This week's #thepete #podcast: what's Worse than #GlobalWarming? Our own #Ignorance.

In this week's #thepetepodcast, I ask the question: What's next after #ClimateChange? Are we done ruining our planet or can we do more to change the #environment on a #global scale?

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From October: Newstatesman.com posts about a geophysicist who sees capitalism destabilizing the Earth's human-support systems.

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hyRDdDyrt8/

From the article:

But the bottom line was clear enough: global capitalism has made the depletion of resources so rapid, convenient and barrier-free that “earth-human systems” are becoming dangerously unstable in response. When pressed by a journalist for a clear answer on the “are we f**ked” question, Werner set the jargon aside and replied, “More or less.”

"There was one dynamic in the model, however, that offered some hope. Werner termed it “resistance” – movements of “people or groups of people” who “adopt a certain set of dynamics that does not fit within the capitalist culture”. According to the abstract for his presentation, this includes “environmental direct action, resistance taken from outside the dominant culture, as in protests, blockades and sabotage by indigenous peoples, workers, anarchists and other activist groups”.

Original article: http://goo.gl/yADZPJ

This is some scary stuff and it's essentially my worst nightmare. Back int he early 1990s there was a comic book the predicted the worst possible endgame for capitalism. The comic was called "The Legionaires" and while it was a superhero comic, it took place in the distant future after the Earth had been strip-mined literally beyond the capacity of the Earth's ability to support it. The planet literally collapses and breaks up. Luckily Earth's biggest cities had developed domed cities as defenses against nuclear war and alien invasions, so the comic didn't end in one issue. The point is, it doesn't take a geophysicist to recognize what happens when you let capitalism run amok. The whole idea of "free market capitalism," in the end, denies the laws of physics and, as a result, is ultimately unsustainable.

It's a really shame our corporate and governmental leaders don't read comic books.

@NYTimes reports on how the Arctic Sea has melted so much, shipping routes are being established by one of the industries that caused #GlobalWarming. #irony

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/cM1ZXkSrgz/

Read the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/25/business/energy-environment/polar-thaw-opens-shortcut-for-russian-natural-gas.html

Arctic Sea Ice Continues Decline, Hits 2nd-Lowest Level

Arctic Sea Ice Continues Decline, Hits 2nd-Lowest Level, a photo by NASA Goddard Photo and Video on Flickr.

The above pic comes from NASA's Flickr stream. The yellow line is where there's usually ice. The red line is the Northwest Passage. Yes. That's right, the Northwest fucking Passage.

This is some seriously crazy shit here, folks. Hundreds of years ago, Henry Hudson bet his life on finding the Northwest Passage and he lost that bet. Now Global Warming has *created* the Northwest Passage. This is an incredible, scary thing. Our *planet* is literally changing in front of our eyes.

This is not supposed to happen.

The phrase "cosmic scale" exists for a reason--it means that time doesn't really pass for us because we're here for such a short time compared to the rest of the planet and the rest of the universe. When things change this quickly something serious is going on and there could be a lot of ripple effects that we could have a hard time predicting.

Keep watching the skies...

People Under 35 Have Never Seen Normal Global Temperatures | ThinkProgress

People Under 35 Have Never Seen Normal Global Temperatures | ThinkProgress

Wow:

People Under 35 Have Never Seen Normal Global Temperatures | “If you’re younger than 26, you have never seen a month where the global mean was as cold as the 161 year average,” observes Robert Grumbine. In contrast, “there are no periods as long as even 20 years of continual below reference temperatures.” He finds that the period 1880-1940 seems to best represent a stable long-term average for global temperatures. If that’s the case, then the “last time the global mean was below the climate normal was March, 1976. If you’re 35 or younger, you have never seen a global mean below climate’s real normal.”

Cumulative deviations from the 1850-1940 global mean temperature.

Wow.

