime event during which Gore will show manufacturers and businesses how they can make choices to save earth’s climate, while also creating jobs and stimulating sustainable economic progress. His presentation will specifically examine issue relevant to this country.
Nottingham Prepares For Harsh Winter With New £1.4m Salt Barn - 07 October 2010 - Guide2Nottingham NewsNottinghamshire County Council has said a new £1.4m salt storage barn will mean it is prepared for extreme conditions this winter.
The Least-Desired Climate Policy: EPA Regulation of GHG Gases | Reutersthere is no scientific agreement on the maximum concentration value that should be allowed for GHG in the atmosphere.
[You mean it wasn't my cell phone or even my cell phone charger?!]: Honeybee Killer Found by Army and Entomologists - NYTimes.comA fungus tag-teaming with a virus have apparently interacted to cause the problem, according to a paper by Army scientists in Maryland and bee experts in Montana in the online science journal PLoS One.
Prepare for onslaught of snow and ice, businesses warned | BigHospitality.co.ukSmall hospitality businesses are being warned to prepare now for an onslaught of snow and ice later this year, as forecasters predict yet another freezing winter ahead.
Farmers, grape growers warned of cold snap | New ZealandFederated Farmers president Don Nicolson said yesterday he estimated farmers lost $50 million due to snow, icy rain and chilling winds last month.
North Carolina: Record low tiedASHEVILLE — Fall — and a taste of winter — were definitely in the air Tuesday night. The low of 33 tied a 36-year-old record low temperature.
Bjorn Lomborg agrees with Al Gore, sort of - Robin Bravender - POLITICO.com“I believe he's a closet skeptic who doesn't have the courage to admit it,” said Marc Morano, former communications director of the climate skeptic website "Climate Depot" and a former spokesman for the Senate’s lead climate skeptic, James Inhofe (R-Okla.).
“He likes to essentially portray himself as the man in the middle when he's clearly attacked both the United Nation's and Al Gore’s extreme claims,” Morano added.
World Business Forum Day 2: Al Gore Comes Out Swinging for Sustainable Capitalism | Triple Pundit: People, Planet, ProfitIn response to those recently exposed purveyors of disinformation and others like them, who claim that it is unfathomable that mankind could actually have that much impact on the planet, he offered the following three observations that differentiate our present era from times past
1- The world population has quadrupled in the past 100 years
2- The amount of power available to humans has increased 1 million-fold
3-Changes in both capitalism & democracy
...“It's important to change the light bulbs,” says Gore, “but it's more important to change the laws."
...Citing an African proverb, he said, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
Then, after a beat, he added, "We need to go far, fast."
Quadrant Online - Opening closed mindsThe end of scientific consensus
The Royal Society, which is Britain’s top dog in science (indeed many scientists would say the world), has just published a report signalling the end of claims of a consensus by some climate scientists and some governments that the world faces dangerous warming unless governments act quickly to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
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In the latter category, for example, the acknowledgment that the uptake of CO2 by the land and oceans is “very poorly understood” is tantamount to saying that it is not possible to predict with any confidence the future concentration levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.
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However, perhaps the most devastating statement for alarmists is that “It is not possible to determine exactly how much the Earth will warm or exactly how the climate will change in the future”. This leaves in doubt what policy should be adopted, and when, to reduce emissions. The report’s acceptance that uncertainty exists about the effect clouds have on temperatures is one important reason for delaying action. Another is the acknowledgement of poor scientific understanding in various other areas, such as the likely extent of reductions in ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctica from any further temperature increases. Yet another is the admission that “there is little confidence” in projections by models of climate change in regions, including Western Europe. This also suggests that predictions of worsening drought conditions in the Murray Darling Basin have no scientific basis.
What's the carbon footprint of ... a volcano? | Environment | guardian.co.ukOver time, however, the cooling effect fades faster than the greenhouse warming caused by the CO2 (which stays in the atmosphere for hundreds of years) so whether the warming effect or the cooling effect is greater depends on the time scale you consider – a bit like the difference between planes and cars.
