General206
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The Many Fights Ahead
Last week ended with high drama and muddled results. As Friday’s workday began, Danish television was trained on the convoy of vehicles that would take President Obama to the Bella Center as soon as Air Force One landed. The landing took place around 9 a.m., and the president was immediately taken to a meeting of…
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And the Work Begins
Monika Bright of the University of Vienna had the first dive of the expedition yesterday and brought back with her all sorts of squishies both tiny and small from sites of diffuse venting around the high-temperature hydrothermal vents far below the ship. Being that I am a geophysicist, I don’t fully understand all the biological-type…
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What Does the Science Say?
The negotiations in Copenhagen have been handled by politicians and policy makers. But there would be no climate negotiations if climate scientists had not identified evidence that humans could disrupt the natural carbon cycle, and affect the climate system. The fact that some 50,000 people and the heads of most nations have come together indicates…
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Complex Models, Simple Solutions
Everyone knows that climate change is complex. The multitude of potential impacts, the uncertainties in projections, the intersection of historical responsibilities and current political realities all make negotiations fiendishly difficult. But can the very complexity of the subject be helpful in finding solutions? The answer might be […]
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The Current May Be Shifting
As I write this a little after midnight on Thursday, less than 24 hours remain before the close of the Copenhagen talks. Local television is playing continuous loops of an English-language TV movie (with Danish subtitles) about an evil oil company that is trying to sabotage the “Kyoto 2 talks at Calgary” by pressuring the…
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Gumby Suits
The first day of any UNOLS cruise is filled with myriad meetings, briefings, and safety courses. All new crew members and scientists are provided a comprehensive orientation to introduce them to many of the ships operations, safety equipment, and procedures. Among other things, we learn about separating our plastics from the biodegradable trash, what kind…
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Healthy Climate, Healthy People
As leaders debate climate policy in Copenhagen, one essential dimension has been largely left out: human health. This is a mistake for two reasons. First, one of the most compelling reasons for aggressive action is to avoid the enormous long-term health impacts likely to be felt throughout the world if we continue to push our…
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Sum of the Parts
Copenhagen is being scaled back. Whereas originally the hope was to have a treaty incorporating “legally binding” targets and timetables, now the aim is to reach a “political agreement.” This matters much less than you might think. The Kyoto Protocol, which entered into force in 2005, already incorporates “legally binding” targets, but it lacks any…
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Journey to the EPR
Yesterday we set sail from Manzanillo, Mexico, bound for a hydrothermal vent system on the East Pacific Rise (EPR) near 10 degrees North. The EPR is part of the world’s mid-ocean ridge system where new crust is formed as Earth’s plates spread apart. Many of the most exciting Earth processes occur at mid-ocean ridges, including…
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