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Entries from December 2013

China solves smog problem: See no evil

December 13th, 2013 · 1 Comment

Yes, it’s true that China’s air pollution can be seen from space (NASA photo). attribution: NASA Earth Observatory NASA satellite observes intense air pollution and fog over eastern China on 7 December 2013. A new study funded by Greenpeace shows that a quarter of a million Chinese people died of air pollution from coal fired […]

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Tags: China · environmental · guest post · pollution

Don’t worry, be happy: “5 Reasons Why 2013 Was The Best Year In Human History”

December 12th, 2013 · Comments Off on Don’t worry, be happy: “5 Reasons Why 2013 Was The Best Year In Human History”

According to Think Progress blogger Zack Beauchamp, “2013 was the best year in human history”. As an institution with “Progress” in the title, we should expect that there should be serious discussions by the Center for American Progress (CAP) not just about problems requiring solutions but also on the reality that across a wide range […]

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Tags: Energy

Anti-Science by anecdote vs evidence-based scientific method

December 8th, 2013 · 2 Comments

we are all too often (faced by) anti-science by anecdote when we should be discussing options and making decisions on the basis of the evidence-based scientific method.

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Tags: anti-science syndrome · science

Toe-tapping “one bottle at a time”

December 5th, 2013 · Comments Off on Toe-tapping “one bottle at a time”

Twitter has many uses and value streams. For me, the primary value is to learn about things that I should or want to know about. Most often, this is studies and articles in the energy, climate, environmental domains. Sometimes, well, this is something different. How much do I love that @USFWSMtnPrairie is tweeing at @Beyonce? […]

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Tags: Energy

Gov-Elect McAuliffe’s opportunity to turn dirty money to good

December 5th, 2013 · 2 Comments

The fundraising for the inaugural party for the incoming Virginia Governor, Democratic Terry McAuliffe, is seeing a serious lift due to donations from fossil-fuel dependent Corporations. Most notably, McAuliffe’s Inaugural Committee has received $25,000 from Alpha Natural Resources, an $8 billion coal company that gave $92,500 to Cuccinelli’s campaign. Dominion Resources, a Virginia-based coal, gas, […]

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Tags: dominion virginia power · solar · Solar Energy

Dispelling Electric-Vehicle Myths, #2: Other Environmental Issues

December 3rd, 2013 · 1 Comment

In a series of guest posts, Assaf addresses — from the perspective both of an EV owner and an analyst — myths about electric vehicles. The first post addressed the life-cycle CO2 Footprint of various types of cars … and … the simple truth (in line with Debunking Handbook guidelines): Electric Vehicles have lower (LOWER!) […]

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Tags: automobiles · electric vehicles · electricity · transportation

“Humanity is altering Earth’s life support system …”

December 3rd, 2013 · Comments Off on “Humanity is altering Earth’s life support system …”

This video — transcript after the fold — calmly reviews with both data visualization and a rather disconcerting calm narration how “humanity is altering Earth’s life support system”. The clock is ticking … Note:  For an interesting approach to visualization, see the Carbon Atlas.

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Tags: catastrophic climate change · climate change · environmental · Global Warming · Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change · video

Two degrees as limit … climate scientists saying this means disaster

December 2nd, 2013 · 3 Comments

In a very broad way, climate specialists have laid down a target for climate mitigation: keep global warming below two degrees centigrade and we have a decent chance at avoiding catastrophic climate change. This target has always troubled me.  Problems include speaking “centigrade” to metrically-challenged Americans; the esoteric nature of “2 degrees” toessentially every thinking […]

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Tags: catastrophic climate change