Category Archives: climate change

Hypothetical toxins from plastics? Perhaps actual sources of toxins should be concerns …

… Like ocean heat-induced red tide and blue green algae (cyanobacteria). The problem of things like cyanotoxins is particularly bad in Florida, but Massachusetts Buzzards Bay has seen its share of problems. Quoting: Blue-green algae are laden with microcystins that … Continue reading

Posted in algal blooms, Anthropocene, blue-green algae, BMAA, climate, climate change, climate disruption, coastal communities, coastal investment risks, coasts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, cyanobacteria, global warming, harmful algae, Hyper Anthropocene, living shorelines, marine biology, marine debris, ocean warming, oceans, pollution, red tide | Leave a comment

CO2 = garbage

CO2 is garbage, not “plant food”. It is recycled by photosynthesis using renewable solar energy. From Eli. And it’s something with which I heartily agree! Plants do not `eat food`. If they did, they wouldn’t be plants. Moreover, any experiment … Continue reading

Posted in American Chemical Society, being carbon dioxide, bridge to nowhere, carbon dioxide, Carbon Worshipers, climate change, climate disruption, climate education, global warming, solar energy, solar power, waste management | Leave a comment

Greta: `All political movements in their present form have failed’

Posted in Anthropocene, being carbon dioxide, bridge to nowhere, bridge to somewhere, carbon dioxide, Carbon Worshipers, climate, climate change, climate disruption, climate economics, climate grief, Cult of Carbon, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, global warming, Greta Thunberg, Humans have a lot to answer for, Hyper Anthropocene, investments, panic | Leave a comment

Earth Day 2019: So how do people transition to the new energy economy?

I’ve been pretty hard on the Green New Deal. That’s partly because its proponents don’t seem to see that a transition to a new zero Carbon energy economy is inevitable. It’s opponents don’t see that either. It may not come … Continue reading

Posted in Amory Lovins, an ignorant American public, Ørsted, capitalism, climate business, climate change, climate disruption, climate economics, climate justice, compassion, corporate citizenship, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, corporate responsibility, corporate supply chains, corporations, ecomodernism, electric vehicles, engineering, ethics, extended producer responsibility, extended supply chains, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuel infrastructure, Gaylord Nelson, global warming, Green New Deal, Hermann Scheer, investment in wind and solar energy, investments, John Farrell, Joseph Schumpeter, LBNL, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, local self reliance, Mark Carney, Mark Jacobson, microgrids, New England, NIMBY, organizational failures, Orsted, percolation theory, planning, public education, public welfare, RevoluSun, Richard Branson, science, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, Sonnen community, SunPower, sustainability, sustainable landscaping, Talk Solar, technology, temporal myopia, Tesla, the energy of the people, the green century, the right to know, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, tragedy of the horizon, utility company death spiral, UU, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

So, y’say you want a Green New Deal …

There isn’t a lot known about the Green New Deal or “GND”. Its proponents are certainly making the rounds, but it is light on specifics, heavy on urgency, heavily coupled with advancing jobs and justice, racial, climate, and environmental. As … Continue reading

Posted in American Solar Energy Society, Amory Lovins, Anthropocene, anti-intellectualism, Ørsted, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, bridge to somewhere, cement production, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, climate business, climate change, climate economics, corporate citizenship, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, corporate responsibility, corporate supply chains, decentralized electric power generation, demand-side solutions, destructive economic development, distributed generation, ecomodernism, ecopragmatism, ecopragmatist, education, electric vehicles, electrical energy storage, electricity, electricity markets, energy utilities, engineering, environment, extended producer responsibility, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, Gaylord Nelson, George Monbiot, global warming, Green Tech Media, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, John Farrell, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, local self reliance, Mark Jacobson, Mary C Wood, Peter del Tredici, population biology, quantitative biology, quantitative ecology, rationality, rhetorical mathematics, rhetorical science, rhetorical statistics, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, Spaceship Earth, stranded assets, sustainability, sustainable landscaping, T'kun Olam, Talk Solar, Tesla, the energy of the people, the green century, the value of financial assets, wishful environmentalism | 2 Comments

Happy Earth Day: Doubt climate change? Just be patient and watch

And know that, because of our collective inaction, even if we were to fix everything immediately, now, because of the built-up momentum in the climate system, things will get steadily worse for two-to-four decades after we stop. Don’t like those … Continue reading

Posted in adaptation, American Association for the Advancement of Science, an ignorant American public, an uncaring American public, climate change, fossil fuel divestment, global warming, Humans have a lot to answer for, Hyper Anthropocene, science, The Demon Haunted World, the right to be and act stupid, the right to know, the tragedy of our present civilization, tragedy of the horizon | 1 Comment

I just chose to support Climate Adam!

