http://westcoastclimateequity.org Climate science and climate change information - West Coast Climate Equity is dedicated to providing facts about the causes of climate change and the evidence for global warming. We report the latest climate science news, information, research and studies to educate about the true impact of dangerous climate change on our world. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:35:33 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2011/10/22/the-sorcerers-apprentice-geoengineering-hubris-and-reality/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-sorcerers-apprentice-geoengineering-hubris-and-reality http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2011/10/22/the-sorcerers-apprentice-geoengineering-hubris-and-reality/#comments Sun, 23 Oct 2011 03:40:07 +0000 Greenfyre http://westcoastclimateequity.org/?p=7110 Geoengineering Catch 22, what if the problem is that we don't even know what the problem is? As such the problem is more of human ignorance and incapacity to make rational choices rather than a technological one per se. If that is the case then clearly "the solution" is education. Obviously we need to get the public to realize that geoengineering is no solution and to understand just how great the risks are, however.

]]> http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2011/10/22/the-sorcerers-apprentice-geoengineering-hubris-and-reality/feed/ 0 http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/12/25/a-holiday-gift-from-climate-scientist-james-hansen/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-holiday-gift-from-climate-scientist-james-hansen http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/12/25/a-holiday-gift-from-climate-scientist-james-hansen/#comments Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:56:24 +0000 Dorothy http://westcoastclimateequity.org/?p=4150 For new inspiration and knowledge, we would most like to recognise James Hansen, who with the publication of his book Storms of My Grandchildren has made climate science accessible and interesting to anyone with a high school education.

]]> http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/12/25/a-holiday-gift-from-climate-scientist-james-hansen/feed/ 1 http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/12/18/climate-betrayal-in-copenhagen-gpc-pvc/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=climate-betrayal-in-copenhagen-gpc-pvc http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/12/18/climate-betrayal-in-copenhagen-gpc-pvc/#comments Sat, 19 Dec 2009 00:44:04 +0000 Dorothy http://westcoastclimateequity.org/?p=4144 “The political statement agreed to with much fanfare in Copenhagen at the 15th Conference of the Parties is not what was needed,” says Elizabeth May, the Green Party of Canada Leader. “With clear warnings from science that greenhouse gas emissions must halt their global rise and begin a steep decline no later than 2015, the leaders gathered in Copenhagen have issued a compromise statement that should never have been written.”

]]> http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/12/18/climate-betrayal-in-copenhagen-gpc-pvc/feed/ 3 http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/12/10/the-physics-of-copenhagen-why-politics-as-usual-may-mean-the-end-of-civilization/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-physics-of-copenhagen-why-politics-as-usual-may-mean-the-end-of-civilization http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/12/10/the-physics-of-copenhagen-why-politics-as-usual-may-mean-the-end-of-civilization/#comments Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:38:28 +0000 Dorothy http://westcoastclimateequity.org/?p=4106 In Copenhagen, if the U.S. is willing to treat climate change as politics-as-usual, most of the other major players will simply follow suit. They'll sign some kind of paper in Denmark -- that became all but certain on Friday night when Obama announced he'd jet in for the meeting's close. European leaders and some environmental groups may then call it a “qualified success,” and on we will go through more years of negotiation. In the meantime, physics will continue to operate, permafrost will continue to thaw, sea ice to melt, drought to spread. It’s like nothing we’ve ever faced before -- and we’re facing it as if it’s just like everything else. That’s the problem.

]]> http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/12/10/the-physics-of-copenhagen-why-politics-as-usual-may-mean-the-end-of-civilization/feed/ 0 http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/12/09/56-newspapers-around-the-world-in-20-languages-publish-the-same-editorial-calling-for-action-from-world-leaders-on-climate-change/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=56-newspapers-around-the-world-in-20-languages-publish-the-same-editorial-calling-for-action-from-world-leaders-on-climate-change http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/12/09/56-newspapers-around-the-world-in-20-languages-publish-the-same-editorial-calling-for-action-from-world-leaders-on-climate-change/#comments Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:38:18 +0000 Dorothy http://westcoastclimateequity.org/?p=4101 Today 56 newspapers in 45 countries take the unprecedented step of speaking with one voice through a common editorial. We do so because humanity faces a profound emergency. Unless we combine to take decisive action, climate change will ravage our planet, and with it our prosperity and security. The dangers have been becoming apparent for a generation. Now the facts have started to speak: 11 of the past 14 years have been the warmest on record, the Arctic ice-cap is melting and last year's inflamed oil and food prices provide a foretaste of future havoc. In scientific journals the question is no longer whether humans are to blame, but how little time we have got left to limit the damage. Yet so far the world's response has been feeble and half-hearted.

