Last week, Vic asked about the phenomenon of "global dimming" and its effect on global warming. Good question. Here’s the answer.
"Dimming of the sun" or "global dimming" is not due to anything happening to the sun. It’s due to something happening on Earth that blocks the sun’s rays. Global dimming is important from a climate standpoint because less sunlight reaching the Earth creates a cooling effect.
Last Friday I was a guest on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation: Science Friday”, answering questions about carbon trading. You can listen to the broadcast here.
Apple blossoms bloom
On too-warm winter days, then
Frost, dead. No apples.
Yesterday was the first day of spring, so it’s a good time to look back on the winter we just had. For most of the United States, it was really crazy. It started off with balmy, record-breaking temperatures in December and January, then turned bitter cold in February and March with some memorable and deadly snow storms.
How do you know that concern about climate change has reached the mainstream? When a product’s carbon footprint is a factor in every buying decision.
And how do you know the carbon footprint of a product? Through eco-labeling – a label disclosing the amount of energy used to produce the product, or the amount of CO2 that producing the product released into the atmosphere. The idea is similar to nutrition labeling – give consumers the knowledge they need to make informed choices.
Good news for the climate! The auto industry is calling for cap-and-trade legislation to fight global warming. Car manufacturers have been among the fiercest defenders of business-as-usual, so it’s great to have them on board.
Even better, this shift seems to be a trend. The Chicago Tribune recently reported that big business is starting to push for federal legislation to cap carbon emissions, because the blizzard of individual state laws is driving them crazy.
ignoratio elenchi n.
A logical fallacy of presenting an argument that may in itself be valid, but has nothing to do with the proposition it purports to prove. Also known as “irrelevant conclusion”. [Lat. ignorance of refutation.]
The recent NY Times piece on the scientists who have criticized the movie An Inconvenient Truth has generated a flurry of discussion. What I saw when I read it was a series of Ignoratio Elenchi fallacies, so the scientists featured in the article win this week’s Ignoratio Elenchi Award.
