the Climate Pioneer (est. 2010)

Michael Mann, Author of the "Hockey Stick"

Many, indeed most climate scientists have argued that the hockey-stick graph is not central to the case for the role of man-made pollution in exacerbating global warming, and the prospect of dangerous climate change. But it has nevertheless become the iconic smoking gun for both sides of the debate, showing either that we are living through unprecedented temperature increases, or that we are being duped by the biggest scientific hoax in history.”

Read More at: Michael Mann: The climate scientist who the deniers have in their sights – Profiles – People – The Independent.

“Tossing out any remote possibility of a U.N. global warming treaty is one of the most important things we can do for the economy.” Senator James Inhofe

(Editor’s note: As this NYT article points out, in case you’re wondering why we’re going nowhere with the climate change talks in South Africa, here is one of the prime reasons – major climate deniers like Senator Inhofe who still retain tremendous power to block any intelligent discussion about climate change as the planet gets hotter by the day.  But people like Inhofe are a dying reactionary fossil species who will soon be gone.  While he is still here he should serve to remind us of the urgency to keep up the fight, my friends.  We are fighting the good fight for nothing less than our survival as a species on this planet. What could be a holier thought to contemplate during this Christmas season?)

Read the entire article at Inhofe Rejoices in Climate Impasse – NYTimes.com.

“From the Horn of Africa and South East Asia to Russia and Afghanistan, a year of floods, droughts and extreme heat has helped push tens of millions of people into hunger and poverty,”

Read More. . .

“Hacked emails are a sideshow and cannot take away from what many business leaders already know and what the IPCC’s extreme weather report confirms. Climate change is real and we’d better buckle our seat belts for more costly extreme weather if we carry on with business as usual.”

(Editor’s note:  Prior to coming across this article I did not know that Forbe’s Magazine – one of the premier capitalist magazines – had a “sustainable capitalism” blog.  If this article is any indication of it’s direction and content, I’ll be sure to be reading more of it in the future.  It warrants our support.)

Read the entire article at IPCC Report Confirms What Businesses Already Know: Extreme Weather & Climate Change Has Economic Impacts – Forbes.

"No plastic bags please. I don't want to contribute to global warming."

“Climate scientists are always careful to point out that no single event can be entirely ascribed to climate change. But a changing baseline means that extreme heat – and its impacts like fire and drought in places like Texas – is arriving more and more frequently, and notching up ever-higher records. In contrast, cold events are becoming rarer and less extreme.”

Read More of this National Geographic “Daily News” article at Heatwaves and Blizzards — Which is the Best Evidence for Global Warming? – News Watch.

(“It’s ridiculous that we still have a hole in the ozone layer. We have men, we have rockets, we have Saran Wrap – FIX IT!! And don’t come back until you do.” Comedian, Lewis Black)

For years, polls have shown that many Americans have conflated two distinct atmospheric calamities – the destruction of the planet’s stratospheric ozone layer, and global warming. A 2010 poll by Yale University found that 21 percent of respondents believe the greenhouse effect refers to the ozone layer, rather than to gases in the atmosphere that trap heat, such as carbon dioxide.

Now comes a study that helps describe the possible relationship between the two in a way that will either confuse even more people, or clarify things for anyone who devotes some time to fully digesting the new information.

Read more at: The record-breaking Arctic ozone “hole” and global warming – Capital Weather Gang – The Washington Post.