]]> http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/12/09/56-newspapers-around-the-world-in-20-languages-publish-the-same-editorial-calling-for-action-from-world-leaders-on-climate-change/feed/ 1 http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/12/04/james-hansen-says-whole-approach-at-copenhagen-is-so-fundamentally-wrong-that-it-is-better-to-reassess-the-situation/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=james-hansen-says-whole-approach-at-copenhagen-is-so-fundamentally-wrong-that-it-is-better-to-reassess-the-situation http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/12/04/james-hansen-says-whole-approach-at-copenhagen-is-so-fundamentally-wrong-that-it-is-better-to-reassess-the-situation/#comments Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:38:49 +0000 Dorothy http://westcoastclimateequity.org/?p=4046 In an interview with the Guardian, James Hansen, the world's pre-eminent climate scientist, said any agreement likely to emerge from the negotiations would be so deeply flawed that it would be better to start again from scratch. "I would rather it not happen if people accept that as being the right track because it's a disaster track," said Hansen, who heads the Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.

]]> http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/12/04/james-hansen-says-whole-approach-at-copenhagen-is-so-fundamentally-wrong-that-it-is-better-to-reassess-the-situation/feed/ 0 http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/11/23/more-countries-recognizing-the-importance-of-stronger-targets-at-copenhagen/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=more-countries-recognizing-the-importance-of-stronger-targets-at-copenhagen http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/11/23/more-countries-recognizing-the-importance-of-stronger-targets-at-copenhagen/#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:52:16 +0000 Dorothy http://westcoastclimateequity.org/?p=3926 It hasn't made massive headlines in Europe; in fact it's hardly been noticed. But over the last fortnight, three big countries have made major new pledges to cut their emissions of carbon dioxide from industry, transport and deforestation which is causing climate change. Since 12 November, Russia, South Korea and Brazil have all announced new targets for cutting CO2, leading to a significant improvement in hopes for the outcome of the Copenhagen climate summit, which is now only two weeks away – and which, it was announced yesterday, at least 65 world leaders will attend.

]]> http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/11/23/more-countries-recognizing-the-importance-of-stronger-targets-at-copenhagen/feed/ 0 http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/11/08/tipping-point-after-tipping-point/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tipping-point-after-tipping-point http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/11/08/tipping-point-after-tipping-point/#comments Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:31:42 +0000 Dorothy http://westcoastclimateequity.org/?p=3887 Another disturbing milestone was passed on November 6. The graph below shows that although extent of the Arctic sea ice this past summer was greater than that of 2007, it is now less, a record low for its date. Ice covered the Arctic Ocean in a smaller area on November 6, 2009 than in any other year on November 6 since observations began in 1979.

]]> http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/11/08/tipping-point-after-tipping-point/feed/ 0 http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/11/05/australian-professor-writes-of-the-likelihood-of-runaway-climate-change/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=australian-professor-writes-of-the-likelihood-of-runaway-climate-change http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/11/05/australian-professor-writes-of-the-likelihood-of-runaway-climate-change/#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:29:16 +0000 Dorothy http://westcoastclimateequity.org/?p=3852 Rather than decarbonising, the world is carbonising at an unprecedented rate, and it is doing so at precisely the time we know we have to stop it. 2.5 degrees Celsius is likely by the end of the century in spite of our childlike belief that climate change can be averted; the cost will prove incalculable.

]]> http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/11/05/australian-professor-writes-of-the-likelihood-of-runaway-climate-change/feed/ 2 http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/06/05/the-link-strong-between-carbon-dioxide-and-global-warming/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-link-strong-between-carbon-dioxide-and-global-warming http://westcoastclimateequity.org/2009/06/05/the-link-strong-between-carbon-dioxide-and-global-warming/#comments Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:37:00 +0000 Dorothy http://westcoastclimateequity.org/?p=3171 The science is clear: global warming is happening faster than ever and humans are responsible. Global warming is caused by releasing what are called greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The most common greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide

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