EcocentricUncategorized
There are some new numbers worth pondering as the east coast sizzles through day three of a heat wave and the Time offices operate at brown-out levels so that the air conditioning doesn’t crash the building-wide power grid. Whether or not the current scorcher has anything to do with climate change, there’s no doubt that we’re in for a …
EcocentricWeather
By time I was up and walking to work around 8 AM this morning in New York, the temperature was already 84 degrees and it’s forecast to hit a record-setting 102 degrees by 3 PM. The streets are a griddle, the offices are oppressive—more than usual—and I don’t even want to talk about the subways. Meteorologists are predicting that the …
EcocentricUncategorized
A Dutch inquiry into the seminal 2007 report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has found “no errors that would undermine the main conclusions” about predictions of the negative effects of climate change.
But the report by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency added that the “foundation for some …
EcocentricEndangered Species
In its ongoing campaign to draw attention to Indonesia’s deforestation woes, Greenpeace has released a new report singling out Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), one of the world’s largest paper companies owned by Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas, for sourcing trees from rainforest and peatland that are home to endangered species like the …
EcocentricUncategorized
A review into the chain of emails from the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit (CRU) that caused an international scandal when they were leaked last year is due out on Wednesday.
The Independent Climate Change Email Review, headed by Sir Muir Russell, a former civil servant, will examine emails between top climate …
EcocentricOil
As the oil spill has worsened, reporters have dug into BP’s company policies, demonstrating that the energy company often put profits well before safety throughout many parts of its operations. Exhibit A in that case was always a 2005 fire in BP’s creaking Texas City refinery, which killed 15 people—four more than died in the Deepwater …
EcocentricOil
At least the worst-case scenario—for once—isn’t happening in the Gulf of Mexico. When forecasters warned last week that a tropical depression was forming in the Carribean, Coast Guard officials cautioned that that they would need to shut down containment operatons over the blown well for as much as two weeks if the storm came to …
EcocentricUncategorized
In their eternal war against the scourge of carbon emissions, greens have had a tough year of it, what with the near collapse at Copenhagen, the controversies at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the slapstick comedy that is the U.S. Senate’s attempts to deal with energy policy.
But environmentalists have had some good …
EcocentricInvasive Species
Cane-toad fighting Australians had better brace themselves for more bad amphibious news this week. Researchers at the University of Sydney have found that the invasive, poisonous cane toad that has been goading the southern continent for the better part of the last century will have a distinct advantage as global temperatures …
EcocentricEcocentric
Score a win for climate science: Penn State University announced today that climate scientist Michael Mann had been cleared of all scientific misconduct charges stemming from the “climategate” emails that had been hacked from Britain’s East Anglia University last fall. Here’s the release from the folks at State College: (More on …
