While the BBC might think that a factual statement about rising temperatures should be redacted from a programme because it’s ‘controversial,’ most of us here in the real world are aware of the fact that the climate is changing, and it’s taking place at a faster rate than would occur naturally. This would seem to …
Tag Archives: climate change
Can We Build a Global Climate Diplomacy?
I seem to be on a bit of a climate change tear lately. I would apologise, but we all know I’m not sorry in the slightest, and I’m going to force you to endure discussions about climate change whenever I see fit because it’s a critically important topic. The next few years in particular represent …
Cocoa Under Threat
The effects of climate change can be seen all around us; all except the most staunch denialists have to admit that it is happening whether they like it or not. Glaciers are shrinking, water levels are changing, and regional climates are also shifting. The rapid escalation of change paired with very convincing scientific evidence suggests …
It’s A Dry, Dry Summer
Well, okay. It’s not actually summer yet, so all of you looking at the calendar with eyebrows raised can simmer down. However, it’s certainly looking like a dry summer, given the low rainfall stats for the winter, and that is a very, very bad thing. It started with a cold and dry winter. In November, …
Topsoil and Climate Change: Seriously, You Should Care About Dirt
I feel pretty passionately about dirt, because it’s awesome and important stuff. Rich, nutritious, delicious dirt is what grows the crops I eat, and the flowers I like to look at, and the trees that provide habitat for animals I love. Dirt is the fundamental underpinning of life on Earth, and that makes it critically …
We Are More Fascinated By the Stars Than the Oceans
Humans have spent an extremely long time being fascinated by space. It’s a fascinating place, no matter how much you know about astrophysics, whether you just like looking at the stars or trace out the constellations or study supernovae with radio telescopes. Space has a deep, intense allure, which is part of why we are …
A Year of Record-Breaking Severe Weather
2011 has been a tough year in the United States. Tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, flooding. By June, only halfway through the year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was warning that this year was breaking records, and more serious weather events followed. There’s been a lot of discussion about what this means, and where it is …
Squeaky Balloons
Terri Hansen at San Antonio Current: Climate clash And yet, while a treaty on the reduction of greenhouse gases appears beyond reach again, indigenous communities are pushing hard for measures that could ease, to some degree, suffering caused by the global changes the leading world economies are causing. Caitlin Donohue at San Francisco Bay Guardian: …
Shallow Spume
Aura Bogado at Mother Jones: Hazing Arizona It was Arpaio’s zeal that compelled me to spend five months on his home turf last year. I wanted to see firsthand how his tactics affected the Latino residents who make up 31 percent of the county’s population. Ana Arias at Boulder Weekly: Dreaming of a future She …
Climate Change and Biodiversity
Every now and then, it seems like events take on an odd synchronicity. To wit: Recently I watched a show with a segment talking about the impact that climate change was having on gardening zones in the United States. This might sound a bit boring, but it was actually really fascinating, albeit terrifying. The short …
