Climate Science Community Loses Giant in Jerry Mahlman
I was deeply saddened when I learned today of Jerry Mahlman’s passing on November 28th in Buffalo Grove, IL. Jerry was a friend, a mentor and a true giant in the climate science community. Among his many awards, Jerry received the U.S. Department of Commerce Gold Medal, the Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal from the American Meteorological Society … Read More
New York Times Op-Ed: Rising Seas, Vanishing Coastlines
The New York Times featured a Sunday op-ed by Ben Strauss, Climate Central's director of the program on sea level, in which Strauss says there are two basic ways to protect ourselves from sea level rise: reduce it by cutting pollution, or prepare for it by defense and retreat. … Read More
Cutting Short-lived Pollutant Can Halve Near-term Warming
Much within Amy Luers' recent Daily Climate essay on extreme weather and the climate crisis is to be commended. Indeed, cutting emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) today won't eliminate a climate change-induced pattern favoring more severe storms and extreme weather. In advocating for emissions cuts, the climate change community has to avoid … Read More
Sandy & Other Disasters Could Hurt Climate Change Cause
Hurricane Sandy has proven to be a wake-up call about the potential dangers posed by climate change, and it’s even possible — though by no means certain — that we won’t just hit the snooze button and go back to sleep as the images of destruction in New York and New Jersey begin to fade. Assuming we stay awake, however, there’s a question about… Read More
Will Sandy Be the Climate Change Wakeup Call We Need?
Calling Hurricane Sandy a disaster almost underplays the enormous devastation wrought by this freakish monster of a storm. Four days after Sandy came ashore just south of Atlantic City, NJ, millions are still without power, gas stations are running out of fuel, and the death toll continues to rise. But for those of us who worry about climate chan… Read More
Scientists Eat Crow on Geoengineering Test. Me, Too
Scientists (presumably including Keith) were outraged that such a thing could happen. It’s not that they have anything against algae, but rather that the project was a type of geoengineering — a suite of anti-climate-change strategies that are highly controversial because they have the potential for triggering significant unintended consequences.… Read More
A Forecast for the American West: Hot and Hotter
Over the summer and on into the fall, images of flames, smoke plumes, firefighting teams and ruined homes have been on replay, and with good reason: As of Aug. 31, this year tied the record for total acreage burned by wildfires, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. More than 8.4 million acres have burned to date — an area larger than … Read More
To Say ‘Deep Water’ is a Great Read is Selling it Short
How high and how fast will sea level rise? It’s a hugely important question: the ocean is creeping ever higher thanks to global warming, posing a growing threat to life and property all over the world. The current consensus says sea level should go up another three feet or so by 2100, a disastrous enough scenario that would put many millions of … Read More
