writeaboutwarming

August 19, 2013 – Back in the halcyon days of warnings about a far off event called climate change   (as opposed to   the actual occurrence of climate change, which is what we’re stuck with now), Americans were warned that if certain tendencies in the climate asserted themselves, they would encourage the climate’s unpredictability, thereby leading to more change.   When an action leads to results that reinforce the original action, a feedback loop has been established.   Say, for instance, that a student who dislikes school because he gets poor grades, decides that because of his disliking school he’d rather play soccer with friends than study for a test.   The consequences are quite predictable: because he doesn’t study for the test, he performs poorly on the test, leading to an even greater dislike of school.   That’s a feedback loop. In the early days, right after World War II, all that scientists knew was that the earth was warming.   Becaus...

April 16, 2012 - I don't know about you, but I've had my doubts about Steven Chu at various points along the way.  He has sometimes come across as a "go along to get along" kind of guy.  (Then again, it may be naive of me to believe that science and politics shouldn't have a bearing on one another.)  Be that as it may, sometimes all it takes is one good idea to make a world of difference.  Chu, U.S. Secretary of Energy, is enjoying a bit of recognition these days for an idea he proposed two years ago while speaking to the Royal Society of London.  A team of scientists, led by Dr. Hashem Akberi of Concordia University in Canada, has since delved into Chu's proposal.  Their conclusion?  It's the real deal. Beautiful in its simplicity, Chu's suggestion sounds eminently doable.  By painting roofs white, and by paving roads with light-colored materials, Chu says gargantuan amounts of energy can be saved.  As much energy, in fact, as wo...