Climate Insight From a Magical Mountain Range - NYTimes.com

It may have been no accident that civilization burst forth during an era when ice had retreated from some of the most favorable land and when climate, sea level and other conditions had settled down after the turbulence of the ice age.
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The results show that climate in the region around New Zealand did indeed behave quite differently than the climate of Europe during much of the Holocene – evidence that under natural conditions, the earth’s two hemispheres are out of step climatologically. ...the new paper adds to the growing body of research suggesting that natural climate variability in the Holocene was basically driven by regional factors.

Twitter / losinghand: 100+ streaming through doors ...

100+ streaming through doors of Montana Capitol to tell Land Board #NoCoalExports http://twitpic.com/aizuxx @CoalXportAction

Twitter / ericmjohnson: Turns out that "an uncanny ...

Turns out that "an uncanny number" of psychology studies are massaging their data to achieve statistical significance: http://j.mp/OntdSh

Dr. Susan J. Crockford in Toronto August 14

Dr. Susan J. Crockford:
10,000 Years of Polar Bears & Climate Change

L.A. needs desert solar farms — but not everyone’s happy about it | Grist

Water consumption is one of the main local impacts of desert solar projects. Even though water is not needed for generating electricity in all cases, the projects use water to keep the dust down and rinse the panels. In Desert Center, this water comes from deep reservoirs that get little to no regular groundwater recharge. According to Charpied, the water they use was carbon tested to be 10,000 to 30,000 years old. Another one of Charpied’s main concerns is increased dust from habitat destruction. She says dust storms have notably increased in the area over the last year, and may gravely impact her farming of jojoba, a native shrub that produces oil useful in the cosmetic industry, which she and her husband rely on for their livelihood. Charpied has also seen more animals on her property since construction started nearby, indicating increased competition due to decreased habitat.