A MUST-READ: Climate Chaos: Christian Parenti's New Book Exposes How Global Warming Could Lead to Global Warfare

A MUST-READ: Climate Chaos: Christian Parenti's New Book Exposes How Global Warming Could Lead to Global Warfare

From DemocracyNow.org:

Extreme weather from Texas to Somalia may indicate that a new era of climate war is upon us. Just this month, massive floods have shut down two nuclear power facilities in Nebraska. In New Mexico, the nation’s top nuclear weapons lab in Los Alamos is being threatened by an uncontrolled wildfire. Meanwhile, the United Nations warns the Horn of Africa is facing its worst drought in 60 years, affecting more than 10 million in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda. We speak with award-winning journalist Christian Parenti who argues in his new book that global warming is leading to social and environmental catastrophe. “The weather associated with climate change, extreme weather such as the drought, punctuated by flooding in East Africa, punctuated by flooding in East Africa, is adding to this.Climate change very often doesn’t just look bad weather, it looks like ethnic violence or religious violence or banditry or civil war,” says Parenti.

This is an incredible story—go check it out. Scary, scary stuff.  You can also read a chapter from Tropic of Chaos (Parenti’s book) for free.

Tired of the naysayers? Check out NASA’s Climate Change Evidence page: http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence

mohandasgandhi:

jtotheizzoe:

Are you tired of hearing people spread doubt about climate change? Tired of scientific distrust and misinformation? If you defend science, and you want to send people to a one-stop shop for climate change evidence … check out NASA’s Climate Change Evidence page:

Climate Change: Evidence

Automatic reblog.

Same.

Thanks to itsjustsummer for reblogging stfuteabaggers.

Of course, naysayers can also look at NYC weather—it can’t decide whether it’s late summer (today), autumn (yesterday) or winter (last week).

If nothing else, you must agree that there is more evidence for Climate Change/Global Warming, than God.

HILARIOUS video encouraging people to do their part to reduce their carbon emissions by 10%.It’s so hilarious that several sponsors pulled out of the event it’s advertising.Spoilsports!What’s sad is that even if all of us reduce our carbon emissions by 10%, it still won’t save the planet since so much of Climate Change is caused by what factories put out. We really need to figure out how to stop artificial carbon emissions completely. Or at the very least, stop the biggest contributors first.

On Thin Ice

On Thin Ice

The world’s two great ice sheets are melting faster than anyone believed possible

I’m so glad I live on a hill. Of course, I also live on an island, so maybe I should start saving up for a kayak that I can take down Broadway and save money on subway fare, which will undoubtedly go up since they’ll have to pay to make the subway system water-tight.  Aw, hell—I’ll just buy a houseboat.

But seriously, this kind of thing is exactly what scares me.  Over the past decade, the human race (or those in charge of it) have shown a high level of incompetence.  Even the people who are supposed to be smart (ie scientists) are not just cutting to the chase and telling us that things may very well be MUCH worse than we can tell right away.  The trend is obviously leaning toward “worse” despite the lack of observable evidence beforehand.  Unlike the smoking gun/mushroom cloud metaphor the Bush 43 Administration used to con many Americans into believing Iraq had WMD, there is MUCH more science behind being alarmist now.

On top of that, most of our scientists’ estimates have been conservative—and shown to ultimately be wrong (as the above article shows).  So, do we wait until they’re wrong about something with huge and immediate consequences?

Better safe than sorry, I say.  Plus, since we’ll all benefit from reacting to this threat even if it’s not a real threat, this is a much better thing to overreact to.

It’s just a shame we’re all too timid.

Sometimes I feel like the smartest frog in the pot of slowly warming water…

Earth's Hottest Year just might explain Sharpest Drop in Oldest, Thickest Arctic Sea Ice

Earth's Hottest Year just might explain Sharpest Drop in Oldest, Thickest Arctic Sea Ice

underpaidgenius:

paulmalouf:

Exclusive: Scientists track sharp drop in oldest, thickest Arctic sea ice: 2010 melt season ends, likely setting the record for lowest volume @ National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) via Climate Progress

NOAA reports 2010 hottest year on record so far: Summer 2010 the second warmest on record; hottest August in RSS satellite record* @ NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center via Climate Progress

Environment correspondent Richard Black @ BBC News ~ ‘Rapid’ 2010 melt for Arctic ice - but no record

Just more evidence to be ignored by those in power.

