Global warming at our doorstep
All of a sudden, it's OK to talk about climate change again. The weather event known as Sandy - or, if you're part of the media in-crowd, "Superstorm Sandy" - was so intense and overwhelming that many people who tuned out the warnings about bigger, stronger storms are now seeing things that make them go "hmmmm."
Global warming at our doorstep
All of a sudden, it's OK to talk about climate change again. The weather event known as Sandy - or, if you're part of the media in-crowd, "Superstorm Sandy" - was so intense and overwhelming that many people who tuned out the warnings about bigger, stronger storms are now seeing things that make them go "hmmmm."
The biggest signal of a renewed climate-change conversation, though, came from Bloomberg Business Week, which pulls no punches in the cover story for its current issue: "It's Global Warming, Stupid." Just one excerpt.
In his book The Conundrum, David Owen, a staff writer at the New Yorker, contends that as long as the West places high and unquestioning value on economic growth and consumer gratification—with China and the rest of the developing world right behind—we will continue to burn the fossil fuels whose emissions trap heat in the atmosphere. Fast trains, hybrid cars, compact fluorescent light bulbs, carbon offsets—they’re just not enough, Owen writes.
Yet even he would surely agree that the only responsible first step is to put climate change back on the table for discussion. The issue was MIA during the presidential debates and, regardless of who wins on Nov. 6, is unlikely to appear on the near-term congressional calendar. After Sandy, that seems insane.
Yes, pretty cuckoo-for-cocoa-puffs, if you'll pardon the commercialized vernacular. Still, as hard-hitting and forthright as the article is, it still dances around one of the most important topics people remain skittish about discussing: How first-worlders' outmoded meat-based diets play a major role, if not THE major role, in greenhouse gas emissions along with myriad other forms of eco-destruction. Since it's World Vegan Day, might be a good time to start talking about that, hmmmm?
97 percent of scientists believe not only in global warming, but that is caused by human activity. Below my text is the link.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2010/06/scientists-overwhelmingly-believe-in-man-made-climate-change/1— Eman84- Inaccurate. 97% of the scientists asked in a survey said they believed in man made global warming. If the survey authors had picked different respondents they would get a different %.
Many scientists will respond "yes" to such a question because much research is funded by govt grants and even slight skepticism would cause a grant to be withdrawn.— hodg99 - Most scientists do not study global warming and would therefore never offer a true scientific opinion about a subject matter they concede they do not study. If they said "yes" it was a flippant response that means nothing.
— URANIUM235 - The climate fluctuates, it always has, there is no evidence the current trends are catastrophic, and, oh yes, most of the ebb and flow is heliocentric. Svensmark will be the only name to survive intact in the scientific community fifty years down the road. The CERT scientists, the physicists and astrophysicists, have already tested Svensmark's theories and noted, ironically, "climate models will need to be adjusted.
Sandy was not an especially strong storm, if you examine the record of hurricanes to hit the mainland in the last century-and-a- half. And, no, the oceans are not significantly higher. And, no again, dear alarmists, there are not more storms than there were in the 1890's, 1940's, or 1950's. That is just factual history. Sandy was steered by a high-pressure ridge to take the perfect shot. Climate change in this instance is just not an intellectually rigorous exploration of reality. But how honest is any movement led by a guru who opines about "hiding the decline"?— celtic - "Most scientists do not study global warming and would therefore never offer a true scientific opinion about a subject matter they concede they do not study."
Okay, that may be true, but I trust their opinions more than politicians and business leaders when it comes to the subject. And furthermore, the vast majority of climate scientists believe the same - I've read it is in the same range.
The other long post, well, that's full of mularkey.— Eman84 - Even the leading global warming skeptic now is a believer and states "it's all due to carbon monoxide" as part of a KOCH-FUNDED study (these guys are on your side).
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/07/28/602151/bombshell-koch-funded-study-finds-global-warming-is-real-on-the-high-end-and-essentially-all-due-to-carbon-pollution/?mobile=nc— Eman84
The experts at Philadelphia's Energy Coordinating Agency answer your energy questions in our regular feature Stay Warm, Stay Green. Send in your question or questions to energy@phillynews.com.
Look for Jenice Armstrong to supply tips on green living as well as occasional columns on the subject of Green. She also blogs at Hey Jen.
Becky Batcha stays tuned for the here-and-now practical side of conservation, alternative energy, organic foods, etc. - stuff you can do at home now. Plus odds and ends.
Laurie Conrad recycles from her ever-growing e-mailbag to pass along the latest travel deals, fashion statements, household strategies, gadgets, cool local events and other nuggets of interest to those who appreciate a clean, green world.
Vance Lehmkuhl looks at topics like eco-conscious eating, public transportation and fuel-efficient driving from his perspective as a vegetarian, a daily SEPTA bus rider and a hybrid driver, as well as noting the occasional wacky trend or product. Contact Vance with your 'green' news.
Ronnie Polaneczky sees the green movement through the eyes of her 12-year-old daughter, who calls her on every scrap of paper or glass bottle that Ronnie neglects to toss into the house recycling bins. Ronnie will blog about new or unexpected ways to go green. She also blogs at So, What Happened Was...
Sandra Shea and the DN editorial board opine on any green-related legislation or policy. And we'll pass along some of the opeds on the subject that people send us.
Jonathan Takiff will be blogging mainly about consumer electronics - those things that we love to use and that suck too much energy. He'll spotlight green-conscious gizmos made in a responsible fashion, both in terms of materials used and the energy it takes to run them.
Signe Wilkinson draws the comic strip Family Tree, which follows the Tree family as they try to live green in the face of nattering neighbors, plastic-wrapped consumer products, and the primal teenage urge to spend vast quantities of money on hair care products of dubious organic quality.
In addition to these updates from our newsroom bloggers, watch for an occasional feature, Dumpster Diver Dispatches, from Philadelphia's original "green" community of artists, the Dumpster Divers. You'll learn about creative ways to reuse and recycle while you reduce, and about the artists who are making little masterpieces from what others throw out.
Sept. 17: A head start on cold season
Oct. 8: Help with fuel bills
Oct. 29: Last-minute ways to winterize
Nov. 19: Budgeting for the big bite
