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POPSPolar Bear Melodrama The greatest danger is that this ruling will be distorted by the courts, where it is inevitably headed. On the other hand, not listing the polar bear would have proceeded to litigation too, with potentially worse consequences. Climate-change lawsuits have already deformed the Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and others. The most pernicious element in the polar bear melodrama is the way the law is being run off the rails, and even a duly elected White House can't seem to throw on the brakes. If Congress wants to enact global-warming legislation, then so be it – but the costs and benefits should be argued in the open. This fly-by-night policy making is not only unscientific. It's undemocratic.
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POPSBirds and bees acting up with climate change
Due to space, I have only included a few examples, but there are more details of changes throughout the world on the page. It seems ironic that we can be prepared to cast blame, while ignoring the problem. Nature will not be ignored. I remember an old Japanese saying "Do not look for blame. Look for solution." Then of course there was King Canute. Despite his authority over people the tide continued to rise. The worst thing we can do is give up. We can't argue with the elements, much less change them. We have to change our behavior. Reminds me of dieting. It is not a short term thing. For dieting to be successful, it has to be a permanent change in eating habits. Very soon, with the correct diet, the improvement in health can make us wonder why we ever ate incorrectly in the first place. Also similar to things like stopping smoking, or drinking Alcohol. They only seem hard until you become determined to stop. Then it's not long before the benefits become clear.
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POPSIdeas to save environment? The first public session will be held at The Centre on May 22 at 6.30 pm, and will focus on reducing impact on the environment. The second session, looking at sustainable land and livelihoods, will feature Andrew Campbell, the former executive director of Land and Water Australia. It will be held on June 19. The third session, on July 17, will look at sustainable rivers and waterways, with speakers from the North East Catchment Management Authority. "Our aim is to introduce, practical, easy ways in which local people can play their part in a sustainable environment. We hope local people will get fully involved," Ms Laurie said.
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POPSMcCain's Hot Air: Chris Horner
situation — and that his EPA will implement something faster than anything the EPA has ever done before. Which is another way of describing his vow today to give the economy up to two years to bring emissions back down to 2005 levels. He says that the free-ride granted to most of the world proved the undoing of these “Protocols”. The fact that none of the parties which promised emission reductions have any clue how to actually reduce emissions, and therefore are not doing so, would seem to me to be a more central feature in Kyoto’s failure. First, McCain’s conceit in this speech and in his global-warming views generally are impervious to changing evidence: the problem of man-made climate change is real, bad, and here now. Second, McCain’s ultimate goal for “doing something” is, at best, unclear. He says “The goal in all of this is to assure an energy supply that is safe, secure, diverse, and domestic.” It has failed in Europe. He tries to elide this fact, but fails.
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POPSMcCain’s Assault On Reason: Dr. Roy W. Spencer So, here we are with bad science ready to support bad policy decisions that will lead to bad economic times ahead, and no presidential candidate who is willing to ask the hard questions. While we hate to be pandered to by politicians, in this case I can only hope that they really are pandering — that this is hot air and not prospective policy.
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POPSCivilization's last chance
There's a number -- a new number -- that makes this point most powerfully. It may now be the most important number on Earth: 350. As in parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. A few weeks ago, NASA's chief climatologist, James Hansen, submitted a paper to Science magazine with several coauthors. The abstract attached to it argued -- and I have never read stronger language in a scientific paper -- that "if humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm." Hansen cites six irreversible tipping points -- massive sea level rise and huge changes in rainfall patterns, among them -- that we'll pass if we don't get back down to 350 soon; and the first of them, judging by last summer's insane melt of Arctic ice, may already be behind us. So it's a tough diagnosis.
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POPSWorld CO2 Levels At Record High, Scientists Warn Scientists say the shift could indicate that the Earth is losing its natural ability to soak up billions of tons of carbon each year. Climate models assume that about half our future emissions will be re-absorbed by forests and oceans, but the new figures confirm this may be too optimistic. If more of our carbon pollution stays in the atmosphere, it means emissions will have to be cut by more than currently projected to prevent dangerous levels of global warming. Martin Parry, co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s working group on impacts, said: “Despite all the talk, the situation is getting worse. Levels of greenhouse gases continue to rise in the atmosphere and the rate of that rise is accelerating. We are already seeing the impacts of climate change and the scale of those impacts will also accelerate, until we decide to do something about it.”