I just chose to support ClimateAdam. You can, too! One of my many favorite videos by Climate Adam: Here’s another: Why is supporting Climate Adam and talking about climate so important? Here’s one reason why: Backing this up:

Posted in American Association for the Advancement of Science, climate, climate change, climate education, ClimateAdam, geophysics, global warming, public education, sustainability, the right to know | Leave a comment

Still a climate hawk, and appreciate all my climate friends: To the climate deniers, the greenwashers, the liberal environmental opportunists, and the environmental purists who will never compromise …

“Not ready to make nice” (Dixie Chicks) I stick by my friends in these hard times: Tamino’s community The Azimuth Project Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution The American Statistical Association The International Society for Bayesian Analysis Losing Earth: The decade we … Continue reading

Posted in American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Statistical Association, Anthropocene, Bayesian, climate change, climate disruption, climate economics, climate grief, coastal investment risks, ecological disruption, ecological services, ecomodernism, ecopragmatism, engineering, environment, flooding, global warming, Grant Foster, Humans have a lot to answer for, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, investments, Joseph Schumpeter, Mathematics and Climate Research Network, mathematics education, personal purity, population biology, quantitative biology, quantitative ecology, regulatory capture, risk, riverine flooding, sampling without replacement, Scituate, secularism, shorelines, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Spaceship Earth, statistical dependence, SunPower, the energy of the people, the green century, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, tragedy of the horizon, Unitarian Universalism, unreason, utility company death spiral, UU Needham, Wally Broecker, Walt Disney Company, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, ``The tide is risin'/And so are we'' | 1 Comment

Another reason why the future of Science and STEM education in the United States is cloudy

From Nature‘s “Universities spooked by Trump order tying free speech to grants“, with the subheading “White House policy will require universities to certify that they protect free speech to remain eligible for research funding”, comes this chilling news: US President … Continue reading

Posted in American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Mathematical Society, American Statistical Association, an ignorant American public, an uncaring American public, anti-intellectualism, anti-science, climate change, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, emigration, European Union, mathematics, science, United States | Leave a comment

Result of our own fiddling: Bob Watson and climate risk

Professor Bob Watson, University of East Anglia, presents the summary risk, climate change: The question is not whether the Earth’s climate will change in response to human activities, but when, where and by how much. Human activities are changing the … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, attribution, carbon dioxide, Carbon Worshipers, catastrophe modeling, climate, climate change, climate data, climate disruption, climate economics, climate education, climate grief, climate justice, ecological disruption, ecology, Ecology Action, environment, global blinding, global warming, greenhouse gases, greenwashing, meteorology, National Center for Atmospheric Research, non-parametric model, Principles of Planetary Climate, radiative forcing, reasonableness, science, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, Solar Freakin' Roadways, solar power, SolarPV.tv, Solpad, Sonnen community, Spaceship Earth, stranded assets, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, tragedy of the horizon, utility company death spiral, water, wind energy, wind power | Leave a comment

One of the happiest two hours I’ve spent in months: A Professor Tony Seba update

From end of 2018: from alianza FiiDEMAC. And, indeed, it was one of the most uplifting two hours I’ve recently spent. I have long been an admirer of Professor Tony Seba. I have read his books. This was an update … Continue reading

Posted in an ignorant American public, an uncaring American public, anti-intellectualism, anti-science, being carbon dioxide, bridge to somewhere, climate business, climate change, climate disruption, climate economics, climate education, corporations, Cult of Carbon, decentralized energy, distributed generation, ecomodernism, economics, ecopragmatism, ecopragmatist, electricity, entrpreneurs, extended producer responsibility, extended supply chains, Exxon, global warming, Green New Deal, Humans have a lot to answer for, Hyper Anthropocene, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, investments, Joseph Schumpeter, Juliana v United States, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, local self reliance, Mark Jacobson, Neill deGrasse Tyson, politics, science, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, supply chains, sustainability, temporal myopia, the energy of the people, the green century, the tragedy of our present civilization, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, trading, tragedy of the horizon, utility company death spiral, wishful environmentalism, zero carbon | 3 Comments

Temperatures, Summers, Germany, ≈ 50.5N to 57.5N latitude

(Click on figure for larger image and use browser Back Button to return to blog.) Hat tip to Gregor Aisch, Adam Pearce, and Steve Hoey, and sourced from the mashup dataset and visuals by Lisa Charlotte Rost. Mr Aisch’s innovation … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, climate change, data presentation, data science, data visualization, digital art, drought, Germany, global warming, loess, p-spline, penalized spline regression | Leave a comment

One possible way to do small, modular nuclear power

Featured in Science Magazine today, NuScale Power, a spinout from Oregon State University, is planning simpler, smaller, safer gang-lashable nuclear reactors, with a trial in the early 2020s. A schematic is shown below. As I’ve noted here elsewhere, the reason … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, climate, climate business, climate change, climate disruption, electricity, global warming, Hyper Anthropocene, modular nuclear power, nuclear power, zero carbon | 4 Comments

Professor Kevin Anderson: “Climate’s holy trinity”

24th January 2019, Oxford, England, UK Appalling failure: Who is responsible: Yeah, it’s us.

