Climate285
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Operational Coconut Yield Predictions
The Coconut Research Institute of Sri Lanka (CRI) has sustained an improved prediction scheme for national coconut production for the last four years. Coconuts are an important source of food and raw materials and also provide income to millions in the tropics. Coconuts are the most important food crop after rice in Sri Lanka and …
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Border Issues Arise from Global Warming
When people think of global warming and glacial melting, they often think of sea levels rising, coasts moving inland, and cities flooding and disappearing. Something that they rarely think about is the changing of borders between countries. However, this is exactly what is currently occuring in the Alps between Italy and Switzerland. In an article…
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Who cares about the Southern Ocean?
Scientists are often asked to explain why their work is important. I have been asked this question several times since the publication of a paper entitled “Wind driven upwelling in the Southern Ocean and the deglacial rise in atmospheric CO2” (Science, 13 March, 2009). I’m going to try to answer it here. In the paper…
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Climate Change and the right to water
The Fifth World Water Forum in Istanbul, Turkey, ended this past Sunday, March 22. Held every three years, the Forum is organized by the World Water Council, an international multi-stakeholder platform designed to facilitate international cooperation on the management and use of water in an environmentally sustainable way. The Forum ended with the Istanbul Ministerial…
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Will the economy call the EPA’s bluff?
As expected, the Environmental Protection Agency is calling carbon dioxide (CO2) a danger to public health and welfare, a necessary first step for the agency to regulate CO2 under the Clean Air Act. Commentators, including myself, have doubted that the endangerment finding will lead to comprehensive regulation of CO2 under the Clean Air Act, as…
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Behavior, policy, and climate change
Climate change is often discussed as the ultimate market failure: in the absence of laws that change incentives, decisions to maximize individual self-interest will not produce the socially desirable outcome of reducing carbon emissions and preserving the climate system. The role of individual and institutional behavior in bringing about the necessary changes is rarely discussed outside…
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Picturing Climate Change
Intense public interest in changing climate has led to a wave of books. Among the entries, one upcoming standout is Climate Change: Picturing the Science, from W.W. Norton in April. The book is a journey around the globe via essays and images from top-flight scientists and photographers. The visuals and narration range from field research in remote polar regions to the giant gates now being erected in European…
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Meeting the Climate Challenge: The Columbia Climate Center Launch
This blog’s proud parent, the Columbia Climate Center, is having its public launch on Tuesday, March 31—and you’re invited! We are hosting this event to spread the word about our new center and its mission, so it is a great opportunity for readers of Climate Matters to come and learn more about the climate challenge…
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Wind Shifts May Stir CO2 From Antarctic Depths
Releases May Have Speeded End of Last Ice Age—And Could Act Again
