Category Archives: Environment

Under a White Sky

Whether you believe that God gave man dominion “over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” or that humans have spent the last two hundred thousand years or so winning the Darwinian race, there’s … Continue reading

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Held v. Montana: A Landmark Climate Victory

This is worth celebrating. Yesterday in a Montana district court, 16 youths, aged 5 – 22, won a lawsuit against the State of Montana for violating their right to a “clean and healthful environment” under the state constitution. This trial … Continue reading

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Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs

I was expecting this book to be full of dismal doom and gloom, but it was surprisingly hopeful. Then again, it was written before this year’s horrendous record-breaking ocean heat waves. More on this later. Coral reefs are under existential … Continue reading

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Timeline of Climate Change Warnings

I’m trying something different in this post: an infographic. Over the last couple of years I’ve been reading a lot about climate change. One thing I’ve learned is that the science of climate change is not new. Scientists have been … Continue reading

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The Climate Book

Climate change is happening now. Record-setting heatwaves, devastating forest fires, intense tropical storms and extreme flooding are no longer distant predictions, they’re daily events. In The Climate Book, Swedish environmental activist Geta Thunberg has gathered the expertise of over 100 … Continue reading

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Eunice Newton Foote

Today’s Google doodle celebrates the 204th birthday of Eunice Newton Foote. You’ve probably never heard of her, but back in 1856, she was the first person to discover that carbon dioxide absorbed and retained heat in the atmosphere. Today we … Continue reading

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Podcast: What’s next for clean energy and climate mitigation?

Back on the 28th of June, I had the pleasure of attending a live recording of the Volts podcast hosted by David Roberts here in Seattle at an event sponsored by Canary Media. Roberts interviewed energy analyst and author Ramez … Continue reading

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Introduction to Modern Climate Change

Introduction to Modern Climate Change is a college level textbook aimed at both science and non-science majors. Don’t let that put you off. Anyone with basic high school algebra and chemistry can read this book and learn an incredible amount. … Continue reading

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Climate Change: A Very Short Introduction

The centuries-long rivalry between Oxford and Cambridge Universities isn’t limited to just boat races and rugby matches. Both esteemed universities have recently published updated versions of their introductory books on climate change.   I’ve read and reviewed a number of … Continue reading

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Escape from Model Land

Have you ever noticed that when you buy something online they show you a bunch of other stuff under a heading like “you might also enjoy?” Obviously, the retailer is trying to get you to spend more money on their … Continue reading

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