Preamble:
Testimony:
Climate Change Reading and Resources
Dire Predictions: The Visual Guide to the Findings of the IPCC
One test of the legitimacy of claims about scientific matters is time. Over time, if a proposal about how nature works that buck the consensus is valid, it will be shown to be valid. If it is not, it will fail the test of time. Climatology Versus Pseudoscience: Exposing the Failed Predictions of Global Warming Skeptics
Even though this is not specifically about climate science, I always recommend that people read Sean Otto’s The War on Science: Who’s Waging It, Why It Matters, What We Can Do About It
Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming
A Portrait of Dorian
UPDATE: Everything below is still current, but right now at about 10PM eastern Aug 31, Dorian is a Cat 5. Just figured you’d like to know
Original post: Continue reading A Portrait of Dorian
Seat Belt Wearing is a Cultural Phenomenon.
Or, at least, not wearing them appears to be. Continue reading Seat Belt Wearing is a Cultural Phenomenon.
Dorian: All those people who evacuated north? Oops
There was always a chance that Dorian was going to make a right turn. In fact, it wasn’t just “a chance” but a very high probability. But a day or so ago, it was reasonable to say that Dorian would likely, but not necessarily, make that turn AFTER coming ashore in Florida.It now looks like Dorian may make that turn sooner, while still at sea.
We have already seen major news outlets walking all over their own tongues trying to describe that might happen, and thus quite possibly misleading people in a dangerous way. Here, I’ll focus on a new way of explaining the Dorian dilemma.
First, think of a hurricane as a car. The driver is the eye. Perhaps imagine a car where the driver sits more in the middle, like this one: Continue reading Dorian: All those people who evacuated north? Oops
Dorian Could Be A Big Problem IMPORTANT UPDATES
UPDATE for Friday 20 Aug AM:
The information below is still pretty accurate for Dorian, except a few important details. Continue reading Dorian Could Be A Big Problem IMPORTANT UPDATES
“Am I going to have access to food or water when I’m 30?” — the question your kids are asking now.
If you do not understand that this is a valid question, then you do not actually deserve to be breathing our chemically-altered air right now. No excuses.
Reconstructed Fairy Tales, Holmes, Anthologies, Cheap
I know you either have these or want these, and they are now cheap in Kindle form:
Happily Ever After
The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
A good reason to oppose development of nuclear power in the US
… is the fact that you can trust the nuclear power industry about as far as you can throw an elephant.
If you can’t trust an entire industry to even look at you and not lie, then why do we trust them to do anything important?
For example, Ohio. Continue reading A good reason to oppose development of nuclear power in the US
A Hurricane Named Dorian Likely To Hit Florida UPDATED
Dorian is a poorly to moderately organized tropical storm just west of the northern reach of the Leeward Islands, expected to affect Puerto Rico by the end of the day today, then to move into the Southwest North Atlantic, where it will likely become a hurricane between 36 and 48 hours from now.
It is highly likely that Dorian will strike the US 48 this weekend or Monday, somewhere, as some kind of storm. There is a very good chance this will be Florida as a
Best Of Everything Books Cheap
You know those books that anthologize the best of this and the best of that? A bunch of them are now cheap in Kindle form:
The Best American Mystery Stories 2018 (The Best American Series ®)
The Best American Comics 2018 (The Best American Series ®)
The Best American Travel Writing 2018 (The Best American Series ®)
The Best American Sports Writing 2018 (The Best American Series ®)
And since you are busy looking at books, look at mine! In Search of Sungudogo
Your chance to get Mayer’s Dark Money cheap
Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
In her new preface, Jane Mayer discusses the results of the most recent election and Donald Trump’s victory, and how, despite much discussion to the contrary, this was a huge victory for the billionaires who have been pouring money in the American political system.
Why is America living in an age of profound and widening economic inequality? Why have even modest attempts to address climate change been defeated again and again? Why do hedge-fund billionaires pay a far lower tax rate than middle-class workers? In a riveting and indelible feat of reporting, Jane Mayer illuminates the history of an elite cadre of plutocrats—headed by the Kochs, the Scaifes, the Olins, and the Bradleys—who have bankrolled a systematic plan to fundamentally alter the American political system. Mayer traces a byzantine trail of billions of dollars spent by the network, revealing a staggering conglomeration of think tanks, academic institutions, media groups, courthouses, and government allies that have fallen under their sphere of influence. Drawing from hundreds of exclusive interviews, as well as extensive scrutiny of public records, private papers, and court proceedings, Mayer provides vivid portraits of the secretive figures behind the new American oligarchy and a searing look at the carefully concealed agendas steering the nation. Dark Money is an essential book for anyone who cares about the future of American democracy.
Politics 101: Knowing When To Hold ‘Em, When To Fold ‘Em
Press your preference, hold back your hate. Don’t damage the duck until you know which duck is yours. We all do better when we all do better, even those you disagree with. There is an endless list of rhetorically clever utterances to make the same point: express your passion inside the Party, but then, get in line and vote blue. (Or red if you are for some strange reason a Republican interested in my advice, which is highly unlikely). Continue reading Politics 101: Knowing When To Hold ‘Em, When To Fold ‘Em
Franken Anounces Run for Senate
As outlined here in a post at Get Energy Smart Now, there is a new candidate in town in a major mid western Senate race. Siegel notes:
Today, a Climate Hawk is announcing his candidacy in the crowded Iowa Democratic Party primary for the chance to send Koch-funded, Koch-created, Koch-parroting climate-science denier Jodi Ernst to the pasture.
As his announcement video makes clear, Iowa farm boy Vice Admiral Mike Franken, U.S. Navy (retired), places climate change as core to his priorities, as core to his campaign, as core to his understanding of Iowans’ concerns about today and tomorrow.
This is important because Franken has an excellent chance of doing well in this race and replacing an in place Republican and climate change denier. Michael Franken is a true climate hawk.
He will be seeking the nomination of the Democratic Party.
The cold spot caused by global warming and why it should scare you
You saw the film The Day After Tomorrow. This is that. Not like in the movie, but still…
Warming causes melting of ice, adding fresh water into the North Atlantic, which interferes with a major current system that at present warms Europe.
Consequence: The planet warms dangerously, while at the same time, large parts of Europe become much cooler, to the extent that people may not be able to live there in the manner they do now, or produce very much food there. Gibraltar would have a climate similar to the coast of Maine, and Berlin would have a climate similar to the Northwest Territories or northern Hudson Bay.
The models have predicted this, but it now seems that they’ve under-predicted it. It appears to be happening faster, and more furiously, than expected.