3239LikesGosh, you have to keep your little religion up, don't ya?Originally Posted by owedtojoy
Gosh, you have to keep your little religion up, don't ya?
Don't see anything "religious" in welcoming the vindication of a good scientist by the most prestigious scientific body in the United States. Not that it will prevent attacks by the puny obscurantists who choose to continue a lost vendetta. As Thomas Huxley said "Every whale has his louse".
Obviously, you see the world through a religious prism. Not a very rational attitude, but you are welcome to it.
More good news, this time from China, that solar energy may catch up with coal and become the "go-to" source for cheap energy.
Solar energy could match coal's price by 2015 in China; globally by 2020 — Autoblog Green
These reports chime in nicely with a report from Australia I blogged about yesterday http://theconversation.edu.au/solar-...-business-2557A new report from the Chinese government notes that the cost of solar power in that country could drop below 0.80 yuan (12.5 cents) per kilowatt-hour by 2015. At that price, solar matches up favorably with the current go-to source for cheap energy, coal. How? Well, China already expects to double its solar-electric capacity by the end of the year and is providing incentives for further growth.
This follows a report issued last April in which Bloomberg New Energy Finance projected that solar power could be price competitive with coal around the world by 2020. Both large-scale installations and rooftop solar have seen a steady decrease in cost that is expected to continue for several years. According to Bloomberg's numbers, the true cost of retail electricity from solar may already rival that of coal.
Like I also said, don't expected the coal industry to roll over and take this without putting up a blaze of propaganda about how important their industry is.
A good article by Andy Revkin in the New York Times as to why Republicans are so anti-science .. not just climate science but other areas like evolution and stem-cell research. It is shocking to discover that 40% of American believe in Young Earth Creationism, the most anti-scientific and obscurantist dogma you could think up.
A Fundamental Republican Science Problem - NYTimes.comFour in 10 Americans, slightly fewer today than in years past, believe God created humans in their present form about 10,000 years ago. Thirty-eight percent believe God guided a process by which humans developed over millions of years from less advanced life forms, while 16%, up slightly from years past, believe humans developed over millions of years, without God’s involvement.
Arctic Ice Extent is now at 5.18m km^2 - making it already the 4th lowest ever, passing out 2009. It is now a question of whether is becomes first, second or third lowest ever. With 2010 at 4.9m km^2 at 3rd, this year will at probably at least take over that position.
The chart shows the minimum ice AREA (not extent), but it does show the order of the years - current 2011 area is compared with the minima from previous years.
http://neven1.typepad.com/blog/
Why do wish loss of life and damage to property and livelihoods for Texans?
In Texas they have one of the worst droughts ever recorded in the state (possibly, the worst). There are hopes that the season of tropical storms could alleviate the worst of it.
Texas Drought: Where Is It “Worst”? | Climate Abyss | a Chron.com blog
My wishes were for the good of Texas to relieve it's misery, and not for any other imputed reason.
PS As we speak a hurricane is heading for Florida and the Carolinas. Now, I would not wish that on anyone. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nati...hurricane.html
Last edited by owedtojoy; 23rd August 2011 at 06:22 PM.
Joe Romm at Climate Progress and Jeff Masters at Weather Underground are talking up Hurricane Irene as another potential weather disaster for the US. It is headed north, just east of Florida, and due to hit the Carolinas on Saturday, maybe Virginia and DC up to New England on Sunday. It is currently just north of Haiti.
Masters: Hurricane Irene a Potential Multi-Billion Dollar Disaster for New England, Mid-Atlantic. Track It Here. | ThinkProgressCurrently, it appears that Irene will hit North Carolina on Saturday, and New England on Sunday. I strongly urge all residents of the coast from North Carolina to Massachusetts to assess their hurricane preparedness immediately, and anticipate the possibility of hurricane conditions this weekend.
Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog : Irene pounds the Dominican Republic, heads for the Bahamas : Weather Underground
What has a hurricane got to do with climate change?
I felt that the impending hurricane was of interest given I had blogged about the hurricane season a few days ago. It is has been a unusually busy season for tropical storms, and 85% of hurricanes usually start up after Aug 20th. The Climate Change Debate Thread
Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog : Harvey drenching Belize; 97L a threat to the Caribbean and U.S. : Weather Underground
The statistical instances of hurricanes has a lot to do with climate change. It is one area I do not know much about because there is a lot of conflicting information. I believe the prediction is for increased frequency of extremely strong hurricanes, though I am clear if much evidence has been gathered about that. Last year was hyper-productive of hurricanes, though none made landfall in the United States.
http://climatesignals.org/2010/11/hy...-temperatures/
The problem is that Atlantic storms are definitely increasing but it is not clear how much is due to global warming, and how much due to improved monitoring. Increase in intensity, however, would point towards global warming.
Last edited by owedtojoy; 23rd August 2011 at 10:12 PM.
