Category Archives: Environment

Earth Day 1970 and 2010

Posted on April 22, 2010 by Toasty

  1970   On January 28, 1969 a major undersea "blowout"  occurred on the Union Oil company’s Platform A off the coast of Santa Barbara, California.  The incident resulted in a  200,000 gallon oil spill that coated both wildlife and … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Earth Day 1970

Posted on April 15, 2010 by Toasty

As we approach the 40th Earth Day it is perhaps instructive to look back to the first Earth Day in 1970.   In 1970 words such as “ecology” and “environment” had not entered the popular vocabulary and “green” signified nothing beyond … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Forests: a CO2 Reservoir, not a "Sponge"!

Posted on October 15, 2009 by Toasty

Much has been made over the purported ability of forests to act as a "sponge" removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.  Politicians have jumped on this bandwagon, as have those selling and promoting so called "carbon-offsets".   However, basic biology dictates … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Two Recent Studies Document Northward Migration of Animals

Posted on May 27, 2009 by Toasty

  Note:  An update to this topic was posted in November of 2011.   Two recent reports add to the growing evidence of animal migrations due to climate change.  While wild animals provide a number of benefits to mankind such as … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Fire and Climate Change

Posted on April 24, 2009 by Toasty

A report in today’s issue of the magazine “Science” published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) provides a new prespective on the role of fire in Global Climate Change.  This publication, in the most prestigious U.S. … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Younger, Thinner Arctic Ice Reported

Posted on April 7, 2009 by Toasty

The U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center yesterday updated status of Arctic ice coverage (http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2009/040609.html) with the report that at the end of March the extent of ice coverage was similar to recent years, but below the longer-term 1979 … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment | Tagged , | Leave a comment

System Feedback and Tipping Points

Posted on November 12, 2008 by Toasty

Complex feedback processes increase global warming and may produce climate changes beyond our control. Continue reading →

Posted in Environment | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A Woodcutter

Posted on March 25, 2008 by Toasty

Policies to address Global Climate Change can devastate those following a centuries old life style. What is our moral obligation to these people? Continue reading →

Posted in Environment | Leave a comment

Tipping Points

Posted on March 16, 2008 by Toasty

Tipping points are basically thresholds beyond which small human activities will result in climatic changes which may be abrupt, drastic and irreversible. Continue reading →

Posted in Environment | Leave a comment