Trans-Arctic shipping...
Map of Artic sea routes:
http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/arctic-sea-routes-northern-sea-route-and-northwest-passage
More background:
http://new.arcticportal.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=90:arctic-shippingfeature-of-the-week&catid=35:2009&Itemid=73
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Climate Change Wildlife and Wildlands Toolkit
A toolkit for formal & informal educators. Maintained by the U.S. Global Climate Change Research Program.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Got Science?
A couple of days ago I posted about the new NOAA climate change literacy publication.
A couple excerpts from that:
"WHAT IS CLIMATE SCIENCE LITERACY?
Climate Science Literacy is an understanding of your influence on climate and climate’s influence on you and society. A climate-literate person
• understands the essential principles of Earth’s climate system,
• knows how to assess scientifically credible information about climate,
• communicates about climate and climate change in a meaningful way, and
• is able to make informed and responsible decisions with regard to actions that may affect climate."
and;
"HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT IS SCIENTIFICALLY CORRECT?
The Peer Review Process
Science is an on-going process of making observations and using evidence to test hypotheses. As new ideas are developed and new data are obtained, oftentimes enabled by new technologies, our understanding evolves. The scientific community uses a highly formalized version of peer review to validate research results and our understanding of their significance. Researchers describe their experiments, results, and interpretations in scientific manuscripts and submit them to a scientific journal that specializes in their field of science. Scientists who are experts in that field serve as “referees” for the journal: they read the manuscript carefully to judge the reliability of the research design and check that the interpretations are supported by the data. Based on the reviews, journal editors may accept or reject manuscripts or ask the authors to make revisions if the study has insufficient data or unsound interpretations. Through this process, only those concepts that have been described through well-documented research and subjected to the scrutiny of other experts in the field become published papers in science journals and accepted as current science knowledge. Although peer review does not guarantee that any particular published result is valid, it does provide a high assurance that the work has been carefully vetted for accuracy by informed experts prior to publication. The overwhelming majority of peer-reviewed papers about global climate change acknowledge that human activities are substantially contributing factors."
A couple excerpts from that:
"WHAT IS CLIMATE SCIENCE LITERACY?
Climate Science Literacy is an understanding of your influence on climate and climate’s influence on you and society. A climate-literate person
• understands the essential principles of Earth’s climate system,
• knows how to assess scientifically credible information about climate,
• communicates about climate and climate change in a meaningful way, and
• is able to make informed and responsible decisions with regard to actions that may affect climate."
and;
"HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT IS SCIENTIFICALLY CORRECT?
The Peer Review Process
Science is an on-going process of making observations and using evidence to test hypotheses. As new ideas are developed and new data are obtained, oftentimes enabled by new technologies, our understanding evolves. The scientific community uses a highly formalized version of peer review to validate research results and our understanding of their significance. Researchers describe their experiments, results, and interpretations in scientific manuscripts and submit them to a scientific journal that specializes in their field of science. Scientists who are experts in that field serve as “referees” for the journal: they read the manuscript carefully to judge the reliability of the research design and check that the interpretations are supported by the data. Based on the reviews, journal editors may accept or reject manuscripts or ask the authors to make revisions if the study has insufficient data or unsound interpretations. Through this process, only those concepts that have been described through well-documented research and subjected to the scrutiny of other experts in the field become published papers in science journals and accepted as current science knowledge. Although peer review does not guarantee that any particular published result is valid, it does provide a high assurance that the work has been carefully vetted for accuracy by informed experts prior to publication. The overwhelming majority of peer-reviewed papers about global climate change acknowledge that human activities are substantially contributing factors."
Waxman-Markey
The U.S. House of representatives has a new website, linked in title, regarding the The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.
COP15 Copenhagen
Clicking on the title above will take you to the site for the December 2009 UN Climate Change Conference.