Climate Change Doubters don't have the science to back them up says Stanford Researchers

underpaidgenius:

Stanford researchers’ analysis: Scientific expertise lacking among climate change ‘doubters’

An analysis of the scientific prominence and expertise of climate researchers shows that the few who are unconvinced of human-caused climate change rank far below researchers who are convinced. Most news media accounts fail to include that context when reporting claims from the doubters.

The media failing again, all in the pursuit of ‘both sides of the story’ even when there is really only one side plus a collection of kooks.

Big surprise here.

Isn’t this a little like saying you’re shocked that Phillip Morris execs don’t believe smoking is bad for you?

It's Official, it was the hottest summer in NYC since 1966. Global Warming Naysayers, care to comment?

Crickets…

;)

From a September 1, 2010 article at NYTimes.com:

With one final, fitting blast of 96-degree heat on Tuesday, the summer of 2010 went down in the National Weather Service’s record books as the hottest ever in New York City.

Shade was hard to come by in Carroll Park in Brooklyn. The average temperature for June, July and August was 77.8 degrees. The previous record was 77.3, set in 1966.

Hotter than the previous high of 77.3 degrees set in 1966, when more than 1,100 deaths were attributed to heat that repeatedly exceeded 100 degrees. Hotter than 2006, when a heat wave set off a blackout in northern Queens that left more than 100,000 residents without power for days.

Ah, but it wasn’t just a hot-as-hell summer in the Big (Fried) Apple. Apparently, it was quite the ???? (moushoubi, or fiercely hot day) all summer long in Japan, too, as SeattlePI.com reported on September 2, 2010:

Across Japan, temperatures soared higher than historical averages by 2.96 degrees Fahrenheit (1.64 degrees Celsius) from June through August, the highest since 1898 when records began, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

That’s higher than the previous record set in the summer of 1994. In Tokyo, temperatures have climbed as high as 99 degrees Fahrenheit (37 Celsius).

Yowza.

So, when the “Snowpocalypse” was happening last winter, there were a lot of conservative, anti-science types who were wondering aloud what had happened to Global Warming.  I wonder what they’re thinking now.

Special thanks to my pal Jeff for emailing me about the hottest summer in Japan. :)  ?????????????? (I hope I spelled your name right!)

Climate Scientists Threw Out their Original Data

I stumbled across this the other day while doing some research:

Yep, that’s right—they threw away their original data.

Now, that’s not quite as bad as it sounds, but it is equivalent to burning the negatives to the photos you took.  OK, so I realize that comparison dates me, but regardless, if we ever need to see the original numbers, we won’t be able to.

See that? Science gets it wrong sometimes, too.  But at least they’re willing to admit it and learn from their mistakes (unlike another group of people we atheists know of).

Screengrab source.

The Absurd Disconnect: Global Warming Edition

Back on August 2nd, I posted about how America imprisons 1% of it’s citizens while leaving another 10% of them unemployed and commented that the rhetoric promising to end this situation is just that, rhetoric—not actual promises to change things.  This morning I came across “Why Even Bother With Science?” from underpaidgenius:

Tom Toles, Friday Rant — Heat Exhaustion Version

This will be my last rant about the climate. Cartoonists sometimes look just like the archetypical cartoon character crawling across the desert. Gary Larson did a cartoon about two guys crawling across a desert, dying of thirst. They have come upon a drinking fountain. One is letting it run without drinking and saying he’s going to let it run until it gets cold. That’s about as sensible as the debate on climate change.

We are apparently going to let the debate on the science run until hell freezes over. If you can’t accept the conclusions of 98 percent of the scientists whose FIELD IT IS, then why even bother with science? If that high a percentage of field of study is to be discounted ENTIRELY, then we are in deep trouble, which, of course, we are. It would be so simple if it were just a matter of ignoring the yelping commenters hereabouts: “Move on, Mr. Cartoonist! Chill out Tommy! There are more important things to worry about!”