[But why doesn't this CO2 stay in the atmosphere for "hundreds of years"?]The vertical distribution of carbon dioxide in the air around a group of trees fluctuates with the time of the day. Photosynthesis is shut off at night and as a consequence the respiration from the soil can raise the concentration of carbon dioxide at ground level to as much as 400 ppm, while the CO2 concentration at treetop level can drop to 305 ppm at noon owing to photosynthetic uptake
Climate not right for parcel strategy - POLITICO.com Print ViewExhausted Democrats may like President Barack Obama’s suggestion of tackling energy and climate change “in chunks” over the next two years after failing to get a comprehensive package across the finish line.
But they probably know better.
EU Referendum: Splattergate - parody warsThe Reference Frame: Why climate change deniers should be blown to bits
So the opinions of Mr Jones just leave me puzzled. There is not a glimpse of an argument that I could recognize as a rational argument. And there is no glimpse of values and priorities that I could expect from someone who may deserve to be called an investor. Are the "new investors" supposed to be offended by every sign of the human economic activity? How is it supposed to work? For all practical purposes, Mr Jones belongs to a different species.
Comment of the week – counterpoint to Fuller on Cuccinelli | Watts Up With That?At the very least, the University of Virginia and/or Michael Mann appear to be liable to investigation and prosecution for the violation of laws relating to the FOIA release of the e-mail evidencing Michael Mann’s involvement in the handling of $466,000 of state grant funds. There is more than ample evidence that scientific fraud is a common enough crime to warrant investigations, and convincing evidence of at least some violations of law with respect to FOIA disclosures. Scientists are not yet privileged with the immunity needed to commit FOIA violations and scientific fraud with complete immunity from investigation and prosecution. let the Attorney General represent the citizens of Virginia and safeguard their taxpayer monies and their right to the freedom of information guaranteed by written laws.
Legal Defeat for Global Warming in Kiwigate ScandalIn the climate controversy dubbed Kiwigate New Zealand skeptics inflict shock courtroom defeat on climatologists implicated in temperature data fraud.
New Zealand’s government via its National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) has announced it has nothing to do with the country’s “official” climate record in what commentators are calling a capitulation from the tainted climate reconstruction.
Copenhagen Goals Met And Far Exceeded! | Real ScienceBy the year 2050, we can expect it to warm less than 0.2C additional. The Copenhagen goals have been met and exceeded by an order of magnitude.
So where does Hansen get his 2.0C/century from? It is called “cherry picking.” He finds the steepest slope in his graph and tells Congress that is the long term trend. If he worked in the private sector, this type of shoddy work would probably be called “termination.”
Exploding Children in Eco-Group's Video Fails to Upset Liberal News MediaHeartland Institute president Joseph Bast told the Business & Media Institute he is concerned about potential attacks on skeptics – including those within his organization – stemming from this film.
“I was shocked when I saw this video, and immediately sent an email to all of Heartland’s staff warning them that it could encourage environmental extremists to physically attack us,” Bast said. “This overt call for violent action against global warming realists has absolutely no place in civilized dialogue on climate change, or any other public policy issue. Calling on others to consider using violence to silence those who disagree with you is itself an act of violence.”
Bast also said that the makers of the video are responsible for whatever “eco-terrorist acts” occur in the coming months. “We can only pray that no one gets hurt, and that similar acts of violence do not occur in the future.”
Good Lord. Climate Alarmists Are Hanging Children Now | All American BloggerEd Morrissey writes:
It’s a good way to avoid acknowledging that the AGW hysterics still haven’t built a single successful predictive model proving their assertions about future weather systems, still haven’t addressed the serious data gaps in their studies, still have Rajendra Pachauri at the head of the IPCC despite the serial scandals regarding their academic standards of inclusion in the report, and in general having offered little but apocalyptic posturing. Putting a noose around a little girl on an ice cube is all they really have.
Exactly. It’s called an appeal to emotion.
Lessons from the climate fight: Dem party leaders screwed the climate bill | GristThe White House clearly didn't see any upside to the fight and wanted to avoid it.
All that sent a none-to-subtle message to Graham that the White House wasn't committed. Then, just to accentuate the point, the administration leaked to Fox that KGL was considering a "gas tax," an episode of outright ratf*cking that still hasn't gotten the attention and outrage it deserves.