Posted in climate, climate change, climate disruption, climate grief, global blinding, global warming, Kevin Anderson | Leave a comment

“Renewables are set to penetrate the global energy system more quickly than any fuel in history” (BP, 2019 Energy Outlook)

Selections from BP Energy Outlook: 2019 edition: In the ET scenario, the costs of wind and solar power continue to decline significantly, broadly in line with their past learning curves. To give a sense of the importance of technology gains … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, being carbon dioxide, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, BNEF, BP, bridge to somewhere, Carbon Tax, clean disruption, CleanTechnica, climate change, climate disruption, corporate citizenship, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, ecomodernism, economic trade, ecopragmatist, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuel infrastructure, global warming, Hyper Anthropocene, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, investments, local generation, local self reliance, solar democracy, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, the energy of the people, the green century, the right to be and act stupid, the right to know, the value of financial assets, Tony Seba, tragedy of the horizon, utility company death spiral, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | 1 Comment

Tit-For-Tat in Repeated Prisoner’s Dilemma: President Donald Trump creates the Green New Deal

Jonathan Zasloff at Legal Planet offers “Donald Trump creates the Green New Deal”. The closing excerpt: But what goes around comes around. A President Harris, or Warren, or Booker, etc. etc. can just as easily declare a National Emergency on … Continue reading

Posted in climate change, game theory, global warming, Green New Deal | Leave a comment

“Is the Green New Deal’s ambition smart policy?”

Ann Carlson is the Shirley Shapiro Professor of Environmental Law and the co-Faculty Director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA School of Law. Writing at Legal Planet, she takes on assessing the Green New … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, anti-intellectualism, bollocks, bridge to somewhere, cement production, clear air capture of carbon dioxide, climate business, climate change, climate disruption, climate economics, climate education, global warming, Green New Deal, greenhouse gases, negative emissions, zero carbon | 2 Comments

From the YEARS Project: How Climate Impacts Mental Health (#climatefacts)

Dr Kate Marvel: “We need courage, not hope, to face Climate Change“. Also the magnificent “We should never have called it Earth“, also from Dr Marvel. In “Hope, despair and transformation: Climate change and the promotion of mental health and … Continue reading

Posted in American Association for the Advancement of Science, Arnold Schwarzennegger, attribution, Bill Nye, climate change, climate grief, global warming | 1 Comment

Alright! I’m tired of all this serious shtuff … It’s time for some CLIMATE ADAM!

Posted in Anthropocene, carbon dioxide, climate change, glaciers, global warming, Hyper Anthropocene, ice sheet dynamics, oceans, sea level rise | Leave a comment

The shelf-break front, fisheries, climate change, and finding things out

From Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Support them. Claire and I do.

Posted in biology, climate change, climate disruption, ecological disruption, ecological services, ecology, global warming, oceanography, oceans, quantitative biology, quantitative ecology, WHOI, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution | Leave a comment

Wake up, Massachusetts! Especially, Green Massachusetts!

I’ve been looking over the set of bills proposed for the current Massachusetts legislative session. There are more of them, all dealing with aspects of greening energy supply and transport. And Governor Baker’s S.10 is very welcome. (By the way, … Continue reading

Posted in American Association for the Advancement of Science, Anthropocene, Cape Wind, climate business, climate change, climate disruption, coastal communities, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, decentralized energy, electric vehicles, electrical energy storage, electricity markets, emissions, fossil fuels, global warming, Governor Charlie Baker, Hyper Anthropocene, ice sheet dynamics, investment in wind and solar energy, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, sea level rise, seawalls, solar domination, solar energy, solar power, the value of financial assets, wind energy, wind power, wishful environmentalism, zero carbon | Leave a comment

Repeating Bullshit

Yeah, how much was it? And was it different? I mean, not based on how Curry or Tisdale feel, but by the numbers.

Posted in American Statistical Association, anomaly detection, changepoint detection, climate change, Grant Foster, Mathematics and Climate Research Network, maths, science, statistics, Tamino, time series, unreason | Leave a comment

“Collective reflection” and working together on climate issues in Massachusetts

This is an excerpt from an article which appeared at RealClimate. That, in turn, is a translation of the same article which appeared in Le Monde on 11th January 2019. Recent discussions at climate-related blogs and among environmental activists make … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, being carbon dioxide, citizenship, climate change, climate disruption, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, EBC-NE, Ecology Action, ecomodernism, ecopragmatism, environment, global warming, Governor Charlie Baker, greenhouse gases, Hyper Anthropocene, ILSR, investment in wind and solar energy, lobbying, local generation, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, New England, rights of the inhabitants of the Commonwealth | Leave a comment

What if Juliana v United States fails?

