Grist | Topics | 28 Results

RESULTS		Results 1 – 25 of 28
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Headline	Author	Published	Section
Shelter from the Storm White roofs could help keep climate change at bay		10 Sep 2008	News
Posted at 10:54 AM on 10 Sep 2008 This whole climate-change debacle could be significantly slowed down if the world's 100 largest cities thing installed white roofs and more-reflective pavement, says a new study to be published in the journal Climatic Change. It may sound like greenwhitewashing, but physicist Hashem Akbari crunches the numbers: By bouncing heat away from the Earth, a 1,000-square-foot white roof offsets 10 ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, innovation, news, placemaking (all these topics)

Things smart people assume	David Roberts	05 Aug 2008	Gristmill
In Sunday's WaPo, Joel Achebach says, 'Rigorous science is the best weapon for persuading the public that [climate change] is a real problem that requires bold action.' The best weapon? Is that true?
Topics: climate change mitigation, climate science, climate (all these topics)

Climate change ideas for On Day One Day five of the UN Dispatch-Grist collaboration	Ideas for On Day One	27 Jun 2008	Gristmill
The UN Dispatch - Grist collaboration concludes today with discussion of an idea submitted by On Day One user James Hansen -- yes that Dr. James Hansen! Tony Kreindler of the Environmental Defense Fund, Nigel Purvis, Kate Sheppard, Timothy B. Hurst, and David Roberts respond below the fold. Tony Kreindler, media director of the National Climate Campaign at the Environmental Defense Fund As usual, great issues raised ...
Topics: cap-and-dividend, carbon tax, climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, James Hansen, video (all these topics)

Wired jumps the shark once too often and is eaten alive Technophile mag spouts climate-tech nonsense	Joseph Romm	26 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Wired magazine used to be the place to go for the latest in technology. But now it covers any sexy techy idea, no matter how impractical. Given that we all have limited time, Wired should be off every technophile's must-read list and replaced by Technology Review, which has revamped its stodgy old self and become what once Wired aspired to be. For me, this started with the absurd cover story by Peter Schwartz 5 years ago, 'How Hydrogen Can Save America,' whic ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, hydrogen (all these topics)

Achieving the climate goal Short-term targets key to long-term stabilization	Tony Kreindler	24 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Ken Ward takes a worthwhile look at the goalposts for U.S. climate policy in his argument for making 350 parts per million the new bright line for success. We agree that we need to aim lower than 450 ppm -- the world is at roughly 380 ppm now, and we're already witnessing adverse climate impacts. But we part ways when it comes to how we're going to get there. Ward suggests that EDF's support for the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act can't be reconciled with a s ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, legislation, politics (all these topics)

A modern-day Cassandra Thoughts on the 20th anniversary of James Hansen's historic Congressional testimony	Representative Ed Markey	23 Jun 2008	Gristmill
In Greek mythology, Cassandra was given the gift of prophecy -- of seeing the future. But she was also cursed to have no one believe her. For far too many years, Dr. James Hansen has been a modern-day Cassandra. Gifted with a scientific training that allowed him to see the forces at work that are warming the planet, for too many years he was also not believed by many who chose to ignore or deny the scientific reality of global warming. Today, it is my pleas ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, Ed Markey, James Hansen, legislation, politics (all these topics)

IEA report, Part 2 I've got the 450-ppm solution about right	Joseph Romm	10 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Part 1 discussed the basic conclusion of the new International Energy Agency report -- cutting global emissions in half by 2050 is not costly. In fact, the total shift in investment needed to stabilize at 450 ppm is only about 1.1 percent of GDP per year, and that is not a 'cost' or hit to GDP, because much of that investment goes toward saving expensive fuel. In this post, I will discuss the basic solution IEA is proposing. I will also start to look at how the report ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, solar thermal power (all these topics)

Krauthammer, Part II The real reason conservatives don't believe in climate science	Joseph Romm	02 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Part I discussed the odd anti-science part of Krauthammer's screed, 'Carbon Chastity: The First Commandment of the Church of the Environment.' I ended by asking, Why does he break faith with so many conservatives and worship at the altar of evolution science, but stick with them on climate denial? My book discusses this general question at length, and offers the answer: The answer is that ideology trumps rationality. Most conservatives cannot abide the solution to g ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, dumbassery (all these topics)

