Orville! Wilbur!… Put Down those Goggles!
For those born before the intrepid Wright Brothers snapped goggles to their heads and took to the skies, it took six grueling weeks by stream-ship to get from London to Sydney. Thanks to groovily-named Orville and Wilbur, today it takes 24 hours.
Sure, it’s quicker, but is it better? (more…)
Climate Change Skepticism Grows but Facts Remain Unchanged
Unless it’s faith we’re talking about, humans are inherently skeptical – especially when it comes to science. Brilliant minds have been battling the oft’ irrational public opinion for time immemorial, with guys like Aristotle, Galileo and Darwin risking their necks in the name of logic.
Things haven’t changed much…
Despite recent news of blunders and cover-ups in the IPCC’s 2007 climate report, according to Al Gore, “the overwhelming consensus on global warming remains unchanged”.
The hefty four-volume report tackles some of the most complex science imaginable. Making sense of chaotic, interconnected systems is tough. It’s even harder when incorporating the impacts of countless climate-change variables. Errors are to be expected. (more…)
No Will Smith – just a real threat of extinction
No Will Smith – just a real threat of extinction
By Joel Katz
Chacaltaya’s days are numbered. Nestled away in the Bolivian Andes, the glacier has existed for 18,000 years, but over the last two decades most of it has melted away.
Edson Ramirez is the country’s leading glaciologist. Sitting in his office at the University of San Andres in La Paz, he gestures to the narrow streets below. Many from his hometown and nearby El Alto depend on tropical ice fields like Chacaltaya for their water, he explains. (more…)
Q-tip and Gorby agree: The time has come to… GALVANIZE
Q-tip and Gorby agree: The time has come to… GALVANIZEClimate talks or episode of Survivor Spain?
Great blogs from the UN climate tracker, Phil. His coverage of the talks is witty and insightful. And patas bravas? Hmmm… mouthwatering…
But it all kinda reminds me of an episode of Survivor (rediscovered my love for this reality show the other day). Don’t wanna sound cynical, but as I read Phil’s blogs I kept getting visions of Survivor contestants at each other’s throats. (more…)
Could Nostradamus ever have predicted this?
Could Nostradamus ever have predicted this?
By Joel Katz
Late at night in his cluttered 16th Century Parisian quarters… could Nostradamus, the bearded and controversial seer, ever have predicted the devastating impacts of climate change?
Non, je ne le pense pas. Translation: I think not.
Some same he was accurate on many other prophecies, but not this one. And the news keeps getting worse.
According to the Guardian online, late last week the British government raised the political stakes by releasing a new map of the world that outlines the likely effects of a failure to curb greenhouse gas emissions. (more…)
A little goofiness goes a long way
By Joel Katz
What happens when you combine a glass-bottle recycle bin with a flashing, beeping 1980s-style arcade game?
Recycling becomes fun.
Huh?? Since when is sorting plastics from glass an entertaining diversion? (more…)
Who will pay for climate deal?
Are Australians worrying less about climate change?
Are Australians worrying less about climate change?
By Joel Katz
SYDNEY – As international climate change talks intensify, the Lowy Institute has just released their annual report on what global issues worry Australians the most.
And the news is unsettling: while climate change remains in the top ten foreign policy concerns, it’s plummeted from first to seventh place. (more…)
A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
In his early 1960s anthem, ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’, Bob Dylan sings about journeying through a gloomy world where his protagonist “stepped in the middle of seven sad forests, and was out in front of a dozen dead oceans”. He also waxes lyrical about lots and lots of really hard rain.
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