200931

Haiti Quake and Reconstruction Resources

January 28, 2009

Earth Institute scientists are involved in long-term projects to study continued earthquake risk in Haiti and surrounding countries, and to aid reconstruction and development. Our Haiti Earthquake pages: https://news.climate.columbia.edu/blog/tag/haiti-earthquake/ contain continually updated resources for journalists. Seismologists, natural-disaster experts and others continue to provide interviews, images and essays on the implications and outlook. These include assessments…
McKinsey’s New GHG Abatement Curve

January 26, 2009

McKinsey & Company has just released a new study outlining the potential costs of climate change mitigation. The report, which revises work originally published in 2007, evaluates 200 greenhouse gas abatement opportunities across 10 sectors and 21 world regions. It concludes that greenhouse gas emissions reductions of 35-40% below 1990 levels by 2030 are achievable…
Emissions standards to get Californicated

January 26, 2009

Less than a week into his presidency, Barack Obama is poised to take his first step on the long road to averting climate catastrophe. The Times reports that Obama will allow California to raise automobile emissions standards for greenhouse gases above the national level. (OK, technically Obama has only ordered the EPA to review California’s…
Paying extra for electricity, feeling like a sucker

January 25, 2009

I couldn’t have been happier when, back in October, my local electricity company offered me the chance to switch to alternative energy. The colorful advertisement from Consolidated Edison was festooned with windmills and said the switch would lead to only a 10 percent increase in the average family’s electricity bill. Here was a chance to…
Orange you glad we counted the carbon?

January 22, 2009

There’s an article in today’s New York Times about PepsiCo’s effort to calculate the carbon footprint of its products, starting with Tropicana orange juice. A half-gallon of Tropicana represents the equivalent of 3.75 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. This is roughly the same amount of carbon dioxide emitted by a 5-mile drive to the grocery…
Lonnie Thompson’s 7,000 Meters of Ice

January 21, 2009

I’ve been meaning to blog about Lonnie Thompson’s visit to Lamont last week; I suppose it’s the frigid temperatures here in New York that have kept melting tropical glaciers on my own back burner. For those who don’t know, Lonnie Thompson runs the Ice Core Paleoclimatology Research Group at the Ohio State’s Byrd Polar Research…
A Quick Guide to Obama’s Climate Picks, Part 1

January 19, 2009

There’s been a lot of buzz lately (for example, here and here) about President-Elect Obama’s picks for key science and environment positions, many of who are advocates for a robust response to climate change. Who are these people and what will each of them be responsible for in the new administration? In part one of…
Around the world: Canada, Part II

January 19, 2009

First off, I apologize for the inexcusably long time between posts. From now on I hope to post at least once a week (still not good enough, I know). This is Part II of our look at the climate change reduction efforts (or lack thereof) of Canada, our fascinating yet sometimes forgotten neighbor to the…
Arctic Sea Ice Retreat: When Will the Arctic Ocean be Ice-Free During Summer?

January 14, 2009

Researchers have long recognized the Arctic as a region that shows early and amplified signals of anthropogenically-driven global climate change (e.g., IPCC 2001; Technical Basis, p. 807). Among the most dramatic and most widely watched changes in this region each summer is the retreat of the Arctic sea ice extent. Since it first became possible…

Haiti Quake and Reconstruction Resources

January 28, 2009

Earth Institute scientists are involved in long-term projects to study continued earthquake risk in Haiti and surrounding countries, and to aid reconstruction and development. Our Haiti Earthquake pages: https://news.climate.columbia.edu/blog/tag/haiti-earthquake/ contain continually updated resources for journalists. Seismologists, natural-disaster experts and others continue to provide interviews, images and essays on the implications and outlook. These include assessments…
McKinsey’s New GHG Abatement Curve

January 26, 2009

McKinsey & Company has just released a new study outlining the potential costs of climate change mitigation. The report, which revises work originally published in 2007, evaluates 200 greenhouse gas abatement opportunities across 10 sectors and 21 world regions. It concludes that greenhouse gas emissions reductions of 35-40% below 1990 levels by 2030 are achievable…
Emissions standards to get Californicated

January 26, 2009

Less than a week into his presidency, Barack Obama is poised to take his first step on the long road to averting climate catastrophe. The Times reports that Obama will allow California to raise automobile emissions standards for greenhouse gases above the national level. (OK, technically Obama has only ordered the EPA to review California’s…
Paying extra for electricity, feeling like a sucker

January 25, 2009

I couldn’t have been happier when, back in October, my local electricity company offered me the chance to switch to alternative energy. The colorful advertisement from Consolidated Edison was festooned with windmills and said the switch would lead to only a 10 percent increase in the average family’s electricity bill. Here was a chance to…
Orange you glad we counted the carbon?

January 22, 2009

There’s an article in today’s New York Times about PepsiCo’s effort to calculate the carbon footprint of its products, starting with Tropicana orange juice. A half-gallon of Tropicana represents the equivalent of 3.75 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. This is roughly the same amount of carbon dioxide emitted by a 5-mile drive to the grocery…
Lonnie Thompson’s 7,000 Meters of Ice

January 21, 2009

I’ve been meaning to blog about Lonnie Thompson’s visit to Lamont last week; I suppose it’s the frigid temperatures here in New York that have kept melting tropical glaciers on my own back burner. For those who don’t know, Lonnie Thompson runs the Ice Core Paleoclimatology Research Group at the Ohio State’s Byrd Polar Research…
A Quick Guide to Obama’s Climate Picks, Part 1

January 19, 2009

There’s been a lot of buzz lately (for example, here and here) about President-Elect Obama’s picks for key science and environment positions, many of who are advocates for a robust response to climate change. Who are these people and what will each of them be responsible for in the new administration? In part one of…
Around the world: Canada, Part II

January 19, 2009

First off, I apologize for the inexcusably long time between posts. From now on I hope to post at least once a week (still not good enough, I know). This is Part II of our look at the climate change reduction efforts (or lack thereof) of Canada, our fascinating yet sometimes forgotten neighbor to the…
Arctic Sea Ice Retreat: When Will the Arctic Ocean be Ice-Free During Summer?

January 14, 2009

Researchers have long recognized the Arctic as a region that shows early and amplified signals of anthropogenically-driven global climate change (e.g., IPCC 2001; Technical Basis, p. 807). Among the most dramatic and most widely watched changes in this region each summer is the retreat of the Arctic sea ice extent. Since it first became possible…