The Current Wisdom | Cato @ LibertyIn fact, a major exhibition now at the prestigious Chicago Field Museum includes a 3-D model of Lower Manhattan under 16 feet of water—this despite the general warning from the James Titus, who has been EPA’s sea-level authority for decades:
Researchers and the media need to stop suggesting that Manhattan or even Miami will be lost to a rising sea. That’s not realistic; it promotes denial and panic, not a reasoned consideration of the future.
Taking The Blinkers Off | Real ScienceOur friends have become quite focused on one particular aspect of Arctic ice – the September minimum. The claimed rationale is that it affects the Earth’s energy balance, by reducing albedo.
That argument is very weak – because very little sunshine reaches the Arctic atmosphere in September. Most of that is reflected by clouds, and the light which does get through is mainly reflected off the water surface, due to the high angle of incidence.
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By contrast, open water in September makes it easier for longwave radiation to escape from the oceans. So ice loss in September is probably a negative feedback – rather than the positive one which is normally claimed.
Brendan DeMelle | Maldives President Nasheed Installs Solar on Official Residence, Knocks Ignorance of Climate DeniersI asked President Nasheed what he thought about the criticism lodged by those who deny the science of climate change who often argue that renewable energy sources like solar are too expensive to warrant investment.
Drawing an anology [sic] to his grandfather, whom he said didn’t believe that man had landed on the moon, Nasheed said:
“There is very little we can do for that kind of ignorance, other than consistently trying to tell them that there is no doubt about the science about it.”
“You really have to be more intelligent about it. And it’s very difficult for me to be telling the people of the United States, ‘try to have a better grip on knowledge,’” Nasheed said with a chuckle.
“To be going on with the obsolete technology is, in my mind, madness,” Nasheed said.
Blame green madness for these bills | Herald Sun Andrew Bolt BlogDon’t like the bills? Then attack the green policies that produced them.
If Ken Cuccinelli is on a witch hunt then… « Green Hell Blog… Michael Mann is a witch.
The Washington Post today editorialized that the Virginia attorney general is on a witch hunt. But even the Post is not too thrillled with Mann’s work, labeling it “not unacceptably poor.” At least now we’re all only debating how “poor” Mann’s hockey stick is.
The Post tries to exonerate Mann by claiming that he was cleared by the National Academy of Sciences and his employer, Penn State. Neither claim is true.
[Will the prairie dogs get kidney stones?]: Wind Farms Cause Global Night WarmingFormer Vice President Al Gore, the green guru, has a new problem to ponder as he drives his gas-guzzling SUV; and it’s not fossil fuels. The journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), has just announced that wind turbines causes turbulence that “leads to a warming near the surface at night.”
Green advertisement to bring pain | Herald SunEco fanatics are no different to totalitarian ideologues through the ages. Evils such as Nazism don't arrive with devil's horns; they come in disguise - "sweet camouflaged poison".
So we should thank Franny Armstrong and her 10-10 comrades for their vile ad; they naively removed the camouflage too soon.
China and US clash at climate talks | Environment | guardian.co.ukUS negotiating stance deemed 'totally unacceptable' by China after American climate envoy accuses delegates of trying to renegotiate Copenhagen accord
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While there is no suggestion of a full withdrawal from the UN process, the US appears to have hardened its position since Copenhagen amid rising domestic political pressure and the absence of climate legislation.
China has responded in kind. Dropping the diplomatic language that characterised public statements on the first two days, Xie Zhenhua, the head of the host's negotiating team, made little attempt to conceal the target of his frustration.
"A developed country I won't name hasn't done a job for itself. It has not provided financing or technology to other countries, yet it asks them to accept stringent monitoring and voluntary domestic actions," Xie told reporters. "It's totally outrageous. It's quite unacceptable."
Flashback: Obama pledges US lead on climate changeObama's promise of a leading US role on climate change broke with his predecessor George W. Bush's stance, which had long frustrated Washington's European Union partners.
The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : Positively Giddy Franny10:10's Franny helped make the Splattergate video as well, which she was extremely giddy about as Friday's release date approached. Among the comments from her Twitter account leading up to the debut...
