Climate News: Weekend of 26 September 2010

by billlaurelMD

This is the next in a series of diaries on the state of Arctic sea ice (and other topics as warranted) in memory of Johnny Rook, who passed away in early 2009. He was the author of the Climaticide Chronicles.

Arctic sea ice reached its minimum extent (the area covered 15% or more  sea ice) last week on 18 September 2010, according to the International Arctic Research Center (IARC) at University of Alaska Fairbanks. Since the minimum, sea ice extent in the Arctic Basin has increased by almost 300,000 km² to about 5.1 million km² as of 24 September.  

Here's a the Barrow AK Arctic Sea Ice webcam at 14:36 Alaska Time on 25 September.  There's a trace of snow on the ground, but no sea ice as yet.  Conditions at photo time are annotated.

More below.

continued at Daily Kos....

BP Spill Slung Sea Snot

by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse

It sounds a little silly, but it's not. Scientists found that the BP oil gusher triggered an explosion of sea snot or "sticky clumps of phytoplankton" that  permeated an underwater patch of the Gulf of Mexico last May. Researchers believe that clumps of sea snot might have formed a marine snow blizzard that "plummeted to the bottom of the ocean." One concern is that "they may have temporarily wiped out the base of the food chain in the spill region by scouring all small life from the water column."  

For more on sea snot and its potential to grow into marine mucus blob, as well as other climate change news, please join me below.

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On climate change, it's the Republicans versus reality

by Laurence Lewis

The Wonk Room at Think Progress has been taking a look at Republican Senate candidates on the issue of climate change, and it should come as no surprise that when it comes to Republicans and science, never the twain shall meet.

A comprehensive Wonk Room survey of the Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate finds that nearly all dispute the scientific consensus that the United States must act to fight global warming pollution. In May, 2010, the National Academies of Science reported to Congress that "the U.S. should act now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop a national strategy to adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change" because global warming is "caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for — and in many cases is already affecting — a broad range of human and natural systems."

This finding is shared by scientific bodies around the world. However, in the alternate reality of the fossil-fueled right wing, climate science is confused or a conspiracy, and policies to limit pollution would destroy the economy.

Remarkably, of the dozens of Republicans vying for the 37 Senate seats in the 2010 election, only one — Rep. Mike Castle of Delaware — supports climate action. Even former climate advocates Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) now toe the science-doubting party line. If Castle loses his primary on Tuesday to Tea Party candidate Christine O’Donnell, the GOP slate will be unanimous in opposition to a green economy.

Castle, of course, was teabagged out his race, leaving the Republicans in unanimous opposition to reality. The Wonk Room's Brad Johnson has compiled the statements of GOP Senate nominees, so for those that care about the actual science of scientific issues, let's compare some of those statements with those of actual scientists.

• Sharron Angle, Republican Senate nominee from Nevada:

  I don't, however, buy into the whole ... man-caused global warming, man-caused climate change mantra of the left. I believe that there's not sound science to back that up.

  The National Academy of Sciences:

  As part of its most comprehensive study of climate change to date, the National Research Council today issued three reports emphasizing why the U.S. should act now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop a national strategy to adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change.  The reports by the Research Council, the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering, are part of a congressionally requested suite of five studies known as America's Climate Choices....

  The compelling case that climate change is occurring and is caused in large part by human activities is based on a strong, credible body of evidence, says Advancing the Science of Climate Change, one of the new reports.  While noting that there is always more to learn and that the scientific process is never "closed," the report emphasizes that multiple lines of evidence support scientific understanding of climate change.  The core phenomenon, scientific questions, and hypotheses have been examined thoroughly and have stood firm in the face of serious debate and careful evaluation of alternative explanations.

  "Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for — and in many cases is already affecting — a broad range of human and natural systems," the report concludes.  It calls for a new era of climate change science where an emphasis is placed on "fundamental, use-inspired" research, which not only improves understanding of the causes and consequences of climate change but also is useful to decision makers at the local, regional, national, and international levels acting to limit and adapt to climate change.  Seven cross-cutting research themes are identified to support this more comprehensive and integrative scientific enterprise.

• Ken Buck, Republican Senate nominee from Colorado:

  I’ll tell you, I have looked at global warming, now climate change, from both sides. While I think the earth is warming, I don’t think that man-made causes are the primary factor. I am one of those people that Al Gore refers to as a skeptic.

  (At about the 24:00 mark of this video.)

  The American Geophysical Union:

  The Earth's climate is now clearly out of balance and is warming. Many components of the climate system-including the temperatures of the atmosphere, land and ocean, the extent of sea ice and mountain glaciers, the sea level, the distribution of precipitation, and the length of seasons-are now changing at rates and in patterns that are not natural and are best explained by the increased atmospheric abundances of greenhouse gases and aerosols generated by human activity during the 20th century. Global average surface temperatures increased on average by about 0.6¡C over the period 1956-2006. As of 2006, eleven of the previous twelve years were warmer than any others since 1850. The observed rapid retreat of Arctic sea ice is expected to continue and lead to the disappearance of summertime ice within this century. Evidence from most oceans and all continents except Antarctica shows warming attributable to human activities.

• Linda McMahon, Republican Senate nominee from Connecticut:

  I think there's evidence to the positive and to the contrary about global warming.

  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:

  The 2009 State of the Climate report released today draws on data for 10 key climate indicators that all point to the same finding: the scientific evidence that our world is warming is unmistakable. More than 300 scientists from 160 research groups in 48 countries contributed to the report, which confirms that the past decade was the warmest on record and that the Earth has been growing warmer over the last 50 years.

• Marco Rubio, Republican Senate nominee from Florida:

  In an interview with the Tribune on that subject Friday, Rubio called Crist "a believer in man-made global warming."

  "I don't think there's the scientific evidence to justify it," Rubio said.

  Asked whether he accepts the scientific evidence that the global climate is undergoing change, he responded, "The climate is always changing. The climate is never static. The question is whether it's caused by man-made activity and whether it justifies economically destructive government regulation."

  American Association for the Advancement of Science (pdf):

  The scientific evidence is clear: global climate change caused by human activities is occurring now, and it is a growing threat to society.

• Rand Paul, Republican Senate nominee from Kentucky:

  Now Osama bin Laden had a quote yesterday. He’s says he’s after the climate change as well. It’s a bigger issue, we need to watch ‘em. Not only because it may or may not be true, but they’re making up their facts to fit their conclusions. They’ve already caught ‘em doing this.

  (At the 2:56 mark of this video)

  Science:

  Pennsylvania State University has completed the second half of a two-part investigation of Michael Mann's role in the so-called "Climategate" affair. The 2-month inquiry has found that Mann is innocent of the remaining charge of scientific misconduct that had been raised by e-mails uncovered in November....

  A previous investigation found him innocent of suppressing data, deleting e-mails, and misusing confidential information.

  House of Commons Science and Technology Committee (pdf):

  In addition, insofar as we have been able to consider accusations
  of dishonesty—for example, Professor Jones’s alleged attempt to "hide the decline"— we consider that there is no case to answer. Within our limited inquiry and the evidence we took, the scientific reputation of Professor Jones and CRU remains intact. We have found no reason in this unfortunate episode to challenge the scientific consensus as expressed by Professor Beddington, that "global warming is happening [and] that it is induced by human activity".

• Pat Toomey, Republican Senate nominee from Pennsylvania:

  There is much debate in the scientific community as to the precise sources of global warming.

  American Chemical Society:

  Careful and comprehensive scientific assessments have clearly demonstrated that the Earth’s climate system is changing rapidly in response to growing atmospheric burdens of greenhouse gases and absorbing aerosol particles (IPCC, 2007). There is very little room for doubt that observed climate trends are due to human activities. The threats are serious and action is urgently needed to mitigate the risks of climate change.

