Monthly Archive for May, 2010

Climate Fears Turn to Doubts Among Britons

Published on May 25, 2010 in News. 0 Comments

From Elisabeth Rosenthal, The New York Times

Last month hundreds of environmental activists crammed into an auditorium here to ponder an anguished question: If the scientific consensus on climate change has not changed, why have so many people turned away from the idea that human activity is warming the planet?

Nowhere has this shift in public opinion been more striking than in Britain, where climate change was until this year such a popular priority that in 2008 Parliament enshrined targets for emissions cuts as national law. But since then, the country has evolved into a home base for a thriving group of climate skeptics who have dominated news reports in recent months, apparently convincing many that the threat of warming is vastly exaggerated.

To Read More…

Climate Change: The Challenge of our Times

Published on May 25, 2010 in News. 0 Comments

From Mandy Garner, University World News

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our times but it is one that is steeped in controversy. The recent ‘Climategate’ affair, in which emails from the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit were leaked and used to allege scientific misconduct, has shown just how politically contentious the issue is.

This is despite two reports into the affair, by a UK Government committee and an independent Science Assessment Panel, showing no evidence of malpractice.

The leaks were followed by reports of inaccuracies in the findings of the UN Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Changes now being investigated by a 12-member panel of top scientist from around the world.

The two cases served to undermine public confidence in climate change and in scientific research in general. Thousands of media articles were written on the topic and several climate scientists, in countries as far flung as the US and Australia, reported receiving death threats.

To Read More…

Energy Conservation “Nudges” and Environmentalist Ideology: Evidence From a Randomized Residential Electricity Field Experiment

Published on May 21, 2010 in News. 0 Comments

From Dora L. Costa and Matthew E. Kahn, VOX

How should households be encouraged to reduce electricity consumption? This column presents evidence from the US of a randomised “nudging” strategy – providing energy saving tips as well as information on electricity usage relative to neighbours. It finds that while energy conservation nudges work with liberals, they backfire with conservatives. Certain pockets of Republican registered voters actually increased their electricity consumption in reaction to the nudge.

Behavioural economists have promoted the use of “nudges” to encourage energy conservation (Allcott and Mullainathan 2010 and Thaler and Sunstein 2008). “Nudges” offer a politically palatable alternative to stricter building codes and price increases. Research by Allcott (2009), Ayers et al. (2009), and Schultz et al. (2007) found that providing feedback to customers on home electricity and natural gas usage with a focus on peer comparisons decreased consumption by 1% to 2%, potentially saving 110 million kWh per year if feedback were provided to all of the utility’s customers (Ayers et al. 2009).

Residential electricity consumption represents roughly 35% of California’s total electricity demand. Conservation by consumers would both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and economise on the construction of costly new power plants. But how can we encourage conservation?

To Read More…

Spring Is Starting Earlier: How Does This Seasonal Shift Affect Flora and Fauna?

Published on May 20, 2010 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

earlyspringFrom the Union of Concerned Scientists series of articles on climate change:

Signs of spring are beginning to emerge in many parts of the United States. After months of darkness, it’s a welcome sight. But did you know that spring arrives distinctly earlier than it did 40 years ago?

Tree budding, the hatching of animal species, earlier blooms, and other traits of spring show up about 10 days sooner, researchers have long reported. What’s more, the earlier onset of spring has been directly linked to human-induced climate change.

While a premature spring is embraced by most people, it can be a mismatch for animals.

To read more…

Philosophy on the Edge: Would you Commit Murder?

Published on May 17, 2010 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

From Astra Taylor, Adbusters89_astra_splash

Last October, in anticipation of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives — a tiny nation made up of more than one thousand low-lying islets in the Indian Ocean — called an urgent and highly unusual meeting of his cabinet. Government officials donned scuba gear and headed into the sea, convening on the ocean floor five meters below the surface where they signed a document calling for global cuts in carbon dioxide emissions. The half-hour meeting, observed by snorkeling journalists and captured on video by waterproof camera was, to use a phrase coined by political theorist Stephen Duncombe, an “ethical spectacle”: a theatrical attempt to call attention to a very real threat and moral predicament. The Maldives aren’t submerged yet, but they will be soon enough if the world doesn’t take action to prevent such a fate.

To Read More….

Climate Change and the Integrity of Science

Published on May 9, 2010 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

328_689_f1 A letter to the editor of Science from a group of prominent US scientists:

We are deeply disturbed by the recent escalation of political assaults on scientists in general and on climate scientists in particular. All citizens should understand some basic scientific facts. There is always some uncertainty associated with scientific conclusions; science never absolutely proves anything. When someone says that society should wait until scientists are absolutely certain before taking any action, it is the same as saying society should never take action. For a problem as potentially catastrophic as climate change, taking no action poses a dangerous risk for our planet.

For the complete letter and related material…

CO2 Scorecard: Aggregating Public Data on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Published on May 5, 2010 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

From information aestheticsco2_dashboard1

CO2 Scorecard [co2scorecard.org] displays a sophisticated performance monitoring dashboard to convey country-level data, analytics and metrics on carbon dioxide emissions and energy use. The website’s goal is to aggregate publicly available data from different reliable sources to provide a quick snapshot of each country’s CO2 emissions profile.

The data originates from more than a dozen different sources of information, aggregated in a single integrated database.

Next to the country-specific dashboard, the website offers more aggregate views on the data, such as by treemap, trend chart,geographical map, among others.

To Read More…

Redesigned Newsletter: Launched Today

Published on May 4, 2010 in Newsletter. 1 Comment

Today the Climate Change Newsletter will be re-launched – marking the start of a new approach to connecting with and reaching out to our Climate Change Community. The newsletter will be sent out on a monthly basis and will contain important community news, conference updates, and publication information.

It is the hope of Common Ground Publishing that this newsletter will provide you with a more positive experience connecting with the Climate Change Community.

If you are not currently a subscriber but would like to receive future newsletter emails, please go to on-climate.com and click on “Sign Up: Our Newsletter” in the upper right-hand corner.

If you have inquiries, concerns, or general comments, please feel free to contact the newsletter team at support@on-climate.com

Second International Conference on Climate Change: Impacts and Responses 8-10 July 2010

Published on May 4, 2010 in Conference. 0 Comments

Second International Conference on Climate Change: Impacts and Responses66_beach

The 2010 Climate Change Conference will take place at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia from 8-10 July. For more information please visit
www.Climate-Conference.com

Plenary Speakers
http://on-climate.com/conference-2010/plenary-speakers/
* Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Professor and Director, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
* John Quiggin, Federation Fellow, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
* Ralph Regenvanu, Executive Board Member, Pacific Islands Museums Association (PIMA), Port Vila, Vanuatu

Call for Papers
If you intend to present a paper at the Conference, your participation begins with submission of a paper proposal. For information on proposals, presentation types, and other options, see: http://on-climate.com/conference-2010/call-for-papers/#ppt. To submit a proposal, see: http://on-climate.com/conference-2010/call-for-papers/. Please note that if your proposal is accepted, you will then need to register for the Conference.

Registration
Those who submit paper proposals should register following the acceptance of the proposal. Conference delegates who do not intend to present may register at any time. For registration options or to register for the 2010 Climate Change Conference, see: http://on-climate.com/conference-2010/register/.

Themes

http://on-climate.com/ideas/themes/

Conference Dinner and Tours

http://on-climate.com/conference-2010/activities-and-extras/