Global Warming from ScienceDaily

http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/earth_climate/global_warming/ is a web site with nearly daily news about Global Warming. If anyone reading this knows of a site that lists the Global Warming antagonists, I'd like to list them here. Often (always?) they choose names that would allow the reader to "ass"ume that they are just the opposite: sites like this one that assume the global warming debate is over and the only questions are, where do we go from here? I know, for example, that there is a site that I thought might have been backed by BP Oil, not sure, but it talks about the good things Global Warming will and/or is doing for Canada. Surely a warmer Canada must be a good thing as vegetation and animal species continue their march northward. Right? Well, it doesn't take a Ph.D. in ecology to know that the earth is made up of ecosystems, and by definition any warming of Canada will mean a change to its ecosystems. (Moving to Georgia from Ohio has shown me an example of this unrelated to Global Warming: Kudzu (see below).) Speaking of ScienceDaily:

Researchers have long debated the consequences of introducing non-native species into ecosystems. Recently, these debates have centered upon the effects of invasive exotics, and dramatic pictures of grasslands filled with leafy spurge, water pipes clogged by zebra mussels, and forest trees killed by kudzu vines have fostered the public's understanding of the issue. But now, two Canadian scientists are suggesting that even the introduction of some less aggressive species may have far-reaching negative repercussions. Source: ScienceDaily accessed 12 September 2007, originally published 29 October 1999 by the Ecological Society Of America.

Interestingly, it turns out Kudzu (a vine that was introduced in Georgia to help control soil erosion) is falling victim to a new disease that also affects farmers' crops in the southeast United States: Asian Soybean Rust Disease. Note, there is nothing here intended to link this disease to Global Warming, but to publicize the parallel changes in ecosystems as the climate changes.

Ice Disappearing: Northwest Passage Nearly Open

Source: earthobservatory.nasa.gov:

For over 500 years, Arctic explorers have sought a passage between the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, often called the Northwest Passage, would connect Europe to Asia. Even in modern times, navigating from the Atlantic to the Pacific through Canada’s Arctic islands has been difficult. The summer of 2007, however, melted enough sea ice in Canada’s far north to open up this long-sought passage.


This image shows the islands north of mainland Canada adjacent to Greenland, as observed by the the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) flying on NASA’s Aqua satellite on August 29, 2007. While the usual veil of clouds over the Arctic is visible through the scene, the sea ice pack that normally covers the water between the islands is absent. Areas often choked with ice at this time of year, but free of it in this MODIS scene, include the Parry and McClintock Channels and the McClure Strait. Larsen Sound and Victoria Strait are hidden beneath cloud cover, but they are also largely free of sea ice. This provided a nearly ice-free connection between Baffin Bay (a long body of water between Canada’s Baffin Island and Greenland that is regularly ice-free in summer) and the Arctic Ocean. An ice-free gap between the North American mainland and the Arctic sea, not shown here, extends all the way to the Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia, creating a connection almost free of all sea ice from the North Atlantic to the North Pacific.

Environmentally-Friendly GreenPan Cookware Sells Out in Four Hours

You may use this content (better still, argue with me!), but please cite the the PRNewswire, © 2007. I have expressed no opinions in this post--Dr. Bruce Klopfenstein. It's interesting that this article suggests consumers may be "easily" persuaded to buy "green" products.
I certainly can NOT vouch for this product in any way, shape or form, but here is their news release that sounds good anyway:

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Environmentally-Friendly GreenPan Cookware Sells Out in Four Hours During the World Launch Exclusively on HSN
Issue: 08/27/07 | From: Backchannelmedia
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Aug. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- GreenPan(TM) cookware with breakthrough Thermolon(TM) non-stick coating made history on HSN and http://www.HSN.com when it debuted Thursday, July 26th and sold 24,000 pieces in just under 4 hours.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070214/CLW048LOGO-b )

HSN's "Mother of Invention" Joy Mangano and celebrity chef Todd English unveiled GreenPan(TM), the first environmentally-friendly, PTFE-free non-stick cookware, selling out 4 products during the live TV shopping debut. Sold out items included:

-- 6-piece GreenPan(TM) cookware set consisting of an 8 inch Fry Pan, 11

inch round Grill Pan, 11 inch Fry Pan, and 11 inch Steamer Insert

-- 8 inch Fry Pan

-- 12 inch Fry Pan

-- 3-piece Wok Set

"With GreenPan(TM), we are changing the future of cookware. This launch was the culmination of a remarkable year spent developing this incredible technology and applying it to everyday products," said legendary HSN on-air personality Joy Mangano. "Consumer response was heartwarming and encouraging. People are trying to do their part for the environment and thinking towards the future!"

GreenPan(TM) cookware with Thermolon(TM) non-stick coating was developed in partnership between HSN and manufacturing company, GreenPan(TM) LTD. Thermolon(TM) is the first patented, ceramic-based nano non-stick coating that performs at high temperatures without deterioration. It is PTFE-free, and uses no PFOA in manufacturing, making GreenPan(TM) cookware "green" in manufacturing.

Lowest Streamflow in 110 Years Recorded in North Carolina

You may use this content (better still, argue with me!), but please cite the the Environment News Service and the U.S. Geological Survey, © 2007. I have expressed no opinions in this post--Dr. Bruce Klopfenstein. Find any typos? Please let email me!

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Lowest Streamflow in 110 Years Recorded in North Carolina

RALEIGH, North Carolina, August 31, 2007 (ENS) - The lowest average August streamflow in 110 years of North Carolina recordkeeping was measured last month on the Tar River at Tarboro, in the east-central part of the state.

