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Tonight's editor: patrickz
All views expressed by today's editor do not necessarily represent those of eKos or eKos listed diarists.
Tonight's Editor's Choice is a moving diary by erratic, The last most beautiful thing - Salamanders and Lightning:
I spent the weekend taking a bunch of inner city kids from DC camping. It was undeniably my last most beautiful thing, absolutely worth the hours I've spent tracking signups, permission forms, and camping gear, the last few weeks. We drove out to an Outdoor Ed center near Harpers Ferry, WV; set up tents in a field; did a low ropes challenge course; grilled corn, hotdogs, hamburgers and S'mores; had a talent show with comedy, R&B, and gospel; did a Night Hike: kept mostly dry during a 3am lightning storm and downpour; built a fire in the morning, did another hike, and drove home tired and happy.
Thank you for making a difference, erratic.
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Simulated and observed Northern Hemisphere surface-air-temperature anomalies. Black is observed, blue assumes pre-industrial level of GHGs, red includes GHGs.(Credit: Nature Geoscience) |
Solar activity and volcanoes important to North Atlantic climate, but not enough to explain recent warming
The models seem to be getting better and better:
A study presented in Nature Geoscience suggests that changes in solar intensity and volcanic eruptions act as a metronome for temperature variations in the North Atlantic climate.
A research team from the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research in Bergen, Norway, has studied the climate in the North Atlantic region over the past 600 years using the Bergen Climate Model and the observed temperature evolution. They point to changes in the solar intensity and explosive volcanic eruptions as important causes for climate variations in the North Atlantic during this period.
Nothing so far that would stick in Inhofe's craw. In fact, isn't this what people like Monckton have been saying all along? Except...
The study also shows that the observed warming in the North Atlantic during the 20th century cannot be explained by the solar and volcanic activity alone. In the model, the increased emissions of CO2 and other well-mixed greenhouse gases to the atmosphere since the onset of the industrial revolution have to be included in order to simulate the observed temperature evolution.
It's a NAZI hoax trap!
Freshwater turtles face 'bleak future'
This makes me sad:
Freshwater turtles are in catastrophic decline, according to a new analysis by Conservation International (CI).
The group says more than a third of the estimated 280 species around the world are now threatened with extinction.
The unsustainable collection of turtles for food and to supply a lucrative pet trade are the key drivers behind the fall in numbers.
Habitat loss as a result of river-damming for hydro-electricity is another major concern.
Solar Funnel?
And now for a little bit of interesting/promising news:
ScienceDaily (Sep. 13, 2010) — Using carbon nanotubes (hollow tubes of carbon atoms), MIT chemical engineers have found a way to concentrate solar energy 100 times more than a regular photovoltaic cell. Such nanotubes could form antennas that capture and focus light energy, potentially allowing much smaller and more powerful solar arrays.
"Instead of having your whole roof be a photovoltaic cell, you could have little spots that were tiny photovoltaic cells, with antennas that would drive photons into them," says Michael Strano, the Charles and Hilda Roddey Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and leader of the research team.
Help Pakistan
Greg (Three Cups of Tea, Stones Into Schools) Mortenson's non-profit (CAI) recommends supporting a local (Pakistani) group to which donations will likely have a large, immediate, and lasting impact-
Human Development Foundation
http://www.hdf.com
(800) 705 1310
From their page about the flooding:
HDF is committed to work towards relief and reconstruction efforts in flood affected HDF program areas including Mardan and Tandoo Muhammad Khan. HDF already has the existing infrastructure and a team of trained employees and volunteers in place. Currently there is need for basic necessities like tents, blankets, cooking sets, utility containers, soap and bedding as well as, basic healthcare.
More details and videos at their site and their YouTube channel.
• • • • • •
Other groups that deserve support as well.
Doctors without Borders (MSF):
DONATE
The Red Cross:
DONATE
OXFAM:
OXFAM's Pakistan page:
With an estimated 6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, I am concerned that so far the international community hasn’t responded with the speed or on the scale warranted by a disaster of this magnitude.
DONATE
• • • • • •
From the US State dept.
How You Can Help:
Text "SWAT" to 50555; $10 goes to fund for flood victims
WarrenS made a New Year's Resolution to write a letter advocating climate action every day. The result is over two hundred letters to congresspeople, newspapers, President Obama, and more. Warren has even had letters published in the New York Times and the Boston Globe.
Learn Warren's letter writing technique here. Be sure to steal his stuffand visit his blog.
Month 9, Day 13: La la la, la la la, la la la...
Not sure how Californians feel about people from the other side of the country meddling in their local elections, but I sent this to the LA Times anyhow, after reading the following:
Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer said Friday that rival Carly Fiorina’s recent embrace of a November ballot measure that would roll back the state’s landmark global warming law was evidence that the Republican was "in the pocket of big oil" and "dirty coal."
With California’s unemployment rate at 12.3%, the three-term senator and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown have argued that the state’s 2006 global warming law, which would cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels over the next decade, will play a crucial role in creating jobs and stimulating the green energy sector in California.
The ballot measure, which has been largely bankrolled by three oil companies based outside of California, would suspend the law until unemployment reaches 5.5% for a year — a rare occurrence historically. If Proposition 23 succeeds, Boxer argued Friday, California would lose its edge in industries such as wind and solar to other nations.
Meanwhile, Carly Fiorina blathers:
The state’s global warming law "isn’t the right answer," Fiorina said in Mill Valley. Instead, she said, Congress should pass "a national, rational energy policy" that motivates innovation in "clean, green" technologies as well as "environmentally responsible exploration and exploitation of every source of energy that we have."
I agree, Congress should pass such a policy, and it’ll happen...in the year 2200, when all human presence has been uploaded into the digital domain because we no longer have a planet to live on. Personally, I’d like to see California (and all the rest of the states) do something rational in the meantime.
