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09 Aug 2009 11:38

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U.S., World: The next diplomacy frontier: Climate change in unstable regions

  • I’ve been making this argument for a number of years, but it has not been a focus because a lot of people had not connected the dots.
  • Democratic Sen. John Kerry, who chairs the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee • Regarding climate change and the effect it could have on the world’s stability. Some regions, such as sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia – areas which already could be considered among the world’s more unstable – could face rising tides, droughts, food crises and other problems as a result of global warming. Recent war games have suggested this, and the U.S. is considering how it will handle these issues down the road. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jul 2009 21:59

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World: Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk: Uh, the ice caps have melted

  • This is probably just a perception, but I just have the feeling that the glaciers are melting, the snow capping the mountains is less than it was 12 years ago when I saw it last time. That saddens me a little bit.
  • Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk • Describing his view of the planet Earth from space, and comparing it to a previous mission 12 years ago. Thirsk is kinda subtle with his words here, but it appears he’s saying that global warming is real. Uh, what would make you think that? • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Jul 2009 21:26

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World: The phrase “change at a glacial pace” now means “change quickly”

The U.S. Geological Survey’s Global Fiducials Library has a pretty scary selection of glacier photos which show things melting at pretty scary rates. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Jul 2009 23:15

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U.S.: Mount Rushmore needed a change, so some activists added Obama

Unfortunately, Obama isn’t made of stone. He’s made of some banner material – the kind that gets 11 people arrested for trespassing. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jun 2009 14:41

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Tech: Global warming meets its match in the form of white paint

It's a simple solution to an annoying problem. Much like with cars, dark colors on houses tend to take in more light, requiring more energy to cool down. Now, just imagine millions of houses with white roofs reflecting light back to the sun. Sound crazy? Well, it just might work. "This is something very simple that we can do immediately," says Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Hopefully, nobody spills anything on those roofs. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Apr 2009 15:21

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U.S., World: U.S.: We want to help climate change, but it has to be realistic

  • It is clear that the less we do in the near-term, the more we have to do in the long-term. But if we set a target that is un-meetable technically, or we can’t pass it politically, then we’re in the same position we are in now… where the world looks to us and we are out of the regime.
  • Jonathan Pershing • The U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Change, speaking at a UN conference in Bonn, Germany. The big kids on the block are trying to improve their global warming standards but at a feasible rate – a notable change from Bush administration policy. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Mar 2009 21:06

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U.S., World: UN climate rep: Obama could face “revolution” over carbon cuts

  • He is not going to say by 2020 I’m going to reduce emissions by 30%. He’ll have a revolution on his hands. He has to do it step by step.
  • Rajendra Pachauri • Head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), on the domestic pressures Barack Obama faces on climate cuts. Obama has called for 80% carbon cuts by 2050, but 2020 might be too soon for pushing through such a policy. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

15 Feb 2009 13:33

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Tech, World: And here’s a scary quote about global warming

  • We are basically looking now at a future climate that’s beyond anything we’ve considered seriously in climate model simulations.
  • Christopher Field • founding director of the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University, on the possibility that there might be some truth to this whole global warming thing • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Feb 2009 13:28

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Tech, World: Permafrost: A dangerous greenhouse gas source

  • one trillion tons of carbon is stored in permafrost, much of which is thawing right now, scientists say
  • 10% will melt this century, releasing tons of carbon and even-more-potent methane into the atmosphere source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink
 
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