Category Archives: Global warming

G8 + Key Emerging Market National Science Academies Take Tough Stand on Global Warming

Earlier this month, the national science academies of the G8 plus those of China, India, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, and India, issued a strongly worded joint statement about global warming and energy usage. Let us stress that it is pretty much unheard of for this many independent science bodies to agree on such an unequivocal […]

"How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic"

This is a great post on Gristmill (courtesy Brad DeLong): How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic Below is a complete listing of the articles in “How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic,” a series by Coby Beck containing responses to the most common skeptical arguments on global warming. There are four separate taxonomies; arguments […]

Larry Summers: "Practical Steps to Climate Control"

Larry Summers keeps getting better and better as an op-ed writer. His current article in the Financial Times lays out a series of practical recommendations on what to do about climate change. He focuses on the problem of the developing world, since they will account for 75% of the increase in greenhouse gases, and as […]

Australian Water Situation Worse Than Previously Thought

For those of you who (understandably) don’t follow this matter, Australia is in the midst of a six year drought that shows no signs of abating. It has gotten so serious that agricultural irrigation may be severely curtailed, which will not only further damage badly depressed agricultural areas, but will destroy fruit trees that take […]

New Scientist Debunks 26 Climate Change Myths

This New Scientist special report is a great resource for those of you who have the misfortune to know climate change deniers. Here’s the overview: Our planet’s climate is anything but simple. All kinds of factors influence it, from massive events on the Sun to the growth of microscopic creatures in the oceans, and there […]

Tourist Industry: Global Warming Luddites

A first page story in the Financial Times, “Tourism chiefs face guilt trip on green issues,” demonstrates that much of the tourism industry is in the deer-in-the-headlights phase regarding climate change. They can’t believe that environmental concerns, and the changing consumer attitudes that go with it, are bearing down on them. Consider that, as reported […]

US Seeking to Water Down G8 Climate Change Targets

This article from the BBC discusses the US’s effort to eliminate language from a draft G8 agreement to take action to limit temperature increases this century to 2 degrees Celsius and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050. The 2 degree target is particularly important, since some scientists believe that a rise of 3 […]

Carbon Taxes vs. Cap and Trade

Apologies for being a bit behind the eight ball. Still under the weather, so forgive me if my posts for the next little while are a bit light on my own commentary. This op-ed piece, “Getting on a low-carbon diet,” by Ronald Brownstein in the LA Times gives an even-handed treatment of the merits of […]

UN Report Urges Caution on Biofuels

In an underreported story (no mention in the Financial Times or the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal reference was in its energy blog, far from prime time), the United Nations said in essence that biofuels could create as many problems, via environmental damage and higher food prices, as they solve. It also […]

Intelligent Cars as Fuel Efficient as Hybrids

A study at the University of Melbourne found that “intelligent” cars, meaning ones outfitted with telematics which enabled them to sense the cars around them and make more gradual adjustments to driving speeds than humans would make, yielded the same 15-20% fuel savings that hybrid cars offer, at considerably lower cost. The study did not […]

Wal-Mart’s Subsidized Solar Push

Lately, Wal-Mart looks schizophrenic. On the one hand, it has established a powerful position as the employer of last resort in many communities, and, despite its vigorous protests otherwise, has little regard for workers. It subjects them to surveillance, engages in union-blocking that many claim is on the wrong side of the law (the law […]

Climate Change: From Denial to Lip Service?

The third installment of this year’s series of reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is out, this one focusing on the level of corrective measures needed to counteract climate change and their likely cost. As we reported earlier (“Third IPCC Report: Compromised on Arrival“), each successive report is more and more politicized. This […]

Third IPCC Report: Compromised on Arrival

The third installment of this year’s series of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes’ reports is due out Friday. Each successive report becomes more and more politicized, with the upshot that they are less and less valid as scientific pronouncements. China is the heavy in the effort to water down and distort the findings, […]

Larry Summers on Climate Change Realism

Larry Summers, in a Financial Times comment “We need to bring climate idealism down to earth“, takes up “the best is the enemy of the good” theme as it applies to global warming. He argues that the Kyoto accords haven’t accomplished much because neither the targets nor the penalties are binding, that carbon markets run […]