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Aren’t You Glad You Use Dial?

World sweats through warmest winter on record Congratulations, global citizens, for weathering the warmest winter in the Northern Hemisphere since record-keeping began in 1880. From December to February, combined land and ocean temperatures were 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit above average, says a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration study published Friday in Science. El Niño helped make […]

Blue Monday

Russia’s going nuclear, the U.S. is going nowhere, and Cambodia’s going wild We hope you had a chance to relax this weekend, to cast aside your cares and spend hours soaking in the jasmine-scented bubble bath of life. Because now it’s back to the putrid mudbath of reality. From Russia comes news that the country […]

Live-blogged!

… is streaming live. Drama! Update [2007-3-19 8:57:46 by David Roberts]: Wow, this is squirm-inducing. Deutsch is on the stand. He is getting drilled. One member of the committee actually offered him a chance to apologize to Hansen. Update [2007-3-19 9:1:28 by David Roberts]: Oh, man. Chris Shays talking-points-I-got-from-some-right-wing-staffer vs. James Hansen I-know-WTF-I’m-talking-about. Advantage: Hansen. […]

At last

Today is the occasion of "one hell of a hearing," as Rep. Henry Waxman’s Oversight Committee has another go as the subject of "Allegations of Political Interference with the Work of Government Climate Change Scientists." WaPo has the following folks testifying: Philip Cooney, former chief of staff for the White House Council on Environmental Quality; […]

Including the enormous Calpers

This is promising: Eager to pour billions of dollars into clean energy and low-carbon investments, some of the largest institutional investors in the world will urge the U.S. Congress next week to accelerate passage of climate-change legislation that would clarify an investment framework. Companies such as Merrill Lynch, the $230 (U.S.) billion California Public Employees […]

But he’s losing weight!

Yes, the D.C. political corps has managed to squeeze yet another story out of the fact that Gore isn’t running, or completely ruling out running, for president (a state of affairs that has held steady for well over a year now). But wait! There’s some new information: A leading indicator of his intentions could be […]

Debunking the ‘water vapor’ nonsense

On March 8, the Newport Daily News published a commentary that recycled one of the stalest skeptical arguments around: because water vapor is the most powerful greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide must be unimportant.

This is incorrect, of course, and has been debunked on several blogs (e.g., here).

In response to this, my colleague Chris Reddy and I wrote this response, published March 16:

Are you?

It feels a bit odd to "recommend" something that will make you want to slit your wrists, but those of you with the intestinal fortitude should check out this Rolling Stone expert roundtable on the Iraq War endgame. It’s … grim. Suffice to say — and I think Tom’s said as much on this blog […]

Did you hear about the Arctic ice?

Turns out it’s melting. And it’s going to screw up the weather in Western Europe and the northern U.S. But then again, Al Gore is fat.

An international poll points to a window of opportunity for U.S. leadership.

A new international poll finds worldwide agreement that climate change is a threat. Opinions are split, however on the nuts and bolts -- in particular, whether to act immediately and whether countermeasures are worth the investment. Even so, a window of opportunity seems to have opened that would allow leaders with bold solutions to spark international cooperation and make real strides. The poll included 17 countries, representing more than 55 percent of the world population (though not all the questions were asked in each of the countries). Western European countries and Canada* were not included.

While global opinion trends are encouraging, the United States -- the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases -- has some catching up to do. That is to say, an attitude adjustment is in order: