Written by Stuart Scott, member of Al Gore’s The Climate Project, and author of the blog “Climatecorps“.

I am at a loss for how to even begin to express the treasure I’ve found in the past couple of days.  It is something so vital to the effort to save humanity from its own ’success’ that I have decided to attach myself to the effort to promote this amazing documentary.  It is called The Age of Stupid.  I will provide links below to the website for the film, specifically to the page with trailers, and encourage you to whet your appetite in advance of the film’s actual release, which will come as early in 2009 as the people behind the film can negotiate.  (more…)

Those of you who have been following this blog for a while will understand how excited I am. 350 ppm CO2 in the atmosphere is a goal that we urgently need to work towards to avoid a climate catastrophe (see previous 350 articles on this blog). For months many of us have urged Al Gore to include 350 ppm in his message to the world.

Today he did. He did so in front of the entire world, at the UN Climate Confrence in Poznan. In his words “450 ppm is ineadequate. We have to toughen up and reach 350 ppm.” (more…)

For months I have waited for this day – to go to the UN Climate meetings in Poznan, and find out for myself how the road towards a sustainable and safe future is built, towards a future that will be decided upon in Copenhagen in December 2009.

My little adventure has not started so great. Hopefully this is just the difficult start to three highly productive days. A defect lock and constructions on the train tracks caused me to miss my train and will finally get me crawling into the hostel way after midnight (after having left at 7:30 am).

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Oil and Gas Seen to Have Lesser Effect

Satellite imagery shows where carbon dioxide is being emitted or absorbed, measured here in 2003. Reds show sources; blues, absorption. Courtesy, NASA.

An ongoing rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide from burning of fossil fuels might be kept below harmful levels if emissions from coal are phased out within the next few decades, say researchers. They say that less plentiful oil and gas should be used sparingly as well, but that far greater supplies of coal mean that it must be the main target of reductions. Their study appears in the journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles. (more…)

Back in 2004, Stephen Pacala and Rob Socolow of Princeton University, US, came up with the concept of “stabilization wedges”, a way of mixing and matching currently available technologies to cut carbon emissions by the amount needed to stabilize the climate. The paper was a reaction to what Pacala and Socolow saw as strategy to stall action on global warming by the Bush administration by claiming that the world lacked the technology to tackle it. While any one of today’s technologies alone is unable to meet the challenge, the pair showed that a portfolio of such solutions would be up to the job.

Here Pacala speaks to environmentalresearchweb about how emissions and the planet have changed since publication of the wedges paper, (more…)

Melissa Bowlin and Martin Wikelski investigated how much energy Swainson’s thrushes (see picture on left) are using at different wind velocities by having the bird fly in a wind chamber (see picture to the right). Below, Melissa describes their main results:

In an article recently published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE, Martin Wikelski and I showed that small migratory birds use more energy when storms are developing and when winds are high than when it is clear and calm. Since global climate change may affect the frequency and severity of storms and winds, climate change could have large impacts on the amount of energy these birds have to use during flight. (more…)

A DISASTER BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE NATION’S LEADING ENVIRONMENTALISTS
Reprinted with permission by Peter Montague

On Friday the U.S. Senate — arguably the most powerful 100 people on the planet — opposed a bill to curb global warming.
The N.Y. Times wrote June 3, “The debate, which could last all week, will force senators to take a stand on some of the most difficult, expensive and potentially life-altering questions the world will face in coming decades.” (more…)

By Herman E. Daly

Recent increased attention to global warming is very welcome. But much of it is misplaced.

We focus too much on complex climate models, which ask things like how far emissions will increase carbon dioxide concentration, how much that will raise temperatures, by when, with what consequences to climate and geography, and how likely new information will invalidate model results. Together these questions can paralyze us with uncertainty.

A better question for determining public policy is simpler: “Can we continue to emit increasing amounts of greenhouse gases without provoking unacceptable climate change?”

Scientists overwhelmingly agree the answer is no. (more…)

Reposted with permission from the Yale Climate Media Forum; by Zeke Hausfather

Broadcast meteorologists do not have the best of reputations for predictive accuracy. Audiences are particularly good at remembering - and at pointing the finger - when they’re wrong. Few heap praise when their forecasts turn out to have been accurate.

So the rainy day expected tomorrow sometimes turns out to be sunny, and projections more than a week away are usually offered - and taken - with the proverbial grain of salt. (more…)