Climate change « The Cost of Energy

2C of warming is a pipe dream

By Lou, on March 30th, 2012%

There’s been remarkably little buzz about some news from the other day, so (after a gentle reminder from Sasparilla) I’m going to shine a light on it.

The article hews right to the bone in the title, 2C warming target ‘out of reach’ – ex UN climate chief:

The UN’s former climate chief on Tuesday said the global . . . → Read More: 2C of warming is a pipe dream

Must read: First State of the Planet Declaration

By Lou, on March 29th, 2012%

The Planet Under Pressure conference has issue a ten-page document that I urge everyone to read, titled “First State of the Planet Declaration”. The opening paragraphs:

1. Research now demonstrates that the continued functioning of the Earth system as it has supported the well-being of human civilization in recent centuries is at risk. Without urgent . . . → Read More: Must read: First State of the Planet Declaration

Why Michael Mann is a climate hero

By Lou, on March 28th, 2012%

Dr. Michael Mann, a.k.a. “the hockey stick guy”, is speaking out about the way he and other climate scientists have been abused, and a lot more of us should be paying attention and helping to fight back against such mistreatment.

Mann has written a short piece for CNN which I highly recommend, Climate scientists and smear campaigns:

Imagine . . . → Read More: Why Michael Mann is a climate hero

Simply irreversible

By Lou, on March 27th, 2012%

So, one might ask oneself, just how urgent is our climate change situation? Surely it’s not, you know, time to panic or

Global Warming Close to Becoming Irreversible: Scientific American:

The world is close to reaching tipping points that will make it irreversibly hotter, making this decade critical in efforts to contain global warming, scientists warned on . . . → Read More: Simply irreversible

Footprints, always the footprints

By Lou, on March 26th, 2012%

Bill Chameides, whose work is always worth your time, has an excellent piece up at The Green Grok, The Carbon Footprint of Oil Sands Oil:

For years, I (and many of my colleagues) most often turned to work by Alexander Farrell and Adam Brandt (then both of the University of California, Berkeley) that was published in 2006 . . . → Read More: Footprints, always the footprints

Connect the Dots

By Lou, on March 23rd, 2012%

I’ve said many times here and elsewhere in my virtual travels that we need to “connect the dots on climate change”, meaning we need to see all the ramifications of dumping tens of billions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every year, year after year, even after we’ve increased the amount of that gas in . . . → Read More: Connect the Dots

Energy, environment, enlightenment

By Lou, on March 16th, 2012%

There’s an essay by David Schlosberg, Professor of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney, making the rounds that I highly recommend. The latest place I stumbled across it is Michael Tobis’ Planet 3.0 site, where it appears as The End of the Enlightenment. Just a taste, to get you to click through and . . . → Read More: Energy, environment, enlightenment

OECD: We’re FUBAR

By Lou, on March 15th, 2012%

AFP: Environmental crunch ‘worse than thought’: OECD:

Pressures on Earth’s ecosystem are now so great that future generations could be doomed to falling living standards, the OECD said on Thursday in a report looking to the mid-century.

“Providing for a further two billion people by 2050 and improving the living standards for all will challenge our ability to . . . → Read More: OECD: We’re FUBAR

Whither the young?

By Lou, on March 15th, 2012%

The NY Times has an article up about how un-green the Millennials are, and it’s both depressing and not all that surprising:

This study, published online this month in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, looked at the life goals, concern for others and civic orientation of three young generations — baby boomers, Gen Xers and . . . → Read More: Whither the young?

The siren call of natural gas

By Lou, on March 13th, 2012%

Joe Romm has some quotes from Ken Caldeira about the paper he recently co-authored on natural gas, and they’re eye-popping, at least to anyone who hasn’t been paying attention, or worse, believes any of the ads about natural gas the energy companies are using to carpet bomb US airwaves:

I see natural gas as a bridge fuel; . . . → Read More: The siren call of natural gas