science funding slashed

source: turn up the heat on climate denial

This is why, and how, climate skepticism matters in 2015: The most storied science agency, NASA, of the biggest national carbon emitter, the USA (in per capita/annual and total/cumulative terms), just suffered a slash to its funding. The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology approved 2016 and 2017 NASA budgets that reduce science funding by $323 million.

One of NASA's missions is to understand how our planet works. Chief among this quest is keeping track of climate change. NASA's climate research is part of the agency's Earth science program. In the current fiscal year, this program is funded at $1.773 billion. President Obama requested $1.947 billion for 2016. But the new budget, just approved, is $ 1.450 billion under the 'if-all-goes-well' plan, the so-called aspirational scenario, or $1.199 billion under the 'if-we-need-to-tighten-our-belts' plan, the constrained scenario. Compared to 2015 funding, the aspirational scenario constitutes an 18% cut; compared to Obama's request, it's a 26% cut. The constrained scenario amounts to a 32% cut; compared to the request, it's a 38% cut.

Why is this happening? Because the members of the House Committee believe NASA should deal with outer space, not with mother Earth. As NASA Administrator Bolden rightly understands, this move is intended to gut NASA's Earth science & climate program.

And why the members of the House Science Committee wish to gut this program? Because the Committee Chair Lamar Smith (Republican) is a climate denier.  This is the logic of skepticism: since the skeptic would have to change his mind if he were scientifically literate, he uses his power to fight against scientific literacy.

impact on life

Since the exposure to a new kind of scientific illiteracy that doubts the negative consequences of climate change, news on such consequences catch my attention. Case in point is a recent paper by Mark Urban in Science 348 (May 2015): 571-573, which has been noted in the mainstream press (see here and here). Over impacts on biodiversity, this updates older estimates. A textbook summary (2009) on negative impacts was Michael E. Mann's and Lee R. Kump's Dire Predictions: Understanding Global Warming (a 2nd edition is currently in preparation), based on the 2007 AR-4. Here's a screenshot of Mann/Kump p. 108:

On p. 109 is a scale of impacts and temperature rise:

The pre-2010 estimates on the impact on life had been: if +2 C, then 9%-31% of species will go extinct; if +4 C, then 40%-70% of species will go extinct. Urban's 2015 paper corrects this estimate. The new finding is based on a data synthesis (a meta-analysis and model-averaging approach) of climate-and-extinction studies published over the past five years, with some clean-up (like getting rid of outliers). The Science editorial sums it up:

Biologists worry that the rapid rates of warming projected for the planet will doom many species to extinction. Species could face extinction with climate change if climatically suitable habitat disappears or is made inaccessible by geographic barriers or species' inability to disperse. Previous studies have provided region- or taxon-specific estimates of biodiversity loss with climate change that range from 0% to 54%, making it difficult to assess the seriousness of this problem. ... Urban provides a synthetic and sobering estimate of climate change–induced biodiversity loss by applying a model-averaging approach to 131 of these studies. The result is a projection that up to one-sixth of all species may go extinct if we follow “business as usual” trajectories of carbon emissions.

Older studies show a wide variation of estimated losses, which is no big mystery, since estimates vary with temperature rise as well as with region. South America will be hit hardest, Europe will be spared the worst, and how hard Asia is going to be hit needs further research. (That South America may lose a quarter of its species makes sense due to its huge diversity in the Amazon Basin.)  One factor that apparently does not create extra variability is taxonomic group. That's new. Conventional wisdom says that amphibians will suffer disproportionately, but the meta-analysis doesn't seem to bear this out. The upshot now (2015) is this:

Overall, 7.9% of species are predicted to become extinct from climate change; … Results were robust to model type, weighting scheme, statistical method, potential publication bias, and missing studies … The factor that best explained variation in extinction risk was the level of future climate change. The future global extinction risk from climate change is predicted not only to increase but to accelerate as global temperatures rise … Global extinction risks increase from 2.8% at present to 5.2% at the international policy target of a 2°C post-industrial rise, which most experts believe is no longer achievable. If the Earth warms to 3°C, the extinction risk rises to 8.5%. If we follow our current, business-as-usual trajectory [4.3°C rise], climate change threatens one in six species (16%). Results were robust to alternative data transformations and were bracketed by models with liberal and conservative extinction thresholds. (Emphasis mine. Condensed and with annotations deleted; cf. Mark Urban, loc. cit., 571).

