Monthly Archives: May 2007

We Can Do It, and at Moderate Cost

By Lisa Moore / Bio / Published: May 7, 2007

Lisa Moore, today’s guest blogger, is a scientist in the Climate and Air Program.

On Friday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a summary of its third report [PDF] (see our explanation of the IPCC). The first two reports focused on the science [PDF] and the impacts [PDF] of climate change. Now the IPCC has tackled the all-important question: What can we do about it?

The great news is that there is "high agreement" and "much evidence" that there are many ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions (see our post on how to get us there), and every economic sector can make a difference. For a cautious, consensus-driven group like the IPCC, that’s strong language.

Just as encouraging is the conclusion that fighting global warming isn’t going to destroy economies.

Posted in Economics / Read 4 Responses

Quote of the Week

By Bill Chameides / Bio / Published: May 4, 2007

“Governments have a crucial supportive role in providing appropriate enabling environment, such as, institutional, policy, legal and regulatory frameworks, to sustain investment flows and for effective technology transfer – without which it may be difficult to achieve emission reductions at a significant scale.”

From IPCC Working Group 3, Summary for Policymakers [PDF]

Posted in What Others are Saying / Comments are closed

Extraterrestrial Global Warming?

By Bill Chameides / Bio / Published: May 3, 2007

Warming in the solar system has become a hot topic these days, and I’ve been getting lots of questions that go something like this: I’ve read that other planets have global warming. There are no SUVs on other planets, so the warming must be due to increased energy from the sun. Doesn’t that mean that Earth’s warming is also due to increased solar energy?

The short answer is, whatever warming there may be on other planets is not due to changes in the Sun. Scientists have thoroughly investigated this possibility, and in nearly 30 years of satellite observations, we’ve seen no increase in overall solar output. (For more on this, see our article on global warming and solar activity [PDF].)

Solar Energy Output

Solar variation cannot explain global warming on any planet, including Earth. So what’s up with our neighbors?

Posted in News / Read 5 Responses

Part 4 of 5: Drought and Violence

By Bill Chameides / Bio / Published: May 3, 2007

The second installment of the IPCC’s 4th Assessment on Climate Change, titled “Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability”, was released on April 6, 2007. In recognition of this report, I’m doing a weekly series called “Climate Dangers You May Not Know About“.

1. More Acidic Oceans
2. Drinking Water and Disease
3. Shifts in Lifecycle Timing
4. Drought and Violence
5. Melting of the North Pole

What happens when there isn’t enough food and water for the people who need it? Fighting can ensue. And when drought and famine extend over a wide area, the fighting can escalate to civil war. This is what’s happening today in Darfur, a country in the sub-Saharan (or "Sahel") region of Africa.

We can’t say for sure that the Darfur droughts were caused by global warming, but there’s evidence it was a significant factor (for example, see this recent study of the Sahel drought [PDF] by NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory). But whether those past droughts were caused by global warming is not the main issue. We know that global warming will cause more and more severe droughts in the future, especially in the Sahel region of Africa.

The story of Darfur cautions that events triggered by global warming can lead to a human tragedy of global proportions.

Posted in News / Read 2 Responses

Mercury Poisoning from Light Bulbs?

By Erica Rowell / Bio / Published: May 1, 2007

Erica Rowell, today’s guest blogger, is a Web Editor and Producer at Environmental Defense, and our resident expert on compact fluorescents.

Last year, in converting my apartment to energy-saving compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), I broke two. I opened the window, swept up the fragments, wiped the floor with a damp paper towel, put the towel and the broken CFLs in a plastic bag and tied it. My super disposed of the bag. I’m not worried about mercury exposure – they broke a couple of months ago, and my cats and I are fine. A similar incident in Maine was a different story.

When Brandy Bridges shattered a CFL spiral in her daughter’s bedroom, aware that it contained trace amounts of mercury, the concerned mother looked into proper disposal. After a mishmash of good and bad advice, she ended up with a $2,000 clean-up bill and a lot of fear (read full story).

What can we learn from Ms. Bridges? Know some basic facts.

Posted in Health / Read 15 Responses