Of no great climate wars import, just a fun story about the people who collect the data: DOE Climate Study Spans the Planet This is climate science at its most basic— understanding how energy moves through the atmosphere, making the warm spots warm, the cold spots cold, some places wet and some places dry.
Peter Gleick’s year-ender includes a discussion of one of my favorite topics: the misrepresentation of “consensus science”: One such doughnut hole is what climate change skeptics call “consensus science.” They argue that just because the vast majority of serious climate scientists believe in the greenhouse effect – that humans are causing the earth’s climate to …
Last Link in the Chain: Dam Will Help Wean ABQ From Its Dependence On Aquifer Water. But you really ought to check it out in the paper copy of the newspaper if you have a chance, for maximum benefit of Carol Cooperrider’s lovely graphic explaining how the city’s new Alameda dam works, and for Jim …
Various ways to die.
The problem with climate change is change. It’s a simple thing, really, but it’s a point sometimes missed. It’s not that it gets warmer or colder or wetter or drier. It’s that it gets different, and the societal systems we’ve put in place to cope with what used to be “normal” become less useful. A …
Over lunch today, Nora and I were trying to solve the world’s problems, and the conversation drifted to feed conversion ratios – how much food you have to feed to a chicken, pig or cow relative to the amount of food you get out as a result. If you’re going to eat meat, chicken seems …
Chris Mooney has a piece in Seed about heeding the Cassandras – the scientists who saw trouble coming and tried to warm people. In this case, it’s Al Naomi, who works for the Corps of Engineers: Pre-Katrina, he was pushing for a study of how to bring the city’s hurricane protections up to Category 5 …
The overnight low this morning in Albuquerque – 42 – was a record. Previous record – 41, back in 1982. (Via NewWest, we note that it’s a bit colder in Pinedale, Wyoming.) (update Jan. 2, 2006: Ken points out that it dropped down to 38 before midnight, so that’s the official Jan. 1 low. I …
In my own modest search to undestand the zeitgeist of the Inkstain reader, the top gaining search string for December 2005: Jeff “Skunk” Baxter. Big ass remains a perennial favorite (Was that really what they were looking for?), as does “don’t bogart that joint”. Sadly, inflatable turkeys seem to have dropped off the radar after …
Santa gave Kurt Vonnegut’s new book to Nora and me for Christmas, and I finished it this morning. Perhaps when I’ve more time I’ll jot down some ideas about Vonnegut’s significance to me as a writer (or perhaps I already have, though the idea deserves a bit more development than you’ll find there). But for …