Four points are noteworthy:

• The 2 C target seems no longer achievable. (As source for this consensus, Urban cites S. Fuss et al., "Betting on negative emissions." Nature Clim. Change 4, 850–853 (2014).)
• The 4 C trajectory is the now the likeliest track. On this track, one in six species will go extinct.
• This is bad but better than the 2009 Mann/Kump estimate of 40%-70% losses on this track.
• The conclusion of the negative impact of climate change on life remains unchanged.

That's it. Not trying to be too negative here, but other dark clouds are looming, too. One is a possible upwards correction of the probability of nonlinear changes--global warming may move faster than expected. Another is that we have now a one in ten chance that global warming will now shift on a new track: 6 C, not 4 C.

In either of these cases, Mann/Kump would be right on target.

the geography of denial

The Pulitzer-Prize-winning website Inside Climate News has an excellent post on the geographic differences in the understanding of climate change, titled "U.S. is Laggard Among Developed Nations in Understanding Climate Change". The source is given as "a 2010 Gallup poll on climate beliefs in 111 countries" and the data "was part of a 2015 analysis by Cardiff University (UK) researchers examining climate attitudes since the 1980s". The analyst is Stuart Capstick at Cardiff's School of Psychology. He is the lead author of "International trends in public perceptions of climate change over the past quarter century," an open access article in WIRE: Climate Change 6 (2015): 35-61. Inside Climate News cites a great graphic from this study:

climate update 2013-2014

September- November (Fall)

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Production in Southern Ethiopia: Perceptions and Empirical Evidence." Agricultural

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Qiu, J. "Tibetan Glaciers Are Shrinking at Their Summits." Nature. Nature Publishing Group, 17

Sept. 2013. Web. 16 Jan. 2015.

Das, B. "Climate Change Dries up India Tea Production." Al Jazeera English. 9 Sept 2013. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.

Longman, R., A. Fraizer, and C. Mora. "Study in Nature Reveals Urgent New Time Frame for

Climate Change." University of Hawaii. 9 Oct. 2013. Web. 16 Dec. 2014.

Brown, D. "Climate Change Affects Guyana's Coconut Farms."  Al Jazeera English. Al Jazeera,

15 Oct 2013. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.

Estrada, Francisco, Pierre Perron, and Benjamín Martínez-López. "Statistically Derived

Contributions of Diverse Human Influences to Twentieth-century Temperature Changes."

Nature Geoscience. Nature Publishing Group. 10 Nov 2013. Web. 11 Feb 2015.

Krishnaswamy, J., R. John, and S. Joseph. "Consistent Response of Vegetation Dynamics to Recent Climate Change in Tropical Mountain Regions."Global Change Biology. 17 Nov.

2013. Web. 9 Feb. 2015.

Yung-Jaan, L., and P. Li-Pei. "Taiwan's Ecological Footprint" Sustainability. 10 Sep. 2014. Web.

1 Feb. 2015

Kapnick, S, T. Delworth, S. Malyshev, et al., "Snowfall Less Sensitive to Warming in  

             Karakoram than in Himalayas Due to a Unique Seasonal Cycle." Nature Geoscience.   

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LAUSTSEN, P., and C. Puckett. "Walruses Are Hauling out on Land Instead of Ice Because of

Climate-induced Warming." United States Geological Survey. 1 Oct. 2014. Web. 10 Feb.

2015.

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Warming." Nature. Nature Publishing Group. 5 Oct 2014. Web. 31 Dec 2014.

Romps, D., J. Seeley, D. Vallaro, and J. Molinari. "Projected Increase in Lightning Strikes in the

United States Due to Global Warming." Science. American Association for the Advancement of Science, 14 Nov. 2014. Web. 14 Feb. 2015.

Wines, Michael. "Climate Change Threatens to Strip the Identity of Glacier National Park." The

New York Times. 22 Nov. 2014. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.

December - February (Winter)

Gillis, Justin. "Not Even Close: 2012 Was Hottest Ever in U.S." The New York Times. The New

York Times, 8 Jan 2013. Web. 31 Dec. 2014.