The United Nations Environment Programme climate change site is here:
http://www.unep.org/climatechange/
The United Nations Environment Programme climate change site is here:
http://www.unep.org/climatechange/
Monday, July 27, 2009
NOAA Climate Literacy
NOAA's Current Climate Literacy brochure
"Fifty years after the IGY, as part of a community effort to promote climate literacy, current climate scientists, formal and informal educators, and representatives of a range of U.S. agencies participated in developing and vetting a list of the most important concepts in climate science. The document they produced — Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science — reflects a broad and current effort to define climate literacy. "
High Resolution: http://climate.noaa.gov/education/pdfs/ClimateLiteracy-8.5x11-March09FinalHR.pdf
Low Resolution: http://climate.noaa.gov/education/pdfs/ClimateLiteracyPoster-8.5x11-March09FinalLR.pdf
Word Version: http://climate.noaa.gov/education/docs/Climate_Literacy_GCRP_final_030609.doc
"Fifty years after the IGY, as part of a community effort to promote climate literacy, current climate scientists, formal and informal educators, and representatives of a range of U.S. agencies participated in developing and vetting a list of the most important concepts in climate science. The document they produced — Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science — reflects a broad and current effort to define climate literacy. "
High Resolution: http://climate.noaa.gov/education/pdfs/ClimateLiteracy-8.5x11-March09FinalHR.pdf
Low Resolution: http://climate.noaa.gov/education/pdfs/ClimateLiteracyPoster-8.5x11-March09FinalLR.pdf
Word Version: http://climate.noaa.gov/education/docs/Climate_Literacy_GCRP_final_030609.doc
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
A meditation on sea ice minima & modeling
From the folks at Realclimate, for the scientifically curious amongst you.
Lead paragraph:
"One of the interesting things about being a scientist is seeing how unexpected observations can galvanize the community into looking at a problem in a different way than before. A good example of this is the unexpectedly low Arctic sea ice minimum in 2007 and the near-repeat in 2008. What was unexpected was not the long term decline of summer ice (this has long been a robust prediction), but the size of 2007 and 2008 decreases which were much larger than any model had hinted at. This model-data mismatch raises a number of obvious questions – were the data reliable? are the models missing some key physics? is the comparison being done appropriately? – and some less obvious ones – to what extent is the summer sea ice minimum even predictable? what is the role of pre-conditioning from the previous year vs. the stochastic nature of the weather patterns in any particular summer? ..."
Lead paragraph:
"One of the interesting things about being a scientist is seeing how unexpected observations can galvanize the community into looking at a problem in a different way than before. A good example of this is the unexpectedly low Arctic sea ice minimum in 2007 and the near-repeat in 2008. What was unexpected was not the long term decline of summer ice (this has long been a robust prediction), but the size of 2007 and 2008 decreases which were much larger than any model had hinted at. This model-data mismatch raises a number of obvious questions – were the data reliable? are the models missing some key physics? is the comparison being done appropriately? – and some less obvious ones – to what extent is the summer sea ice minimum even predictable? what is the role of pre-conditioning from the previous year vs. the stochastic nature of the weather patterns in any particular summer? ..."
Monday, July 20, 2009
Walmart developing a supply chain LCA open source database?
"Arizona State University and the University of Arkansas to Work With Walmart on Developing Sustainable Product Index for Consumer Products World-Wide..."
http://www.wtvm.com/global/story.asp?s=10738864
http://www.wtvm.com/global/story.asp?s=10738864
Friday, July 10, 2009
Why do Climate Change strategy/planning?
Answer number 1:assuming governments address rapid climate change.
As the change progresses it will have a significant impact on all sectors, governments, and eventually, all people. Governments will take steps to mitigate (slow the progression). This will result in lifestyle changes, and in business new risks and opportunities. Governments will also take measures to assist their citizens and businesses in adaptation to the changes that will take place no matter how serious the mitigation efforts are.
Answer number 2:assuming governments do not address rapid climate change, or do not do so in a scientifically based manner.
Adaptation will still be necessary. Absent rigorous mitigation, it will in the later part of the century be even more crucial.
If governments do not address mitigation, large investors doing risk assessment will still be looking for this.
Answer number 3: I do not believe rapid climate change is happening/I do not believe we are causing the change/People I work with do not react will to the phrases “climate change” or “Global warming”/etc
If you are looking for grants or large investors doing risk analysis, it is wise to appear your world view is science based, even if it is not :)
Energy planning.
The current dominate energy sources “fossil fuels” are finite (only renewable over geologic time scales). Anything finite, runs out. As scarcity (or scarcity is perceived) develops, prices rise, and conflict increases. Since fossil fuel use results in release of carbon to the atmosphere (no one argues about THAT), Using “climate change” tools ( see bibliography at http://www3.uwsuper.edu/sustainability/Rapid_Climate_Change_Energy_Strategy.htm )
Allows you to measure the “thing in itself”, not a secondary thing, like price or cost. This provides better data/tracking & tighter outcomes. Cost/price of energy is subject to many more variables.
Besides, (for those that do accept science) as many economists now say, the current rapid climate change is the biggest “market failure” ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_failure ) in history. Why use the analytic methods that contributed to the problem in the first place, when you can measure/plan etc. with the thing in itself? Use the tools, and call it something else more palatable.
Oh, yeah, security.
For those concerned about U.S. security, or think militarily.