Lethal injections Science: Geo-engineering scheme damages the ozone layer	Joseph Romm	30 May 2008	Gristmill
Science has published a major new study, 'The Sensitivity of Polar Ozone Depletion to Proposed Geoengineering Schemes' ($ub. req'd). The study finds: The large burden of sulfate aerosols injected into the stratosphere by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 cooled Earth and enhanced the destruction of polar ozone in the subsequent few years. The continuous injection of sulfur into the stratosphere has been suggested as a 'geoengineering' scheme to counteract global w ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, geoengineering, ozone (all these topics)

Checking it twice More than 1,700 scientists and economists call for deep cuts in U.S. emissions	David Roberts	30 May 2008	Gristmill
You know how some wackadoo rightwing group is always touting a new list of scientists who don't believe in global warming? And it always turns out the list is populated with a bunch of random people who either don't know they're on it or don't have the first bit of expertise on the subject? Well, the Union of Concerned Scientists is trying a different tack. They've compiled a list composed of actual Ph.D. climate scientists who have published in peer-reviewed journa ...
Topics: climate science, climate change mitigation, climate, Union of Concerned Scientists (all these topics)

Our tails get in the way The problems and principles of energy descent	Sharon Astyk	15 May 2008	Gristmill
'How did you get there, Roo?' asked Piglet. 'On Tigger's back! �And Tiggers can't climb downwards, because their tails get in the way, only upwards, and Tigger forgot about that when we started, and he's only just remembered. �So we've got to stay here for ever and ever -- unless we go higher. �What did you say, Tigger? �Oh, Tigger says if we go higher we shan't be able to see Piglet's house so well, so we're going to stop here.' -- A.A. Milne, 'The House At Pooh Corn ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, energy, fossil fuels (all these topics)

The jewel of denial The delayers' paradox	Joseph Romm	14 May 2008	Gristmill
The primary goal of the global warming deniers and their disciples is to waste time and delay action, which is why I prefer to call them delayers. (This post is inspired by the surprising finding that only 27 percent of conservatives say the earth is warming because of human activity, such as burning fossil fuels.) The delayers' paradox The deniers and delayers are those who argue that failing to embrace strict reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions will not lead to s ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate change skepticism, climate science (all these topics)

Is 450 ppm (or less) politically possible? Part 3: The breakthrough technology illusion Existing technology is faster and far more practical than hypothetical new inventions	Joseph Romm	30 Apr 2008	Gristmill
This post will explain why some sort of massive government Apollo program or Manhattan project to develop new breakthrough technologies is not a priority component of the effort to stabilize at 450 ppm. Put more quantitatively, the question is, what are the chances that multiple (4 to 8+) carbon-free technologies that do not exist today can each deliver the equivalent of 350 gigawatts baseload power (about 2.8 billion megawatt-hours a year) and/or 160 billion gallo ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, tech (all these topics)

350 ppm or bust Hansen paper released; WaPo fails to link to Grist	David Roberts	07 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Several posts on this site have mentioned a recent paper from James Hansen et al. -- Target CO2: Where Should Humanity Aim? (PDF) -- which argues that the official E.U. target of 550 ppm global atmospheric CO2 is far too high, and that anything over 350 ppm risks putting human beings in a world radically different than anything they've ever known. The final version of the paper is now up, and there's been some good news coverage. For a good overview, see Ed Pil ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, James Hansen (all these topics)

Fair and balanced? NASA's Hansen responds to NYT's Revkin	Joseph Romm	24 Mar 2008	Gristmill
This post ends with an exclusive look at James Hansen's response to NYT journalist Andy Revkin's piece commenting on Hansen's (draft) article on why we need a CO2 target of 350 ppm. But first the backstory. Revkin used me as the 'balance' for his piece: Some longtime champions of Dr. Hansen, including the Climate Progress blogger Joe Romm, see some significant gaps in the paper (it is a draft still) and part ways with Dr. Hansen over whether such a goal is remotely f ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, James Hansen (all these topics)

Beyond the point of no return It's too late to stop climate change, argues Ross Gelbspan -- so what do we do now?	Guest author	11 Dec 2007	Gristmill
This is a guest essay from Ross Gelbspan, who's retired from a 30-year career as an editor and reporter at The Philadelphia Bulletin, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe. He is author of The Heat Is On and Boiling Point, and he maintains the website heatisonline.org. ----- As the pace of global warming kicks into overdrive, the hollow optimism of climate activists, along with the desperate responses of some of the world's most prominent c ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, energy (all these topics)

