Latest Articles
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Poor countries can’t afford to tackle climate change
I know, I know, this is a false choice that skeptics use to stall action on climate change. Or is it?
Check out this article from Reason. It makes some interesting points. Here's a quick summary:
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Watchdog group files complaint with USDA
Wal-Mart has been mislabeling non-organic food items as organic, charges the Cornucopia Institute in a complaint filed with the USDA. Reports the AP:
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Dirty Movies
Hollywood spews excess pollution along with its blockbusters Hollywood is facing an inconvenient truth: it’s a dirty industry. A UCLA report says TV and film productions pollute more than four other local industries, including aerospace and semiconductor manufacturing (but likely less than oil refineries, so that’s a comfort). Set construction, special effects, and other excesses […]
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Dropping Pounds From Their Waste
U.K. shoppers encouraged to bully manufacturers that create excess waste Offering hope to scofflaws everywhere, U.K. Environment Minister Ben Bradshaw says British shoppers should leave “unnecessary and excessive” packaging at store checkouts and tattle on package-happy manufacturers. The government-sanctioned shop and skedaddle plan sounds delightfully naughty — particularly since manufacturers found guilty of overpackaging single […]
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Coffee, Tea, or Big Three?
Detroit CEOs meet with President Bush, discuss energy concerns Since lunch with Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) didn’t kill him, President Bush cozied up to another foe: the Big Three automakers. Yesterday, Bush met with the CEOs of Ford, GM, and the Chrysler Group, a trio he ruffled earlier this year by saying they’d improve financially […]
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Rank and Vile
U.S. ranks low on climate-change list topped by European countries Two groups have ranked the climate-change successes of the 56 countries responsible for 90 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, and concluded that they all suck. “We don’t have any winners, we only have countries that are better compared to others,” says Matthias Duwe of […]
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Here’s why the scientific community thinks so
This is a "greatest hit" from my previous blog. It's a topic that comes up all the time, so I think it's worth a reprise.
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As George Bush said at a recent press conference: "the globe is warming. The fundamental debate: Is it manmade or natural?"
Why does the scientific community think humans are significantly contributing to today's warming?
To understand why, first recognize that whenever the climate shifts, there's a reason for it. It does not wander around like a drunken sailor.
Based on decades of research, we can identify the factors that have influenced climate in the past:
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‘Position statements hide debate’–True enough, but that is not the whole picture
(Part of the How to Talk to a Global Warming Skeptic guide)
Objection: All those institutional position statements are fine, but by their very nature they paper over debate and obscure the variety of individual positions. The real debate is in the scientific journals.
Answer: This is a fair point. Group position statements are designed to present a united front. The best indicator of what individual scientists think is in the current scientific literature, where new and different is the paramount value and scientists are free to express their own ideas, as long as they're supported by data and logic. What does the literature look like in terms of the climate debate? Sounds like a good topic for research.
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Press coverage of climate change is … changing
Am I the only one who senses a remarkable shift -- or, really, three shifts -- in how the press is covering climate change?
