Monthly Archives: February 2008

2 Key Climate Terms to Know

By / Bio / Published: February 29, 2008

Lisa MooreThis post is by Lisa Moore, Ph.D., a scientist in the Climate and Air program at Environmental Defense.

Scientists use some technical terms in discussing climate change that can cause confusion. Two that are especially useful to know are "forcing" and "feedback".

You’ll hear these terms a lot in discussions of how human activity impacts climate – and especially when the topic turns to the melting Arctic. If you know what they mean, you’ll have a much better understanding of the dynamics behind climate change.

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Posted in Basic Science of Global Warming / Read 6 Responses

Did Global Warming Stop in January?

By / Bio / Published: February 27, 2008

Lisa MooreThis post is by Lisa Moore, Ph.D., a scientist in the Climate and Air program at Environmental Defense.

January 2008 was the coldest month in several years, according to the scientific groups that track global temperature. Is it true, as DailyTech concludes, that January’s cold "wipes out a century of warming"? Has global warming stopped?

In a word, no. A single month does not make for a climate trend. Let’s look at the data.

Monthly Average Global Temperature Variation

Source: Raw data from the U.K.’s Met Office Hadley Centre (see description of data).

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Posted in News / Read 28 Responses

Greenhouse Gases: How Long Will They Last?

By / Bio / Published: February 26, 2008

Lisa MooreThis post is by Lisa Moore, Ph.D., a scientist in the Climate and Air program at Environmental Defense.

In a comment on my Global Warming Crib Sheet, johnmashey asked if I could say something about the lifetimes of greenhouse gases – that is, how long different greenhouse gases stay in the atmosphere. Great idea! Here’s a whole post on it.

Many people don’t realize that the greenhouse gases we emit can stay in the atmosphere for decades, centuries or even millennia. That’s why it’s so important that we cap emissions as soon as possible.

Here’s a table showing a selection of greenhouse gases, their global warming potential (GWP), and their lifetimes:

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Posted in News / Read 7 Responses

Climate Legislation on DailyKos and WSJ

By / Bio / Published: February 25, 2008

Sheryl CanterThis post is by Sheryl Canter, an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.

In a post on DailyKos on the importance of acting now, TheGreenMiles called out an argument we made for the urgency of passing climate legislation, and expanded on it by discussing how action now could positively impact change at the local level.

The Wall Street Journal blog, posting on cap-and-trade versus carbon tax, called out two of our Climate 411 posts in their discussion of the relative merits of each approach. Their recap was mostly accurate, except for this misstatement:

Environmental Defense says the threat is catastrophic “tipping points” that could melt ice sheets, disrupt ocean currents, and accelerate deforestation. Never mind that those “tipping points” don’t always jibe with work done by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Because Environmental Defense starts from that more-worried point…

All our posts are reviewed by our science team, and do concur with the IPCC work.

Posted in Climate Change Legislation / Read 1 Response

Cool Links: Electricity and Light

By / Bio / Published: February 22, 2008

Sheryl CanterThis post is by Sheryl Canter, an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.

Here are some interesting links I came across this week. Enjoy!

Generating electricity during walking – A group of researchers has developed a biomechanical energy harvester that generates electricity from the movement of people walking – and without a lot of extra work. They envision it will be used to charge portable medical devices like powered prosthetic limbs.

Unscrew America – Want to learn about compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs)? Check out this site. Its animated cartoons make learning about CFLs entertaining and painless.

Posted in What Others are Saying / Comments are closed

CBO Report: The Real Story

By / Bio / Published: February 21, 2008

Nat KeohaneThis post is by Nat Keohane, Ph.D., Director of Economic Policy and Analysis at Environmental Defense.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report this month on Policy Options for Reducing CO2 Emissions [PDF]. It concludes that a carbon tax reduces emissions more efficiently than cap-and-trade.

But a careful reading reveals the report to be a theoretical exercise with no real-world relevance. It highlights the drawbacks of a version of cap-and-trade that no one advocates, and bases its efficiency analysis on a faulty premise.

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Posted in Economics / Read 4 Responses