environment: adaptation adaptationism assholes corporate irresponsibility denialism idiots Koch Brothers scientific consensus
by Warren
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Year 3, Month 8, Day 9: Evolutionary Koch-Bottleneck Edition…
The New York Times prints Richard Muller’s acknowledgement that everybody else was right all along:
CALL me a converted skeptic. Three years ago I identified problems in previous climate studies that, in my mind, threw doubt on the very existence of global warming. Last year, following an intensive research effort involving a dozen scientists, I concluded that global warming was real and that the prior estimates of the rate of warming were correct. I’m now going a step further: Humans are almost entirely the cause.
My total turnaround, in such a short time, is the result of careful and objective analysis by the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature project, which I founded with my daughter Elizabeth. Our results show that the average temperature of the earth’s land has risen by two and a half degrees Fahrenheit over the past 250 years, including an increase of one and a half degrees over the most recent 50 years. Moreover, it appears likely that essentially all of this increase results from the human emission of greenhouse gases.
He’ll disappear down the memory hole. Or will he? Sent July 29:
Now that Richard Muller’s examination of the data has brought him into agreement with the majority opinion that climate change is of human origin, one wonders how the Koch brothers, who funded much of the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature Project, will respond. While Dr. Muller is now nicely aligned with the climatological consensus of the 1990s, if the Kochs’ position simply joined the twentieth century, it would be a major advance.
Those notorious global warming denialists will probably shift their opinions from denialism to adaptationism, following the lead of Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, who recently acknowledged the reality of climate change while blithely asserting that humanity will “adapt,” an ominous euphemism for gigadeaths. While our species will surely change in response to climatic transformations, the question is whether these fossil fuel profiteers will help our civilization avoid catastrophe if it negatively impacts their quarterly returns. The available evidence isn’t encouraging.
Warren Senders
environment Politics: adaptation East Coast New Hampshire
by Warren
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Year 3, Month 1, Day 12: Lead, Follow, or Get Out Of The Way!
The Manchester Union Leader (founded and nurtured by New Hampshire Ur-Wingnut extraordinare William Loeb) runs a press release from the state’s Fish and Game Department:
GREENLAND, N.H. — Coastal New Hampshire is better prepared to deal with the impacts of climate change after a first-ever Coastal NH Summit held the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s Hugh Gregg Coastal Conservation Center in Greenland, N.H., in December.
The event, hosted by the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (GBNERR — managed by Fish and Game), the Great Bay Stewards and the NERRS Science Collaborative, highlighted local climate research and climate preparedness efforts and tools, aiming to identify gaps in information and actions that could help local, state, federal and non-profit partners move forward effectively on this critical issue.
“Coastal New Hampshire is already seeing the effects of a changing climate. The Climate Summit demonstrates that local research and action to understand and prepare for our changing climate are underway. There is work to be done to minimize the impacts to our economy and natural resources. The Summit, through the participation of over 100 attendees from a diversity of sectors and professional fields, will help direct future efforts in the most efficient manner,” said GBNERR Coastal Training Program Coordinator Steve Miller.
I read Kevin Cash’s book, “Who The Hell Is William Loeb?” many years ago. The publisher was a truly despicable man.
Here’s my letter to them, which is quite gracious in tone, considering its recipient. Sent January 8:
It’s interesting to observe the dimensions of the disconnect between regional authorities and national politicians on the subject of climate change. Even as the Republican presidential candidates are vociferously denying either that the climate is changing or human beings have anything to do with it, local and regional agencies are working hard to lay the foundations for the adaptations we’re all going to have to make in a post-greenhouse-effect future.
The facts are simple. If our species is to survive and prosper in the coming centuries, we can no longer afford the luxury of politically expedient denial. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department understands this, as evidenced by their recent Coastal NH Summit. Does the Republican party? It’s a lot easier to pretend a problem doesn’t exist when you are shielded from its effects — and if there is one word that describes most of America’s politicians, it’s “shielded.”
Warren Senders
environment Politics: adaptation denialists Massachusetts
by Warren
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Year 2, Month 10, Day 1: I’m Telling You They’ll Be Telling You I Told You So.
The headline in the September 27 issues of the Boston Globe says it all: “State report sees a hotter Massachusetts, outlines ways to adapt to climate change”. Check it out:
Imagine a Massachusetts where it’s 90 degrees or more for 30 to 60 days in the summer. Where the temperature climbs to 100 as many as 28 days. Imagine the ocean temperature 8 degrees warmer, turning brisk dips into warm baths. More rain and less snow in the winter. And the coast being eaten away by an inexorably rising ocean and catastrophic storms.
That’s the disheartening scenario for the Bay State 90 years from now painted in a new report prepared by the state’s Climate Change Adaptation Advisory Committee with the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
The report issued today offers an overview of climate changes that have already happened, changes that are predicted, the anticipated impacts, and strategies to prepare for the change, state officials said.
“Climate change is the greatest environmental challenge of this generation, with potentially profound effects on the economy, public health, water resources, infrastructure, coastal resources, energy demand, natural features, and recreation,” the report said. “The time to address climate change is now.”
After reading Jeff Jacoby (the Globe’s resident conservative, and an especially virulent know-nothing) repeating the same denialist shibboleths in his Sunday column, it’s good to see some honest bad news seeing print. I hate Jacoby, but I couldn’t bring myself to write a letter in response to his column; it was just too unpleasant. I’m not even going to link to it, because it was so damned icky. This article, however, gave me enough emotional headroom to craft a response. Sent Sept. 27:
The evidence on climate change has been piling up for years, and the past few decades have seen the introduction of extremely refined methods with exceptional predictive power and accuracy. The newly released report from the Climate Change Adaptation Advisory Committee takes the accumulated data and extrapolates it into the future with results that are scary enough to send many chronic denialists into full head-in-the-sand mode.
Unfortunately, many of those trying to wish away the greenhouse effect are in positions where they can delay actions that are necessary to mitigate catastrophe. Future generations in our state may be lucky compared to those elsewhere in the world, but in a Massachusetts buffeted by extreme weather and parched by frequent bouts of tropical heat, they’ll have harsh words for the politicians and media figures who’ve ensured that our only national response is inaction in the face of a clear and present danger.
Warren Senders