From USA TODAY: The vast majority of Americans in each of 40-plus states surveyed say global warming is real, serious and man-made, and the concerns tend to be slightly higher in coastal or drought-stricken areas, says an analysis out today. At least 75% of U.S. adults say global warming has
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Mind of Dan: Canada doing its part to ensure unmitigated climate change
From The ongoing climate negotiations in Warsaw Poland: Canada has dropped any remaining pretences of supporting global action on climate change by urging other countries to follow Australia’s example in gutting its climate plan. In a formal statement, the Canadian government said it “applauds” the move by Australia this week
Continue readingMind of Dan: Was Typhoon Haiyan caused by climate change? It’s the wrong question and it doesn’t matter.
Typhoon Haiyan is photographed by Astronaut Karen L Nyberg aboard the International Space Station It is inevitable. After every extreme weather event the question: “Was it caused by climate change?” is never far behind. Not only that, but often the question is asked with the implication that there is a
Continue readingMind of Dan: Bert Bolin: The man who got the world to agree on climate
Andy Extance has written two particularly appropriate posts on Bert Bolin the first chairman of the IPCC and an instrumental figure in getting the world to agree to negotiate a climate agreement. Hopefully the current round of climate negotiations in Warsaw will accomplish more than the typical empty rhetoric and
Continue readingMind of Dan: To those influencing environmental policy but opposed to nuclear power:
An open letter by leading climate scientists, Ken Caldeira, Kerry Emanuel, James Hansen and Tom Wigley calling on green groups to stop opposing nuclear power: To those influencing environmental policy but opposed to nuclear power: As climate and energy scientists concerned with global climate change, we are writing to urge
Continue readingMind of Dan: It’s the climate, not the oil spill
Mark Jaccard hitting home the point that, while spills might be locally devastating, they pale in comparison to the consequences of unmitigated climate change. Sorry, folks, but if you care about the environment – the planet for that matter – your strategy to stop oil pipelines is futile if its
Continue readingMind of Dan: Why not buy out the coal industry?
Burton Richter a Nobel Laureate in physics has an interesting idea to stop the use of coal There is no excuse for the continued use of coal to generate electricity that costs too much and is a health hazard to everyone who lives anywhere near a coal-fired power plant. About
Continue readingMind of Dan: Hans Rosling – 200 years of global change
(h/t Andy Skuce) Andy also highlights some key points from the video which are worth highlighting: (more…)
Continue readingMind of Dan: The opposite of progress
A Canadian government report stating that Canadian GHG emissions in 2020 will be 20% higher than the governments promised reductions from the 2009 Copenhagen accord. The estimate of emissions is also 14 million tonnes or 2% higher than last years estimate for 2020. So not only is Canada on a
Continue readingMind of Dan: The Overton window and its relation to reality
The Overton window and its relation to reality This figure by Michael Tobis should have been published when the IPCC AR5 was released as a reminder of how skewed the public discussion of climate change really is. But I had forgotten about it and it took a twitter conversation/debate between
Continue readingMind of Dan: Good news from the IPCC
I haven’t seen this reported elsewhere (so perhaps I am way off base) but I think the new statement of climate sensitivity in the IPCC AR5 represents some real good news compared with the statement in AR4 Here is the statement from AR5: Climate sensitivity is likely in the range
Continue readingMind of Dan: Certainty
Here is the IPCC message: We are as certain that humans are radically changing the planet’s climate as we are that tobacco causes cancer. Peter Gleick
Continue readingMind of Dan: Harper won’t take no for an answer on Keystone XL
With the fate of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline still in the hands of U.S. President Barack Obama five years on, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told a crowd of business leaders gathered in New York that he will not take no for an answer. I suppose the next step is
Continue readingMind of Dan: What is the deal with Methane?
Recently a comment published in Nature made the case for a catastrophic release of the methane (a very potent GHG) in the Arctic which in turn could cause sudden warming and cause massive economic damage in the trillions of dollars. Scary stuff! But before you panic it would be worth
Continue readingMind of Dan: ‘Nobody understands’ spills at Alberta oil sands operation
An oil spill in a tar sand operation in Northern Alberta has been going on for weeks and nobody seems to understand how it happened or how to stop it. From The Toronto Star: Oil spills at a major oil sands operation in Alberta have been ongoing for at least
Continue readingMind of Dan: Risk; local vs global
Everything we do carries some element of risk. This much should be obvious. The recent horrific disaster at Lac-Mégantic underscores the fact that many aspects of our energy system such as having a rail line run through the middle of a populated area implies some level of risk. That risk
Continue readingMind of Dan: Are YOU on Stephen Harper’s #EnemyList?
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has given his new ministers an “enemy” list to ensure they don’t fall prey to anyone who might disagree with the government’s policies. People like artist Franke James are on it. In fact the government has amassed over 2,100 Access-to-Information documents from 4 different federal
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