Gillis, Justin. "How High Could the Tide Go?" The New York Times. The New York Times, 21

Jan. 2013. Web. 31 Dec. 2014.

Narayanan. "Climate Change May Disrupt Monarch Butterfly Migration." Scientific American

Global RSS. 22 Feb. 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.

Rosenzweig, C., and Peter Neofotis. "Detection and Attribution of Anthropogenic Climate

Change Impacts." Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change. Wiley and Sons. 26

Feb 2013. Web. 10 Jan. 2015.

Christidis, Nikolaos, and Peter A. Stott. "Change in the Odds of Warm Years and Seasons Due to

Anthropogenic Influence on the Climate." Journal of Climate. American Meteorological

Society. 13 Dec. 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.

Visser, Nick. "Climate Change Worse Than We Thought, Likely To Be 'Catastrophic Rather

Than Simply Dangerous'" The Huffington Post. 31 Dec. 2013. Web. 18 Jan. 2015.

Cairns, John. "Ecological Overshoot Is Suicidal."  EcoRes Forum Online E-Conference #3,

Climate Change and You: Putting a Face on Global Warming, Virginia Tech University, posted at 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.

Rana, Arun. Climate Change Effects On Rainfall And Management Of Urban Flooding. SwePub.

1 Jan 2013. Web. 1 Feb. 2015.

Kendon, E., N. Roberts, H. Fowler, M. Roberts, S. Chan, and C. Senior. "Heavier Summer

Downpours with Climate Change Revealed by Weather Forecast Resolution Model." Nature Climate Change. Nature Publishing Group. 7 Feb 2014. Web. 10 Feb 2015.

Cowtan, Kevin,  Robert G. Way. "Coverage Bias in the HadCRUT4 Temperature Series and Its

Impact on Recent Temperature Trends." Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological

Society. 12 Feb 2014. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.

Sheppard, Kate. "Climate Change Takes A Village-As The Planet Warms, A Remote Alaskan

Town Shows Just How Unprepared We Are." The Huffington Post. 14 Dec. 2014. Web.

18 Jan. 2015.

Lawrence, Deborah, and Karen Vandecar. "Effects of Tropical Deforestation on Climate and

Agriculture." Nature. Nature Publishing Group, 18 Dec. 2014. Web. 19 Dec. 2014.

Ray, D. Gerber, J. et al.. “Climate variation explains a third of global crop yield variability.”

Nature Communications. Nature Publishing Group. 22 Jan 2015. Web. 2 April 2015.

Franchini, M. and Pier Mannuccio, M. "Impact On Human Health Of Climate Changes."

European Journal Of Internal Medicine. Jan 2015. Web. 5 Apr.

2015.

Princé, Karine, and Benjamin Zuckerberg. "Climate Change In Our Backyards: The Reshuffling

Of North America's Winter Bird Communities." Global Change Biology. Environment Index. 11 Feb 2015. Web. 5 Apr. 2015.

Mauger, Guillaume1, et al. "Impacts Of Climate Change On Milk Production In The United

States." Professional Geographer. Taylor and Francis Ltd.. Feb 2015 Web. 2 Apr. 2015.

March - May (Spring)

Peñuelas, Sardans, Estiarte, et al."Evidence of Current Impact of Climate Change on Life: A

Walk from Genes to the Biosphere." Global Change Biology. 25 Mar 2013. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.

Smith, L., and S. Stephenson. "New Trans-Arctic Shipping Routes Navigable by Midcentury."

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 26 March 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2015

Luo, Young, and Han Chen. "Observations from Old Forests Underestimate Climate Change

Effects on Tree Mortality." Nature. Nature Publishing Group, 3 Apr. 2013. Web. 31 Dec. 2014.

Slezak, M. "Australia Has No Choice but to Change with the Climate." New Scientist. New

Scientist, 3 Apr. 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.

Vidal, J. "Climate Change: How a Warming World Is a Threat to Our Food Supplies." World

Food Programme. 15 Apr. 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.

Staff. "Carbon Dioxide at Mauna Loa Observatory Reaches New Milestone: Tops 400 Ppm."