• Roy Blunt, Republican Senate nominee from Missouri:

  There isn’t any real science to say we are altering the climate path of the earth.

  American Meteorological Society (pdf):

  Indeed, strong observational evidence and results from modeling studies indicate that, at least over the last 50 years, human activities are a major contributor to climate change.

  Direct human impact is through changes in the concentration of certain trace gases such as carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and water vapor, known collectively as greenhouse gases.

• Dino Rossi, Republican Senate nominee from Washington:

  I believe the Earth is warming. There is still debate in the scientific community about the level of human impact on climate change, which is why I think the more important question is what we are actually going to do in order to reduce carbon emissions. Promoting new technology and providing incentives to cut emissions is the best way to accomplish that goal.

  The city of Seattle admits that personal efforts to be efficient have had far more impact on greenhouse gas reduction than government regulations. My approach is to allow individuals to make choices.

  American Physical Society (pdf):

  The evidence is incontrovertible: Global warming is occurring. If no mitigating actions are taken, significant disruptions in the Earth’s physical and ecological systems, social systems, security and human health are likely to occur. We must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases beginning now.

• Carly Fiorina, Republican Senate nominee from California:

  Q: Is climate change real?

  Fiorina: I’m not sure. I think we should have the confidence and courage to test the science.

  (At 0:08 of this video)

  Joint statement by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Chemical Society, American Geophysical Union, American Institute of Biological Sciences, American Meteorological Society, American Society of Agronomy, American Society of Plant Biologists, American Statistical Association, Association of Ecosystem Research Centers, Botanical Society of America, Crop Science Society of America, Ecological Society of America, Natural Science Collections Alliance, Organization of Biological Field Stations, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Society of Systematic Biologists, Soil Science Society of America, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research:

  Observations throughout the world make it clear that climate change is occurring, and rigorous scientific research demonstrates that the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver. These conclusions are based on multiple independent lines of evidence, and contrary assertions are inconsistent with an objective assessment of the vast body of peer-reviewed science. Moreover, there is strong evidence that ongoing climate change will have broad impacts on society, including the global economy and on the environment.

This would be funny if it weren't so dangerous. This isn't a debate between Republicans and Democrats about what to do about climate change, it's a debate between Republicans and reality about the very existence of climate change. And it's clear that no amount of science will convince Republicans of something they just don't want to believe. The question is whether the voters want to listen to the scientists or to those whose beliefs are not based on anything remotely rational or factual. And it's only the future of the world as we know it that's at stake.

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Energize US: Introducing Jim Holbert of KY-05

by Energize US

Jim Holbert, Kentucky District 5’s House candidate provided us with his campaign platform, five sets of well organized bullet points, and he had appended another little section just for EnergizeUS.

This is the sort of discipline we’ve come to expect from the military candidates we see and Jim’s background as an Army and Coast Guard pilot, used to performing a preflight checks, is clearly apparent.

It’s a pleasure to put together an introductory piece like this when given such well organized source material.

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Starving in the Land of Plenty: Hunger in Native America. Feeding America Blogathon

by Aji

My father knew what it was like to go hungry.  

Even before the onset of the Great Depression, his family was intimately familiar with hunger. Mixed-blood Indians living off the rez, in an area where cowards on horseback stalked the countryside in sheets and white hoods, were not the most "employable."  Gramps traveled miles every day, on foot, looking for work.  Sometimes he'd find something; just as often, he'd come trudging home, late at night, with nothing to show for it but sore feet and an empty stomach.  If he was lucky, someone might hire him for 16 hours of backbreaking labor in exchange for a sack of beans, or a little rice - or on a really good day, a whole chicken (that Grandma had to pluck and dress).  Most often, the beans or rice were served without salt, pepper, butter, or anything else.

To his dying day, my father hated rice.

