Category Archives: Global Warming

Global Warming

Suspend democracy to tackle emissions – Lovelock

From the Guardian: In his first major interview since the climate-change emails scandal, James Lovelock says he is disgusted by the actions of some scientists, applauds ‘good’ climate sceptics, and warns that global warming could even lead to war Leo … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Low future price for carbon puts us on the wrong route

Transport investment is particularly expensive. And two points are emerging in Ireland. First, some facilities are significantly overcapacity. Second, there isn’t enough capacity in areas set to grow as the price of carbon emissions rise: the failure to adequately price … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Global Warming, Irish Focus | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Decreasing carbon emissions without affecting the quality of life

There are a couple of simple ideas, which if implemented could make deep and long term cuts in our carbon emissions, while maintaining (or even increasing) the quality of life for all. In no particular order, they are: 1. Immediately … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Energy, Global Warming, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Doing our best versus doing what’s required

Yesterday afternoon, I was one of a panel of four from the ‘environmental’ field who met under the ageis of Common Purpose with a group of around 25-30 senior figures from the world of business, finance, the semi-state sector and … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Sceptics, Sustainability | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Attack on climate science has its OJ Simpson moment

Bill McKibben has been at the forefront of efforts to alert the public to the dangers of climate change for more than two decades. Today he fronts 350.org, a website dedicated to setting a global CO2 ceiling of 350ppm. Below, … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Media, Sceptics | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Ireland’s looming bird crisis

Back in 2002, the parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity set a target of halting biodiversity loss by 2010. It is now 2010, the declared UN Year of Biodiversity, and although some endangered species have been saved, notably … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity, Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Irish Focus, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Permafrost retreats further north

Buried in the ‘Weather Eye’ page of our paper of record again… Climate change forcing frozen soil retreat Mon, Feb 22, 2010 THE PERMANENTLY frozen ground known as permafrost is retreating northward in the area around Canada’s James Bay, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Now there’s an App to zap the sceptics

The always useful site Skeptical Science, with its handy list of the most common arguments used by climate change sceptics and detailed rebuttals of them, is now available as an iPhone app. So next time a discussion occurs and one of … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Media, Sceptics | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Do you believe in miracles?

Bill Gates is for many the Dr Evil of the corporate world. His Microsoft behemoth has had a stranglehold on the world’s personal computer market for the last two decades, and wrung hundreds of billions out of users in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Nuclear, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Copenhagen & beyond: where now for the EU?

The EU was marginalized amid the realpolitik which dominated at Copenhagen. As a consequence the Copenhagen Accord neither conceptually nor substantively reflected the EU’s negotiating position. In a recent policy brief (available here) I argue that this failure must lead … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Sustainability | 3 Comments

Pachauri should go?

Claims that Himalayan glaciers would have melted by 2035, and that there would be a rise in hurricanes, typhoons and other extreme weather events were never properly peer reviewed before inclusion in the IPCC’s reports. So-called ‘grey’ literature was used … Continue reading →

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OMG, what if the deniers are actually right?

Fat chance, of course, that the climate change deniers/liars from the assorted propaganda factories will, in the end, miraculously turn out to know more about climate science than, well, all of climate science. But hey, when we’re told that natural … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Media, Sceptics, Sustainability | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Reporting our changing world

I nearly missed the report below. In yesterday’s the Irish Times the near one-third rise in arctic methane emissions wasn’t reported in world news; rather it was on the bulletin page, a fine page – no quibbles here – but … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Plimer vs Monbiot

From the website of Australian TV network ABC. Click here to view the debate. Transcript TONY JONES, PRESENTER: Here is some background notes to tonight’s debate. When Professor Ian Plimer’s outright denial of man-made global warming was championed in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Media, Sceptics | Tagged , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Repeat after me: Weather is NOT climate!

Oh dear, here we go again. An editorial in the Irish Times yesterday was headlined ‘Global cooling’. It began: “So much for all of that guff about global warming! Are world leaders having the wrong debate? We are experiencing the … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Sceptics | Tagged , , , , , , | 17 Comments