January « 2009 « The Cost of Energy

Document alert: Glacier facts and figures

By Lou, on January 31st, 2009%

The UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) has published Global Glacier Changes: facts and figures [25MB PDF]:

Changes in glaciers and ice caps provide some of the clearest evidence of climate change, and as such they constitute key variables for early detection strategies in global climate-related observations. These changes have impacts on global sea level fluctuations, the regional . . . → Read More: Document alert: Glacier facts and figures

Digging a 1,000-year deep hole

By Lou, on January 26th, 2009%

Some days there’s good news or bad, and then there are the days that deliver gut punches. A case of the latter comes from Expect 1,000-year climate impacts, experts say:

Even if the world can cap carbon dioxide emissions tied to global warming, expect to see droughts and sea level rise that span centuries, not just . . . → Read More: Digging a 1,000-year deep hole

Warming Antarctica

By Lou, on January 23rd, 2009%

The news has been all over the infosphere the last couple of days–the latest data show that Antarctica is indeed warming:

For a long time, it seemed that Antarctica was immune to global warming. Most of the icy southern continent, where temperatures can plummet to minus 80 degrees Celsius (-112 degrees Fahrenheit), seemed to be holding steady . . . → Read More: Warming Antarctica

Silent alarm: Latest Arctic warming data

By Lou, on January 18th, 2009%

Here we go again.

Arctic warming pattern ‘highly unusual’: Report:

A major U.S. government report on Arctic climate, prepared with input from eight Canadian scientists, has concluded that the recent rapid warming of polar temperatures and shrinking of multi-year Arctic sea ice are “highly unusual compared to events from previous thousands of years.”

The findings, released on Friday, counter . . . → Read More: Silent alarm: Latest Arctic warming data

Another silent alarm: Arctic albedo flip

By Lou, on January 14th, 2009%

We often see the point raised in various online conversations that what we need is some large, catalyzing event that wakes up the masses to our looming energy and/or environmental messes. While I take exception to this viewpoint (which I will expand on below), I couldn’t help but think of it as I read The . . . → Read More: Another silent alarm: Arctic albedo flip

Nukes, again

By Lou, on January 7th, 2009%

The debate over the size and scope of nuclear power’s role in our future won’t be settled any time soon, I suspect. Between the people who truly love the technology (or have a huge financial incentive to love it), and those who consider it the technological equivalent of the Ebola virus, we can safely assume . . . → Read More: Nukes, again