writeaboutwarming

March 13, 2017 - Raise your hand if winter weather where you live has been abnormal. Here in the Pacific Northwest we have had record-setting amounts of rain. 2017 has been one of the fastest starting years on record in terms of the tornado count, which currently stands at 301 confirmed tornadoes. There is an historic blizzard taking place in the northeastern US as I write. When you see words like "record setting" and "historic," think climate change. Otherwise, there is no change; events fall within an average range, established over decades or centuries. The events and patterns just described fall outside that range; they are therefore symptomatic of climate change. Every passing year gets warmer - and worse, by which I mean the damage done by storms measured in dollars, and the number of injuries or deaths caused by storms. The warmer temperatures occur at night, by the way. Yes, daytime temperatures may also be hellishly hot, but they aren't at the cutt...

October 4, 2015 – Business is at long last throwing its weight around on behalf of the climate.   Progress toward mitigating climate change has been a nearly nonexistent process, occurring at nowhere close to the scale it needs to happen.   Governments bewail the fact they have too many constituents to keep happy, while business has wrung its hands over the cost of switching to renewable energy.   Meantime, this weekend alone has seen over 100 people buried in a landslide in Guatemala, 17 killed by flash flooding on the French Riviera, and unknown numbers of missing or dead in South Carolina as a result of torrential rain associated with Hurricane Joaquin. Corporations haven’t exactly broken any records in their rush to speak out, but ten companies came forward on October 1 with a letter to American and world leaders. The chief executive officers of these firms are pledging to accelerate actions that will mitigate climate change, and are urging word leaders to do t...

September 5, 2013 – Imagine you are a member of a group that consists of 1,300 people.   You have all been given an important task to complete.   In order to enhance the group’s functionality, you are divided up into smaller groups.   A work schedule has been laid out, with small groups reporting to the heads of each group, and small group heads reporting to the director of the entire project.   Because group members live in different countries, a great deal of communication is handled via email.   Because group members are not paid for their work, it must somehow be fit into already busy schedules.   This is my abbreviated, concocted idea of how the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) works.   Every six or seven years, the IPCC is mandated by the United Nations to issue a report defining global climate risks.   This year’s report is due out later this month in Stockholm.   Partly as a result of their expert analysis, clim...

August 22, 2013 – During the past two years, Henry Waxman (D-CA), Energy and Commerce Committee ranking member, and   Bobby Rush (D-IL), Energy and Power Subcommittee ranking member, have sent 21 letters requesting a hearing on climate change and the latest science bearing on the issue.   Recipients Fred Upton (R-MI) and Ed Whitfield (R-KY), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman and Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman, respectively, have steadfastly ignored these requests.   The one exception occurred in March of this year, at which time Waxman and Rush received a response. Upton and Whitfield have now scheduled what is being called a “major hearing” on climate change for September 18.   The leaders of 13 federal agencies have been invited to testify, among them Gina McCarthy of the EPA, Ernest Moniz of the Dept. of Energy, Chuck Hagel of the Defense Dept., and State Dept. Secretary John Kerry.    Each letter of invitation asks nine questions...