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Climate Change Has Arrived
Through erratic weather patterns, forest fires and glacier melt we are already experiencing the effects of climate change. Worse, the process of climate change, based on the levels of greenhouse gases we have already put in the atmosphere, is likely to increase the severity and frequency of severe weather events. If we allow levels of greenhouse gases to continue to rise, the disasters of today will be dwarfed by future catastrophic impacts.
Clearly, one of humanity’s principal challenges in this century will be to stop climate change. To do this, we must drastically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) – gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide that trap heat in the atmosphere, raising global temperature and thereby spurring climate change.
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You are now entering the nonlinearity zone…
Submitted by Paul Beckwith on Fri, 2012-09-28 15:28
By Paul Beckwith
Push something and it moves a little. Push it a little more and it moves a little more. This is called a “linearity” response. But sometimes a little push can lead to something totally unexpected! This is called “nonlinearity” and, contrary to what one might think, nonlinearities are inherent in most systems - like our atmosphere, for example. In fact, abrupt and unexpected change happens at some point in most systems - we even have a saying for such unexpected outcomes: a tipping point.
Until recently, our atmosphere and oceans behaved like linear systems: incremental dumping of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere caused incremental changes, like rising temperatures and predictable rates of ice melt. But things are now changing unexpectedly fast – nonlinearity is kicking in! We only have to look at the rapidly vanishing arctic icecap for astonishing evidence.... Read more »
Orwell would be impressed...
Submitted by John Bennett on Sun, 2012-09-23 20:05
The climate change issue reached new heights in Canadian public dialogue this week. It wasn’t because of the unprecedented melting of Arctic sea ice this summer, the phony-baloney announcement about Canada’s ‘progress’ toward meeting its greenhouse gas targets, or government’s caving on real regulations for coal plants. Nope, it wasn’t because of any of these worrisome situations.... Read more »
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The Feds Wind Hypocrisy
Submitted by Webmaster on Fri, 2012-09-14 19:01A MUST SEE! The cartoon below, a sad depiction of reality, says more than you could in 1000 words. Please share!
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Base wind debate on “facts, not fear”
Sierra Club executive director John Bennett does not believe the baby should be thrown out with the bath water.
He believes while Ontario's Green Energy Act may be imperfect, ground breaking legislation, it is still the centrepiece of Canada's response to climate change, the basic issue in the renewable energy debate.
At a Greater Napanee council meeting, Bennett was allowed to make his full presentation on the controversial topic in the Roblin community hall and there was an opportunity for questions and comment following the presentation.... Read more »
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Time to leave Fantasy Island; Climate 2.0 is here
Submitted by Paul Beckwith on Thu, 2012-11-15 00:47
By Paul Beckwith (with input from Matthew Ladd)
A few days ago in Ottawa, the temperature reached 21oC. The old record was 18oC and the average high for this time of year is 5oC. This is not a local Ottawa effect or a one-shot anomaly. Weather records that have stood the test of time for over 100 years are dropping like flies everywhere. What is causing this?
Canada’s main meteorological office generates its weather forecasts by running complex analogical weather prediction models (commonly referred to as the “analog method”). In the analog method the existing state of the atmosphere in a particular region is determined, and then compared against a massive database of atmospheric states for the same time and region in previous years. The closest matches of the atmospheric states are identified, and the forecast is basically obtained by examining how those prior systems evolved over time.... Read more »
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