Two dear friends of mine are planning to climb Mt. Blanc in September. I'm concerned because 9 climbers just died in an avalanche there. My friends are very safety-conscious, so they're going to evaluate the situation when they get there and make a final decision.
In reading the article, I noticed that global warming was mentioned near the top as a probable cause of the avalanche, with melting snow creating unstable conditions.
Then I read another article in The New York Times the same week, a long story that started on Page 1 about the terrible drought in the West that's forcing a lot of ranchers to sell their cattle early and at a loss. No mention of climate change, even though both increased droughts and flooding are two primary consequences of climate change.
Today, a quirky article in the Times said a new assignment for the Coast Guard in Alaska will only expand "as global warming melts these once ice-locked waters."
I find it gratifying that, at least in our nation's liberal newspaper of record, references to global warming and climate change to explain various phenomena are starting to make regular appearances, even if they often still aren't mentioned.
Bill McKibben has a new article in Rolling Stone, in which he mentions 3 numbers: 2 degrees Celsius is what most governments have agreed the planet can't warm above without risking catastrophic climatic changes; 565 Gigatons is the amount of carbon we can spew into the air and not go above that 2 degree rise; and 2,795 Gigatons is the amount of carbon already contained in the proven global coal and oil and gas reserves. Since that larger number is five times greater than 565 gigatons, and since the fossil fuel industry and most politicians seem intent on exploiting every last ounce of coal, oil, and natural gas, "We have a problem, Houston." (And Houston, being on the Gulf coast, will assuredly have a problem with rising sea levels due to global warming).
Another number McKibben noted that I find scary is that May marked "the 327th consecutive month in which the temperature of the entire globe exceeded the 20th century average, the odds of which occurring by simple chance were 3.7x10 to the 99th, a number considerably larger than the number of stars in the universe."
If you already believe that global warming is real, and human-caused in large part, these numbers could either energize you or paralyze you, but if you don't believe it's real, then I don't think these numbers -- or any numbers -- would convince you. Just ask my brother. More on that to come.
In reading the article, I noticed that global warming was mentioned near the top as a probable cause of the avalanche, with melting snow creating unstable conditions.
Then I read another article in The New York Times the same week, a long story that started on Page 1 about the terrible drought in the West that's forcing a lot of ranchers to sell their cattle early and at a loss. No mention of climate change, even though both increased droughts and flooding are two primary consequences of climate change.
Today, a quirky article in the Times said a new assignment for the Coast Guard in Alaska will only expand "as global warming melts these once ice-locked waters."
I find it gratifying that, at least in our nation's liberal newspaper of record, references to global warming and climate change to explain various phenomena are starting to make regular appearances, even if they often still aren't mentioned.
Bill McKibben has a new article in Rolling Stone, in which he mentions 3 numbers: 2 degrees Celsius is what most governments have agreed the planet can't warm above without risking catastrophic climatic changes; 565 Gigatons is the amount of carbon we can spew into the air and not go above that 2 degree rise; and 2,795 Gigatons is the amount of carbon already contained in the proven global coal and oil and gas reserves. Since that larger number is five times greater than 565 gigatons, and since the fossil fuel industry and most politicians seem intent on exploiting every last ounce of coal, oil, and natural gas, "We have a problem, Houston." (And Houston, being on the Gulf coast, will assuredly have a problem with rising sea levels due to global warming).
Another number McKibben noted that I find scary is that May marked "the 327th consecutive month in which the temperature of the entire globe exceeded the 20th century average, the odds of which occurring by simple chance were 3.7x10 to the 99th, a number considerably larger than the number of stars in the universe."
If you already believe that global warming is real, and human-caused in large part, these numbers could either energize you or paralyze you, but if you don't believe it's real, then I don't think these numbers -- or any numbers -- would convince you. Just ask my brother. More on that to come.
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