Category: science
I’m headed to the rainforest of Central America in winter 2010 for an environmental study and art inspiration trip.
Read about a similar journey discussed here. Mine will be individually designed, since I am a self-employed artist (“employed” being a very loose term meaning “needs money”).
I will be there to visually record the ecosystem of central and western rainforests in Costa Rica, and get inspiration for future artwork. My artwork will then be exhibited for the purpose of educating the public about the importance of the rainforests of central and South America. You can donate to this trip (or all expenses are mine) and all donations over $50 will receive a rainforest-inspired t-shirt (to be designed after the trip).
Your donations will help me purchase carbon credits to offset my travel. Please donate below.
For more information on the biodiversity of the Osa Peninsula, see Friends of the Osa here.
From the excellent video series, “Climate Denier Crock of the Week”.
Peter Sinclair writes,
“He’s everywhere on the climate denial circuit.
He’s not a scientist. He’s a classics major and journalist.
How is it that he’s been able to sell himself to climate deniers as their number one spokesman?
First, like any good salesman, Lord Monckton knows his customer.”
There are many others, and most of them are not scientists, they are salesmen, and they work for big energy companies or the GOP, or both.
Here is Part II
Aren’t you glad we have an atmosphere?
This meteorite was seen in Wisconsin on April 14th, 2010. This video was taken by a dashcam on a police car.
Today, President Obama announced the end to the space program as we know it, and the beginning of a “new one”. I’d prefer new shuttles with bigger windows, but that is not to be. Obama spoke at Kennedy Space Center in Florida to “discuss the Administration’s goal to seek new frontiers for human space flight. The President declared that he is “100 percent committed to the mission of NASA and its future,” and laid out steps and investments that the Administration is making towards space exploration.” Older astronauts were none too happy with Obama prior to this speech. They thought he was giving up on the space program, and it sounds like he’s not going to do that at all. But landing on an asteroid is a priority? We should be building a base on the moon and going from there. I’m not sure what throwing a few billion $$$ on an asteroid landing is going to accomplish. I also don’t think that leaving spacecraft building and flying up to private corporations is a great idea.
This is from WhiteHouse.gov:
[President Obama] announced a $6 billion increase in NASA’s budget over the next five years, focusing on making cuts elsewhere as the government instituted a freeze on discretionary spending. The President said that this investment will increase exploration of the solar system and also Earth-based observations that will increase our understanding of the world and its climate in order to protect the environment for future generations.
Fracking Not A Cleaner Alternative: Cornell Prof
Natural gas obtained by the controversial technique of hydraulic fracturing may contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and so should not be considered as a cleaner alternative to coal or oil, according to a Cornell University researcher.
Although natural gas, when burned, produces only about half of the carbon dioxide emissions of coal, that calculation omits greenhouse gas emissions from the well-drilling, water-trucking, pipeline-laying, and forest-felling that are part of the production of hydraulically fractured natural gas, Ecology Professor Robert Howarth argues in a new paper.
Combining the effects of combustion, production, distribution, and leaked methane from hydraulically fractured natural gas gives the fuel about the same greenhouse gas emissions as coal and about 30 percent more than diesel or gasoline, Howarth says in the draft paper published in mid-March.
The weather seems crazy everywhere, but what does that mean? 49 states in the U.S. got snow in the last week! It means climate change is happening right now and things are going to get much wilder. Find out how we know this and hear Todd Stern, U.S. climate envoy, talk about where the U.S. is going in dealing with climate change.
The Guardian on world-wide wild weather, article here.
Remember this? From NOAA at the end of January: December Global Ocean Temperature Second Warmest on Record. Scientists reported the combined global land and ocean surface temperature was the eighth warmest on record for December.
In this episode you can hear excerpts from the Daily Show, the Rachel Maddow show, and the Thom Hartmann show. The bottom line on our wild weather is that it is to be expected, due to a warmer ocean, and moisture and energy in the atmosphere.
But as a result of recent storms, the Utah legislature passed a resolution (HRJ012) which basically states the climate change in a conspiracy and efforts to stop it will bankrupt the nation! Obviously this is not true, but science seems to be having a strange effect on some U.S. lawmakers.
As Scientific American says, “No single weather event proves or disproves the fundamental science of climate change, but extreme weather is what scientists expect from global warming.”
American Progress link to the whole Todd Stern presentation here. He talks about U.S. climate policy and what happened at Copenhagen. The new government climate change website is at Climate.gov and the EPA website where you can weigh in with the new Open Government Directive.
Download this episode here or visit Climate Files Radio.com to subscribe.