Scripps Institution of Oceanography UC San Diego, 9 May 2013. Web. 3 Jan. 2015.

Cheung, Watson, R., and Daniel P. et al., "Signature of Ocean Warming in Global

Fisheries Catch." Nature. Nature Publishing Group. 15 May 2013. Web. 5 Feb 2015.

Dasgupta, Susmita; Kamal, Farhana Akhter; et al.,” River Salinity and Climate Change :

Evidence from Coastal Bangladesh. Data and Research Report.” World Bank. 1 March 2014. Web. 22 Feb 2015.

Gillis, Justin. "Scientists Sound Alarm on Climate." The New York Times. The New York Times,

17 Mar. 2014. Web. 18 Jan. 2015.

Christidis, Nikolaos, and Peter A. Stott. "Change in the Odds of Warm Years and Seasons Due to

Anthropogenic Influence on the Climate." Journal of Climate. April 2014. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.

Mann, Michael E. "False Hope." Scientific American. April 2014. Web. 1 Apr. 2015.

Garcia, Raquel,and Miguel Araújo, et al., "Multiple Dimensions of Climate Change and Their

Implications for Biodiversity." Science, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2 May 2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2014

Shakil, S., N. Kuhu, R. Rahman, and I. Islam, et al.."Carbon Emission from Domestic Level

Consumption: Ecological Footprint Account of Dhanmondi Residential Area, Dhaka, Bangladesh – A Case Study." Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, Social Science Research Network. 10 May 2014. Web. 4 Jan. 2015.

Feldman, D., Collins, W.,et al.. “Observational determination of surface radiative forcing by CO₂ from
 2000 to 2010.” Nature. Nature Publishing Group. 25 Feb 2015. Web. 2 April 2015.Rahmstorf, S., Box, J., et al.. “Exceptional twentieth-century slowdown in Atlantic Ocean overturningCirculation.” Nature Climate Change. Nature Publishing Group. 23 March 2015. Web. 2 April 2015.Tan, J., Jakob, C., et al.. “Increases in tropical rainfall driven by changes in frequency oforganized deep convection.” Nature. Nature Publishing Group. 25 March 2015. Web. 2 April 2015.

June - August (Summer)

Johnson, R. "Climate Change: New Milestone Has Been Set." ICSUSA. Institute of Climate

Studies, 1 June 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.

Staff. "University of Tokyo Study Warns of Increased Flood Risk Due to Global Warming." The

Japan Times. 9 June 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.

Panwar, S., and G. J. Chakrapani. "Climate Change And Its Influence On Groundwater

Resources." Current Science. Academic Search Premier. 10 July 2013. Web. 1 Feb. 2015.

Johnson, R. "Ocean Temperatures and Fisheries Tell Their Own Climate Change Story."

ICSUSA. Institute of Climate Studies, 1 July 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.

Braun, Joachim. "Climate Change Impacts on Global Food Security." Science. American

Association for the Advancement of Science, 2 Aug. 2013. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.

Diffenbaugh, Noah, and Christopher Field. "Changes in Ecologically Critical Terrestrial Climate

Conditions." Science.  American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2 Aug. 2013. Web. 31 Oct. 2014.

Kendon, E., N. Roberts, H. Fowler, M. Roberts, S. Chan, and C. Senior. "Heavier Summer

Downpours with Climate Change Revealed by Weather Forecast Resolution Model." Nature Climate Change. Nature Publishing Group. 1 June 2014. Web. 1 Feb 2015.

Horton, D., C. Skinner, D. Singh, and N. Diffenbaugh. "Occurrence and Persistence of Future

Atmospheric Stagnation Events." Nature Climate Change. Nature Publishing Group. 22 June 2014. Web. 8 Jan 2015.

Kapnick, S., T. Delworth, et al.. "Snowfall Less Sensitive to Warming in Karakoram than in

Himalayas Due to a Unique Seasonal Cycle." Nature Geoscience. Nature Publishing Group. 28 June 2014. Web. 11 Jan. 2015.

Boboltz, Sara. "21 Numbers That Explain Why The Time To Address Climate Change Is Right

Now, Or Maybe Yesterday." The Huffington Post. 10 July 2014. Web. 10 Feb. 2015

Rhodes, K., K. Warren-Rhodes, S.et al.. "Marine Ecological Footprint Indicates Unsustainability

of the Pohnpei (Micronesia) Coral Reef Fishery." Foundation for Environmental Conservation. Cambridge Journals, 24 July 2014. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.