The other side of global warming We have plenty of solutions at hand beyond technology	Peter Donovan	28 Oct 2007	Gristmill
Today the dominant view of global warming is that it's a technical problem. The burning of fossil fuels -- often regarded as the lifeblood of modern economies -- puts greenhouse gases into the air, mainly carbon dioxide, trapping more solar energy, which heats the planet and alters weather patterns. Methane and nitrous oxide also contribute. The solution is defined as reducing greenhouse gas emissions (pollution). The political, social, and moral campaign is dire ...
Topics: climate, climate science, climate change mitigation (all these topics)

One more scientist on the need for urgency Another guy with his hair on fire	JMG	23 Aug 2007	Gristmill
Another good Scientific blogging interview is 'Urgency and Global Warming: An Interview with Martin I. Hoffert.' I'm tempted to quote the whole thing, but instead you should just go read it. He's much more of a techno-optimist than I think is warranted, but if we all shared his sense of urgency, it would probably be more realistic. (Apparently he hasn't read The Black Swan either.)
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate science (all these topics)

Their Bark Is Worse For Our Blight Decade-long study says trees may not be good at offsetting carbon		10 Aug 2007	Daily Grist
Their Bark Is Worse For Our Blight Decade-long study says trees may not be good at offsetting carbon Step away from the vegetation, treehuggers, and find something else to embrace. New research finds that when it comes to offsetting greenhouse gases, trees may not be up to the challenge. For 10 years, Duke University researchers plied a stand of North Carolina loblolly pines with ...
Topics: carbon offsets, climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, news (all these topics)

The first rule of carbon offsets: No trees A good reason we shouldn't love trees, at least not in this case	Joseph Romm	02 Jul 2007	Gristmill
Everybody loves trees. They are so popular as offsets they even make Wikipedia's definition: When one is unable or unwilling to reduce one's own emissions, Carbon offset is the act of reducing ('offsetting') greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere. A well-known example is the planting of trees to compensate for the greenhouse gas emissions from personal air travel. But does planting trees reduce global warming? Not in most places on the earth. The Carnegie Institution's ...
Topics: carbon offsets, climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, green living (all these topics)

Science: Eh, who cares? Hansen says scientists need lovin', too	Kate Sheppard	26 Jun 2007	Gristmill
NASA climate scientist James Hansen has a new paper out, titled 'How Can We Avert Dangerous Climate Change,' which is actually a slightly-edited version of his testimony before Congress in April. The paper is available online here (PDF), and it's worth checking out, of course. But also interesting is the preamble Hansen included in his email announcing the new paper: President Eisenhower was arguably the last United States President to seek and value advice of scien ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, James Hansen, politics (all these topics)

Clarion Caller An interview with renowned climate scientist James Hansen	Kate Sheppard	15 May 2007	Main Dish
James Hansen. Photo: nasa.gov James Hansen, NASA's top climate expert, believes scientists have an obligation to speak out when their findings have important implications for the public -- and he certainly put that belief into practice last year when he told The New York Times that the Bush administration was trying to muzzle his calls for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Hansen has been ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, coal, energy, international politics, interview, IPCC, James Hansen, politics (all these topics)

Why do we respond to bozos? Churchill, not Chamberlain	Ken Ward	07 May 2007	Gristmill
Why are we letting pro-fossil fuel bozos hijack the only forum that environmentalists and climate-change activists have for wrestling with the daunting task of transforming America? I posted a few practical suggestions in response to David's question, 'Should we be rebutting the skeptics?' I'm going to restate one proposal -- to adopt a Craigslist-type policy allowing Grist readers to flag inappropriate posts. Gristmill is a forum for conversation and debate between ...
Topics: Al Gore, climate, climate change mitigation, climate change skepticism, climate science, environmental movement, politics (all these topics)

Polluting to save the planet: RealClimate disapproves And why wouldn't they?	Gar Lipow	04 May 2007	Gristmill
RealClimate, a blog run by leading climate scientists, thinks Planktos's scheme to dump iron particles in the ocean to make plankton bloom and sequester carbon is 'thin soup.' I have some extended quotes from David Archer on the subject below the fold. But if you are interested, read the whole thing. In spite of public relations claims by Planktos representatives in comments, it appears that most of the scientific community does not think highly of the Planktos claim ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, geoengineering (all these topics)

IPCC out of date, again More current science paints an even grimmer picture	Joseph Romm	04 May 2007	Gristmill
Already, there are serious reservations about the final IPCC summary for policymakers, which was released today. The BBC leads the charge, noting that the economic models used to recommend mitigation policies aim to hold the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration at 550 parts per million (ppm). However, more recent scientific evidence suggests, and I agree, that our policies need to keep concentrations much closer to 450 ppm. I certainly applaud the IPCC and ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, IPCC, politics (all these topics)

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