Really? Which would those things be? This may be the only political issue whose results could be catastrophic PERMANENTLY. But the deliberate dust storm thrown up by fossil-fuel-centric interests has succeeded in contaminating and paralyzing the American response. Quite a victory for the deniers! It looks like mass-suicide to me. And so, my final rant on climate. Except not really. There has to be a drinking fountain out there somewhere.

In the latest edition, episode 18, of the 666cast, I talk about “The Absurd Disconnect”.  This is what I call the difference between our beliefs and our reality.  Tom Toles provides a wonderful example of this kind of thing in action—we see the reality but we refuse to accept it.  Paul Krugman in my above linked post from August 2 also provided a great example, though, unlike Toles, was unaware he was doing it.  In that post, I suggest Krugman should wake up and smell the bullshit he still believes is honesty from our leaders. To Toles, I say: you SHOULD chill out, but not because there are more important things to worry about, but because humanity isn’t doing a great job of paying attention to the threats facing them.  The more upset you get, the more crazy people will think you are—even if you have the facts to back you up.  That’s The Absurd Disconnect.

What’s really sad and frustrating is that there’s not a whole lot that seems to be effective in changing the minds of enough people to make a difference.  When given the choice, most folks seem to choose the more fearful path over the logical one, even if the logical one is easier (like hating gays—isn’t just easier to leave them alone?)

Of course, people like Toles and Krugman being worried that things are going to get worse, even though things are already worse, is just another example of The Absurd Disconnect—where the symptoms you’re concerned will appear at some point in the future are erupting all around you but you just choose to ignore them.

In the end, a lot of what we criticize about our leaders and ourselves has become, for me, one giant “DUH!” moment.  I look backward at the last 400 years (essentially, since the invention of the first immortal corporation) and see the logical end game of capitalism/free market/the greed-is-good mentality.

I also see a world too bamboozled, too willingly distracted by their own greed, to change this path that humanity is on.

But no need to despair! Take a lesson from Hollywood actor, Slim Pickens (ironic name!):

Yowza--July in NYC one of the hottest Julys (Julies?) in history (sure felt like it ta me!)

“A Hot Summer In New York” from underpaidgenius:

I had the misfortune of being in NYC on July 6.

Sam Dolnick, The Cruelest Month - Suffering Through, Rather Than Savoring, Summer

If the high and low temperatures in Central Park on Saturday average at least 77.5, July 2010 will rank as the hottest month in New York since records began in 1869. Stephen Fybish, a weather historian, has delved into the numbers, from the National Weather Service, for these other highs and lows:

• July 6 was the hottest day this month, hitting 103 (and 97 in Mr. Fybish’s Upper West Side kitchen). The highs on July 6 from 1999 to 2009: 101, 79, 72, 82, 89, 81, 82, 77, 83, 79, 83. The only years that have had temperatures topping 103 are 1918 (Aug. 7), 1936 (July 9) and 1977 (July 21).


• This June was hot, too, creating the hottest June-July combination on record, with an average of 78.1 degrees (runner-up: 1966, with 77.6). If August averages 76.1 degrees or higher, 2010 will be the hottest June-July-August ever, beating 1966.


• Actually, it has been the warmest March through July on record, averaging 65.5.


• July 21 is the date that has reached 100 the most times, in 1926, 1930, 1977 and 1980; this year, it was 93.


• Number of July 2010 days that topped 90 degrees: 16, tying with July 1966 for fourth place.


• Number of July 2010 days that topped 89 degrees: 21, ranking second behind 1993.


• Warmest July night on record: July 7, 2010, tied with July 15, 1995, at 84.

And I love how this isn’t getting much play in the mainstream media.  Time magazine has a poor noseless woman on their cover that seems to be a play to sway the American people back toward supporting the war Afganistan, but meanwhile, the obvious heat waves plaguing planet Earth aren’t causing much alarm.  Maybe it’s just a few of us bloggers who are overreacting?  All I know is that I’m glad I finally got an air conditioner (a family member took pity on us after hearing of our horrible heat).  After all—August has only just arrived and it’s a well-kept secret that September is still quite toasty.