Dependence on fossil fuels means a long supply line for our economy. Those who break their addiction will have more choices, ie. The ability to maneuver. Dependency on a distant energy source makes you reactive and defensive in strategy, handing initiative to those who are not dependent, giving them the ability to maneuver. In doing this you surrender options, tempo, and direction to an enemy.
Answer Number 3: What about Clean Coal?
A really neat marketing phrase, and marketing campaign Created by the Center for Energy and Economic Development (CEED) in 2000.
As the change progresses it will have a significant impact on all sectors, governments, and eventually, all people. Governments will take steps to mitigate (slow the progression). This will result in lifestyle changes, and in business new risks and opportunities. Governments will also take measures to assist their citizens and businesses in adaptation to the changes that will take place no matter how serious the mitigation efforts are.
Also, if you are looking for grants or working with large investors doing risk analysis, they are looking for this.
Answer number 2:assuming governments do not address rapid climate change, or do not do so in a scientifically based manner.
Adaptation will still be necessary. Absent rigorous mitigation, it will in the later part of the century be even more crucial.
If governments do not address mitigation, large investors doing risk assessment will still be looking for this.
Answer number 3: I do not believe rapid climate change is happening/I do not believe we are causing the change/People I work with do not react will to the phrases “climate change” or “Global warming”/etc
If you are looking for grants or large investors doing risk analysis, it is wise to appear your world view is science based, even if it is not :)
Energy planning.
The current dominate energy sources “fossil fuels” are finite (only renewable over geologic time scales). Anything finite, runs out. As scarcity (or scarcity is perceived) develops, prices rise, and conflict increases. Since fossil fuel use results in release of carbon to the atmosphere (no one argues about THAT), Using “climate change” tools ( see bibliography at http://www3.uwsuper.edu/sustainability/Rapid_Climate_Change_Energy_Strategy.htm )
Allows you to measure the “thing in itself”, not a secondary thing, like price or cost. This provides better data/tracking & tighter outcomes. Cost/price of energy is subject to many more variables.
Besides, (for those that do accept science) as many economists now say, the current rapid climate change is the biggest “market failure” ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_failure ) in history. Why use the analytic methods that contributed to the problem in the first place, when you can measure/plan etc. with the thing in itself? Use the tools, and call it something else more palatable.
Oh, yeah, security.
For those concerned about U.S. security, or think militarily.
Dependence on fossil fuels means a long supply line for our economy. Those who break their addiction will have more choices, ie. The ability to maneuver. Dependency on a distant energy source makes you reactive and defensive in strategy, handing initiative to those who are not dependent, giving them the ability to maneuver. In doing this you surrender options, tempo, and direction to an enemy.
Answer Number 3: What about Clean Coal?
A really neat marketing phrase, and marketing campaign Created by the Center for Energy and Economic Development (CEED) in 2000.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
While we are at it---EPA--local government best practices
http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-programs/state-and-local/local-best-practices.html
and their resource database on clean energy, for local governments:
http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-programs/state-and-local/local-best-practices.html
Local Action Plans:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/gw/StatePolicyActions.nsf/matrices/local
and their resource database on clean energy, for local governments:
http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-programs/state-and-local/local-best-practices.html
Local Action Plans:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/gw/StatePolicyActions.nsf/matrices/local
The Institute for Local Government
A California-centric resource site on local governments & climate change & best practices. But since at the time of this posting California has the toughest cc law on the planet, perhaps worth a look-see:
http://www.cacities.org/index.jsp?displaytype=§ion=climate&zone=ilsg&sub_sec=climate_local
http://www.cacities.org/index.jsp?displaytype=§ion=climate&zone=ilsg&sub_sec=climate_local
‘Unscientific America’: A Review
The folks at RealClimate have posted a Review of:
Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens our Future by Chris Mooney & Sheril Kirshenbaum (2009)
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2009/07/unscientific-america-a-review/
The book apparently examines the problem of science literacy and also the so-called "two cultures" problem http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Cultures
Science literacy is important in many ways. One way that we seldom think of is in regard to the citizen's role in governance. We should not forget, that the famous founders of this country were either "natural philosophers" (scientists), or at least "citizen scientists". The entire Enlightenment concept of governance of a republic is directly tied to the use of science in decision making, and rationale/reason based decision making....
Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens our Future by Chris Mooney & Sheril Kirshenbaum (2009)
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2009/07/unscientific-america-a-review/
The book apparently examines the problem of science literacy and also the so-called "two cultures" problem http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Cultures
Science literacy is important in many ways. One way that we seldom think of is in regard to the citizen's role in governance. We should not forget, that the famous founders of this country were either "natural philosophers" (scientists), or at least "citizen scientists". The entire Enlightenment concept of governance of a republic is directly tied to the use of science in decision making, and rationale/reason based decision making....
