We are our own worst enemies

How to we get people who are only concerned about their economic welfare (because it is their understandably biggest concern) to begin to think about the earth as a living, breathing thing that we are killing? This article is eye-opening. We are destroying the "lungs" of our planet (our ONLY planet) at an alarming rate.

Frankenstorm

As I finished making preparations for the upcoming storm (I'm in NJ), I stumbled across an overview over on Treehugger about possible connections between climate change and Hurricane Sandy. Here's what Bill McKibben has to say:

"Our relationship to the world around us is shifting as fast as that world is shifting. “Frankenstorm” is the right name for Sandy, and indeed for many other storms and droughts and heat waves now. They’re stitched together from some spooky combination of the natural and the unnatural. Some state will doubtless bear the brunt of this particular monster, but it also will do its damage to everyone’s state of mind."

He makes an excellent point about how we must begin to alter the way we think about weather and storms, and the interconnectedness of our daily actions and their global consequences.

If you are somewhere in the Northeast, I hope you weather this storm - stay safe and be prepared!

Say what?

Did any of you catch this disturbing bit of news, that a "rogue scientist" dumped tons of iron dust into the ocean just to see what would happen? Appalling. Perhaps nature will soon throw a nice storm our way "just to see what happens". I honestly don't understand how humans have lasted this long.

 

Posted with Blogsy

I'm Melting!

An article in today's New York Times tells us that the levels of Arctic sea ice are at their lowest ever recorded. Ever. The satellite imagery is striking. 

 




 

Posted with Blogsy

"Terrifying New Math"

I just read a fantastically frightening article in the most recent Rolling Stone by Bill McKibben, no stranger to the effects of climate change. In the first few paragraphs, he writes:

"Meteorologists reported that this spring was the warmest ever recorded for our nation – in fact, it crushed the old record by so much that it represented the "largest temperature departure from average of any season on record." The same week, Saudi authorities reported that it had rained in Mecca despite a temperature of 109 degrees, the hottest downpour in the planet's history."

Yikes. And it goes on from there. I don't really understand humanity's denial of hard data on climate change, but then again, I'm a scientist. These kinds of numbers scare the crap out of me.  Go scare the crap out of yourself and give this article a serious read, here.

State of the Climate in 2011

NOAA has recently released it's 2011 State of the Climate report, found here. It's chock full of weather events throughout the year, but the eye opening part is when you put it all together and see the speed with which we appear to be careening down the path of no return. There are some informative graphics on the link page, as well as a link to the full PDF version of the report. Enjoy?

Happy Fourth!

Happy Fourth of July! What better way to celebrate the holiday than sitting inside my air conditioned dwelling and watching a disaster movie because it's too damn hot to be outside because of yet another heat wave here in the East.

NY Times "Temperature Rising" Series

I've been reading a good bit of climate-related stuff in the NY Times recently, and they have what I think is a pretty good set of articles centering on the core debates surrounding global warming and climate change. Go check them out.

Welcome to my nightmare

A person's reason for starting a blog can come from almost anything - a desire for recognition, a place to vent, a way to document an interest. I came to create this blog because of two things I recently read. The first was Fred Pearce's "With Speed and Violence: Why Scientists Fear Tipping Points in Climate Change". The second was this NY Times article on the work of Lonnie G. Thompson, climate scientist at Ohio State University.

I am, by schooling and training, a scientist. I tend to look at things through rational, non-judgmental, analytical eyes. It takes a lot to rattle me. The aforementioned reading rattled me. As a result, I have decided to create this blog as a place to gather climate related "things" that I have found interesting. It could be a book, a movie, pictures, tweets, web sites, other blogs, or my occasional musings on the ways in which humans are wrecking our only home.

I don't plan on getting up on a soapbox and preaching about how horrible we are as a species (that is self-evident), and how climate change deniers are not scientifically grounded (again, self-evident), although that may appear in things to which I inevitably will link. I do plan on being able to cover a broad range of related topics, such as water, food, pollution, and population growth. And if I am able, at any point, to open the eyes of even one person along the way, it will have been worth it.