writeaboutwarming

December 16, 2013 – The end of the year is a time for taking stock, so that’s what we’ll do today.   To a large degree, I will simply be lifting information from an article that first appeared online in Climate Progress. There’s a lot to talk about, and really very little analysis warranted; the facts speak for themselves, and very loudly, too.   None of the news is good - we appear to have much in common with the proverbial deer caught in the headlights. CO2 levels hit 400 ppm – the highest level in recorded history.   This fact notwithstanding, Americans rejoice in being told that our country is once again energy independent, thanks to the fracking of oil and gas.   At the current pace of increase, there will be 450 ppm within three decades, which will drive catastrophic climate change. Hotter, faster – In its fifth assessment report, released this year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) determines that the world as a whole ...

March 8 – So often I turn to Alex Smith’s Radio Ecoshock Show for inspiration. Alex frequently interviews scientists, authors, and activists in order to stay abreast of the latest thinking with regard to global warming-related matters. To call one particular recent program “inspiring” would simply be a lie, however. As scientists continue to raise their voices louder and louder in a chorus of concern, that alarm makes itself more and more a part of each of Smith’s programs. Smith himself seems to have entered a new stage in his own thinking, as a result. For those of use who have, for so long, known that this was a problem in need of immediate attention, the lack thereof, in the face of the now sober, sad reality, becomes ever more surreal. We dutifully report the latest thinking, and it is like shouting into the wind. Our world no longer teeters on the precipice. It would seem it has gone over the side. I base this disturbing conclusion on Smith’s February 25 program, “On the R...

September 27, 2009 – Lester Brown is one of the unsung heroes in the battle to mitigate climate change. Founder of the World Watch Institute, and current president of the Earth Policy Institute, he has been at the leading edge of the movement to reduce waste and teach respect for the environment for decades. His most recent book, Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, will be reviewed in this blog at a later date. The title, by the way, is not grandiose. It says what it means and means what it says. So my heart was indeed gladdened when I read Brown’s recent article, “On Energy, We’re Finally Walking the Walk.” (I now link to the Earth Policy Institute, where you can find the article in its entirety.) Brown gives us a fact-filled overview of how far we have come in the last two years, and tells readers about the ambitious goals we must set for ourselves to get the job done. What job, you ask? The job of suf- ficiently slowing our production of pollution so that we avoid t...