Author Archives: zizroc

One of my former colleagues at IIASA, Lena Höglund-Isaksson, speaks to The World (a syndicated radio program from Public Radio International & National Public Radio in the USA) about her work on the new UN report on methane emissions.

Cheeky stuff when utilities attack new suppliers’ free market access, although it shouldn’t be surprising. I have been interested for some time in how big energy companies (from utilities to the fossil fuel industry suppliers) will attempt to liquidate assets that don’t really have another use. If what we now face really is a rapidlyContinue reading “Thinking about stranded energy assets today”

The new administration has a mandate for responsible government, decency, and truth-telling. This can be encapsulated in its policies to deal with climate change. It enters office with, apparently, the largest collection of climate experts in history. This is good, because it is going to be tough to solve the climate change problem, which isContinue reading “President Biden sets the correct tone on climate change from the word “go””

Last Wednesday was remarkable in the United States. Many were shocked but no one should claim to have been surprised. I have done my best to ignore the outgoing president lately but I saw enough of his speech to understand that he instigated the storming of the Capitol by his supporters; and I know enoughContinue reading “What a moment”

by Ansa Heyl, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis The findings of a new report by the Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land-Use, and Energy (FABLE) Consortium, suggest that integrated strategies across food production, biodiversity, climate, and diets can meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The second global report ofContinue reading “Pathways to sustainable land use and food systems”

I was sure that I’d first heard Toby Ord interviewed by Sean Carrol on his Mindscape podcast — but I can’t find it to link to. If/when I do, I’ll add here. The following is from a story in The New Yorker, How Close Is Humanity to the Edge? by Corinne Purtill (21 November 2020):Continue reading “The Precipice, by Toby Ord”

Good. Good that this position is being created; good that it’s going to John Kerry (a former Secretary of State, former US Senator, and 2004 Democratic nominee for president). Kerry has been involved in the high-level climate scene since at least the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. More from BBC News online;Continue reading “Biden names a “climate tzar””

“Peter Turchin, one of the world’s experts on pine beetles and possibly also on human beings, met me reluctantly this summer on the campus of the University of Connecticut at Storrs, where he teaches. Like many people during the pandemic, he preferred to limit his human contact. He also doubted whether human contact would haveContinue reading “The Atlantic tackles Cliodynamics with an interview of UConn professor Peter Turchin”

There was an attack in the heart of old Vienna, the Innere Stadt, reportedly by several individuals with long guns. We are shocked and saddened in solidarity with our friends and the city we called home for 2 years. May they catch these guys, whoever they are. May it never change the fun-loving character ofContinue reading “Vienna was attacked today”