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Regional climate Impact Resources
The Green Bay Workgroup page, of WICCI:
http://wicci.wisc.edu/workinggroups/greenbay/index.htm
Their "Ecosystem Risk Assessment of the Bay of Green Bay with an Evaluation of Climate Change Impacts." http://wicci.wisc.edu/workinggroups/greenbay/wicci_gbay_risk_assessment.pdf
Also, re Wisconsin: Changes in Wisconsin’s Weather Extremes, Steve Vavrus Center for Climatic Research (CCR) UW-Madison
http://wicci.wisc.edu/resources/WICCI%20Bracing%20for%20Impact.Vavrus.pdf
http://wicci.wisc.edu/workinggroups/greenbay/index.htm
Their "Ecosystem Risk Assessment of the Bay of Green Bay with an Evaluation of Climate Change Impacts." http://wicci.wisc.edu/workinggroups/greenbay/wicci_gbay_risk_assessment.pdf
Also, re Wisconsin: Changes in Wisconsin’s Weather Extremes, Steve Vavrus Center for Climatic Research (CCR) UW-Madison
http://wicci.wisc.edu/resources/WICCI%20Bracing%20for%20Impact.Vavrus.pdf
Climate Resilient Communities
Adapting to Climate Change: Planning a Climate Resilient Community Mikaela Engert
City Planner Keene, New Hampshire. 2007. A city of just under 23,000.
http://www.ci.keene.nh.us/sites/default/files/Keene%20Report_ICLEI_FINAL_v2.pdf
The city's local action plan:
http://www.ci.keene.nh.us/sites/default/files/Local%20Action.pdf
The ICLEI program:
http://www.icleiusa.org/action-center/planning/adaptation-fact-sheet.pdf
The city's sustainability team website:
http://www.ci.keene.nh.us/sustainability
City Planner Keene, New Hampshire. 2007. A city of just under 23,000.
http://www.ci.keene.nh.us/sites/default/files/Keene%20Report_ICLEI_FINAL_v2.pdf
The city's local action plan:
http://www.ci.keene.nh.us/sites/default/files/Local%20Action.pdf
The ICLEI program:
http://www.icleiusa.org/action-center/planning/adaptation-fact-sheet.pdf
The city's sustainability team website:
http://www.ci.keene.nh.us/sustainability
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Some of the bill provisions of interest to educators...
Quoting from Congressional Research Service Summary:
"Sets forth provisions concerning green jobs and worker transition, including: (1) authorizing the Secretary of Education to award grants to eligible partnerships to develop programs of study focused on emerging careers and jobs in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and climate change mitigation; and (2) providing climate change adjustment assistance to adversely affected workers.
Requires: ...(3) the President to establish within the United States Global Change Research Program a National Climate Change Adaptation Program; (4) the Secretary of Commerce to establish within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) a National Climate Service; (5) the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to publish a strategic action plan to assist health professionals in preparing for and responding to the impacts of climate change; (6) the President to develop a Natural Resources Climate Change Adaptation Strategy..."
and as you may have heard, cap & trade regulation appears to be via the Department of Agriculture, not EPA.
"Sets forth provisions concerning green jobs and worker transition, including: (1) authorizing the Secretary of Education to award grants to eligible partnerships to develop programs of study focused on emerging careers and jobs in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and climate change mitigation; and (2) providing climate change adjustment assistance to adversely affected workers.
Requires: ...(3) the President to establish within the United States Global Change Research Program a National Climate Change Adaptation Program; (4) the Secretary of Commerce to establish within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) a National Climate Service; (5) the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to publish a strategic action plan to assist health professionals in preparing for and responding to the impacts of climate change; (6) the President to develop a Natural Resources Climate Change Adaptation Strategy..."
and as you may have heard, cap & trade regulation appears to be via the Department of Agriculture, not EPA.
THOMAS page on the House Bill
Here is the THOMAS page on the bill:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:1:./temp/~bd2czi:@@@L&summ2=m&/bss/111search.html
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:1:./temp/~bd2czi:@@@L&summ2=m&/bss/111search.html
NY Times on the Climate & Energy Bill Horse trading
Serious bill or Titanic Deck Chair Rearrangement Act of 2009?
I do not know myself, have not read the puppy.....yet
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/us/politics/01climate.html?_r=1&nl=pol&emc=pola1
I do not know myself, have not read the puppy.....yet
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/us/politics/01climate.html?_r=1&nl=pol&emc=pola1
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