April 4, 2009 by mike.

clipped from www.washingtonpost.com Lawrence H. Summers, one of President Obama’s top economic advisers, collected roughly $5.2 million in compensation from hedge fund D.E. Shaw over the past year and was paid more than $2.7 million in speaking fees by several troubled Wall Street firms and other organizations. Top Economics Aide Discloses Income By Philip Rucker and Joe Stephens Washington Post Staff Writers Saturday, April 4, 2009; Page A05 Summers Earned Salary From Hedge Fund, Speaking Fees From Wall St. Firms “Given that Dr. Summers is widely recognized as one of the country’s most distinguished economists and formerly served as Treasury secretary, there was considerable interest in hearing his economic insights from companies across various industries,” White House spokesman Ben LaBolt said.

Posted in Small Foot Print | Print | 1 Comment »

April 4, 2009 by mike.

Researchers are noting that their models for loss of Arctic sea ice have been generally too conservative. The majority of the models have predicted less sea ice loss than we are experiencing. The changes as shown in the article below point to an ice-free Arctic in 30 years instead of 90 as previously predicted.

Guess what? The faster level of Arctic ice means that the norther oceans will warm faster because the ocean surface does not reflect solar radiation as sea ice does. So, as the Arctic Ocean is exposed to sunshine it warms faster and all of the models on climate change for the planet will need to turn up the speed of their clocks. The warming will be catastrophic. We must respond immediately to limit the impact.

There are way too many feedback loops that will cause global warming to happen faster than has been predicted and there is always the chance for runaway warming that will essentially make the planet uninhabitable for human societies as most of us know them.

Here are a couple of the feedback loops involved with the loss of Arctic sea ice: The Arctic Ocean warms faster than anticipated and the warming of that ocean mass will be felt across the globe in terms of extreme weather events, more El Nino, El Nina events, sea level rise and more. The warmer ocean will cause thawing of permafrost and the ocean bed causing the release of methane, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases at rates faster than have been modeled.

There’s probably more, but it’s not a pretty picture. We can do something about this. Demand real change now from your elected officials.

clipped from www.sciencedaily.com Ice-free Arctic Ocean Possible In 30 Years, Not 90 As Previously Estimated ScienceDaily (Apr. 3, 2009) — A nearly ice-free Arctic Ocean in the summer may happen three times sooner than scientists have estimated. New research says the Arctic might lose most of its ice cover in summer in as few as 30 years instead of the end of the century. Out of the 23 models now available, the new projections are based on the six most suited for assessing sea ice, according to Muyin Wang, a University of Washington climate scientist with the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean based at the UW, and James Overland, an oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle. Wang is lead author and Overland is co-author of a paper being published April 3 by the American Geophysical Union’s Geophysical Research Letters.

Posted in News, Connect the Dots, Small Foot Print, Global Warming | Print | No Comments »

April 4, 2009 by mike.

So, how are human being different from the pika? As sea levels rise and consume seaside communities where are we going to go? As our pollution, like rocket fuel showing up in drinking water and baby formula, shows up everywhere where are going to go to get away from the problems?

It’s past time for human beings to demonstrate that we are an intelligent species by committing to sustainable, just economies. Nature doesn’t do bailouts.

clipped from news.yahoo.com As West warms, some fear for tiny mountain dweller SALT LAKE CITY – The American pika — a short-legged, hamster-sized fur ball that huddles in high mountain slopes — isn’t built for long-distance travel. So as the West’s climate warms, the tiny pika has little choice but to scurry a little farther upslope to beat the heat. Problem is, in some places, they’ve run out of room to run, according to scientists. Without cool rocky refuges, the finicky pika can’t survive. “It’s feeling an exaggerated brunt of global warming,” said Greg Loarie, an Earthjustice attorney involved with lawsuits to get the pika protections. “Unlike others, it can’t move north. It’s stuck.” “It’s like the ‘check engine’ light that comes on in your car. It tells you something’s going on here,” Ashe said. “In the Great Basin, pikas now are at such high elevations, there’s not any place for them to go any higher,” he said. “I actually think that pikas in the Great Basin are probably doomed.”

Posted in Small Foot Print | Print | 1 Comment »

April 3, 2009 by mike.

clipped from news.yahoo.com Study: Arctic sea ice melting faster than expected WASHINGTON – Arctic sea ice is melting so fast most of it could be gone in 30 years. A new analysis of changing conditions in the region, using complex computer models of weather and climate, says conditions that had been forecast by the end of the century could occur much sooner. A change in the amount of ice is important because the white surface reflects sunlight back into space. When ice is replaced by dark ocean water that sunlight can be absorbed, warming the water and increasing the warming of the planet. “Due to the recent loss of sea ice, the 2005-2008 autumn central Arctic surface air temperatures were greater than 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) above” what would be expected, the new study reports. That amount of temperature increase had been expected by the year 2070. They expect the area covered by summer sea ice to decline from about 2.8 million square miles normally to 620,000 square miles within 30 years.

Posted in Small Foot Print | Print | 1 Comment »