black holes and gray matter. in one thousand tangos.

             
“Residents of Manhattan will not just sweat harder from rising temperatures in the future, says a new study; many may die. … Researchers at Columbia University estimate deaths linked to warming climate may rise some 20 percent by the 2020s, and, in some worst-case scenarios, 90 percent or more 70 years hence.”
American Scientific 
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[F]or the sake of our children and our future, we must do more to combat climate change. Yes, it’s true that no single event makes a trend. But the fact is, the 12 hottest years on record have all come in the last 15. Heat waves, droughts, wildfires, and floods – all are now more frequent and intense. We can choose to believe that Superstorm Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the worst wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence. Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science – and act before it’s too late.

The good news is, we can make meaningful progress on this issue while driving strong economic growth. I urge this Congress to pursue a bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change, like the one John McCain and Joe Lieberman worked on together a few years ago. But if Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations, I will.

”
POTUS
Without intervention feeding (flown-in seal meat), we’re going to lose polar bear populations to global warming. Ultimately, even flown-in food may be insufficient for some populations, assuming climate trends continue. That could mean moving low-latitude bears further north and putting more bears in zoos to preserve genetic diversity so that when the ice returns, a healthy polar bear population can be restored. “The problem for polar bears is that we might be talking hundreds or thousands of years before sea ice actually comes back in the full context of what we have today.” [photo]
Without intervention feeding (flown-in seal meat), we’re going to lose polar bear populations to global warming.

Ultimately, even flown-in food may be insufficient for some populations, assuming climate trends continue. That could mean moving low-latitude bears further north and putting more bears in zoos to preserve genetic diversity so that when the ice returns, a healthy polar bear population can be restored.

“The problem for polar bears is that we might be talking hundreds or thousands of years before sea ice actually comes back in the full context of what we have today.” [photo]

What Four More Years of the Obama Administration Means for Environmental Policy “For one, the Environmental Protection Agency can use its existing authority to push forward with a variety of pollution rules crafted during Obama’s first term. Fuel-economy standards for cars and some trucks will rise to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, cutting U.S. oil use by two million barrels per day over the coming decades. Likewise, new standards for toxic air pollutants such as mercury from power plants are unlikely to be repealed now that Obama has been reelected. As a result, utilities are expected to retire up to one-quarter of coal-fired power plants by 2016, replacing them largely with cleaner-burning natural gas.”

What Four More Years of the Obama Administration Means for Environmental Policy

“For one, the Environmental Protection Agency can use its existing authority to push forward with a variety of pollution rules crafted during Obama’s first term. Fuel-economy standards for cars and some trucks will rise to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, cutting U.S. oil use by two million barrels per day over the coming decades. Likewise, new standards for toxic air pollutants such as mercury from power plants are unlikely to be repealed now that Obama has been reelected. As a result, utilities are expected to retire up to one-quarter of coal-fired power plants by 2016, replacing them largely with cleaner-burning natural gas.”

For those who might be keeping score, we just passed the 333rd consecutive month of global temperatures above the 20th-century average. November 2012 was the fifth-warmest November since records began in 1880, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in its monthly climate report. The agency calculated that the 10 warmest Novembers on record have all occurred within the past 12 years.

For those who might be keeping score, we just passed the 333rd consecutive month of global temperatures above the 20th-century average.

November 2012 was the fifth-warmest November since records began in 1880, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in its monthly climate report. The agency calculated that the 10 warmest Novembers on record have all occurred within the past 12 years.

©2011 Kateoplis