Perhaps by the time October rolls around the MSM will feel like talking about all of this.

Good Point from Underpaid Genius: Worldwide Heatwave: Not In The News Though

underpaidgenius:

The world is gripped in an unprecedented heatwave. The recent East Coast weather pattern has led to 10 days of over 90º F temperatures. 

This is a worldwide phenomenon, which is beling largely unreported by the papers here in the US. Here’s a May 30 2010 Guardian piece on the Indian heat wave:

Record temperatures in northern India have claimed hundreds of lives in what is believed to be the hottest summer in the country since records began in the late 1800s.

The death toll is expected to rise with experts forecasting temperatures approaching 50C (122F) in coming weeks. More than 100 people are reported to have died in the state of Gujarat where the mercury topped at 48.5C last week. At least 90 died in Maharashtra, 35 in Rajasthan and 34 in Bihar.

And it’s even worse in Africa and West Asia, as reported by Jeff Masters on 24 June:

Extreme heat wave sets all-time high temperature records in Africa and Middle East

A withering heat wave of unprecedented intensity and areal covered has smashed all-time high temperatures in four nations in the Middle East and Africa over the past week. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Chad, and Niger all set new records for their hottest temperatures of all time, and several other Middle East nations came within a degree of their hottest temperatures ever. The heat was the most intense in Iraq, which had its hottest day in history on June 14, 2010, when the mercury hit 52.0°C (125.6°F) in Basra. Iraq’s previous record was 51.7°C (125.1°F) set August 8, 1937, in Ash Shu’aybah. It was also incredibly hot in Saudi Arabia, which had its hottest temperature ever on Tuesday (June 22): 52.0°C (125.6°F), measured in Jeddah, the second largest city in Saudi Arabia. The previous record was 51.7°C (125.1°F), at Abqaiq, date unknown. The record heat was accompanied by a sandstorm, which caused eight power plants to go offline, resulting in blackouts to several Saudi cities.

In Africa, Chad had its hottest day in history on Tuesday (June 22), when the temperature reached 47.6°C (117.7°F) at Faya. The previous record was 47.4°C (117.3°F) at Faya on June 3 and June 9, 1961. Niger tied its record for hottest day in history on Tuesday (June 22), when the temperature reached 47.1°C (116.8°F) at Bilma. That record stood for just one day, as Bilma broke the record again on Wednesday (June 23), when the mercury topped out at 48.2°C (118.8°F). The previous record was 47.1°C on May 24, 1998, also at Bilma.

Three countries came within a degree of their all time hottest temperature on record during the heat wave. Bahrain had its hottest June temperature ever, 46.9°C, on June 20, missing the all-time record of 47.5°C (117.5°F), set July 14, 2000. Temperatures in Quatar reached 48.8°C (119.8°F) on June 20. Quatar’s all-time record hottest temperature was 49.6°C (121.3°F) set on July 9, 2000. It was also very hot in Kuwait, with temperatures reaching 51°C (123.8°F) in the capital on June 15. Kuwait’s all-time hottest temperature was 51.9°C (125.4°F), on July 27,2007, at Abdaly. According to Essa Ramadan, a Kuwaiti meteorologist from Civil Aviation, Matrabah, Kuwait smashed this record and had Asia’s hottest temperature in history on June 15 this year, when the mercury hit 54.0°C (129.2°F). However, data from this station is notoriously bad, and each year bogus record highs have to be corrected, according to an email I received from weather record researcher Maximiliano Herrera. Asia’s hottest temperature in history will very likely remain the 53.5°C (128.3°F) recorded at MohenjuDaro, Pakistan on May 26 this year.

