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God’s wrath- humm could that be UV rays making it down on a clear sky day?
Recently, JR cited this paragraph from Hansen’s NYTs OpEd piece:
“Over the next several decades, the Western United States and the semi-arid region from North Dakota to Texas will develop semi-permanent drought, with rain, when it does come, occurring in extreme events with heavy flooding. Economic losses would be incalculable. More and more of the Midwest would be a dust bowl. California’s Central Valley could no longer be irrigated. Food prices would rise to unprecedented levels.”
It looks to me as though we don’t have to wait ‘decades’ for these developments–they are happening right before our eyes.
Check out the most recent Drought Monitor map of the US:
http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/
Drying conditions and drought areas are now connected from coast to coast and from the Canadian to the Mexican border. It’s become easier to describe where drought/drying ISN’T than where it is.
Perhaps this summer will see essentially non-stop rains all across the lower 48 that will eliminate all traces of yellow, orange and red from this map.
But short of that kind of miracle, it looks to me as though that decades-away prediction is upon us now–even more ironic, then, that Hansen was essentially called a liar for predicting it.
Soft-Shelled Crabs So Soon? It’s a Mystery in Maine:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/05/26/153702224/soft-shell-lobsters-so-soon-its-a-mystery-in-maine?ft=1&f=1002&sc=igg2
Fox News provides a closed loop environment where true believers hear what they want to hear. Are Climate Hawks in danger of forming our own closed loop environment?
When I sent out an email regarding the most recent “Must See TV” from CBS News (CP story here: http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/05/20/487280/must-see-cbs-news-we-are-living-on-a-planet-with-a-fever-this-is-our-societys-sink-or-swim-moment/) I received the following reply:
It is a very different take from that of most readers of this essential blog.
Sorry, don’t buy it. The respondent apparently doesn’t watch much news (and is this in his or her own close loop). One can’t expect one story, let alone this first one, to cover everything. This is a remarkable video and deserves praise.
“This is a remarkable video and deserves praise.”
While I agree with you on this, I also agree with the respondent that it is possible to interpret the story in ways that we do not intend, especially if one thought like WUWT. That was his fear… BTW… from a family of Progressive political activists.
At this point, it might be worthwhile to contact Mr. Sanjayan (if that’s possible) and ask him what he had to leave out.
I’m glad to see this point made; I hadn’t seen it being emphasized like this previously.
Kaczinsky was evil, but not stupid. By and large, I would expect him to get general knowledge answers correct.
(The other point is, of course, that as far as I know Kaczinsky didn’t actually say anything about global warming in particular. If he did, I’d guess he’d be likely to get this bit of basic science correct.)
I don’t know if you can dismiss Kaczynski as simply ‘evil’. What he did was clearly morally wrong, but compared to figures who parade upon the world stage, he was merely a beginner. Moreover, they kill thousands of times more that Kaczynski for purposes of dominance and enrichment, whereas he committed morally wicked acts for a good cause, a wrong-headed attempt to wake people up. I’d rather call Kaczynski a far-sighted and possibly quite decent person who made the fatal error of thinking that indiscriminate violence can serve a noble cause. In other words, he adopted the tactics of the enemy, and thus played right into their hands. Killing people, even evil people, let alone mere dupes of an evil system, is never going to progress human understanding.
Just to fill in some details: Kaczynski was born in Chicago in 1942, received his PhD in mathematics from Michigan, and was an assistant professor at Berkeley by the time he was 25.
New topic.
I’m living for the day when the burden of proof is on deniers to prove conclusively* that AGW is NOT going to crash civilization world wide. Like to hand Andy Revkin that one.
Any suggestions on how to get this idea moving?
Thinking of the sports philosophy that “The best defense is a good offense”.
*At least the same level of confidence that the airplane I’m about to board won’t crash.
Juliet Eilperin posts a book review from Michael Mann, and of course can’t resist a paranthetic reference to a denialist’s book in the process: http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-review-michael-manns-the-hockey-stick-and-the-climate-wars/2012/05/25/gJQAIYzQqU_story.html?hpid=z2
Eilperin gave her game away when, in a review of 3 books that definitively set forth the case, she said that journalists still want to cover the controversy. She means that it’s in their interest to promote the idea that there is a controversy; that sells papers.
arcticclimateemergency.com or Arctic Climate Emergency Group is getting together a better information portal about the Arctic thaw. It looks much better organized than last fall.
There is even support that the thaw is probable by2015.
Earliest I had heard before was you Joe at 2016 give or take a few years.
There is talk that the Arctic provides cooling even in the Summer down here and that the cooler will overload so to speak.
Years ago it there was a 2016 +/- 3 years prediction, but that was updated since.
Thanks Joe,
You have opened my eyes to more science than I can learn, but maybe some things I’ll know well enough.
So is there going to be an orchestrated push behind Bingaman’s CES or are we going to let this die on the vine?
My fear is that half of the climate hawks will say it isn’t good enough and the other half will say the bill isnt strong enough.
I think we need to focus on getting the wind PTC passed ASAP and then build an even bigger coalition to get the CES standard passed.
At the very least can we all promise to take 5 minutes this weekend to drop our Reps. and Sens. a quick note this weekend?
Professor Peter Wadhams from Cambridge University did a rebuttal to the talk of Dr. Archer much ado about…
Prof. Wadhams thinks crop failure would come first serve with the Arctic melt trending to about 2015?
Scientific American
Nine Climate Change Tipping Points
“Then we start talking about domino dynamics,” says Lenton. “The worse case would be that kind of scenario in which you tip one thing and that encourages the tipping of another. You get these cascading effects.”
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-worlds-weather-could-quickly-run-amok
The ‘albedo flip’ in the Arctic, with the consequent amplification of warming and release of methane from frozen soils and clathrates, is, surely, just such a case. Our goose cooked, so very quickly.
And that is exactly what Hansen is talking about when he says the cannon is once again loaded.
several new styles of biochar stoves are on the market.
One said it could have attachments for air heating and water heating.
Climate progress.net has nice links.
Maybe they will decide to make their own volcanos, mountain top removal so to speak. In the central latitudes it might not make so much soot to reach the poles.
It might add a few years while standards and habits change.
Certainly they can figure out how to be proactive when they find society desperate for solutions.
Two cities in Greenland have a temp. of 61F this morning at 7:50 their time.
Numerous cities have temps. In the 40′s at 7am.
If the city hasn’t been there for 30 years could this be their climate?
I think that the methane will start to warm earlier in the morning depending on it’s height in the atmosphere.
That might be an hour before sunrise at ground level?
Sorry thought glitch.
Should have thought an hour before sunrise at (?) elevation higher than ground level..
Japan about to revise emission cuts Editorial:
Set new, realistic target for greenhouse gas reductions
The council compiled the estimates in the wake of the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. It calculated reduction rates in greenhouse gases in 2020 based on five different ratios of nuclear power in relation to the country’s total power generation, from 0 percent to a maximum of 35 percent.
Nuclear power plants, which emit almost no carbon dioxide when they generate electricity, are an important energy source in terms of fighting global warming.
The estimates show Japan may be able to cut greenhouse gas emissions by a maximum of only 19 percent in 2020 from 1990 levels, even if the ratio of nuclear power generation is raised to 35 percent from the 26 percent level before the nuclear crisis and energy-saving policies are thoroughly implemented. ( http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/editorial/T120524003871.htm )