Streamflow figures released by the U.S. Geological Survey, USGS, on Friday show that the hot, dry days of August brought record lows to many of the state's rivers and streams amidst worsening drought conditions. People across most of eastern North Carolina are being asked to conserve as much water as they can.

Environment News Service, http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2007/2007-08-31-091.asp

The USGS and its federal, state, and local cooperators maintain 270 streamgaging stations and 39 monitoring wells throughout North Carolina.

These measurements show that the lowest average August streamflow on record occurred at 12 other monitoring stations in the state, but not compared to a 110 year period as on the Tar River.

Q&A With Al Gore

Here's a very recent interview with Al Gore appearing in Rolling Stone magazine. It still seems fashionable to make light of, if not outright bash Gore. It really does seem like the right person, for the right job, at the right time. I'm not sure how anyone can comment on "An Inconvenient Truth" without seeing it, but they do. I caught even left-leaning comedian Bill Maher literally saying "Al Gore's just to easy to be made fun of." OK, so he said he invented the Internet. Get over it. By now, Gore has the resilience of a prize fighter, I'm sure. At any case, anyone under 60 or with children will experience the effects of Global Warming (someone tell me about the genesis of "Climate Change." I realize it somehow took the wind out of the sails of the anti-Global Warming myth making machine: insert politically conservative organization here).

I want to post a link here to the Rolling Stone recent Rolling Stone article which includes an interview with Vice President Gore.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/15051572/al_gores_fight_against_the_climate_crisis. Interesting, Al Gore argues that this is not a political issue.)

The "Global Warming Is a Myth" Crowd

You may use this content (better still, argue with me!), but please cite my ideas as © 2007, Dr. Bruce Klopfenstein. Find any typos? Please let me know!

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While researching funding sources for my desire to produce an interactive television program about Global Warming, I found this from an independent/liberal web site, http://www.democracynow.org:

A new investigation by Mother Jones magazine has revealed that ExxonMobil has spent at least $8 million dollars funding a network of groups to challenge the existence of global warming. We speak with the author of the report, a member of one the organizations that receives money from Exxon and a journalist covering environmental and climate change issues.

You can go to the site, http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/22/1338256&mode=thread&tid=25, to listen to an archived newscast that includes this discussion.

As is not atypical in U.S. politics, groups choose names that confuse the audience. For example, who do you think is behind http://www.globalwarming.org/? Well, it's certainly not people who are trying to educate the population about Global Warming and what to do about it. Instead, it cleverly has links to resources that challenge the position that we are experiencing Global Warming and that human activity is a major cause of the phenomenon. For an example, see http://www.cato.org/research/nat-studies/global-warming.html Here is a gem from globalwarming.com:

Consumer Alert
November 11, 2000

The Global Warming Debate [Debate?]

In 1992 the United States and nations from around the world met at the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio and agreed to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000. The Rio Treaty was not legally binding and, because reducing emissions would likely cause great economic damage [emphasis added], many nations will not meet the goal.

What a great exercise for rhetoricians. The assumption that "reducing emissions would likely cause great economic damage" should be held up to scrutiny. The mainstream media have been very slow to take-up the Global Warming issue, but if you check English language news sites around the world, Global Warming is not portrayed as a "debate" but rather a problem that we need to address.

The goal of the reactionaries to the science of Global Warming have cleverly cast it as a "debate." This debate would be about the same as the "debate" as to whether the sun rises in the east or rises in the west. Wired magazine ran a story last year about how some scientists are being paid off by "grants" from utilities to offset the "alarmist" Global Warming scientists http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2006/07/71486


This is discouraging because this site politicizes Global Warming. Is Global Warming really a political issue? The answer would seem to be "yes" to those who assume all the scientists in the world are part of a liberal underground that somehow wants to bring down the U.S. economy in particular by, presumably, taking all the cars and trucks off the highways for starters. What a shame that these otherwise bright people aren't putting their energies into developing profitable technologies that put less greenhouse gases into the air and maybe even remove it. If you are scratching your head about why there are so many skeptics about Global Warming, The Wichita Eagle asks the same question.

My question to the oil and coal industries is why are you so worried that addressing Global Warming is a threat to you? No one is predicting a reduction in the demand for energy globally, quite the contrary. Where is the corporate conscience on this issue? Any energy company that develops new technologies that reduce carbon emissions will be cheered by everyone, especially investors. Oh, well, all the CEOs once told a Congressional hearing that there was no link between smoking and lung cancer.

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Image above courtesy of http://www.vincedorse.com/gallery/GlobalWarmingMyth.html.

Al Gore, Stand-up Comedian

You may use this content (better still, argue with me!), but please cite my ideas as © 2007, Dr. Bruce Klopfenstein. Find any typos? Please let me know!
There is a web site called http://www.ted.com that calls itself "TED: Ideas worth spreading."

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes). It presently includes a presentation by Al Gore that was created after An Inconvenient Truth. The first half is Al Gore, the stand-up comedian. I was always perplexed at the critics that called his personality to be "wooden." I personally was pleasantly surprised at how animated he was in the 2000 campaign, especially the "debates" (I agree that they are really joint press conferences). You can see an update to his famous PowerPoint presentation at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/1.

The site says

About this Talk

With the same humor and humanity he exuded in An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore spells out 15 ways we can address climate change, from buying a hybrid car to inventing a hotter brand name for global warming. First, though, comes a hilarious set of stories from The New Gore, who turns out to be a stand-up comedian. The former Vice President has plenty of joke material, and he's funnier than you've ever seen him. Then he gets down to grittier matters with a list of actions ordinary people can take to stem the tide of global warming. His message: Doing something is easier than you think.

Sounds like a winner to me.