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Feeding America Blogathon - #7: Food Banks and Food Pantries

by JanF

The first thing that food banks need is money. So the Donate button is going right here so that you can't miss it.

For every $1 you donate, Feeding America helps provide 7 meals to men, women and children facing hunger in our country.

Ameriprise Financial will make a 2 to 1 match of any donation until the end of September. That means that for every dollar you donate for the next 5 days you are funding 21 meals.

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Feeding America #6: Midnight Train To Portland

by JayinPortland

Portland is a city that prides itself on its abundant supply of fresh food. Whether it’s being served in cafes, food carts, stocked on the shelves of grocers, grown on sidewalk garden plots or hanging from neighborhood trees, local and often organic produce is all around us. With all this food, it’s hard to understand why Oregon consistently ranks as one of America’s hungriest states.

Let's go for a walk, see what's going down around town...

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Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Autumnal Equinox 2010 edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

This week's featured story comes from CNN.

Severe floods hit Midwest; areas downriver get ready
By Moni Basu

Parts of the Midwest battled severe flooding Friday as torrential rains caused rivers to overflow their banks and submerged entire towns.

The National Weather Service issued flood warnings for parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa and warned that waters gushing down bloated rivers and creeks could cause major rivers, including the Mississippi, to surge over the weekend.

The governors of Minnesota and Wisconsin declared states of emergency in flood-affected counties as local emergency officials ordered the evacuation of residents in several towns.

No deaths or injuries have been reported.

More science, space, and environment stories after the jump.

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Feeding America: City Ending Hunger Now

by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse

Ending hunger requires changing our perspective. A government policy of tidbits, such as needed but obscenely low food stamps and school lunch programs, evinces a belief that hunger is a matter of individual failure.

Our government's tunnel vision yields counterproductive solutions, such as legislation to reduce childhood obesity and improve school nutrition that is partially funded by cutting future food stamp benefits. Or, we try to reduce our offensively high poverty rates by creating a supplemental poverty figure that removes on paper 8 million people from poverty by including food stamps in the income calculation.

It would be more productive toward actually ending hunger if we recognized that hunger is a violation of human rights, and interrelated with education, poverty, discrimination, economy, health care, and environment.

We could learn from a city in Brazil that is ending hunger.

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Feeding America Blogathon: Hunger Awareness (introduction)

by rb137

                   

One in six Americans do not have enough food. One in four of those are children. Food pantries all over the country are closing because they cannot meet the crushing demand -- their shelves are empty, and they are turning people away.

Diary #2 is up Feeding America #2: nutrition in schools, by teacherken.

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Environment v Economic Development

by LaFeminista

You will often here with some justification the need to develop economically outweighs the environmental risk; in the short term. You may have enough revenue to educate the population but you by then may have degraded the environment to such an extent it cannot support them. Indeed you may spark a war with your neighbor if you have diverted resources such as main rivers to suit your own purposes but have starved them of their primary food source.

Such is the case with the proposed dams of the Mekong in Laos

He felt there was no alternative. "We have done studies on micro-energy and renewables, but they are expensive. I don't think the world can subsidise that. If we do it ourselves, only cheap energy from hydropower will do."

I would argue that the world cannot afford not to help developing nations attain their goals through renewables, the only reason the cost is high is that we are not expanding their use ourselves. If we increase the production capacity the price will come down.

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HEMMED In - Green meets Clean

by JanF

Today's output from Blogistan Polytechnic Institute’s state-of-the-art HEMMED (High-Energy Meta Mojo Elucidation Detector) machine is not sudsing up and leaves a bit of a film. But is it Clean?

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eKos: Arctic Sea Ice in Death Spiral - Min Volume Hit

by FishOutofWater

The volume of Arctic sea ice hit the record minimum this September according to Mark Serreze, director of the U.S. National Snow and Ice data Center (NSDIC).

