Signs From Earth

Appreciation: Steve Schneider, Climate Scientist (via @TheEconomist)

Steve Schneider, June 29, 2010 at Australian Climate Change Adaptation Conference. Photo from Creative Commons by nccarf_au/flickr

http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displayStory.cfm?story_id=16690669

"MARK TWAIN had it backwards," Steve Schneider joked, in a lecture he gave to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 1972. "Nowadays, everyone is doing something about the weather, but nobody is talking about it." The lecture was on the topic that Mr Schneider, then 27, had been working on for two years and would work on for another 38: what were humans doing to the climate?..."

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Russia's heatwave: A hazy shade of summer (Via @TheEconomist)

http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displayStory.cfm?story_id...

"RUSSIA'S ability to deal with its legendarily severe winters is a source of national pride. But now Russia's survival skills have been tested by the hottest summer since records began, 130 years ago. In the country's central region temperatures have not dropped below 30*C since mid-June; in recent days the mercury has risen as high as 37*C.

"A haze from forest and peat-bog fires around Moscow has enveloped the city, turning the multicoloured domes of St Basil's Cathedral into ghostly apparitions..."

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Extreme Weather: From Fires to Fish, Heat Wave Batters Russia (via @nytimes and @NPR)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/world/europe/30moscow.html?ref=world

@nytimes Clifford J. Levy: "...Much of Russia has been reeling. Forest fires have erupted. Drought has ruined millions of acres of wheat. More than 2,000 people have died from drowning in rivers, reservoirs and elsewhere in July and June, often after seeking relief from the heat while intoxicated. In Moscow alone, the number of such deaths has tripled in comparison with last year, officials said....'

@NPR: Raging Russian Fires Destroy Homes, People Flee

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128849123

AP: "Raging forest fires encircled a southern Russian city and tore through provincial villages Thursday, forcing mass evacuations as Moscow suffered through a record, weeks-long heat wave and smog cloud caused by peat-bog fires..."

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#AEF10: Follow Aspen Environment Forum Tweet Stream Here (via @aspeninstitute)

You can follow the tweet stream from the Aspen Environment Forum here:

http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23AEF10

I covered via twitter stream the sessions on Stewardship in the Anthropocene and Nattional Security and Climate Change (read from bottom to top): 

http://twitter.com/ddimick

and also moderated a lively session Wednesday on Feeding the Planet at mid-century. Coincidentally, the same day the journal Nature published a Special report on the role of science in feeding the world. Perfect timing:

http://ddimick.posterous.com/special-report-can-science-feed-the-world-via

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Special Report: Can Science Feed The World? (via @naturenews)

Box 1. Where the Hungry People Are. From Nature Special on Food: http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100728/full/466546a/box/1.html

The Journal Nature in its July 28 edition has published a multi-article report on the role of science in helping feed the planet as world population approaches nine billion at mid-century. 

http://www.nature.com/news/specials/food/index.html

 

"More than one billion people go hungry today, and the vast majority of them are in low-income countries. Increasing yield sustainably -- using less water, fertilizers and pesticides -- is going to be a crucial part of the solution. Nature asks what role science has to play in securing food for the future.."

 

Opinion: Nature: How to Feed a Hungry World

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v466/n7306/full/466531a.html

 

This challenge of feeding the planet as climate changes has been a key topic of discussion this week at the 2010 Aspen Environment Forum. 

http://www.aspenenvironment.org/program

Pamela Ronald a professor of plant pathology at the University of California-Davis has been live blogging the forum:

http://scienceblogs.com/tomorrowstable/2010/07/bridges_to_sustainability_peop.php

You can follow the tweet stream from the conference here. 

http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23AEF10

I covered via twitter stream the sessions on Stewardship in the Anthropocene and Nattional Security and Climate Change (read from bottom to top):

http://twitter.com/ddimick

We will be hearing more and more about the increasing disconnect between rising populations, rising temperatures, changing precipitation and the urgent quest to keep the world fed:

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Last Decade Warmest: Research says climate change undeniable (via @FT from NOAA @metoffice)

UK Met Office: Increasing - observations consistent with a warming world

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6d1fd25c-9a69-11df-87fd-00144feab49a.html#

 

Fiona Harvey: "International scientists have injected fresh evidence into the debate over global warming, saying that climate change is "undeniable" and shows clear signs of "human fingerprints" in the first major piece of research since the "Climategate" controversy.

 

"The research, headed by the US National Oceans and Atmospheric Administration, is based on new data not available for the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report of 2007, the target of attacks by sceptics in recent years...."