This is a replica of a comment I made at another site. As of 23:55 EST on 21st January, it hasn’t been release from moderation. Perhaps the moderator is busy. I do not know. I am proceeding as if it … Continue reading

Posted in an ignorant American public, an uncaring American public, Anthropocene, being carbon dioxide, Boston Ethical Society, carbon dioxide capture, clear air capture of carbon dioxide, climate, climate business, climate change, climate disruption, climate economics, corporate litigation on damage from fossil fuel emissions, corporate supply chains, corporations, ecological disruption, ecomodernism, economics, ecopragmatism, environment, environmental law, extended producer responsibility, extended supply chains, First Parish Needham, fossil fuel divestment, fossil fuels, global warming, greenhouse gases, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, Juliana v United States, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, Mary C Wood, optimization, Our Children's Trust, pollution, population biology, population dynamics, Principles of Planetary Climate, quantitative biology, quantitative ecology, radiative forcing, rationality, reasonableness, sea level rise, sustainability, the tragedy of our present civilization, tragedy of the horizon, United States Constitution, United States Government, UU, UU Needham, zero carbon | Leave a comment

“About” section of this blog has been revised, and rules of commenting made more prominent

See the About section of this blog for a revision in the blog’s description and rules governing commenting made more explicit and prominent. In fact, I have copied these at the bottom of this post. The heading of the blog … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, blog, bridge to somewhere, Buckminster Fuller, CleanTechnica, climate change, ecology, Ecology Action, ecomodernism, ecopragmatism, ecopragmatist, engineering, global warming, Hermann Scheer, Hyper Anthropocene, ILSR, Joseph Schumpeter, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, local generation, local self reliance, Mark Carney, reasonableness, secularism, solar democracy, solar domination, Stewart Brand, technology, the energy of the people, the green century, Tony Seba, wind energy, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

International climate negotiations, the performance: `Angry and upset’

Climate Adam, who you should follow:

Posted in adaptation, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Anthropocene, carbon dioxide, Carbon Worshipers, climate change, Glen Peters, global warming, Hyper Anthropocene, Kevin Anderson | Leave a comment

Gov Jerry Brown on Meet the Press, a parting comment on 2018 at Bill Gates’ Notes, and the best climate blog post of 2018

Segment One Outgoing Governor Jerry Brown of California on NBC’s Meet the Press this morning: I’ll miss him there, but I don’t think Gov Jerry is going anywhere soon. Segment Two Bill Gates Notes offered an end of year summary … Continue reading

Posted in American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Chemical Society, American Meteorological Association, an ignorant American public, Anthropocene, anti-science, astronomy, atmosphere, attribution, being carbon dioxide, Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature project, Bill Gates, Blackbody radiation, bridge to somewhere, California, carbon dioxide, cement production, climate, climate change, climate zombies, development as anti-ecology, ecological services, economics, Eli Rabett, energy flux, environment, evidence, friends and colleagues, global warming, Grant Foster, greenhouse gases, Hyper Anthropocene, investment in wind and solar energy, Jerry Brown, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, leaving fossil fuels in the ground, meteorology, nuclear power, oceanography, oceans, Principles of Planetary Climate, quantum mechanics, science, sea level rise, solar democracy, solar energy, solar power, sustainability, the energy of the people, the green century, the tragedy of our present civilization, tragedy of the horizon, University of California, University of California Berkeley, water as a resource, wind energy, wind power, wishful environmentalism, zero carbon | Leave a comment

Mark Carney is aligned with the geo-biological-physical everything

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney might not be popular on all his pronouncements, but he’s the most comprehensively educated on the matter of climate risk of any in the international discussion groups of the OECD. Some people will be … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, capitalism, climate change, economic trade, economics, global warming | Leave a comment

Earth’s energy imbalance: Rise in ocean heat content is accelerating

L. Cheng, K. E. Trenberth, J. Fasullo, T. Boyer, J. Abraham, J. Zhu, “Improved estimates of ocean heat content from 1960 to 2015“, Science Advances, 10 March 2017, 3(3), e1601545. Abstract Earth’s energy imbalance (EEI) drives the ongoing global warming … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, climate change, geophysics, global warming, Hyper Anthropocene, oceanography, oceans, science | Leave a comment

“You say you love your children above all else, and yet you are stealing their future in front of their very eyes.”

Not much else needs to be said here. Hat tip to WaPo. Thunberg accused leaders of speaking only about “green eternal economic growth because you are too scared of being unpopular.” “You only talk about moving forward with the same … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, bridge to nowhere, Carbon Worshipers, climate change, climate disruption, Hyper Anthropocene | Leave a comment