Climate Climate & Energy

The Lobby Lobby

Protesters shut down public energy hearing at Thailand hotel How many protesters does it take to stop a public hearing? About 200, if a fracas at Bangkok’s Siam City hotel is any indication. Thailand expects its power needs to more than double by 2021, and officials are scrambling to approve a plan for feeding the […]

D, None of the Above

Nations squabble over who’s responsible for solving climate change Last week, more than 100 countries approved a report saying humans are causing climate change and it’s time to find solutions. Remember that show of harmony? Well, cherish the memory, because now some of those countries are rushing to explain why they can’t be the ones […]

Gary Lagerloef, earth, space, and ocean researcher, answers questions

Gary Lagerloef. What work do you do? I work at a small nonprofit scientific research institution named Earth & Space Research, where I have several key roles. I cofounded ESR in 1995, I am the current president, I serve on the board of directors, and I am a senior research scientist. The last role occupies […]

Is anyone still taking this stuff seriously?

President Bush’s recent pledge to raise the Renewable Fuel Standard to 35 billion gallons by 2017 dropped with a bit of a thud. David Roberts made a pretty good case that all the recent hype around ethanol may soon prove quaint: that, in essence, the ethanol craze will eventually likely crumble under its weighty political, […]

The scoop on the new IPCC climate-change report

What is the IPCC, and what’s the deal with its new report? When climate change emerged as an important environmental issue in the late 1980s, the world governments’ first response was to establish an international body to produce summaries of scientific knowledge of climate change. That body is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The […]

The 411 on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Unless you’ve been living under a rock — if so, way to live simply! — you’ve probably heard a smidgen about the summary of a hefty climate report released to the public today by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In fact, you’ve probably heard the acronym “IPCC” bandied about with some regularity in the […]

Now We’ve Done It

Humans “very likely” changing the climate, says long-awaited IPCC report A few weeks of leaks stole some thunder, but the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has released the first installment of its long-awaited fourth report, and the news is — well, not news, thanks to those meddling leakers. But let’s pretend. The news is out! […]

He predicted climate change in the ’60s

With poetic license: Come gather ’round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You’ll be drenched to the bone. If your time to you Is worth savin’ Then you better start swimmin’ Or you’ll sink like a stone For the clime, it is a-changin’. […]

Another silly debate around the IPCC report

News stories have been reporting that the IPCC will make a statement about the relation between global warming and hurricanes:

During marathon meetings in Paris, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change approved language that said an increase in hurricane and tropical cyclone strength since 1970 "more likely than not" can be attributed to man-made global warming, according to Leonard Fields of Barbados and Cedric Nelom of Surinam.

The blogosphere is already awash with discussion about this (see here and here), and I expect all the usual suspects to weigh in on this soon.

Frankly, My Dear, We Don’t Want These Dams

Federal decision may be first step toward dam removal on the Klamath River Four hydroelectric dams along the Oregon-California border must ease fish passage to earn license renewal, says the Bush administration. The decision may spur the largest dam-removal project in history, as installation of fish ladders and other devices could cost far more than […]