Baucus talks climate control, estate taxes | greatfallstribune.com | Great Falls TribuneIn response to a member's question, Baucus said he supports a measure that would ban the Environmental Protection Agency from writing climate change legislation to regulate greenhouse gases linked to climate change.
"That would put too much power into few hands," he said in a later press conference.
Business Frost hits crops in south - Weekly Times NowFROST could have destroyed up to 20 per cent of crops when it hit southern Australia last week.
Interview: Roger Pielke Jr. on why a small tax is our best hope in climate change fight | SciGuy | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle1) Science has sufficiently made the case that climate change is a significant threat that requires action.
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6) The best potential solution is a slight tax on carbon that would be all but unnoticeable to the public but would generate billions of dollars for much-needed research into alternative energy resources, technologies such as batteries and carbon sequestration.
Repent for Your Environmental Sins!Environmentalism has become the theology of the left, fusing neatly with class warfare and abandoning technological progressivism, for Luddite moralizing. But its only true creed is that of power. Behind the drumbeat of its invective, one may easily spot measures for control, for funneling money into “Green Products” and “Green Jobs”, and for educational programs that indoctrinate this creed into the mind and soul of every child. And so the struggle continues.
Al Fin: The Unutterable Stupidity of Obama's "Smart Grid"President Barack Obama’s talk about the need for a “smart grid” sounds, well, smart...As currently envisaged, however, it’s a dangerously dumb idea. _SciAm
Obama EPA Chief Lisa Jackson FALSELY Claims She is 'legally obligated now' to use Clean Air Act to regulate Co2 | Climate DepotReality Check: 'EPA is NOT 'legally obligated' to regulate GHGs under the Clean Air Act...In its March 2007 decision Massachusetts v. EPA, the Supreme Court ruled only that the EPA may — not that it had to — regulate GHGs. And the Bush administration subsequently declined to regulate GHGs'
EPA’s Own Estimates Say Greenhouse Gas Regs Could ‘Slow Construction Nationwide for Years’ -- and Take a Century to Reduce Temperature 0.0015 Degrees | CNSnews.com(CNSNews.com) – Tough new rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency restricting greenhouse gas emissions might reduce global temperatures only 0.0015 of a degree Celsius in the next century, but as a side effect, those rules will “slow construction nationwide for years,” the EPA said in a June 3 statement.
A stronger Sun actually cools the Earth - TelegraphAn increase in solar activity from the Sun actually cools the Earth, suggests new research that will renew the debate over the science behind climate change.
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However while this may support climate change sceptics' arguments in the short term, long term analysis suggests it actually provides further evidence that the heating of the planet is more than a natural, cyclical phenomenon.
Over the past century, overall solar activity has been increasing and should therefore cool the Earth, yet global temperatures have increased.
Professor Joanna Haigh, from Imperial College London, who led the study, said: "These results are challenging what we thought we knew about the sun's effect on our climate.
Declining solar activity linked to recent warming : Nature NewsThe Sun may have caused as much warming as carbon dioxide over three years.
BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | 'Quiet Sun' baffling astronomersThe Sun is the dimmest it has been for nearly a century.
There are no sunspots, very few solar flares - and our nearest star is the quietest it has been for a very long time.
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Prof Lockwood was one of the first researchers to show that the Sun's activity has been gradually decreasing since 1985, yet overall global temperatures have continued to rise.
3 Offensive Images Of Climate ChangeThis movie was not offensive. What is offensive is the fact that we still entertain climate change deniers who use fossil fuel-funded studies to push their dishonorable agendas.
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You want offensive?
Here's offensive...
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[But is that stuff really carbon dioxide?]
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And anyone who thinks that this movie is more offensive then the continued degradation of our planet should be, well, take a look at the film. . .
The Boiling Frog: Downfall Spoof[2.5-minute video] Last night I knocked up my first ever downfall spoof, regarding the 10:10 No pressure video - which has spectacularly backfired.
Dominic Lawson: Kill a schoolchild. How hilarious - Dominic Lawson, Commentators - The IndependentRichard Curtis will have his latest film hanging round his neck like a stinking fish for as long as he is successful enough to be worth mocking
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It's not hard to work out why the tone of such organisations has become increasingly apocalyptic and even hysterical – leading to a situation in which hypothetical naughty children need to be blown up to make a political point. The failure of the UN's Copenhagen summit last December was traumatic for every European involved in the climate change movement – and bear in mind that this issue is to an extraordinary extent a European obsession.
