1,294 Matching Annotations
  1. Jun 2018
  2. May 2018
    1. Idaho, however, this year joined several other states that have declined to adopt new science standards that emphasize the role human activities play in climate change.

      this is fucked up.

  3. Apr 2018
    1. Can civilisation prolong its life until the end of this century? “It depends on what we are prepared to do.” He fears it will be a long time before we take proportionate action to stop climatic calamity. “Standing in the way is capitalism. Can you imagine the global airline industry being dismantled when hundreds of new runways are being built right now all over the world? It’s almost as if we’re deliberately attempting to defy nature. We’re doing the reverse of what we should be doing, with everybody’s silent acquiescence, and nobody’s batting an eyelid.”
    2. Hillman is amazed that our thinking rarely stretches beyond 2100. “This is what I find so extraordinary when scientists warn that the temperature could rise to 5C or 8C. What, and stop there? What legacies are we leaving for future generations? In the early 21st century, we did as good as nothing in response to climate change. Our children and grandchildren are going to be extraordinarily critical.”
    3. Although Hillman has not flown for more than 20 years as part of a personal commitment to reducing carbon emissions, he is now scornful of individual action which he describes as “as good as futile”. By the same logic, says Hillman, national action is also irrelevant “because Britain’s contribution is minute. Even if the government were to go to zero carbon it would make almost no difference.” Instead, says Hillman, the world’s population must globally move to zero emissions across agriculture, air travel, shipping, heating homes – every aspect of our economy – and reduce our human population too. Can it be done without a collapse of civilisation? “I don’t think so,” says Hillman. “Can you see everyone in a democracy volunteering to give up flying? Can you see the majority of the population becoming vegan? Can you see the majority agreeing to restrict the size of their families?”
    4. Hillman accuses all kinds of leaders – from religious leaders to scientists to politicians – of failing to honestly discuss what we must do to move to zero-carbon emissions. “I don’t think they can because society isn’t organised to enable them to do so. Political parties’ focus is on jobs and GDP, depending on the burning of fossil fuels.”
    1. Given the conclusions from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report that most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-twentieth century is very likely to be due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations, and furthermore that it is likely that there has been significant anthropogenic warming over the past 50 years averaged over each continent except Antarctica, we conclude that anthropogenic climate change is having a significant impact on physical and biological systems globally and in some continents.

      supports: climate change leads to global physical and biological change

  4. Mar 2018
  5. Feb 2018
    1. In addition, around 144 million people weredisplaced by disasters in between 2008 and 2014, and many of them were exacerbated byclimate change with increasing frequency and intensity.

      This is interesting.

  6. Jan 2018
    1. Climate science details the threats that climate change poses to the livelihoods and well-being of present and future human generations and ecosystems, while policy approaches increasingly recognize the growing social risks of climate-change-driven vulnerabilities. 8

      This is interesting!

    1. Instead, we envision a long, hard-fought victory in which the scientific evidence debate should occupy the foreground. We propose that not all sceptics are of the entrenched/obstinate kind, and that many sceptics sincerely share the values of transparency, critical freedom, and inclusivity associated with serious scientific enquiry.

      this is interesting!

  7. Dec 2017
    1. A study from Finland's Leppeenranta University of Technology and Berlin-based Energy Watch Group claims that the entire world could transition to 100% renewable electric power by 2050.

  8. Nov 2017
    1. We invite all scientists to endorse this global environmental article and engage with a new alliance concerned about global climate and environmental trends

  9. Oct 2017
    1. I take as given the evidence that human beings are irrevocably altering the conditions for life on Earth and that, despite certain unpredictabilities, we live at the cusp of a mass extinction. What is the place of digital humanities (DH) practice in the new social and geological era of the Anthropocene? What are the DH community’s most significant responsibilities, and to whom?

      While the thought of this is incredibly depressing, it does open up questions as to the place of DH. Personally, I think the DH community's most significant responsibilities are to record life on earth as we know it now, how we as humans are endangering it and suggesting ways to actively preserve it. I believe keeping a record or an archive of plants and animals that are in danger of becoming extinct (for example) is incredibly important for future generations to come and this is who DH must aim to speak to: future generations.

    2. ‘Truly it would seem as if “Man strews the earth with ruin.”4 But this conclusion is too flattering to human vanity. Man's most permanent memorial is a rubbish-heap, and even that is doomed to be obliterated’ (Sherlock, 1922, p. 343

      CO2 atmospheric concentration used as simple indicator for many years to track great acceleration / progression in Anthropocence, this now joined by long list of other indicators, escalating at an alarming rate, population, water use/ shortage, paper consumption, global warming, increase in number and ferocity of storms .......