 

UK Met Office: Unmistakable signs of a warming world

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporate/pressoffice/2010/pr20100728.html

NOAA: Past decade warmest on record according to scientists in 48 countries

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2010/20100728_stateoftheclimate.html

 

NOAA: Report: State of the Climate 2009 (PDF here)

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/bams-state-of-the-climate/2009.php

 

UK Met Office: Decreasing - Observations consistent with a warming world

 

NOAA: Ten indicators of a warming world Credit

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#AEF10: Bridges to Sustainability: People, Planet, Possibility (via @pcronald @scienceblogs)

Pamela  Ronald, Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of California-Davis, is live blogging the 2010 Aspen Environment Forum via Tommorow's Table from  ScienceBlogs:

http://scienceblogs.com/

http://scienceblogs.com/tomorrowstable/2010/07/bridges_to_sustainability_peop.php

http://scienceblogs.com/tomorrowstable/

 

also see Andrew Revkin @dotearth: Views on Carbon Caps, Sustainability Science

http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/views-on-climate-caps-sustainability-science/

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Spread of disease in Pacific Northwest linked to warming climate (via @thedailyclimate)

http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2010/07/disease-spread

Douglas Fischer: "A deadly infectious disease once thought to be exclusively tropical has gained a toehold in the Pacific Northwest, and health experts suspect climate change is partially to blame. Last week the CDC issued a report warning U.S. doctors to be alert for patients showing signs of a cryptoccocal infection...."

CDC:  Emergence of Cryptococcus gattii---Pacific Northwest, 2004-2010

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5928a1.htm?s_cid=mm5928a1_w

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Cool in the Heat: No Air-Conditioning, and Happy (via @nytimes)

Cool job on a hot day. July 18, 2010 in Washington DC. Photo from Creative Commons by Matti Mattila/flickr

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/us/25salinaheat.html?ref=us

"...Stan Cox, a (Salina, Kansas) author and agricultural scientist, describes these kinds of temperatures as "thermally hostile" in his recent book, "Losing Our Cool," which argues for reduced dependence on air-conditioning for the good of the environment and for overall health.

"In response to record-breaking summers, we're relying more on air-conditioning, which produces greenhouse emissions that make the summers hotter," he said. "It's a cycle that makes you wonder: How long can it go on?"..."

Stan Cox in Washington Post: Losing Our Cool: The Case Against Air Conditioning

http://ddimick.posterous.com/in-the-heat-wave-the-case-against-air-conditi

Stan Cox Book Losing Our Cool

http://www.losingourcool.com/

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Extreme Weather: In 3 days Iowa dam breaks, Chicago and Milwaukee flood (via @startribune & @js_newswatch)

Storm clouds over Madison Wisconsin, Thursday July 22. Photo from Creative commons by Tony Duckies/flickr

Star Tribune via AP: Heavy rains in MIdwest cause flooding that shuts down Chicago interstate, damages Iowa dam

http://www.startribune.com/local/99169964.html

 "...In Chicago, officials say more than 7 inches of rain fell early Saturday, inundating the sewer system and overwhelming waterways. Water covered portions of several Chicago interstates and the commuter train tracks that run along them, leading crews to divert traffic and call in bus shuttles. Portions of Interstate 290 west of downtown were closed for several hours...."

Slide show from MInneapolis StarTribune of Iowa Dam break Saturday July 24

http://www.startribune.com/galleries/99176044.html?elr=KArks:DCiUMEaPc:UiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee County flood damage $28.5 million and counting

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/99156089.html

"...in the official tabulation, the National Weather Service recorded 5.61 inches of rain Thursday (July 22) at Mitchell International Airport. The total had increased to 5.79 inches when the skies cleared about noon Friday. ..."

Cedar Rapids Iowa Gazette Online: Re: Lake Delhi Dam Break Sat. July 24

http://gazetteonline.com/

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On way today to #AEF10; We focus on Sustainability in the Anthropocene (@ngmag @Aspeninstitute @natgeoscoop)

http://www.aspenenvironment.org/

"Bridges to Sustainability: People, Planet, Possibility: By 2050, the world's human population will probably have risen above nine billion, but it will also be on the verge of stabilizing after two centuries of explosive growth. Before us lies 40 years in the wilderness; beyond 2050 lies what we have to hope is a promised land. Getting there will take not just technical solutions that make life on earth sustainable; it will take a sustaining vision of our place on the planet...."

http://www.aspenenvironment.org/program/sessions-agenda

Anthropocene Era

http://ddimick.posterous.com/?sort=&search=anthropocene

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Shale Gas: E.P.A. Weighs Risks of Hydraulic Fracturing for Natural Gas (via @nytimes & @propublica)

Natural gas drilling equipment at Dimock, Pa. Photo from Creative Commons by Helen Slotje/arimoore//flickr.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/24/business/energy-environment/24gas.html

July 24: Tom Zeller Jr.: "...Just as the Gulf of Mexico is the battleground for the future of offshore oil drilling, Pennsylvania is at the center of the battle over hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which promises to open up huge swaths of land for natural gas extraction, but whose environmental risks are still uncertain. Natural gas accounts for roughly a quarter of all energy used in the United States, and that fraction is expected to grow as the nation weans itself from dirtier sources like coal and oil...."