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POPSIt Isn't Morning in America Anymore -- It's Dusk on Planet Earth - Part 1 Can people learn to "turn on a dime"? Or will humanity continue to plunge headlong into the abyss like the Gaderine swine? Those who turn fastest, decoupling themselves from the growth / money economy, for example, by NOT consuming, doing with as little as possible, taking as little as possible, and giving back (to the earth) as much as possible. All people have to do is change their minds about what is important.
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POPSJohn McCain global warming tour? I just love how McCain embraces the left with such enthusiasm, no matter how absurd their ideas are. I just wish he'd "reach across the aisle" to the Conservatives every once in a while!
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POPSAssumptions in Polar Bear Populations What we do know about polar bears is that, contrary to media portrayals, they are not fragile "canary in the coal mine" animals, but are robust creatures that have survived past periods of extensive deglaciation. Polar bear fossils have been dated to over one hundred thousand years, which means that polar bears have already survived an interglacial period when temperatures were considerably warmer than they are at present and when, quite probably, levels of summertime Arctic sea ice were correspondingly low.
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POPSBackdoor Kyoto Protection under the Endangered Species Act will provide concrete help to polar bears and could revolutionize American climate policy. Since U.S. resistance to curbing greenhouse gases has allowed other countries to shirk their responsibilities as well, major changes in American policy are likely to have a powerful domino effect, catalyzing change in climate policy worldwide. From polluting power plants in the Midwest to auto manufacturers, a vast array of industries may have to clean up their acts to give the polar bear a chance to survive.
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POPSA Conservative Crisis Of Followership: David Frum So, 2008 is not 1988. The problems are different and so must the solutions be. The Reagan themes do not carry the power they once did. The conservative voting majority is not a majority any more. To compete and win this year Republicans have to adapt and change, not revert and revive. The country has changed since 1988. Polls capture a shift to the left on economic issues. The once decisive tax issue has faded altogether, and no wonder: 80 per cent of Americans now pay more in payroll taxes than in federal income taxes. Americans care less about taxes than healthcare and fuel prices, issues where Republicans offer few solutions and speak with something less than passionate urgency. Americans are expressing a new pessimism about upward mobility and their children’s chances of leading a better life – an understandable reaction to the stagnation of median wages since 2000. Even on the signature issue of the war on terror, Americans are turning away from Republican ideas.
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POPSPANGEA DAY--A WORLDWIDE FESTIVAL OF FILM FOR HUMANITY SEE THE SITE AT PROPEACE FOR MORE: Pangea Day will be available on Current TV, the pioneer of citizen-empowered media, or you can watch the live video stream on the Pangea Day website. Please go there right now, have a look at the trailer, search by zip code for a public screening near you, and browse the promotional videos of choirs from different countries singing each other's national anthems. A French choir sings ours, and it's a hoot! Another trailer I really like is on YouTube.
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POPSWeather Or Not, We're Still Doomed.....Whatever James Overland of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration claims that an ozone hole over the Antarctic is masking conditions there, keeping temperatures low. Later the ozone hole will close up, so we're still doomed. Gareth Marshall of the British Antarctic Survey floats this one: climate change causes Antarctic winds to blow harder, trapping colder air. But this will decrease at an undisclosed future date, so we're still doomed. Gabbles Marshall: The tea leaves point to a minimal amount of sea ice next September, that would be the same as we had last summer, 40 percent loss compared to 20 years ago. At least tea leaves are an improvement over the phony computer models they've been using to find their predetermined results. On a tip from hiram13pm. Posted by Van Helsing
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POPSAre Global Warmists Pulling A Cool Fast One? The New York Times rolled out Kevin Trenberth, a climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, in Boulder, CO. Tremberth told them that "the global climate will continue to be influenced in any particular decade by a mix of natural variability and the building greenhouse effect" and that "a cool phase does not mean the overall theory of dangerous human-driven warming is flawed." And then added what appears to be the latest greenie talking point: "Too many think global warming means monotonic relentless warming everywhere year after year. It does not happen that way." Is anyone else noticing a trend developing here, beyond the "we never said that warming patterns would be steady" shuffle? Each explanation, whether by Willis, Keenlyside and Latif, Wood, or Trenberth implies that some climate forces natural are more formidable than those anthropogenic.
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