Paul Krugman of the New York Times asks why the climate bill died. His answer: few legitimate doubts about the science remain, and the scientists and the economics weren’t to blame. Rather, greed and cowardice killed action on the climate change legislation. The whole world, he warns, will pay the price.
Who cooked the planet?
July 29th, 2010Four ways to kill a climate bill
July 29th, 2010Writing in the New York Times, Lee Wasserman, the Rockefeller Family Fund head, ascribes failure of the cimate bill to four threads: focussing on green jobs rather than the climate; devising a bill for polluters, not the American people; making it too complicated; and failing to win people’s support for it.
Green myths debunked
July 19th, 2010Here are the last of the myths in the series from Fortune. We hope that you have enjoyed following the series and have learned more about climate change.
#20 – Winter mornings
#21 – Electric cars
#22 – Distance ratings
#23 – AC on?
#24 – Hybrids
The heat wave and the climate divide
July 19th, 2010Was the heat wave experienced by the east coast earlier this month the result of climate change? It’s impossible to say since climate change isn’t defined by single events, but rather long term (thirty years or more) averages and frequencies. What we can say is that conditions experienced during the heat wave may be a taste of summers to come if the frequency of days with high temperatures around 100 °F increases, as is expected to happen with increasing average global temperatures.
A mammoth effect
July 13th, 2010There is general agreement among scientists that man has a role in global warming. This impact began, if the research reported here is correct, not with the industrial revolution or even the advent of slash and burn agriculture, but rather seven millennia ago with the killing of the mammoths. Fewer mammoths would have meant more deciduous trees, whose darker leaves would have led to more sunlight being absorbed, and a slightly warmer climate.
Millions face starvation as Niger prays in vain for rain
July 13th, 2010Is this a manifestation of global warming or just a “normal” drought? Does it matter? Either way it’s a human disaster.
Green myths debunked
July 9th, 2010Here is the next group in the series from Fortune.
#16 and #18 – Offsetting carbon dioxide, Carbon offsets
#17 – Global warming?
#19 – Snowfall
#20 – Winter morning warm-ups
When the day after tomorrow has come
July 6th, 2010Geoengineering is the application of engineering on a global scale. Some want to use it to cool a warming climate, removing carbon from the atmosphere, or reflecting solar radiation back into space. Others worry it could lead to disaster. Three new books explore the potential risks and rewards.
White House energy session changes no minds
July 6th, 2010President Obama invited 23 senators last Tuesday to the White House to discuss energy policy, to no effect. Democrats insisted on pricing greenhouse gas emissions; Republicans insisted such a “tax” would wreck the economy. Various senators suggested approaches; Mr. Obama listened but endorsed none.
Why climate stumps even the brightest scientists
June 29th, 2010Climate scientists are nearly unanimous that the earth is warming, and that human activity is the main cause. But they don’t agree how much Earth will warm. Researchers queried 14 leading climate scientists using expert elicitation. All identified the role of clouds as the biggest uncertainty.