Uncertainty regarding global warming appears to be a legitimate basis for postponing action, which is usually identified as 'costly.' But this idea is almost unique to climate change. In other areas of public safety, such as terrorism, nuclear proliferation, inflation, or vaccination, an 'insurance' principle seems to prevail: if there is sufficient likelihood of significant... Continue Reading →

Produced by the National Academies of Science.

Michael Tobis' contribution to the Daily Kos Climate Change SOS: The only game in town is the Last Ton game, where the lower the amount of fossil fuels burnt before the last ton is burnt, the better the ultimate result is for humanity and pretty much all other species. [UPDATE by mt]: Please note, the... Continue Reading →

Depressingly, I agree: One of the government's most senior scientific advisers has said that efforts to stop a sharp rise in global temperatures were now "unrealistic". Prof Sir Bob Watson said that any hope of restricting the average temperature rise to 2C was "out the window". He said that the rise could be as high... Continue Reading →

From the Telegraph: Wind farm developers using 'tricks' to make turbines look smaller Wind farm developers make turbines look smaller than they actually are when applying for planning permission in order to 'trick' councils into giving them the go-ahead, a leading architect has warned. What is this nefarious trick? Using 50mm lenses to take pictures... Continue Reading →

It turns out pipeline operators aren't required to tell anyone: After the dilbit gushed into the river, it began separating into its constituent parts. The heavy bitumen sank to the river bottom, leaving a mess that is still being cleaned up. Meanwhile, the chemical additives evaporated, creating a foul smell that lingered for days. People reported headaches,... Continue Reading →

When people say of the fight to cut GHG emissions, "this isn't working; let's try something else" they are never referring to making our (if it really is "our") actions bigger; they always want to make our goals smaller. There is always a prominent complaint of how "poisonous" the climate debate has become, but like... Continue Reading →

Good news Everyone! Only two per cent of Canadians who responded to a new opinion poll believed climate change is not occurring. A further nine per cent believed climate change is occurring naturally and 54 per cent felt both humans and nature are playing a role. I would like more information on that 54%. Because... Continue Reading →

David Appell crunches some numbers and finds that if the US were to use natural gas exclusively for all its energy production it would reduce GHG emissions from 5471 Mt to roughly 4800 Mt. A reduction of only 13%, which is far less than needed to stabilize the climate.

After a couple of days filled with rumours and wild speculation we finally know what all the commotion was about. Richard Muller, the head of the BEST project, has written an op-ed in the NYTimes: CALL me a converted skeptic. Three years ago I identified problems in previous climate studies that, in my mind, threw doubt on the very existence... Continue Reading →

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is holding a round table on Nuclear Power and climate change with a focus on developing countries.

Not exactly shocking news, James Annan reports on the recent paper investigating: how much of the decline in sea ice was plausibly due to various natural phenomena like the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and Arctic Oscillation. The answer...maybe a little, but not a lot. The Guardian has more: We could only attribute as much as 30%... Continue Reading →

Now that Rex Tillerson, the CEO of Exxon Mobil has admitted that CO2 emissions will cause warming David Appell thinks some follow-up questions are in order: Last month, Exxon Mobil Corp. CEO ex Tillerson said, at the Council of Foreign Relations: “Increasing CO2 emissions in the atmosphere will have a warming impact,” Tillerson said. “It’s an... Continue Reading →

From the article: WSJ mangles history to argue government didn't launch the Internet The Wall Street Journal has earned a reputation for producing in-depth and meticulously fact-checked news coverage. Unfortunately, it doesn't always apply that same high standard of quality to their editorial page. The Wall Street Journal's reputation has taken a nose-dive within the climate community... Continue Reading →

Bill Mckibben has just written a must read article in Rolling stone, ignore the initial error which I also made here on P3, and go read it now. Here are a few highlights: We have five times as much oil and coal and gas on the books as climate scientists think is safe to burn.... Continue Reading →

Michael Mann continues to do everyone a great service by consistently not backing down when faced with constant harassment, threats and unending attempts to smear his reputation. The latest is a particularly despicable short post at the National Review Online. On Twitter Michael Mann has announced: I have formally demanded retraction & apology for defamatory piece by #NationalReview. I have retained legal counsel: http://on.fb.me/OeWbQ1  It would certainly... Continue Reading →

From Jeff Masters: Each of the 13 months from June 2011 through June 2012 ranked among the warmest third of their historical distribution for the first time in the 1895 - present record. According to NCDC, the odds of this occurring randomly during any particular month are 1 in 1,594,323. Thus, we should only see... Continue Reading →

We need evidence-based decision-making; not decision-based evidence-making. -Raj Sherman, leader of Alberta Liberals Via Elizabeth May

Granted, we’ve only lived in the area for 25 years... But the first 15 left an impression that this was not one of Dante’s circles. The last ten: approaching inner circle quickly.

Robert Grumbine points out that the recent derecho that hit Washington DC demonstrates the folly of thinking we can simply adapt to climate change: I live in the national Capitol area for what is supposed to be the richest and most technologically advanced country on the earth. ; And many, large population, counties around me... Continue Reading →

Tomorrow, North America's only Carbon tax will increase by $5. British Columbia's carbon tax was introduced July 1st 2008 at $10/tonne by the right of centre BC Liberals. Every year the carbon tax increases by $5 until the tax reaches a maximum of $30/tonne which it will do tomorrow July 1st. The tax, designed to... Continue Reading →

Mark McCaffrey is not happy with the recent trend of downplaying the importance of climate literacy: There's a dangerous meme drifting through the climate community: that when it comes to "solving" climate change, literacy does not matter. True, years of promoting filling the information deficit with more facts hasn’t worked, but the current “literacy bashing,”... Continue Reading →