Author Archives: John Gibbons
Carbon budget – yes, but Climate Bill remains elusive
Oisin Coghlan of FOE tweeted earlier today from Dail Eireann: “Carbon Budget. 4 Green TDs and all 3 senators in chamber/gallery. Phil Hogan for FG. 0 FF, 0 Lab, nobody else yet. Oh, and no journalists.” Yes, climate change may … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media
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The not-so-strange paradox of global warming’s northern freeze
My article, below, as it appears in today’s Irish Times: OPINION: The thaw is on (apparently); can this year’s two extreme cold snaps be linked to wider climate change? AS 2010 draws to a close, globally it will enter the … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus
Tagged anomaly, Arctic, freeze, Greenland, jet stream
4 Comments
Is the chilling truth that we’re to blame for the big freeze?
The Irish Independent this morning has a useful full-page piece by Ed Power in its ‘Weekend Review’ section on the extreme cold spell. He canvassed three perspectives, and I find myself, not for the first time, somewhat at odds with … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus
Tagged Arctic, freeze, Irish Independent, meteorology, Ray Bates
12 Comments
As Cancun begins, deep pessimism abounds
Frank McDonald has a timely overview of state of near-paralysis that has engulfed global efforts to arrest climate change in today’s Irish Times (including a good plug for ThinkOrSwim), though I might quibble with the statement: “many scientists now say … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability
Tagged Antarctic, Cancun, CO2, Frank McDonald, Greenland
5 Comments
Calling the media to account for climate change coverage
Based on measurements for the first ten months of this year, 2010 is now reckoned to be tied with the scorching 1998 as the two hottest years globally since reliable record-keeping began in 1850. This of course is on top … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sceptics, Sustainability
11 Comments
Out of his depth in Deepwater thinking…
According to a tweet from John Gormley in the last couple of hours, a climate change bill will finally make its way to the Cabinet next Tuesday (16th). Much credit here is due to Labour’s Liz McManus, rapporteur on the … Continue reading
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Irish Focus
Tagged Conor Lenihan, deepwater horizon, Eamon Ryan, Oil, renewables
12 Comments
Yee haw! We’re gonna lynch us some Scientists!
Climate change denial is an article of faith for Tea Party candidates in today’s mid-term US elections, the New York Times reports. “Skepticism and outright denial of global warming are among the articles of faith of the Tea Party movement… … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Media, Sceptics
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Of climate, slavery and tobacco
What, you might well ask, could climate change, slavery and tobacco possibly have in common? Quite a bit, it appears. The article below, courtesy of The Daily Climate, reports on a new study that compares current attitudes on climate change … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Sustainability
7 Comments
Crutzen’s tough medicine for a sick planet
Arguably one of the most significant figures of the last two centuries was in Dublin last night, where he presented a lecture in TCD, organised by the Royal Irish Academy. The man in question is Prof Paul Crutzen, the brilliant … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Habitat/Species
Tagged Anthropocene, CFCs, Crutzen, GHGs, ozone
12 Comments
Science trumps journalism
Article below appears in the current edition of ‘Village’ magazine. It is a response of sorts to an unusually poor contribution in a previous edition by a journalism lecturer in an article purporting to offer critical insights into the interplay … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sustainability
16 Comments
A new champion for climate justice
Below is the interview as published over two pages in the main section of yesterday’s Sunday Tribune: Mary Robinson doesn’t scare easily. In the course of more than four decades in public life, it’s easy to forget that she has … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sceptics, Sustainability
11 Comments
Two scientists, a journalist and a duck
In an episode of the acerbic TV series, Yes Minister, The Minister for Administrative Affairs has to respond to an awkward scientific finding (smoking causing lung cancer, or something similar). His cynical senior civil servant, Sir Humphrey has the perfect advice: … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Media, Sustainability
2 Comments
Here’s to you, Mrs Robinson
It has been a bruising couple of days for the image of politics in Ireland. Yesterday morning, of course, we had a tired-and-emotional performance on RTE radio by Taoiseach Brian Cowen. A few hours earlier, junior minister Conor Lenihan had … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media
71 Comments
Six degrees to annihilation
Below is a news feature as appears on page 14 of this weekend’s Sunday Tribune. Given that global emissions are and will continue to run at or perhaps beyond the IPCC’s ‘worst-case’ (A1F1) scenario, I felt it useful to try … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Irish Focus, Sustainability
42 Comments
For whom the (Angelus) bell tolls
Now here’s a genuinely novel idea. “Religious leaders need to be held accountable for their ideas. In my state of Arizona, Sister Margaret McBride, a senior administrator at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix, recently authorised a legal abortion to save … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Sustainability
29 Comments