Commentary
We’ve now had six countries in Asia and Africa that have beaten their all-time hottest temperature record during the past two months. As I discussed in my blog about Pakistan’s May 26 record, Southeast Asia also had its all-time hottest temperature in May, when the mercury hit 47°C (116.6°F) in Myinmu, Myanmar on May 12. All of these records are unofficial, and will need to be certified by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). According to Chris Burt, author of Extreme Weather, setting four national heat records in one month is not unprecedented—in August 2003, five countries (the UK, France, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein) all broke their all-time heat records during that year’s notorious summer heat wave. Fortunately, the residents of the countries affected by this week’s heat wave are more adapted to extreme high temperatures, and we are not seeing the kind of death tolls experienced during the 2003 European heat wave (30,000 killed.) This week’s heat wave in Africa and the Middle East is partially a consequence of the fact that Earth has now seen three straight months with its warmest temperatures on record, according to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center. It will be interesting to see if the demise of El Niño in May will keep June from becoming the globe’s fourth straight warmest month on record.

Not an especially great record to set.

The facts are pretty clear: high temperatures in all parts of the world, and months of hottest temperatures ever.

The oceans are warmer than ever too, so expect — along with drought — an increase in hurricane and typhoons.

But why isn’t the global heat wave newsworthy? Why does the Washington Post run a story on the heat wave there, and not talk to one climate scientist? They had like 8 reporters working on the story, but no one could call NOAA?

It’s fodder: reading about someone’s German Shepherd suffering from the DC heat is fun, in a way. But having someone thread the needle about global temperature at at all time high — hot enough to kill tens or hundreds of thousands of people, if things continue — is nowhere to be found.

There’s this thing called “the tipping point” where the ocean will run out of space for more CO2.  I wonder if we’ve passed that. I also wonder if there are other “tipping points” where once there’s less than a certain amount of ice on the planet (or less than a certain number of cool areas on the planet) hot “dominoes” will begin to fall for the entire planet.

It’s a real shame that our “experts” are morons and our leaders and the media care only for themselves.

My Earth Hour Commercial on 12seconds.tv

At 8:30pm on March 28, 2009, Earth Hour will be held. What's Earth Hour? Well, it's when people around the world, for one hour, turn off all of their lights to help draw attention to just how much we rely on light and the energy that creates it. Though, let me let EarthHour.org explain it:

For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009.

This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.

So, over at http://12seconds.tv they're helping with the cause by encouraging folks to do 12 second clips promoting the whole Earth Hour thing. Check out what folks have been shooting here: http://12seconds.tv/tag/EarthHour09

Though first, watch the one I shot with Siskita:


12seconds Earth Hour Commercial on 12seconds.tv

And here's Jay ThePal's:


12seconds Earth Hour Commercial on 12seconds.tv

I think both are pretty good. :)

So, there ya have it! At 8:30pm, your local time, THIS SATURDAY please turn out every light in your home for one hour!! Make sure to tell people you're doing it, too! Post a Tweet, a 12second video, blog about it, send an email, or just post a comment right here!

The Earth will thank you for it!

All right, not really, but future humans should be thankful!

Edges of American Civilization Breaking Down

Seems like a heavy headline, but it's true.

What else can you call it when folks in a rural Alaskan village can no longer afford basic foodstuffs or the fuel to go where they can afford basic foodstuffs OR revert to living off of the land because climate change and pollution?

Don't all of those things fall under the domain of government to provide?

Seriously, things are messed up for Emmonak, Alaska, a rural town on the west coast of Alaska. In a piece of surprisingly good journalism (capped above, read the original February 9, 2009 article), CNN's Mallory Simon does a thorough job explaining the harrowing situation these people are in.

One family usually takes two snowmobiles when they go for supplies. Now they can only afford to take one--that cuts the amount of food they can take back with them and if one snowmobile breaks down, they're stuck. But assuming their machines run properly, they're still more challenges for them to deal with.

$15 cheese, $10 milk, $22 eggs, make basic survival for these people an even bigger challenge than they are used to living on the edge of civilization. Emmonak, Alaska is a village where Native Americans have lived for hundreds of years, yet the civilization that has made their lives easier has melted away like an Antarctic ice shelf.