Hales, S. Kovats, S. et al.. "Quantitative Risk Assessment of the Effects of Climate Change on

Selected Causes of Death, 2030s and 2050s." WHO. World Health Organization. 1 Aug.

2014. Web. 7 Jan. 2015.

Chen, Xianyao, and Ka-Kit Tung. "Varying Planetary Heat Sink Led to Global-warming

Slowdown and Acceleration." Science.  American Association for the Advancement of Science, 22 Aug 2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2014.

Staff. “Climate Impacts of Food Security and Nutrition.” World Food Programme. 2014. Web. 28 March 2015.

Antarctic Ice Shelf update

For a long time, the Antarctic has been a bit of an anomaly for climate scientists. While the arctic sea ice cover has changed dramatically in recent times, with new sea lanes opening, and entire ecosystems being threatened, Antarctic sea ice has not seemed to change that much. 

One factoid that climate change skeptics often cite is that the Antarctic sea ice is even gaining ice cover. While the oceanic sea ice in Antarctic is occasionally gaining ice, the situation for land ice is much less secure, and recent research is revealing new insights into the situation in Antarctica.

Anarctica is divided into an east and west section, which can be seen on the image above. The grey in this map represents large ice shelfs, which are over open ocean (making them sea ice.)  As most who are interested in climate change know, this sea ice does not directly contribute to sea level rise, because they are already displacing water. The real problem comes from the ice that is over land. Unlike in Greenland, the Antarctic topography is a gradual slope from the Tans-antarctic Mountains to the ocean. Without sea ice acting as a barrier, the mainland glaciers can potentially "slide" into the ocean, in perhaps a very dramatic fashion. 

It is with this background information that recent evidence becomes particularly sobering.  according to this article:

a NASA study concludes that the melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) has "past the point of no return." This now unstoppable state of retreat will lead to a rise in oceans of 10-13 feet. To put this into the perspective, the remnants of Miami will be an island chain with most of the city submerged. It turns out the culprit for this retreat is not so much the warmer air, but a warmer ocean. The warmer ocean is melting the glaciers from below, and "lubricating" them as the slide into the ocean. In another study, models showed these glaciers experiencing a "rapid collapse" between 200 and 1,000 years in the future.

This is bad news, but not particularly shocking. The WAIS is know for it's rapid movements and potential instability, but the East Anatarctic Ice shelf, which was believed to be much more stable may be in for some trouble as well. 

 

according to this article: 

"we show here that the removal of a specific coastal ice volume equivalent to less than 80 mm of global sea-level rise at the margin of the Wilkes Basin destabilizes the regional ice flow and leads to a self-sustained discharge of the entire basin and a global sea-level rise of 3–4 m"

While this study shows we have some time before this collapse finishes (5-10k years) it will still add 10-13 feet to sea level rise even if the climate stops warming. Taken together these data points show that we are committed to at least to a 20-25 foot sea level rise in the future. The only question now is the time frame for this rise and if we will adapt to it.

In terms of climate science, the Antarctic ice sheets represent some of the largest wildcards in the field. Even with a linear decline, they pose problems to future civilizations, but with possibilities of rapid collapses and sheer volume of water stored in them, they represent a more immediate threat to ourselves, and our children than many of the other "known unknowns" in climate science.

IPCC AR5 Working Group II Summary for Policymakers

The IPCC is well known for their tendency to leak documents before their final release, and the working group 2 of the AR5 is no exception. The summary for policymakers for the WG II deals primarily with the impacts, adaptations, and vulnerabilities of climate change, and here are some of the moreinteresting highlights of the summary:

• Transformative changes may be necessary as a response to projected climate changes: 

This might not sound like that big of a statement, until you read the IPCC’s definition for “transformation,”which is :

“A change in the fundamental attributes of a system, often based on altered paradigmsgoals, or values. Transformations can occur in technological or biological systems, financial structures, and regulatory, legislative, or administrative regimes.”

The IPCC report is acknowledging the possibility that sustainability might be impossible without a paradigm shift in our current global culture.