    3. Ted Talk by Will Steffen . Journey through science measuring humanity effect on the planet. important for me, while i had heard and read about debate on climate change, Anthropocene is a new concept for me. Irrefutable change, cannot be ignored.

  10. Sep 2017
    1. The good news is that it is a challenge we can meet

      This seems optimistic based on climate research.

  11. Aug 2017
    1. Diverse growth trends and climate responses across Eurasia's boreal forest

      implies limitations of using macroscopic tree ring features for climate reconstructions, which are influenced by many different factors

  12. Jul 2017
    1. 252 million years ago; it began when carbon warmed the planet by five degrees, accelerated when that warming triggered the release of methane in the Arctic, and ended with 97 percent of all life on Earth dead

      Why aren't we talking about this?

  13. Jun 2017
  14. May 2017
    1. Did the writer engage with anyone who disagrees? Did they call a senator whose legislation bugs them? Did they try to grasp what the president-elect was doing, or merely repeat one of his more outrageous statements? If it's a broadcast interview, was the guest presented with genuine opposing views and challenged to answer? Those who wrestle with opposing arguments do you a service and often improve their own arguments.

      This is a double-edged sword in traditional media - the need to get both sides of the argument. It is important for balanced and factual reporting, but it can also be problematic as it frames both sides as having equal importance in an issue. Think of the debate about climate change. In the name of journalistic fairness, a mainstream reporter may often feel obliged to get the opinion of a climate change denier to balance the story. This often gives the impression that the deniers are of equal weight on the issue. Could lead the general public to believe that climate change is a devisive issue since there are 2 sides, despite the fact that 99% of the science and research is weighted towards climate change. Should both sides be given equal weight in journalism? Could this actually help to create an environment of skepticism about facts? Making all facts seem debatable?

    1. Scientists think that the increased melting of permafrost in polar regions could lead to the revival of viruses that haven't been around for thousands of years.

      This is scary!

    1. For the4Wm−2radiative perturbation that a doubling of carbon dioxide produces, the reference-systemclimate sensitivity3isT0=λ0Rf∼1.2 to 1.3◦C.
    1. “I and other so-called ‘deniers’ are members of the 97 percent consensus, which refers to the following: Yes, the earth’s climate has been warming overall for more than a century. Yes, humans emit CO2, and CO2 has an overall warming effect on the climate,” Curry said. Where the consensus ends, Curry added, is “whether the dominant cause of the recent warming is humans versus natural causes, how the 21st century climate will evolve, and whether warming is dangerous.”
  15. Mar 2017
    1. What’s more, when COP21 negotiators were asked about how confident they were in their scientific understandings of temperature rise, they showed no more confidence than the MBA students they were tested against. While it’s one thing to have a group of over-confident (probably millennial) MBA students, it’s another to have international climate negotiators reporting an average confidence level of about 4 out of 7 in their own understandings of temperature rise. 

      For me, this is not surprising, but rather a beautiful example of the Dunning-Kruger Effect. (Graph)

      They know the amount of uncertainty and lack of predictability of the severity. And they are equally sure of the trajectory of failure.

    1. Beaufort Sea Project

      The Beaufort Sea Project for Climate Change began as a research project in Canada in 2002. The project was started by Magdalena A.K. Muir and Geographic Information System (GIS) specialists with support from the Fisheries and Joint Management Committee and governmental organizations. The focus of the project from 2002 to 2007 was to study the effects of climate change on marine mammals and fish in the Beaufort Sea. In conjunction, the research studied the effects of using, managing, and allocating marine resources. After 2008, the research has focused on identifying species of marine wildlife that could be at risk in the future due to overfishing and climate change related effects. This research continues to study the effects of climate change on the health of marine species and management of marine resources. The management of these resources includes gaining species knowledge, setting limits on the number of marine mammals and fish that are allowed to be captured and killed per year, and enforcing legislature about managing marine resources. Specifically, researchers are studying the effects of climate change in marine mammal migrations patterns. The specific environmental effects are changes in the fresh water Mackenzie River inputs, sea and land ice, and water circulation. Researchers plan to use these changes to catalogue direct effects of climate change on migration. Sea and land ice changes will be detrimental to ice dependent animals. This research will provide information for scientists, researchers, organizations, charities, and government officials so that appropriate laws and regulations can be established (Muir n.d.).

      Source:

      Muir, Magdalena A.K. "Beaufort Sea Project for Climate Change." Arctic Institute of North America. Accessed March 05, 2017. http://arctic.ucalgary.ca/beaufort-sea-project-climate-change.

    1. Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s senior adviser, is pressing the president to officially pull the United States from the landmark accord, according to energy and government officials with knowledge of the debate. But, they say, he is clashing with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the president’s daughter Ivanka Trump, who fear the move could have broad and damaging diplomatic ramifications.

