Monthly Archives: February 2018
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Letter: “…does this government think that the people of the United States are become savage and mad? ”
From this source, heart-rending. Letter to Martin Van Buren President of the United States 1836 Sir: The seat you fill places you in a relation of credit and nearness to every citizen. By right and natural position, every citizen is … Continue reading
Banner day for solar generation this early in the late Winter/early Spring season!
(Click on image to see a larger figure, and use browser Back Button to return to blog.) Our system, and its supporting cast. This is about energy democracy, as much as it is about other things.
M.G.L. 40A §3, next-to-last paragraph
“No zoning ordinance or by-law shall prohibit or unreasonably regulate the installation of solar energy systems or the building of structures that facilitate the collection of solar energy, except where necessary to protect the public health, safety or welfare.” That’s … Continue reading
Certainly not “clean coal”, but is zero emission natural gas combustion a key to a zero Carbon future?
Eli Rabett has a great idea over at Rabett Run. And I particularly like the directions which commentators Russell Seitz and John O’Neill are going with it. Hmmm, Dimethyl ether as a fuel? It’s been proposed. (Click on image for … Continue reading
Will soils hang on to their Carbon?
(Update, 2019-07-01) Another obstacle to afforestation as a means of rapidly drawing down CO2 from the climate system: U.Büntgen, P.J.Krusic, A.Piermattei, D.A.Coomes, J.Esper, V.S.Myglan, A.V.Kirdyanov, J.J.Camarero, A.Crivellaro, C.Körne, “Limited capacity of tree growth to mitigate the global greenhouse effect under … Continue reading
“It should be illegal to deceive a country’s heart”
“I didn’t mean for this to happen.” Intentions are irrelevant, despite what the law in one or more countries says. Outcome and results are what matter. Guns. As I wrote, Oh, I am frustrated, because a lot of this discussion … Continue reading
The fate of Antarctica
That’s from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at CalTech in Pasedena, CA. The source article is: A. S. Gardner, G. Moholdt, T. Scambos, M. Fahnstock, S. Ligtenberg, M. van den Broeke, J. Nilsson, “Increased West Antarctic and unchanged East Antarctic ice … Continue reading
The global vegetative biosphere
(Click on figure to see a larger image, and use browser Back Button to return to blog) Data derived in part from SeaWIFS and image is from the NASA Earth Observatory here. Related links: Global Biosphere Global Biosphere over time … Continue reading
Gun violence is a disease. It should be treated and managed as a disease.
David Hemenway spoke on this at last year’s annual meeting of the Boston Chapter of the American Statistical Association. There are resources, as well as here. Statistics as a field began squarely within the bounds of Epidemiology. Surely, this is … Continue reading
Less evidence for a global warming hiatus, and urging more use of Bayesian model averaging in climate science
(This post has been significantly updated midday 15th February 2018.) I’ve written about the supposed global warming hiatus of 2001-2014 before: “‘Overestimated global warming over the past 20 years’ (Fyfe, Gillett, Zwiers, 2013)”, 28 August 2013 “Warming Slowdown?”, Azimuth, Part … Continue reading
Undo your part
From Citizens Climate Lobby. Great slogan. And there’s a Boston Metro West chapter, among others. They principally argue for a Carbon tax or Carbon fee-and-dividend program. There are a couple of things to note, however. (The basic slide above is … Continue reading
“Carbon emissions and climate: Where do we stand, and what can be done if it all goes wrong?”
On Sunday, 11th February 2018, I presented an Abstract of a 3 hour talk on the subject, “Carbon emissions and climate: Where do we stand, and what can be done if it all goes wrong?” at the Needham Lyceum, hosted … Continue reading
on nonlinear dynamics of hordes of people
I spent a bit of last week at a symposium honoring the work of Charney and Lorenz in fluid dynamics. I am no serious student of fluid dynamics. I have a friend, Klaus, an engineer, who is, and makes a … Continue reading
neat stuff: new legs for de Broglie-Bohm pilot wave theory
See more at Professor John Bush‘s site: Hydrodynamic quantum analogs The new wave of pilot-wave theory Pilot-wave dynamics of walking drops Pilot-wave dynamics in a circular corral See also work by my son, Jeff, for his doctoral dissertation, not regarding … Continue reading