The volume - extent and thickness - of ice left in the Arctic likely reached the lowest ever level this month, Serreze told IPS.

"I stand by my previous statements that the Arctic summer sea ice cover is in a death spiral. It's not going to recover," he said.

Source: Polar Science Center, Univ. of Washington

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MN Documentary "Troubled Waters" WILL be shown!

by Dr Envirocrat

Many people participated in the discussion on bobtmn's diary, University of Minnesota Cancels Agriculture Documentary. The story was horrible - an environmental documentary from a respected university seemingly cancelled because of corporate influence within the University of Minnesota. If you didn't read the diary, I urge you to do so.

But there is good news here in the heartland. It turns out that "Troubled Waters" will be shown after all. More on the flip side...

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Republicans promise inquisition of climate scientists

by DWG

Here ye! Here ye! Bring your torches and stacks of wood. The practitioners of the dark arts of science will be harassed by an angry mob, defamed, and driven to their knees to confess their lack of respect for our beloved corporate overlords.

In June, Darrell Issa announced that he planned to hire dozens of subpoena-wielding investigators to target the Obama administration if the Republicans regain control of the House. Yesterday, he announced that he also planned to apply the proverbial thumbscrews, strappado, and iron maiden to climate scientists.

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350 eco-collapse jokes by 10/10/10 -- are you kidding?

by mwmwm

When we heard about 350.org's 10/10/10 project a couple of months ago, we struggled to find one that was appropriate to our own project.

Last week we had an epiphany, and we've launched an 11th-hour experiment, to gather 350 jokes about environmental collapse by 10/10/10, and then make that database freely available for nonprofit use.

Why jokes? Because by laughing, we understand differently.

And because environmentalists are, according to most conservative pundits, a humorless lot, too serious by half, and we want to prove them wrong.

Below are the 40 jokes we've collected so far (only 310 to go!), in descending order of recency, not quality. There are some good ones!

If you'd like to participate, please do, either in the comments (I'll copy and paste 'em!) or directly, on the 350jokes page on our site.

Think like a stand-up comedian!

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Chicken Little Updated for the Age of Peak Oil and Climate Change

by DWG

The Chicken Little fable* was created as a cautionary tale against panic and mass hysteria in uncertain times. But there are times when the sky is failing and Chicken Little needs to be careful of taking advice from smooth talking strangers wearing Wall Street tweed. On to our story.

Once upon a time, there was a Fox named Loxy, a shrewd little fellow with a big appetite. One fine summer's day, Foxy Loxy was on the prowl for unlocked henhouses when he overheard Farmer Brown proclaim to her husband that their well was running dry. Without water for the corn, feeding the hens was going to be a big problem.

Foxy Loxy had a plan. Pass the bad news to the hens and con them to take a little journey to his den.

Before we return to our story, note that Foxy Loxy in this enactment will be played by Charles Maxwell, senior energy analyst at Weeden & Co.

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The Earth Is A Public Figure

by Reverend Billy

I always read the papers with a yearning. The headlines, photos and lead paragraphs flicker on the screen under my stare, and I’m looking for something not there. I find myself looking at the table, the sun on the wall, then out the window into the trees.

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As per Meteor Blades: What I'm doing

by Guadalupe59

I wanted to write this diary when Meteor Blades originally proposed "Tell us what you're doing", but it was just too difficult at that time, so I'm glad that he asked again.

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VIDEO: Sarah Palin as Talk Show Host Highlights GOP Senate Candidates Climate Denial

by TonyMassaro

Today, the League of Conservation Voters launched a new web video that highlights the rampant denial of settled climate science among many Republican Senate candidates running as challengers or in open seat races this election cycle. The animated video is headlined by a proud Sarah Palin who runs through the list of some of the climate denying candidates with glee on her talk show "Tea Time with Sarah Palin". Featured candidates include Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson, Colorado’s Ken Buck, California’s Carly Fiorina and more. Check it out here:

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