If you're like me, you probably are wondering why these people can't just go back to their traditional ways of living. Well, the article covers this, explaining that "a brutal early winter brought the longest cold snap in five years. In September the temperature in many villages dropped as low as 20 degrees, a record low for many, according to the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy."

Thanks, Climate Change!

But that's not all--the article also reports that "Commercial fishermen couldn't make money from the seasonal king salmon harvest this year, because there was barely enough fish for subsistence."

See, back in May of 2008, SFGate.com

Yep, it's a 100% legitimate reason for Palin to be back in the news.

The problem seems to be that they can't declare an emergency to get federal aid because of a stupid state law that says financial emergencies can't be declared until, according to Mallory Simon's CNN.com article, "average income levels in the villages to drop below $26,500 -- regardless of the cost of living."

So, until Palin can change the state law (no fast feat), they're kind of stuck.

In the meantime, I'm happy to be living in one of the biggest cities on Earth. Basic laws of supply and demand will keep the city of New York in food and fuel for as long as those basic laws of supply and demand hold up. In other words, with millions of people living here, there will be millions of dollars to be made here--of course, if capitalism itself breaks down, well, then we're all in trouble. Just my ¥2, of course. Though the folks up in Emmonak are going to need more than ¥2 if they are going to make it.

Posted via email from thepete's posterous

Climate Change Cartoon Explains the Really Really Bad Stuff

Yeah, yeah, I know--it's ANOTHER explanation of global warming/climate change and you've heard it all before, right? Well, no, I don't think you've heard everything this 'toon has to tell you. Basically, up to this point, the message is that CC and GW are just going to effect the weather patterns. Maybe a few people have talked about how it'll make finding water harder, but this goes far beyond--it talks about the tipping point--the point at which everything will get exponentially worse regardless of what we do. The changes that occur may very well be a much faster change than most folks have been predicting. This cartoon also goes into the socio-economic issues that would result from CC and GW. As in: what people will do in order to survive (like kill each other for drinkable water). Finally, this film also goes into the role corporations and government have in causing all of this. The drive for money is what is holding us back, according to the filmmaker and I agree with him.

But enough of my blabbing, check out the cartoon and make up your own mind. Just don't stop watching because you know everything in the beginning--give it a few minutes to get to the new stuff. Trust me!


Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip from Leo Murray on Vimeo.

Please share this video. You never know, it just might make a difference!

OH forgot to link back to where I found it: http://reflectionof.me/catastrophic-climate-change

Climate Change at the American Museum of Natural History

The Climate Change exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History is open now and runs until August 16, 2009. Tickets are $24 for adults (cheaper for kids, students and seniors). Check out the ANMH website for more info: http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/climatechange
Read on to find out whether I think it's an exhibit worth checking out!

Recently, I got invited to a thing last night at the American Museum of Natural History--they opened up the Climate Change exhibit and their Butterfly Sanctuary for families and media (like me!) to come check it out sans crowds. They fed us and let us have at both exhibits.


In the shadow of a dinosaur skeleton they fed us. :)

Now, if you're wondering if it's worth it to check out an exhibit on Climate Change, don't doubt it--it's worth it. Especially Climate Change which is now open at the American Museum of Natural History until August 16, 2009. Now you may be wondering how I can fairly say that since I didn't have to pay to get in--well, just keep readin' tough guy!

It's easy to assume that you know everything there is to know about Global Warming and Climate Change, but have you seen what a fricken' 1 ton piece of coal looks like in person?

Have you ever seen a timeline, right in front of you, that chronicles the temperature of the Earth from the dawn of man through to present day? This isn't some cinematic Powerpoint presentation (not that there's anything wrong with that)--this exhibit allows you to get up close and personal with the facts--the seemingly endless stream of facts that all point to one thing--the climate is a-changing.

Maybe you're a naysayer or know someone who doesn't "believe" in Climate Change. This is an exhibit for the naysayer, too--I'm a healthy skeptic myself and while I knew the evidence is overwhelming, I found all of the evidence in one exhibit to be pretty damn persuasive. I think if people are unsure or even think Al Gore's movie is just propaganda they should check out the Climate Change exhibit at the AMNH. The amazingly long stack of evidence that Climate Change is a real and growing threat will help those on the fence get off of it.