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Perhaps what Richard Curtis should have produced was a film portraying the heads of the governments of Brazil, South Africa, China and India being blown to smithereens, splattering the virtuous European leaders with blood and gore. For some reason, however, it must have seemed funnier to "blow up" some fat English schoolchildren. Oh well, onwards and upwards.
Richard Curtis and the slaughter of children: welcome to the bloodlust of the apocalyptic imagination – Telegraph BlogsIt’s important to grasp the quasi-religious nature of the 10:10 pressure group. Irrespective of where you stand on AGW, it’s clear that its pernickety commandments, most of them involving energy-saving lightbulbs, won’t make any difference to the fate of the planet. But they do have a sacred significance, as do the deaths in the Curtis snuff movie. There’s nothing like the prospect of the ritual slaughter of children to excite prophecy believers, in my experience.
What next? Who can say? These things have a habit of accelerating. A word of warning: if the 10:10 gang announce their intention to retreat to the jungle or the desert to “save the planet”, alert the authorities immediately.
The Human Remainder from The Left’s Green Schemes | DBKP - Death By 1000 Papercuts - DBKPTo the global-warming fanatic, doubters have already thrown their lives away. If they insist on their lavish capitalist lifestyles, and thwart the efforts of all-knowing environmentalists, they’ll drown in the rising seas, or get flash-fried when the ozone layer peels back. There is no need to engage the arguments of such traitors to the biosphere, or respect their “freedom.” Note the recurring “joke,” repeated mindlessly throughout the video, in which the victims are assured they have complete freedom to make up their own minds, and should feel “no pressure.” This is the idea our filmmakers find so absurd they dismiss it with a geyser of adolescent blood. The point is made repeatedly: you’re a contemptible idiot if you think you have free choice in the matter of global warming. You will indeed feel pressure, from the boiling atmosphere. Virtue can only be found in submission to the Green agenda – the sole alternative is glassy-eyed, apathetic evil. Climate-change deniers are consuming air that noble environmentalists could put to better use.
Green Supremacists - WSJ.comOne may hope that Jim Edwards is right when he denies that "this is actually what environmentalists want." But it's bad enough that this is what they fantasize about--and that they manifestly felt no inhibition about airing such a depraved fantasy in public.
YouTube - Shocking - Pro Climate Change Advert Promotes killing skeptics!!!
Oilsands expansion 'fool's gold,' scientist warnsHansen noted the new Total mine will produce only 1.5 megatonnes of carbon emissions annually, only a small fraction -- about 0.0038 per cent -- of the global total of carbon emissions from fossil fuel.
However, if all existing reserves of fossil fuels are used in coming decades, climate change will cause more than a fifth of the world's million species to die off, he said. That means, on a pro-rated basis, even Total's small share of emissions would kill off 39 species, he said.
Number of Species on Earth The Global Biodiversity Outlook published by the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2001 estimates a total of 14 million species of organisms on Earth that have been discovered and described.
Why Killing Kids in a Climate Change Ad Was the Right Thing to Do | Jim Edwards10:10’s apology and retraction of a short film in which schoolchildren, famous footballers and the actress Gillian Anderson are blown to smithereens for not supporting the reduction of carbon emissions was exactly the wrong thing to do: The video (below) was both disgusting and hilarious, and the campaign should have thumbed its nose at its critics.
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The haters piled on in spades.
jim edwards Jim Edwards, a former managing editor of Adweek, has covered drug marketing at Brandweek for four years, and is a former Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University's business and journalism schools.
[Record cold in Florida]Monday, temperatures dipped to a record-setting 61 degrees. Previously, the record low for Monday was recorded at 62 degrees in 1976 and 1974.
Climate change: The carbon dioxide precipice - latimes.comI recently read "Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity." The book is by James Hansen of NASA, who is widely regarded as the leading climatologist in the United States and perhaps the world. The title alone is enough to give us a sense of his assessment of our situation. The book has been out for almost a year, but it is still not widely known. It is time for more people to read it and act on its message.