      Exxon CEO as the voice of reason on climate in the Trump campaign.

  16. Feb 2017
    1. Their proposal would tax carbon emissions at $40 a ton to start and would be paid by oil refineries and other fossil fuel companies that would pass costs on to consumers with higher gas and electricity prices. The money raised would be returned to Americans through dividend checks; a family of four would get about $2,000 a year to start. This would help people adjust to higher energy prices and give them an incentive to reduce consumption or switch to renewable sources of energy.

      Interesting idea.

    1. Madrid region has an inland Mediterranean climate

      Madrid is really dry normally

    1. This is one subject where it might be wise not to rely on the reflexive media narrative.

      Did they not ask for lists of scientists working on climate change during transition? Did they not wipe any mention of climate change from whitehouse.gov on a day one? Did they not put a gag order on science?

  17. Jan 2017
  18. Dec 2016
    1. Even without El Niño, 2015 would have been a record warm year, but climate scientists believe El Niño was responsible for 8 percent to 10 percent of the warming.

      =With El Nino=

  19. Oct 2016
  20. Sep 2016
  21. online.salempress.com.lacademy.idm.oclc.org online.salempress.com.lacademy.idm.oclc.org
    1. June and July are the city's wettest months

      climate

    2. While most of the country is in the Northern Hemisphere, the southern region stretches into the Southern Hemisphere,

      both hemishires

    3. wet and tropical

      climate

  22. Aug 2016
  23. Mar 2016
    1. As Paul Hawken says in Blessed Unrest, we are seeing in the breadth and diversity of the environmental movement(s) the emergence of a planetary immune system.

  24. Jan 2016
  25. Dec 2015
    1. IPCC: Solar & biomass produce 3.5 - 21 times more carbon emissions (eq.) per kilowatt-hour than nuclear & wind.

      Is this right? If so, that's disappointing for solar. But it shows wind as lower CO2 than nuclear. (And the chart doesn't show fossil fuels. Is solar favorable compared to them?)

    1. How to green the world's deserts and reverse climate change, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpTHi7O66pI

      Science is such a funny thing.

      Ruminant for a healtherier world, https://youtu.be/MwbdDqq7HMI

      Science is not simple, less than 1% of bacteria can be grown in a petri dish, https://goo.gl/Y0LY7O

      Freeman Dyson: A Global Warming Heretic, https://youtu.be/Pou3sGedeK4

    1. How to green the world's deserts and reverse climate change, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpTHi7O66pI

      Science is such a funny thing.

      Ruminant for a healtherier world, https://youtu.be/MwbdDqq7HMI

      Science is not simple, less than 1% of bacteria can be grown in a petri dish, https://goo.gl/Y0LY7O

      Freeman Dyson: A Global Warming Heretic, https://youtu.be/Pou3sGedeK4

    1. For them, attachments to abundant heat are indeliblyingrained across their skins, tastes and perceptions

      Do you think it's possible for them to re-adapt to lower temperatures and acquire a new set of preferences for different climate characteristics?

  26. Aug 2015
    1. The right-wing base has a coherent position on climate change: It's a hoax, so we shouldn't do anything about it. The left-wing base has a coherent position: It's happening, so we should do something about it. The "centrist" position, shared by conservative Democrats and the few remaining moderate Republicans, is that it's happening but we shouldn't do anything about it. That's not centrist in any meaningful ideological sense; instead, like most areas of overlap between the parties, it is corporatist.

      The worst possible outcome.

  27. Jun 2015
    1. Matthew Rodriquez Secretary for Environmental Protection The energy challenge facing California is real. Every Californian needs to take immediate action to reduce energy consumptio n. For a list of simple ways you can reduce demand and cut your energ y costs, see our website: http://www.arb.ca.gov . California Environmental Protection Agency Printed on Recycled Paper Air Resources B oard Mary D. Nichols, Chairman 1001 I Street • P.O. Box 2815 Sacramento, California 95812 • www.arb.ca.gov Edmund G. Brown Jr. Governor June 9 , 2015 Cap - and - Trade Auction Proceeds Public Workshop to Discuss Funding Guidelines for Agencies Administering Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Programs The Air Resources Board (ARB) staff invites you to participate in a public workshop to p rovide input on the draft Funding Guidelines for a gencies a dministering the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund programs . Date and Time Workshop Location Monday, June 22, 2015 1 :00 pm – 3 :00 pm Byron Sher A

      This the June 22 Air resources Board public workshop.

  28. Apr 2014
    1. The Berkely Earth group estimates that over the past 50 years the land surface warmed by 0.911°C

      Powerful from a group including several climate-skeptics initially

  29. Jan 2014
    1. Support camaraderie and collegiality

      Climate change-- fostering a workplace environment that celebrates compassionate communication.