Tag Archives: Global Warming
Scientists Reinvent The Plant
Carbon is cycled from gas (C02) to solid (plant tissue) and and back (through fire, digestion, fermentation, etc.) again and again.Some of that carbon is trapped over long periods in the form of “fossil fuels.”The earth has, in a sense, grown accustom to having a huge chunk of the available carbon stored away in coal and oil, so the recent (last century or so) release of large quantities of this carbon is a problem. This is why fuels made of plants (ethanol, diesel) are of interest. But those fuels require two steps: The carbon is captured by plants, then the plant matter is converted to something that can be burned in machines.Why not cut out the middle-man, and replace the plant with a machine that may make the process more efficient? Continue reading Scientists Reinvent The Plant
Kansans Are Pro Environment, Kansas Legislators Don’t Get It
Analyze Everything keeps an eye on energy policy in Kansas, and is happily reporting the following:
Not only did the Kansas Department of Health and the Environment make Kansas the first state to deny the construction of a new power plant based solely on greenhouse emissions, it turns out Kansans are totally on-board.
This is based on a poll showing that 62% of Kansans agree with this policy decision.In contrast, Republican State Senate President Ste Morris’s reaction was “I just can’t imagine that would be an accurate poll … Virtually everyone I’ve talked to has been concerned about the decision.”Who is he talking to? Read all about it here.
When the Robots take over, people may still have one use…
In Stockholm, the heat will be sucked out of the bodies of the thousands of people who pass through the Central Railway station to heat the buildings. Continue reading When the Robots take over, people may still have one use…
Compare and contrast.
These two videos are part of a “year in review post” that I’m including in my Review of the Year in Review Posts. My review will be supplied at the end of the year, like it should be. But, I thought you might enjoy seeing these videos sooner. Continue reading Compare and contrast.
Computers Need Not Contribute to Global Warming
A SiCortex SC648 supercomputer and a Linux cluster of 648 CPU’s and a TB of main memory woudl draw about 1,200 watts. That’s gotta widen your Carbon Footprint! Continue reading Computers Need Not Contribute to Global Warming
Geek the Vote
Popular Mechanics (one of those magazines that genteel people refuse to admit they read, but that is actually a blast) has published a thing called “Geek the Vote.” According to an email from PM, this is:
…an online guide to all the candidates’ stances on issues related to science and technology including energy policy and climate change, gun control, science education and infrastructure investment. The full chart, which can be navigated by candidate or issue, is [provided]
The site is here.This is apparently in response to (maybe not, but there is evidence to suggest this) the Science Debate 2008 initiative (see this). Continue reading Geek the Vote
Loony Climate Denialism Holdouts
A small group of US experts stubbornly insist that, contrary to what the vast majority of their colleagues believe, humans may not be responsible for the warming of the planet Earth. Continue reading Loony Climate Denialism Holdouts
Bali: Are we there yet?
The Cost of twenty years of Reagan and Bushes has been very high. In about 1991, I wrote an article for a monthly newspaper in which I summarized the available data for Global Warming, and was very easily able to conclude that it was a real phenomenon with consequences already felt in a number of areas, a reasonably well understood mechanism, and a tangible set of solutions to work on. In 1997, the Kyoto protocol was signed on to by a number of nations (the US not included because of congressional Republican opposition). This month, in Bali, a re-run of something like Kyoto happened, and finally, the US is also signed on with most of the rest of the world.
Sea Level Rise Coffee Mug
Get your funny global warming cartoon here!
(click on the cartoon)
Arctic may be Ice-Free in Five Years
Scientists in the US have presented one of the most dramatic forecasts yet for the disappearance of Arctic sea ice.Their latest modelling studies indicate northern polar waters could be ice-free in summers within just 5-6 years.[BBC]
Sinners: You Caused the Drought
Never mind the debate on science. We’ve got a new approach cooking up here. It’s all about sin.
A RADICAL Christian group with the ear of prominent politicians has blamed “sinful” Australians for the nation’s record drought.
Catch the Fires Ministries, which has links to several prominent politicians including Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, has hired Festival Hall so 5000 of its followers can pray for rain on Australia Day.
Leader Danny Nalliah said moral decline, not climate change, was responsible for the drought.
“Australia has turned away from Almighty God … the sinful condition of mankind has contributed to the stem of rainfall,” he said.
Nalliah is famous in Australia for Muslim bashing. Too bad, because Muslims are really really good a praying, and maybe they could help. Indeed, another cleric, Mohammed Omran, of the Muslim faith, has also called for prayer to end the drought.
Anyway, we need to bring these people over to the American South, where there is currently a killing drought. And, they should fit in very nicely.