Category Archives: Global Warming
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
A safer future? Don’t bank on it
“Disaster myopia” was a new phrase to enter the lexicon of Irish political life this week. This condition manifests itself in an “increasing tendency to discount the probability of a disaster occurring, the longer the interval of time that has elapsed … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability
26 Comments
Dear Willie: when in a hole, stop digging
Well hallelujah! We’ve been waiting years to read something bordering on sensible from UCC’s ‘Public Awareness of Science’ officer and Irish Times columnist William Reville on the subject of climate change and by golly, this week’s offering was very, very … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Media, Sceptics
Tagged climate hoax, CRU, Duncan Stewart, William Reville
11 Comments
EU “may adapt” 10% biofuel target
The scientific perspective could “kill biofuels” – that’s what the head of the EU’s agriculture unit said to colleagues in response to data showing the global ramifications of dedicating land in Europe to biofuels. The new Commissioner has said “if … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Sustainability
Tagged Biofuels, climate change, emissions, indirect land use impacts
5 Comments
Ming shows our bogs no mercy
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it”. So wrote novelist Upton Sinclair, and boy, did he have a clear understanding of human nature. Last Thursday’ PrimeTime on RTE … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Irish Focus, Sustainability
8 Comments
A burning question
Fair play to Duncan Stewart. He was in combative form on Saturday’s Marian Finucane Show on RTE radio. The subject of his interview was the one hour documentary film special, ‘A Burning Question’, which airs this Tuesday (29th) at 10.10pm … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sceptics
Tagged climate, collapse, Duncan Stewart, hoax, Media, sceptics
12 Comments
Sunday Times shows its hand. Again.
Last April, I gave a lecture to the Met Society of Ireland in Glasnevin. A Sunday Times reporter was in the audience, though she did not make herself known to me, ask any questions or attempt to speak to me … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sceptics
Tagged Arctic, climate change, IPCC, Media, sceptics, Sunday Times
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Lloyd’s of London on Peak Oil and Climate Change: Business as usual is no longer an option
Lloyd’s of London recently published a white paper called “Sustainable Energy Security: Strategic risks and opportunities for business (PDF)“. It would appear business as usual is no longer an option. The paper is available for free online and is essential … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming
2 Comments
Next stop: make up our mind time
In the last post Paddy Morris noted that we need a vision and implementation strategy along the lines of the Marshall Plan to shield us from the worst of the energy and climate crises. He’s right. Avoiding oil consumption and … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus
Tagged carbon emissions, Energy, metro north, transport
4 Comments
Peak oil – what happens next?
Wednesday night last saw an interesting session to kick off several days of the 15th Convergence Sustainable Living Festival, organised by Cultivate. The two-hour session was entitled: ‘Planning our retreat from fossil fuels: exploring the ramifications of Peak Oil’ and … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Global Warming, Sustainability
Tagged Ciaran Cuffe, Cultivate, Davie Philip, Energy, Feasta, Korowicz, Peak Oil
7 Comments
Notes from a conference: ‘The need for road research’
There was a seminar yesterday morning jointly organised by TCD + UCD titled “The need for road research”, and held in Foster Place. Overall, it was biased in favour of transport by private vehicle with insufficient recognition of the capability … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming
Tagged carbon emissions, climate change, economic growth, equilibrium, loose assumptions, transport
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Sobering Questions from the Island Mountain
Most media attention on the eruption of the volcano under Eyjafjallajökull (or the island-mountain glacier in Icelandic) has understandably focused on how its ash plume plays havoc with modern air transport. The deeper lessons, including evidence of yet another extinct … Continue reading
Can industrial civilisation and the biosphere both be saved?
Even when you don’t agree with him, Monbiot remains essential reading. Whether you regard the Dark Mountain Project as a bunch of dystopian doomers, or simply realists probably depends on how you feel about peak oil (in the shorter term) … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Sustainability
Tagged Energy, Monbiot, Oil, palm oil, Peak Oil, Sustainability
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Exposed: climate change doubter with PhD only in spin
Looking to a statistician or economist for expert guidance on complex scientific matters makes about as much sense as consulting a neurosurgeon or a hairdresser for advice on investing in some arcane corner of the derivatives market. However, when it … Continue reading
Posted in Global Warming, Media, Sceptics
Tagged Bjorn Lomborg, Climategate, CRU, deception, denial, Howard Friel, skeptic
47 Comments