Also see @ProPublica's extensive coverage of this issue:

http://www.propublica.org/series/buried-secrets-gas-drillings-environmental-threat

http://www.propublica.org/special/hydraulic-fracturing

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Random Events Next: "With No Obama Push, Senate Punts on Climate" (via @revkin @scienceinsider)

Andrew Revkin at Dot Earth July 22 on the United States Senate's passing off the opportunity to pass any carbon-limiting legislation. The late Stephen Schneider of Stanford recently observing to Science Magazine that the final push that will tip the world -- and particularly the United States -- towards action won't be legislation, but random events:

http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/with-no-obama-push-senate-punts-on-climate/

Andrew Revkin @DotEarth: July 22: "...Today Democrats conceded there was no chance for a broad energy bill this session.

"Clearly there are many forces impeding congressional action on climate besides a lack of presidential assertiveness, but here are some things that Obama has not done..."

"...Someday, perhaps, Obama or a successor will discard convention and take the lead on this challenge, despite its sweep and complexity. Whatever you think of the space race as a national mission, no one was marching in the streets in the early 1960s demanding that the United States land a man on the moon..."

Richard Kerr @ScienceInsider: July 19 on the sudden death this week of Stephen Schneider, 65, the Stanford climate scientist/activist:

http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/07/stephen-schneider.html

"...Schneider had been globetrotting for almost 40 years in his campaign to save the planet. The world had made progress toward that goal, he recently told Science, but climate's fate is now at the mercy of random events...."

"...Despite all of his efforts that had helped bring decision-makers to the verge of reining in global warming, Schneider saw the final push that would tip the world--and the United States in particular--toward action as being out of his or anyone else's hands. ....he told Science that it isn't more reports from august scientific bodies that will eventually save the day. Rather, it will be random events such as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico or the next super heat wave. But that realization apparently hadn't yet slowed him down..."

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"The Future of Appalachia": Special issue of Solutions Journal; includes Wendell Berry (via @SolutionsMag)

Kentucky side of Black Mountain, highest peak in Kentucky. Photo by Matt Wasson, Appalachian Voices, via Creative Commons/flickr.

http://thesolutionsjournal.com/node/663

"Solutions has recently released a special issue dedicated to creating a brighter future for Appalachia. A new conversation is emerging in Central Appalachian coal country. Many groups are exploring how the region can grow a more diverse and more sustainable economy by reforesting barren mine lands, reclaiming rivers and streams, developing renewable energy industries, and supporting the region's many entrepreneurs. 

"This discussion goes beyond the important goal of creating a restorative enterprise economy; it also includes investing in the region's social capital. Including a diverse range of perspectives, rich historical accounts, and detailed descriptions of solutions already in place on the ground..."

Wendell Berry's Vision for the Future of Appalachia

http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/node/669

"...The future of the people will, in turn, be determined by the kind of economy that may come to supplement and finally to replace the economy of coal. Contrary to my own prejudice and sense of caution, I am going to yield here, briefly, to the temptation to talk about the future.

In talking about the future, wishes have a certain standing. My wish for eastern Kentucky, as for the rest of the state, is that the economies of the future might originate in the local use of local intelligence. ..."

National Trust for Historic Preservation

Black Mountain and communities of Benham and Lynch among America's Most Endangered Historic Places for 2010.

http://www.preservationnation.org/travel-and-sites/sites/southern-region/black-mountain.html

Kentuckians for the Commonwealth

http://www.kftc.org/our-work/canary-project/campaigns/black-mountain

Appalachian Voices

http://www.appvoices.org/

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Hydropower: Chile plans seven big dams in Patagonia wilderness (via @sciencemagazine)

Mount Fitz Roy, Argentina/Chile. Patagonia's southern mountains hold many glaciers and much water. Photo from Creative Commons by hiro008/flickr.

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/329/5990/382

Science Magazine, July 23, 2010: Gaia Vince: "The Southern Ice Field in Patagonia is the world's third most important reserve of freshwater after Antarctica and Greenland. And in its untamed wilderness of glaciers and mountain peaks, companies are preparing to build at least seven major hydropower dams, along with a 70-meter-high transmission line to transport power more than 2400 kilometers north to Santiago, Chile's capital, and the energy-hungry mines beyond..."

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