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There is much to be done. The sooner we act, the better chance there is to calm those storms that might otherwise affect our grandchildren.
Wind farms may change weather conditions Researchers say that wind farms can alter weather conditions due to significant change in air temperatures near the ground.
China climate talks are revisiting old ground, says top US negotiator | Environment | guardian.co.ukJonathan Pershing, the US deputy special envoy for climate change, said the first three days of talks in Tianjin had yielded disappointing results because participants were revisiting old arguments over procedure rather than building on the Copenhagen accord.
"What is frustrating in these negotiations is to see countries not using that as the basis, but relitigating things that we more resolved over the course of the Copenhagen negations," he said.
C3: Democrats & Computer Models Claim Texas Is Warming: Real Data Has Texas Cooling Last 15 Years, -2.7°F/Century TrendHere is the recent headline from USA Today: "Expert: Texas is getting hotter due to global warming".
What are the real Texas temperature facts, though? As the NOAA temperature graphs for Texas reveal (the below graphs represent temperatures through August 2010), over the last 100 plus years Texas temperatures exhibit a cooling trend equal to a minus 0.10 degree Fahrenheit per century. For the second graph below, the temperature trend for the last 15 years is a minus 2.7 (-2.7) degrees Fahrenheit per century. What about the warmest decade "evaaar!", ending on December 31, 2009, you may ask? Welllllll.....Texas temperatures declined during that time span declined at a minus 7.3 (-7.3) degrees per century rate.
Quadrant Online - ABC fails listenersWhat’s the worst radio interview ever conducted on climate change? Could it be Australian?
Maybe so. ABC radio’s Robyn Williams’ October 2, 2010 interview of UK-based public relations director Bob Ward is certainly a contender for the worldwide gold medal in the ‘worse ever’ category. The interview, broadcast on the nationally prestigious Science Show, is so bad that listeners don’t need to actually know anything about climate science to spot the most obvious flaws.
Is the Western Climate Establishment Corrupt? Part 2 « JoNovaThe establishment barks “cherry-picking” at skeptics who claim a particular year was cold, or quiet, or less stormy, but where are the caveats when the mass media churns out record single “hot year” headlines as if they matter: 2010 is hottest year EVER!
What’s not obvious is that breaking those records depends on the data set. According to satellite data there have been no “hottest year ever” records since 1998, though as it happens, NASA doesn’t seem too keen on using data recorded from space. Go figure.
Looking Closer At One Region Near The Pole | Real ScienceThere is no valid reason I can think of for the selective loss of all the MYI inside that rectangle. How would an observer even know looking from above? If the ice remains intact at the surface, how would you know that the MYI underneath was gone?
Temperatures inside that rectangle were generally below freezing for the entire period of record.
AFP: Bangladesh monsoon rains 'lowest since 1994'"This year, a drought-like situation persisted due to lack of flooding and rainfall. Farmers were forced to extract groundwater for irrigation," said Salim Bhuiyan, director of the Flood Forecasting and Warning Center.
Normally up to 25 percent of Bangladesh's land mass is flooded every year largely due to monsoon rains, but this year only 16.5 percent land was submerged, he said.
"In one sense we were lucky to escape floods which sometimes devastate our economy. But the lack of flooding means the land didn't get sediments, which is good for soil and helps farmers to grow crops easily," he said.
"This unpredictable, changing weather is all due to the growing effects of climate change on Bangladesh," he said.
UN AGENCY TO LIST ‘30 WAYS IN 30 DAYS’ TO [PREVENT BAD WEATHER]5 October - In the run up to next month's major climate change conference in Cancún, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) will release one case study daily for 30 days to prove that solutions to combat global warming – ranging from planting trees to creating mass markets for solar water heaters – are available, accessible and replicable.
EPA's Jackson swings back at critics - POLITICO.com Print View“It’s definitely anti-lobbyist rhetoric,” Jackson said. “It’s definitely meant to reflect the fact that, when I go around the country, people want clean air. [But when they say "clean" air, do they really mean air without CO2 in it?] They are as passionate about clean air and clean water as any of a number of issues; they want protection for their families and their children.”
