Latest Articles
-
Gwyn Prins and Steve Rayner on climate change
Today's members of the "Inhofe 400," Gwyn Prins and Steve Rayner, do appear to have expertise on climate change policy. Prins is the professor and director of the Mackinder Centre for the Study of Long Wave Events at the London School of Economics, while Rayner is professor and director of the James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization at the University of Oxford.
As such, they are different from those that I have previously highlighted (here and here), who were true skeptics of human-induced climate change, but didn't have the credentials or credibility in the climate change arena to be considered "experts."
So Prins and Rayner have credibility in their area of expertise, but are they actually skeptics? The first sentence of the executive summary of their report, "The Wrong Trousers," (PDF) says:
We face a problem of anthropogenic climate change, but the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 has failed to tackle it.
I would say that Prins and Rayner do not doubt the reality of human-induced climate change.
-
-
Indian car company to sell world’s cheapest car
India-based Tata Motors plans to launch what it’s billing as the world’s cheapest car later this year, a five-seater selling for about $2,500. The roughly 58-miles-per-gallon “People’s Car” hopes to lure less affluent folks in India and other developing countries who often rely on ultra-cheap two-wheeled motorbikes and scooters for transport. The car will be […]
-
Japan leads G8 in 2008, will focus on climate change
A new year means a new country takes over leadership of the Group of Eight rich nations, and in 2008 it’s Japan. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has promised to make climate change a top priority, proposing a goal for G8 countries to cut emissions by 50 percent from 1990 levels by 2050. And while that […]
-
2008 will see another peaceful transfer of power in the U.S.
((2008predictions_include)) Last year I made 20 predictions for 2007 and it brought me nothing but woe and discredit. Yet sadistic Grist higher-ups demand I wade into the forecasting muck again, no doubt insuring further humiliation. (Though not professional censure. Remember, pundits face no penalty for being wrong, only for being shrill.) This promises to be […]
-
New-Year-heralding ball will be energy-efficient
As promised, the ball that will drop in Times Square tonight to herald the new year will be dazzling both in its brightness and its energy efficiency. On the 100th anniversary of the tradition, the 1,415-pound ball with a circumference of some 6 feet will glow with more than 9,500 energy-efficient LED lights. Its descent […]
-
United Nations declares 2008 International Year of Planet Earth
When the clock strikes midnight tonight and you kiss your nearest partygoer in drunken revelry, the world will be entering the United Nations-declared official International Year of Planet Earth. (The IYoPE technically lasts from January 2007 to December 2009, which makes it a three-year-long International Year, but why quibble?) In 2008, the U.N. will also […]
-
New Year’s Resolutions 2008
Make our Olympic debut We’re good at shooting the breeze, bouncing from clubs, and spiking the punch, so look for us in Beijing at the archery, trampoline, or volleyball competitions. Obviously we’re totally qualified, but we still might not go — the decision’s up in the air. Literally. Photo: Marco Scala via flickr Eat organicagefreeganatural […]
-
Sea levels may rise five feet by 2100
A recent Nature Geoscience study, "High rates of sea-level rise during the last interglacial period," ($ubs. req'd) finds that sea levels could rise twice what the IPCC had project for 2100. This confirms what many scientists have recently warned (also see here), and it matches the conclusion of a study (PDF) earlier this year in Science.
[As an aside, in one debate with a denier -- can't remember who, they all kind of merge together -- I was challenged: "Name one peer-reviewed study projecting sea-level rise this century beyond the IPCC." Well, now there are two from this year alone!]
For the record, five feet (PDF) of sea level rise would submerge some 22,000 square miles of U.S. land just on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts (farewell, southern Louisiana and Florida) -- and displace more than 100 million people worldwide. And, of course, sea levels would just keep rising some six inches a decade -- or, more likely, even faster next century than this century.
-
Beijing struggles to clear air in time for Olympics
The good news: Beijing narrowly achieved its air-pollution goal of 245 “blue sky days” in 2007. The bad news: Skepticism abounds that the city will offer wholly breathable air when it hosts the upcoming Summer Olympics. “We’re definitely hoping for the best,” says Jon Kolb, a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee, “but preparing for […]
