Author Archives: zizroc

What if We Stopped Pretending the Climate Apocalypse Can Be Stopped?

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/what-if-we-stopped-pretending This story in the New Yorker made quite a splash the other day. Many climate scientists were angry, but I’m not. They took particular issue with the author’s use of “model”, in the sense of a purely subjective flight-of-fancy. I deal with all sorts of models that attempt to predict the future, even ifContinue reading “What if We Stopped Pretending the Climate Apocalypse Can Be Stopped?”

The Washington Post: How the Trump administration limited the scope of the USDA’s 2020 dietary guidelines

How the Trump administration limited the scope of the USDA’s 2020 dietary guidelines “The Trump administration is limiting scientific input to the 2020 dietary guidelines, raising concerns among nutrition advocates and independent experts about industry influence over healthy eating recommendations for all Americans.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/08/30/how-trump-administration-limited-scope-usdas-dietary-guidelines/ This is Soviet level stuff.

Not a race we want to be in, let alone win

Happy It’s Earth Overshoot Day! https://www.overshootday.org/ “With Earth Overshoot Day occurring ever earlier in the year, and a big part of it being the growing amounts of CO2 emissions, the importance of decisive action is becoming ever more evident. For this reason, we are working with all parties to find effective approaches.” María Carolina SchmidtContinue reading “Not a race we want to be in, let alone win”

FABLE Interim Report released

We at IIASA and our partner institution, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), have been working hard over the past year on the FABLE Pathways Project. Click the linked text to find the new FABLE Interim Report in full, and its Executive Summary. This interim report is a joint effort of fellow scientists from research institutions,Continue reading “FABLE Interim Report released”

Could geoengineering really help us solve the climate crisis? | New Scientist

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2203085-could-geoengineering-really-help-us-solve-the-climate-crisis/ Now Cambridge is setting up a centre for climate repair? I hope they come up with a catchier name, lest someone show up with a broken bike. Human interventions in the climate system, broadly defined, have been going on throughout the Holocene, and may have made noticable changes to climate prior to 1850, aContinue reading “Could geoengineering really help us solve the climate crisis? | New Scientist”

Vote for science

While I love the Stone Age, I don’t want to live in one. So thanks, US Congress, for your intention to fund environmental sciences. When one of your members explained sea level rise by rocks falling into the ocean, I admit I got cynical.