global warming posts, articles, and infographics

326 consecutive months of above average global temperatures

May 25, 2012 by Gernot Wagner
with 5 views

Paul Volcker may have $3 billion of “I told you so” J.P. Morgan Chase losses to point to. Al Gore has 326 months, and counting. Somehow I doubt either feels gleeful, although I wouldn’t blame them:April was the 326th month in a row the global temperature was above average when compared with the 20th century:The last time the globe had a... [read more]

Reduce CO2 and Slow Global Warming?

April 30, 2012 by Willem Post
with 505 views

People have been concerned about what global warming, GW, may do to their future well-being for at least the past 50 years. Governments and academia responded by performing studies to identify the causes and holding international meetings to get agreement on future actions. Current annual spending has risen to about $200 billion to... [read more]

2012 Is The 4th Warmest Winter for U.S.

March 8, 2012 by Dan Huber
with 722 views

NOAA reported today that whis winter turned out to be the 4th warmest on record in the contiguous United States. That’s not surprising given how much the world has warmed over the past few decades. In fact, all of the seven warmest years in over 100 years of climate data have occurred since 1992, and over the past three decades, a warmer... [read more]

Suck It Up: A book about climate change, geoengineering and air capture of CO2

March 2, 2012 by Marc Gunther
with 538 views

Editor's note: Marc Gunther is a long-time advisory board member and contributor to TEC. Congratulations to Marc on the publication of his new book! I’m pleased to let you know that my book, Suck It Up: How capturing carbon from the air can help solve the climate crisis, is being published today as an Amazon Kindle Single. Please... [read more]

Top Three Reasons Cheap Natural Gas Won’t Kill Renewable Energy

February 22, 2012 by Joseph Romm
with 426 views

I’ll be the first to admit that cheap natural gas prices are one of the biggest short-term threats to deployment of renewable energy in the U.S. today. With a glut of gas dropping prices to historic lows, the competitiveness of technologies like wind, solar PV, and solar hot water are facing significant challenges. But here’s the... [read more]

Is Climate Change Bringing the Arctic to Europe?

February 7, 2012 by Joseph Romm
with 1,420 views

Less Summer Arctic Sea Ice Cover May Mean Some Colder, Snowier Winters in Central Europe [For Now] [T]he probability of cold winters with much snow in Central Europe rises when the Arctic is covered by less sea ice in summer. Scientists of the Research Unit Potsdam of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in... [read more]

Keystone Rejection Highlights Need for Improved Safety in Energy Production

January 30, 2012 by Peter Lehner
with 181 views

On the day that President Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have brought corrosive Canadian tar sands oil through America largely for export, I was at an energy conference in Houston, listening to a tar sands representative talk about what the industry had done, and would do in the future, to reduce the impacts of tar... [read more]

Arizona: Climate Impact Ground Zero?

January 19, 2012 by David Lewis
with 346 views

"A Great Aridness: Climate Change and the Future of the American Southwest", the recent book written by William deBuys, is getting some attention. The NYTimes summed up the book by quoting the author: "The story of the West is essentially a story about water". The reporter paused then quoted deBuys again: "and its... [read more]

The Carbon Emissions Quandary

January 14, 2012 by Robert Rapier
with 591 views

In the first episode of R-Squared Energy TV for 2012, I give a short presentation on global warming. I believe there are a number of misconceptions around the U.S. contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, and I provide some graphics that may surprise some viewers. Some of the topics discussed are: What do I think about... [read more]

Adapting to Mild Winters

January 13, 2012 by Simon Donner
with 133 views

Just before the holidays, I posted this short video about how the shrinking lake ice "season" across much of the Northern Hemisphere is one of the clear physical signs of climate change, and might affect the holiday tradition in my family.This year, there was no skating or hockey for us. The lake was frozen, but just barely thick enough... [read more]

Meet a Cleantech VC Who is Unconvinced of Man-Made Climate Change

January 3, 2012 by David Gold
with 627 views

Go ahead -- call me a hypocrite. I claim to be a cleantech venture capitalist yet I tell you here and now that I am not convinced of anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change (aka global warming). And I will audaciously tell you that my convictions on climate change in no way run contrary to my strong belief in the need for a cleantech revolution. [read more]

This Jacket Will Not Stop Global Warming

December 19, 2011 by Gernot Wagner
with 375 views

Patagonia, the outdoor clothing and apparel company, ran an eye-catching, full-page ad in The New York Times the day after Thanksgiving, the busiest shopping day of the year. The headline, “Don’t Buy this Jacket,” was above a photo of one of its products and some text that reminded us of its environmental footprint: 135 liters of water,... [read more]

Making Sense Out of Durban

December 13, 2011 by Marc Gunther
with 200 views

So what the heck happened in Durban? Is the world closer to dealing with the problem of global warming? Or not? If, like me, you aren’t a devotee of the UN climate negotiations, reading the headlines isn’t much help. From the glass-half-full crowd: Progress at end of Durban Cop17 climate talks (LA Times). Reason to smile about Durban climate conference (Eugene Robinson in the WPost). Climate deal salvaged after marathon talks (The Guardian). From the pessimists: How the world failed to address climate change–again (Michael Levi at The Atlantic.com). The Durban climate deal failed to meet the needs of the developing world (The Guardian, again). COP out (South Africa’s Cape Times). [read more]

What Must COP17 Negotiations Accomplish To Matter Part 3

December 1, 2011 by Jake Schmidt
with 137 views

One year ago, countries rallied around the Cancun Agreements with multiple standing ovations and strong words of support. While these agreements are not sufficient by themselves to fully address global warming, there are several key elements which establish a foundation for international action on global warming. Since Cancun... [read more]

Does Germany Make a Difference in Global Warming?

November 23, 2011 by Willem Post
with 1,003 views

In September 2010, the German government announced the following three targets: Renewable electricity: 35% (or 38.6%) of total electricity production, TEP, by 2020, 50% by 2030, 65% by 2040 and 80% by 2050 Renewable electricity was 16.8% of TEP in 2011 and 19.8% in 2011.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [read more]