• Some ecosystems and human systems show "significant vulnerability" to climate variability: 

This is one point the IPCC is making with "very high confidence." This vulnerability is exacerbated in developing countries.

• Several major terrestrial ecosystems are undergoing broad-scale changes that can be characterized as early warnings for coming regime shifts, in part due to climate change:

One of the most inimical changes we expect from climate change is shifts in ecosystems. While some areas of northern latitude might shift from unproductive land to farm land, many regime shifts could be less welcome. Imagine Oklahoma drying up and becoming a permanent desert or the Amazon  Rainforest becoming a prairie. Many of these changes would release more carbon into the atmosphere, which could accelerate the warming already occurring.    

• Effects of climate change on food production are evident in several regions:

Much like the regime shifts, so far the negative effects of climate change on food production have been more negative than positive. This means that a future earth will have decreased food productivity as billions of people are added to the global population.

• Terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems can, when pushed by climate change, cross “tipping points” and abruptly change in composition, structure, and function. The crossing of these tipping points will result in significant increases in carbon emissions to the atmosphere: 

The idea of a tipping point makes the previous two predictions that much more ominous. The idea of non-linearity and “tipping points” means rapid changes which could happen at anytime and in the blink of an eye

• Key risks of associated with global mean temperature increase >4o C relative to preindustrial include exceedance of human physiological limits in some locations and nonlinear earth system responses: 

The 4o mark is shaping up to be a key determinant of the fate of humanity in a future earth. This threat is made that much more ominous with recent reports that indicate this temperature range is more probable than the lower end estimates.

• Animals and plants are adapting to climate change:

Unlike some humans in the United States, the larger biosphere is reacting to an actively changing climate. Animals and plants are changing their ranges and their abundance. While the evidence is still inconclusive, there is some indication that recent extinctions are attributable to this changing climate.

This is just some of the many new revelations in the report. This is perhaps the strongest position the IPCC has taken when addressing the severity of climate change and its potential impacts on the future of the world. 

Civil Evolution

The pope meeting with anti-fracking activists in Argentina. The pope has earned some new friends as of late....

Typhoon Haiyan’s Deadly Surge Noted in Warsaw Talks: As the COP 19 discussions were being held, the Typhoon Haiyan made landfall in the Philippines. This article talks about the impact it had on those discussions.

COP 19 Warsaw Wrap-Up: Where Does a Global Climate Deal Stand? This article briefly explains the events of the COP 19.

Sen. Sanders: 'Global Warming a Far More Serious Problem Than Al Qaeda This statement might seem obvious to those who understand the risks associated with climate change, but it is rarely stated in terms like this by politicians. The full interview can be viewed here, via Playboy.

Texas emerges as unlikely leader on wind power: When I think of Texas I think of boots, belt buckles, and cattle. It seems as if we should add wind power to the list. As oil wells dry up the state is looking for other options, and they are betting on the wind.

Norway’s Billions Could Go Into Renewables Norway is sitting on a pile of cash worth over $750 billion and it appears as if investing heavily in renewables is on the table. The results of this investment could be a game changer.

New Coal-Fired Plants Ban To Take Place In Beijing, Shanghai And Guangzhou China: The air quality in China is know to be at dangerously poor levels. This is one of the first official announcements limiting coal power in such a broad way, as an attempt to improve the situation.

Upcycling at its finest: Upcycling is taking something of low value, and making it into something more valuable. This is an alternative to throwing something away, or recycling, a sneak preview of the future.

Financial Pressure Grows on Fossil Fuel Industry: As science on climate begins to converge with divestment and other anti-fossil fuel initiatives, companies heavily invested in fossil fuels are beginning to receive questions about their long term viability. The "sure bet" of coal and oil may start to be more of a gamble

Climate science lawyers up: As the climate reality sinks in, those in favor of the "Business as Usual" model are using legal tactics to harass climate scientists. In response scientists are learning to defend themselves from this emergent tactic of denialists.

Bringing Back the Night: A Fight Against Light Pollution: Light pollution is something often ignored due to more pressing environmental concerns. however, it is also very easy to remedy. Mandating "lights out" after night will make cities greener and bring back that "starry sky above."