Hot Topic

Fab four: ways to meet the climate challenge

Bryan Walker • Oct 08, 2009

• Adaptation,
• bryan walker,
• Climate business,
• Climate politics,
• energy efficiency,
• forests,
• rainforest,
• renewable

Yet another pre-Copenhagen report has been released, this time  jointly from the influential Center for American Progress, the progressive think tank headed by John Podesta, President Clinton’s former chief of staff,  and the United Nations Foundation, the body founded with Ted Turner’s $1 billion gift in 1998 to support UN causes and activities. Meeting the [...] … Read More

A beginner’s guide to the importance of Arctic sea ice

Gareth Renowden • Oct 07, 2009

• arctic,
• Climate Science,
• NASA,
• sea ice

This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video. In this beginner’s guide Tom Wagner, NASA’s cryosphere programme manager, outlines why studying Arctic sea ice is important, illustrating his talk with some great graphics. Meanwhile, the NSIDC has announced the final figures for September’s sea [...] … Read More

Nine ways to stuff up a planet

Gareth Renowden • Oct 06, 2009

• acidification,
• Climate Science,
• co2,
• McKIbben

How is humanity stuffing up the planet — shall we count the ways? There are nine, according to new work by a multidisciplinary team lead by Johan Rockström of the Stockholm Resilience Centre — full paper and supporting materials (with videos of authors explaining key points) here. The diagram above (from Nature’s coverage) shows the [...] … Read More

What’s the worst that could happen?

Bryan Walker • Oct 03, 2009

• Book reviews,
• bryan walker,
• review

Greg Craven has been a YouTube phenomenon. Seven million people have viewed his short climate change video posted in 2007, The Most Terrifying Video You’ll Ever See. It was followed up with a number of others. Now he’s produced a lively and engaging book What’s The Worst That Could Happen?  A Rational Response to the Climate [...] … Read More

How not to negotiate #1

Gareth Renowden • Oct 01, 2009

• Adrian Macey,
• Bangkok,
• Climate politics,
• Copenhagen,
• Greenpeace,
• John Key

New Zealand’s commitment to piffling and highly conditional emissions targets appears to have been weakened even further by chief negotiator Adrian Macey’s admission in an interview with Point Carbon that if the conditions aren’t met: “…we reserve the right to drop (our target) below 10 per cent.” As Geoff Key of Greenpeace notes, this is like holding [...] … Read More

Dewhurst’s den

Gareth Renowden • Oct 01, 2009

• Climate cranks,
• cranks,
• NZ CSC,
• Roger Dewhurst

Time for Roger Dewhurst to have his own thread. Roger, post only here, please. Any comments elsewhere will be deleted. Read More

Postcard from Bangkok

Gareth Renowden • Sep 30, 2009

• Bangkok,
• Barry Coates,
• Climate politics,
• Copenhagen,
• Oxfam

This is a guest blog from Oxfam NZ’s executive director Barry Coates, in Bangkok for the latest round of negotiations in the run-up to Copenhagen. Barry sets the scene: Tcktcktck. The clock counts down to the deadline for climate change negotiations. Not to achieve an agreement is unthinkable. It was good last week to hear the [...] … Read More

Time loves a hero

Bryan Walker • Sep 30, 2009

• bryan walker,
• Climate politics,
• Climate Progress,
• Joe Romm,
• TIME

“I used to be very frustrated. But the blog keeps my blood pressure down.” Joseph Romm, quoted in Time Magazine’s article naming him as one of their Heroes of the Environment 2009. His blog Climate Progress doesn’t read like a blood pressure-lowering exercise. Every day brings several fresh and vigorous posts cheering on those working to [...] … Read More

Carter, the unstoppable text machine

Gareth Renowden • Sep 29, 2009

• Bob Carter,
• Climate cranks,
• cooling,
• cranks,
• NZ CSC

Bob Carter’s writing style (logorrhea, leavened with pomposity) is on display once more at Quadrant Online, and this week’s missive from planet Bob – headlined Media Ecoevangelists — finds him fulminating about an ABC documentary on the future of coal, The Coal Nightmare. I can’t comment on the film, it not having screened over here [...] … Read More

Sciblogging: they blinded me with science

Gareth Renowden • Sep 28, 2009

• Climate Science,
• Hot Topic,
• Sciblogs

This week sees the launch of the next big thing in science communication down under – Sciblogs, the new science blogging platform from the NZ Science Media Centre. Sciblogs is hosting 25 blogs, from scientists in Crown Research Institutes, universities and private research companies, with two dozen PhDs involved. I’m letting the side down on [...] … Read More