(Part of the How to Talk to a Global Warming Skeptic guide) Objection: So 2005 was a record year. Records are set all the time. One really warm year is not global warming. Answer: This is actually not an unreasonable point -- single years taken by themselves can not establish or refute a trend. So 2005 being the hottest globally averaged temperature on record is not convincing. Then how about: every year since 1992 has been warmer than 1992; the ten hottest years on record occurred in the last 15; every year since 1976 has been warmer than 1976; the …

The Great Warming aims to do what other climate-change books, TV shows, and films haven't. In lieu of purely scientific or data-based persuasion, it appeals to viewers' sense of spiritual and moral responsibility. On that level, it succeeds. Debuting in American theaters on Nov. 3 but already making the rounds in the country's churches, the film takes regular folks and lets them talk about climate change, attempting to appeal to the emotions of, well, regular folks. There's Danny Duet down in Louisiana talking about the changes he's seen on the bayou, the rising waters and receding dry land. There's Rev. …

I listened with great interest to the audio recording of the SEJ panel discussion described in David Roberts' recent blog post. Much of the argument there can be distilled down to one simple question: Where can I find credible answers to scientific questions about climate change? Here's the scientific community's answer: look to the peer-reviewed scientific literature. A strong consensus there is the closest thing we have to well-founded knowledge, and it is entitled to substantial deference in policy debates. And if a reporter wants to write about what the "scientific community" thinks, this consensus is what they should report. …

(Part of the How to Talk to a Global Warming Skeptic guide) Objection: Even the scientists don't know that the climate is changing more than normal and if it's our fault or not. If you read what they write it is full of "probably," "likely," "evidence of" and all kinds of qualifiers. If they don't know for sure, why should we worry yet? Answer: Probability is the language of science. There is no proof; there are no absolute certainties. Scientists are always aware that new data may overturn old theories and that human knowledge is constantly evolving. Consequently, it is …

(Part of the How to Talk to a Global Warming Skeptic guide) Objection: One hundred and some years of global surface temperatures is not long enough to draw any conclusions from or worry about anyway. Answer: The reliable instrumental record only goes back 150 years in the CRU analysis, 125 in the NASA analysis. This is a simple fact that we are stuck with. 2005 was the warmest year recorded in that period according to NASA, a very close second according to CRU. Because of this limit, it is not enough to say today that these are the warmest years …

An interview I recently did has been published in the newsletter of Caisse des Depots, a state-owned financial institution that performs public-interest missions on behalf of the French government. Also quoted in the interview is Patrick Criqui, Director of the Energy and Environmental Policy Department of the Grenoble LEPII. You can get the full newsletter here (PDF). It's all about the problems posed by the long timescale climate change operates on, and is definitely worth reading. Here is the interview: How can we plan for the long term? How can we take action today to fight against atmospheric greenhouse gases …

(Part of the How to Talk to a Global Warming Skeptic guide) Objection: The apparent rise of global average temperatures is actually an illusion due to the urbanization of land around weather stations, the Urban Heat Island effect. Answer: Urban Heat Island Effect has been examined quite thoroughly (PDF) and found to have a negligible effect on temperature trends. Real Climate has a detailed discussion of this here. What's more, NASA GISS takes explicit steps in their analysis to remove any such spurious signal by normalizing urban station data trends to the surrounding rural stations. It is a real phenomenon, …

Brockton, Mass., is championing solar power. Photos: SCHOTT Solar This city was once the shoemaking capital of the Northeast, and over the years it was home to boxers Rocky Marciano and Marvin Hagler, earning it the nickname "City of Champions." Today, however, Brockton, Mass., holds the dubious honor of being one of the region's trash capitals, because of its high concentration of waste-disposal and recycling facilities. And you wouldn't want your kids playing in what's left of the open spaces in this hardscrabble urban area halfway between Boston and Providence. Some of Brockton's remaining parcels are EPA-designated brownfield sites, useless …

Morgan Stanley will invest $3 billion in carbon trading and offset projects Investment giant Morgan Stanley announced today that it will invest $3 billion in carbon trading and offset projects over the next five years. Expecting a rush to purchase offsets as the Kyoto Protocol's 2012 deadline approaches, the bank is playing the middleperson -- buying offsets from emissions-cutting projects now, with the plan to sell them to governments and industry later. Most of the industrialized countries signed on to the Kyoto Protocol are lagging on meeting their emissions targets and will need to either buy other countries' rights to …

Natural-gas drilling booms in Fort Worth Forth Worth, Texas, lies atop a huge natural-gas field, and thus is at the center of the biggest urban drilling boom in the U.S. today. The city has leased more than 2,400 acres of public land for natural-gas development; over 600 wells have cropped up in the last year alone, and, says Mayor Mike Moncrief, "we've only just started." It's an economic jackpot for some Fort Worth residents and groups -- the American Cancer Society sold mineral rights to donated land for $5 million, and the Girl Scouts allowed drilling under a summer camp …