Author Archives: John Gibbons
Mental blocks contribute to our inaction on climate change
My article, as it appeared in yesterday’s Irish Times. There’s a busy comments section attached, with the usual handful of hard chaws piling in to an otherwise productive discussion… IT’S REASSURING to imagine we are, by and large, rational beings … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Psychology
7 Comments
Myths and mischief-making in renewable energy reporting
I couldn’t have claimed to be Ireland’s greatest fan of wind energy. Not because I don’t think it’s a good idea – it is – but rather, my concern is whether it will ever be deployed on a scale sufficient … Continue reading
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sceptics, Sustainability
Tagged emissions, Energy, GWPA, Pat Rabbitte, RTE, wind farms
7 Comments
Extraordinary, unprecedented – but still not newsworthy?
Earlier this month, something quite extraordinary and unprecedented occurred in Greenland. The satellite image on the left above shows (in red) the area of Greenland which was experiencing summer melt on July 8th. It amounts to around 40% of the … Continue reading
It’s a race to the bottom – we’re winning as the oceans die
To me, nothing says summer down-time quite like finding a shady spot on a warm day and settling in for a great read. This year, I had the good fortune of picking two exceptional books – ‘The Ocean of Life‘ … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Media, Sustainability
Tagged Callum Roberts, extinction, marine
4 Comments
Life on Earth now under threat as never before
Below, my opinion article, as it appears in today’s Irish Times: WHEN WE put our mind to it, it’s amazing what we can learn to forget. Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 hosted one of the most important international conferences … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Media, Sustainability
Tagged Earth Summit, Rio+20, Sustainability
8 Comments
Doom with a view? Trap tightens on our diminishing prospects
In the current issue of ‘Village’ magazine, editor Michael Smith has explored at length and in some depth the array of formidable challenges that humanity (and all other species on Earth) face in the years and decades ahead. It’s a … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Energy, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability
Tagged doomer, Michael Smith, Sustainability, Village
9 Comments
An interview with Irishenvironment.com
Robert (Bob) Hernan is the man behind Irishenvironment.com, an online resource for all things in the environment and ecology field on the island of Ireland. Bob was formerly Assistant Attorney General in the Environmental Protection Bureau, and his professional scalps … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media
2 Comments
To save lives, we must first abandon hope
Below, my article, as it appears in the latest edition of ‘Village’ magazine: Is it a biscuit? Or is it a bar? Does the convergence of a range of environmental, energy and resource crises compound a problem – or a … Continue reading
A warning from history
It’s almost 20 years since the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. This led to the ‘Rio Declaration’ and its 27 Principles, signed up to by the nations of the world amid much pomp and posturing. Later that year, a group comprising … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Sustainability
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Shadow of a doubt: how they fooled us about a killer habit
Below, my article, as it appears in today’s Irish Times. It’s as much about the ‘Tobacco Strategy’ as smoking. There are lessons that may be useful in facing down the climate deniers. At the very least, it’s good to know … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Media, Sceptics
14 Comments
When science and special interests collide
Below, my column, as it appears on TheJournal.ie… Do you reckon GPS is a hoax? How about x-rays? Or satellite communications. Or perhaps the Internet, smartphones or germ theory. Or how about evolution? What these seemingly unrelated themes have in … Continue reading
Inside the dark Heartland of climate denialism
James Brown put it best in a song: “Don’t tell a lie about me and I won’t tell the truth about you”. A terrible crime has been committed against the libertarian US Heartland Institute. Someone has nefariously gotten hold of … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Media, Sceptics
Tagged denial, GWPF, Heartland Institute, Media
10 Comments
Media throws in the towel on coverage of climate change
Below, my article, as it appeared in last Thursday’s Irish Times (and fair play to the IT for running a piece that is openly critical of its own editorial policy in this area; that’s the true mark of a serious … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sustainability
Tagged Irish Times, Media, Met Eireann, RTE
9 Comments
Weird weather is our ‘new normal’
The folks over at TheJournal.ie asked me to do an OpEd on the ever weirder weather that is now featuring in pretty much every other news bulletin. Turns out that this is one seriously busy website. The posting has been … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Media, Sceptics, Sustainability
8 Comments
2011 – another year of living dangerously
It’s been one hell of a year for the planet, with the meteorological and climatic record books being re-written and in some cases, thrown away. This year ushered the concept of the ‘new normal’ into being, as US scientists simply … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Sustainability
7 Comments