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Lawsuits challenging Jackson’s authority are also starting to work their way through the courts, with nearly 90 sets of plaintiffs — oil and coal companies, conservative think tanks and a coalition of states, including the attorneys general from Texas and Virginia — filing at least four different cases.
10:10, “Splattergate”, and why the loss of reason is a greater threat than climate change - Millennia IT BlogAs a result we are now pretty much disaster exhausted, to the point that the claims of doom have to be ever more strident and have now reached truly ridiculous proportions (like 200 foot sea level rises), and yet the population as whole is becoming MORE sceptical.
So that just leaves death threats…..
This misadventure has also served to tip fence sitters significantly on to the sceptical side and even made a few believers wonder why they bother. It damages the good messages that need to be heard and science as a whole. To me it boils down to something even simpler – these people are so blinkered now in trying to hammer out their message they have lost sight of reason.
greenbullies.comHas your child been bullied or frightened by an overly zealous green teacher? Has it caused them to lose sleep? If so, please email us your story!
200 new species found in Papua New Guinea « The k2p blogWith the rate at which new species are being found and extinct species are being rediscovered and with unknown marine species being estimated to be between 1 and 10 million and micro-organism species thought to be in excess of one billion, I am beginning to wonder if humans are not soon going to be crowded off the planet.
I’ll Trade You Cuccinelli For Splattergate With A Player To Be Named Later | Watts Up With That?But it didn’t rise to a criminal level (that was the UK deleting emails in advance of Freedom of Information requests, not Michael Mann). What Ken Cuccinelli is doing is going fishing for wrongdoing without an allegation of such wrongdoing–and that’s not how we should be doing things in this country.
Isn't Cuccinelli trying to get copies of Mann et al emails that were illegally deleted on the UK side? If so, is there something wrong with that?
Study identifies more than 1 million ocean species - News - The EcologistUnderstanding what lives in the Southern Ocean has helped scientists to identify a benchmark against which they can measure the effects of climate change, he added. 'The marine life we study in Antarctica is, naturally, vulnerable to these effects including warming sea surface temperatures, rising ocean acidification and decreasing winter sea ice. But we've also seen just how resilient some of these creatures can be, surviving and thriving in some of the most challenging conditions on the planet.'
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Ian Poiner, chair of the COML steering committee, said: 'All surface life depends on life inside and beneath the oceans. Sea life provides half of our oxygen and a lot of our food and regulates climate. We are all citizens of the sea. And while much remains unknown, including at least 750,000 undiscovered species and their roles, we are better acquainted now with our fellow travellers and their vast habitat on this globe.'
The senate is to blame for the US climate bill's demise | Environment | guardian.co.ukThe GOP had a greater political agenda in mind
10:10 Splattergate: when greenwashing blows up | EconsultancyOf course, the damage has already been done, as Sony, Kyocera Mita and O2 will forever be associated with Splattergate.
Unfortunately, many brands make the same mistake Sony, Kyocera Mita and O2 made: they provide explicit endorsements to organizations and initiatives that have little to do with their businesses, and which they have little to no control over.
Telluride bags the bagHarold Wonsel, a hot tub technician in town, has criticized the ordinance for months as green-washing. He argues that it blatantly ignores science out there that shows single-use plastic bags to be a miniscule part of the global waste stream.
“You have chosen not to pursue the science of this issue. Doing so puts you in the same place as climate change deniers,” he said. “There is a lot of science out there right now … hundreds of documents that don’t support the passing of this.”
Local kids participate in 4-H National Youth [Junk] Science Day CHATHAM -- One million kids across the country will participate in the 4-H National Youth Science Day this year. The event is designed to engage kids in a single science experiment focusing on issues facing our global community.
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The kids put bromthymol blue, a PH indicator, into a bottle of water. They then blew into a straw in the water and watched the water go from blue to light green.
Why did their water turn green? Because when they blew into the straw, they released carbon dioxide into the water.
"It's not a good thing (to have carbon dioxide in the atmosphere) because if there's a lot of CO2 in the air, there wouldn't be enough for us to breath" says Emma Carlson, a 4-H Club member.
