Climate 411

A Good Side to Global Warming?

By Bill Chameides / Published: May 14, 2007

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.]

As the fact of climate change becomes ever more apparent, the science skeptics have come up with a new one: Sure climate change has some unfortunate consequences, but there are good aspects, too. For example, read Myron Ebell’s recent piece in Forbes magazine titled "Love Global Warming". For that, Mr. Ebell wins our latest Ignoratio Elenchi Award.

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Posted in News / Read 1 Response

Bike-to-Work Week

By Bill Chameides / Published: May 11, 2007

The League of American Bicyclists is promoting Bike-to-Work Week from May 14-18, and Bike-to-Work Day on May 18. Biking is the ultimate in clean transportation, emitting no greenhouse gases whatsoever. Plus it keeps you fit and it’s fun.

Still not sure? Check out our stories from people who bike to work daily. If you decide to join in, tell us your experiences!

Posted in News / Read 5 Responses

What is a Carbon Footprint?

By Bill Chameides / Published: May 10, 2007

You hear a lot of talk these days about "carbon footprints". But what is a carbon footprint, anyway?

Carbon dioxide (CO2), while not the only greenhouse gas, is the most abundant. CO2 is emitted into the atmosphere when we burn fossil fuels, and most of the energy in this country comes from burning fossil fuels. Thus, anything that requires energy to manufacture, transport, or operate causes the emission of CO2 (see my previous post, The Carbon Footprint of… Everything).

A "carbon footprint" is the amount of CO2 released by an activity or entity. So what’s your carbon footprint?

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Posted in Economics, Greenhouse Gas Emissions / Read 12 Responses

Part 5 of 5: The Melting of the North Pole

By Bill Chameides / Published: May 10, 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. The Melting of the North Pole

The North Pole is surrounded by the huge Arctic Ocean. For millennia, that ocean has been covered by ice, but today that sea ice is rapidly melting. We’ve lost about 20 percent of summer sea ice since 1980 – an area equal to Texas, California and Montana combined – and it’s happening faster than we had predicted. The North Pole could be ice-free during summer months well before 2050.

Illustration by Steve Deyo, ©UCAR, based on research by NSIDC and NCAR.

A lot of press attention has been focused on how the loss of sea ice is threatening the polar bear. Much less attention has been paid to global impacts of this melting sea ice.

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Posted in Arctic & Antarctic / Read 6 Responses

USCAP Doubles in Size and Adds GM

By David Yarnold / Published: May 8, 2007

David Yarnold, today’s guest blogger, is Executive Vice President of Environmental Defense, and co-chair of the USCAP Communications committee.

Today the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) announced it has doubled its membership. This was no small feat for a coalition comprised of busy corporate CEOs.

USCAP is a coalition of businesses and environmental organizations advocating national legislation for mandatory reduction of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. New members such as General Motors (the coalition’s first automaker) and The Nature Conversancy speak to how mainstream the issue of global warming has become.

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Posted in News / Read 3 Responses

We Can Do It, and at Moderate Cost

By Lisa Moore / 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.

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Posted in Economics / Read 4 Responses