Check it out--one of the things they have in the exhibit is a bank of three touchscreen computers that connect to one large projection screen. Each of the touchscreens allow you to work out just how much CO2 you spew into the sky due to the car you drive or the light bulbs you use or how many trees you don't plant. As you work through your answers, they show up on the bigger projection screen in one of the three rows. The thing that I found most interesting about this part of the exhibit was, that for me, the one with the cars was useless since I don't drive (I sold my car back in 2003 and now I'm a New York City resident). So first, I told it my commute from back, before I sold my car: 45 minutes into Hollywood and 45 back to Westwood, every day.

It told me my car and I were responsible for over 22,000 metric tons of CO2 for each year I drove. Then it asked me how much I could cut back--I told it I'd cut back to zero miles driven, the reduction in CO2 was obvious--but then, on the bigger screen in front of us, it showed us how much CO2 would NOT be in the atmosphere if everyone in America cut back to the same level:



Yeah, man--that's right--if everyone stopped driving we'd stop nearly 1.3 billion metric tons of CO2 from getting into the air.

See, I think it's these (not-so-)little facts that really put things into perspective.

Sure, you can sit around searching Wikipedia all night for this stuff, or you can go check these facts out in person.

There's plenty more to see there, too--videos, murals, and an actual-size model of one metric ton of coal. There are also plenty of things for kids to be entertained and educated by, as well. They can play with little wooden ice-shelves, learn about weather patterns on cool spherical video screens (I want one of these for home!!) and check out this poor polar bear:



I actually heard one little girl ask her mom why the polar bear was sad. Turns out that as Climate Change messes with the weather, the eating habits of polar bears are being changed, too. As a result they're moving further south in search of food and end up stumbling into areas where we humans live. I'm guessing that bear has just trashed an Inuit's summer home (the placard wasn't specific for what was in front of us, just saying the poor furry white guys sometimes end up in people's trash).

There's one last thing I want to point out to people about the Climate Change exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, whether they go or not--it's this picture:



That's a chart they had on display that makes one of the most important points there is to make about Climate Change and Global Warming and oil, coal and all of this stuff.

There is not just one solution--there are several. We all need to change in many different ways. Something else to note about that great chart is that most of that stuff isn't up to you and me to do--it falls on the doorstep of big business and government. We can't make sure that nuclear power or renewable energy sources are used by our power companies. What we can do is contact businesses we deal with, like our electric companies, for instance, and ask where they get their power from. Is it coal? Nukes? Solar? Hydro? What? If they're not talking alternatives, then see if you can find another supplier for your electricity.

But there's a lot more we can all do on our own and there's a lot more we can pressure big business and even government to do to help save the world. A fact that I wish the exhibit had included was the fact that too much pollution is created by factories, refineries, plants and even just buildings. One other note, I'm against nuclear power of any kind--it's ultimately unsafe and if we spent the money on developing solar, hydro or wind technology, we wouldn't ever have to worry about meltdowns. :)

But aaanyway, so it was a pretty fun exhibit. If you're in NYC or are planning a visit sometime before August 16, 2009, and have a spare $24 per person, it's definitely worth stopping in and hey, with that price you can check out the rest of the American Museum of Natural History while you're there. For twice the price of a movie ticket you can get yourself some knowledge--which is probably a heckuva lot more than you'd get at the movies. ;P

But here's a tip--if you're not able to make it or want to get a better sense of what's at this thing, check out the AMNH website for the Climate Change exhibit: http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/climatechange

It's got a lot of great stuff right there. Of course, it's no match for being at the museum in person.

You can also check out my Flickr photoset here: http://flickr.com/photos/thepete/sets/72157609325527271/

Is it the perfect exhibit? Probably not, but pound-for-pound you really are going to get your $24 worth.

Just my ¥2, as always!