A story in the New York Times recently portrays the ice cap in Greenland as rapidly disappearing. (NYT). Indeed, the pictures are dramatic. The story is based on experiences and observations from scientists working in the area, and it tends to support similar claims made by researchers in recent years about changing conditions in Greenland. At the same time, those who deny that global warming is occurring, or at least that it is not significantly caused by human activity, have pointed to other reasons for the reduction in the ice cap there. (Junk Science) Thus, observations are made that ...
On August 3, 2015, President Obama announced the finalization of the long-awaited Clean Power Plan, a policy primarily intended to further the commitment to combatting global warming. The Plan focuses on the electric power generating sector of the nation's economy, which is responsible for approximately 31% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions (primarily carbon dioxide, fluorinated gases, and nitrous oxide). The Plan intends to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 to levels below those generated in 2005. A fact sheet provided by U.S. EPA to accompany the President's ...
This past Monday (March 31), Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) presented its report: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Copies of the two-volume report can be viewed at the IPCC. The IPCC acts under the auspices of the United Nations and is composed of over 800 scientists and researchers from around the world who evaluate climate change data. This the IPCC's fifth such assessment since beginning in the 1990s, and it marks a significant shift from an effort to prevent or substantially limit climate change to a focus on ...