Awesome Ad from WWF

We are animals... big-brained, bipedal apes who have developed the most extensive culture the world has ever seen.  But in the end we are still animals.  Too often we neglect the other living things that inhabit this Earth.  This awesome ad from the World Wildlife Foundation shows the connection between humans and animals.  We want the same things and behave the same way as most things on Earth.  We should do a better job taking care of the planet.

The world is where we live from WWF on Vimeo.

Global Temperatures are Off the Charts

NASA produces a map showing the relative change in average temperatures across the world.  It is a nice was to visualize the effects of Global Warming.  A strange thing happened though.  Arctic temperatures have increased so much that they add a new color to their maps.  Pink now shows the greatest about of change.

Unfortunately for this great political debate, the majority of the US remains in a bluish color hiding from the immediate effects of climate change.  While we have seen stronger storms and longer droughts, our temperatures have lagged behind providing fodder for denialists in public and in government.  Maybe new information like this will help.

Fact-Checking the Hockey-Stick Graph

Two years ago, Climategate exploded onto the front pages of papers everywhere.  Deniers claimed a victory after someone hacked into the email accounts of several scientists and showed the men behind the screen.  Shockingly, they were men who voiced frustration with deniers and said somethings in private that they probably wouldn't have in public.  Whoa!  Stop the Presses!

Deniers also latched onto to one phrase about playing tricks with the data to hide a finding that they did not like.  The scientists who have presumably been studying climate science and statistics for a very long time, talked about ignoring tree ring data after 1960 as those data were inconsistent with measured temperatures.  Deniers claimed that this was evidence of a massive conspiracy in the global warming community.

Seven independent groups went over their emails and data and all reached the same conclusion: the science was still strong.  The scientists may have acted unprofessionally in their private communications, but they did solid work.  While the Climategate scandal made every front page, the exoneration of the scientists were relegated to the science sections, if the paper had one.
One idea under scrutiny was the "hockey-stick" graph showing a rapid increase in CO2 after the 1950s with a corresponding increase in global temperature averages.  Actually, every index that affects our climate shows the exact same uptick after World War II.  Mother Jones did a piece on Climategate that is worth reading.  One of their fact-checkers made this video.  Hopefully, some information from this video can arm you against the ignorance of the climate change deniers.

Brrr! Do Giant Snow Storms Disprove Global Warming?

This week, the south braces for another blast of winter weather.  An icy layer covers the peaches and oranges of Georgia and Florida.  Elsewhere, England faced its coldest December in a long time.  As climate change denialists use every example of snow to ring the death knell of global warming, others patiently attempt to explain how these storms already fit within the expected models.  This article from Scientific American may help the conversation.

Usually, the debate begins by explaining the difference between local weather patterns and long term climate change.  Isolated weather events neither confirm nor reject the prediction models of global climate change.  Rather we must look at all of the data to assess the validity of climate change.  While we experience this cold streak from arctic air, other areas face different problems as "record high temperatures are currently outnumbering record low temperatures by about two to one."  By 2050, the ratio could be 20 highs to 1 low.  


So how does this snow storm fit into global warming models?  As the arctic sea ice melts due to warmer temperatures, the increase evaporation increases the atmospheric pressure and ultimately affects the jet streams.  A U-shaped bulge dips icy arctic air as far south as Florida combined with excess moisture and a paralyzing snow storm develops.


No matter your position on the topic, be sure to stay safe and stay warm!

FTW: Nissan Leaf Commercial

In the category of best advertisement of the football season, I nominate this commercial for the Nissan Leaf.  Efficient electric cars may take more time, but this ad was pretty cool.




We surely need new improvements in vehicle technologies.  Fossil Fuel consumption and reduction should find support from both sides of the aisle.  Reduction clearly helps our climate challenges but also affects foreign policy.  


Scientific American featured an interactive explaining current electric car data.  In some cases, an electric car may produce more greenhouse gas that a hybrid car.  This depends on the source of the electricity to power your car.