Anyway...
Carly Fiorina is absolutely right. California’s current global warming law "isn’t the right answer." But she misses the point, which is that the right answer is policies that are firmly based in environmental reality. While there are no doubt inadequacies in the current law, California currently leads the country when it comes to science-based climate/energy policy. On the other hand, Barbara Boxer’s assessment of her opponent is exact and irrefutable: Fiorina is definitely in the enormous pockets of the most environmentally irresponsible corporations in the world (the same ones bankrolling the campaign for Proposition 23). As a Massachusetts resident, I can only remark from the sidelines that getting a senator whose approach to climate/energy legislation consists of sticking her fingers in her ears and shouting "la la la la la la — I can’t hear you!!" would be a shame for California, for the nation, and for the world.
WarrenS
I would be remiss if I failed to mention RLMiller's excellent work exposing Republican climate denial zombies. Both diaries have been posted at the Grist website (here and here). Thanks to everyone who has helped out with the research. If you know of any climate zombies in your state running for national office or governor, please mention them in the comments.
LaughingPlanet started a(nother) Google group do address the crisis in Pakistan. Anyone who would like to get involved or get alerts when a new HELP PAKISTAN diary is posted, please join.
< ==== CLICK THE PIC
Thanks.
(All times Eastern!)
eKos diaries from Monday, September 13, 2010 |
Diary | Author | Time (Eastern) | Tags |
Models Shmodels {Earthship Monday} | eKos | 11:03:58 PM | ekos, ekos earthship, turtles, climate change, global warming |
Prop 23 Reinforces Race and Class Discrimination | Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse | 10:00:50 PM | Recommended, EcoJustice, environment, climate change, racism |
The Science Behind GE Salmon is Bad... Real Bad (ACTION) | Jill Richardson | 9:49:38 PM | Salmon, Biotechnology, Food, Aquaculture, GE Salmon |
Senate likely to GUT the EPA this week! Did BP's oil spill never happen? WTF?!?! | MinistryOfTruth | 8:42:26 PM | Recommended, EPA, Senate, environment, protection, funding |
BP and the Gov't: Setting Precedent, Reforming Image | scorpiorising | 7:33:24 PM | ekos, Rescued, BP, NOAA, EPA |
Macca's Meatless Monday...Live and Stir Fry | beach babe in fl | 6:00:44 PM | eKos, livestock production, meat production, climate change, resource depletion |
Science Tidbits | possum | 3:31:53 PM | Teaching, Learning, Science, eKos |
Looks Like They Found The Oil The Microbes Ate... | punditician | 2:52:27 PM | Recommended, BP, oil spill, Gulf of Mexico, eKos |
From Peacock to Zombie: The Republican Party's open disdain for science | A Siegel | 2:14:45 PM | ekos, climate peacock, climate zombie, republican party, science |
Finger Millet: A Once and Future Staple | NourishingthePlanet | 10:53:54 AM | ekos, Nourishing the Planet, State of the World, Worldwatch, Indigenous Vegetable |
BP Catastrophe Liveblog Mothership: 111 | Gulf Watchers | 6:03:43 AM | Recommended, Oilpocalypse, BP, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, LMRP |
The last most beautiful thing - Salamanders and Lightning | erratic | 12:25:37 AM | ekos, nature, beauty |
eKos diaries from Sunday, September 12, 2010 |
Diary | Author | Time (Eastern) | Tags |
80 Dolphins Captured in Taiji, Japan, Their Fate Unknown, Please Help Stop the Slaughter | Ellinorianne | 11:38:23 PM | Recommended, Dolphins, Slaughter, Taiji, eKos |
California Unites Against Proposition 23. | RLMiller | 8:34:02 PM | Recommended, California, Proposition 23, climate change, global warming, eKos |
A More Ancient World (Biodiversity Diaries): Mystery of Sex | matching mole | 8:32:19 PM | biodiversity, evolution, George Williams, sexual reproduction, mutation |
Dances on Walls: How flying women are making the planet cooler | citisven | 2:45:39 PM | dance, art, ecology, Rescued, Gaia |
BP and the Gov't: Setting Precedent, Reforming Image | scorpiorising | 1:35:18 PM | ekos, Rescued, BP, NOAA, EPA |
Gulf Coast Residents are NOT the Problem. So What is? | jamess | 1:09:16 PM | Gulf Coast Claims Facility, Ken Feinberg, Pay Czar, Claims Process, Claims Fraud |
Layer of oil on the Gulf sea floor | worldforallpeopleorg | 10:24:36 AM | eKos, BP, gulf oil |
BP Catastrophe Liveblog Mothership: 110 | Gulf Watchers | 6:01:18 AM | Recommended, Oilpocalypse, BP, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, LMRP |
Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (9/11 9th Anniversary edition) | Neon Vincent | 12:14:39 AM | Recommended, Overnight News Digest, OND, science, space |
eKos diaries from Saturday, September 11, 2010 |
Diary | Author | Time (Eastern) | Tags |
The Fear Campaign being waged for Oil Industry Independence | jamess | 5:22:57 PM | Political Ads, Source Watch, Front Groups, American Solutions, American Solutions for Winning the Future |
World Governments Highly Vulnerable to Climate Change Collapse | RobertConnors | 1:14:29 PM | climate, government, instability, conflict, peak oil |
BP Catastrophe Liveblog Mothership: 109 | Gulf Watchers | 6:00:01 AM | Recommended, ilpocalypse, BP, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, LMRP |
Death-march of the penguins {eKos Earthship Friday} | eKos | 12:07:46 AM | eKos, eKos Earthship, biodiversity, global warming, climate change |
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