After the experiment, the kids listened to a presentation about carbon footprints, or, how many tons of CO2 they're releasing into the atmosphere every year. They then brainstormed ways they can reduce their carbon footprint.
"Eat less meat and more organic foods and try to fly and drive less" says Joshua Elseneroek, also a 4-H Club member.
‘Green deal’ set to prompt landlords’ backlashThe move is likely to prompt a backlash from property owners who will fear that the move could mean thousands of pounds of extra costs.
However, the plan will be welcomed by environmental campaigners, with Martyn Williams, parliamentary campaigner for Friends of the Earth, saying it would be a “very positive development”.
Look past China's smog and noise and you can see greener action | Damian Carrington | Environment | guardian.co.ukThe country leads the world in wind and solar power manufacturing and installation, but is also the world's most polluting nation, with emissions set to rise for many years.
Asking Chinese people about global warming and what to do about it, I find no scepticism about the basic premise that human's greenhouse gas emissions are causing climate change. But there is either apathy – "people don't care about climate change, they don't think it is something that means they have to change their lives" or a blame-the-west attitude "You have been polluting for decades – we are just starting on this new life."
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The carbon footprint of that high-consumption new life is huge, which is why China's per-person emissions in some places has already surpassed those in the west.
UN Climate Change Talks Make Little Progress, U.S. Envoy Pershing Says - BloombergThe lead U.S. negotiator at global climate-change talks now underway in China said little progress has been made and warned that efforts may splinter if no accord is reached at the next meetings in Cancun, Mexico.
“The consequences of not having an agreement after Cancun are something to worry about,” Jonathan Pershing said today in a briefing with three news organizations in Tianjin. “It may mean that we don’t use this process exclusively going forward,” he said, adding that he remains optimistic progress can be made in the current negotiations.
AFP: US says little progress in climate change talksPershing warned the UN climate change process could itself be at risk unless the bickering countries started to make progress soon.
"The consequences of not having an agreement coming out of Cancun are things we have to worry about, something to be considered seriously," he said.
"Because the process is going to be very hard-pressed to continue to have these enormous sessions... unless we can use the process to good effect."
China says unreasonable to set CO2 peak yet | ReutersTIANJIN, China Oct 6 (Reuters) - China's top climate negotiator on Wednesday said it was unreasonable to expect his country to set a peak for its greenhouse gas emissions while rich economies fail cut theirs.
Xie Zhenhua also said China would not budge from its commitment to making the Kyoto Protocol -- the current climate change pact that does not set mandatory caps on poorer countries' emissions -- the basis of any new climate deal.
"A rise in greenhouse gases is necessary and, it should be said, reasonable," he said of China and other developing countries. "The key is that we must adopt effective measures to control the rate of growth, so it won't be unfettered," he told reporters at climate talks in the north Chinese city of Tianjin.
Vermonter Bill McKibben praises White House solar panels | The Burlington Free Press | Burlington, VermontWhat was unclear Tuesday was how much the White House solar project will cost, and how much fossil-fuel-based electricity it would displace, because the system is not yet designed, and the White House will not disclose how much energy is needed to keep the president's lights turned on.
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But the White House is far from a typical house, noted Danny Kennedy, the founder of California-based solar energy provider Sungevity, which offered to put solar panels on the White House for free earlier this year as part of a campaign called SolarontheWhiteHouse.
Kennedy estimates that outfitting Obama's pad with solar would cost about $100,000 if paid out of pocket. But the money would be earned back with savings on the electric bill in the first five years, he said in an interview from the Maldives, where he is installing 48 solar panels on President Mohammed Nasheed's private residence.
E2 Morning Roundup: White House shifts from oil to renewablesInterior Secretary Ken Salazar – who rolled out new oil drilling rig safeguards last week – will appear in Atlantic City Wednesday for a speech on offshore wind power.
Salazar believes Atlantic Coast wind can become a major power source, and projects are in the planning in stages in federal waters off several states.
Clinton under pressure on climate [scam] - The Hill's E2-WireSenior Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee are urging Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to press for an independent “global climate fund” that helps developing countries.
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The House Democrats’ letter says that helping to establish the fund will re-assert U.S. credibility on climate change in the absence of a U.S. emissions law.
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