Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Environment

McCain Off the Short List

Once upon a time, I thought I could support John McCain as the next Republican presidential candidate. We had him on our short list of favorable candidates. Over the last couple of years, however, he has eroded our support for his candidacy because of his positions on several key issues:

And now there’s this:

John McCain, applauding Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for taking on the “compelling issue of global climate challenge,” pledged Wednesday to make California’s global warming fight the model for a national effort to curb greenhouse gases.

Appearing with the governor at the Port of Long Beach, the Arizona senator said he will fight in the Senate — and if elected president — to adopt low carbon standards for vehicle fuels to cut pollution blamed for climate change.

McCain sharply criticized the Bush administration for only belatedly acknowledging the global warming threat and for failing to come up with solutions.

“I would assess this administration’s effort on global warming as terrible,” McCain said.

He called for a national program based on two efforts already begun in California.

It sounds as though the Senator has finally found a religion of sorts – a belief in intangibles founded in rumor, innuendo and superstition rather than in fact.

23 Feb 2007 by California Environment Whacko Politics

Cosmic Rays, Solar Flux and Global Warming

A Danish scientist, Henrik Svensmark, Director of the Center for Sun-Climate Research of the Danish National Space Center in Copenhagen, has conducted experiments and studies to validate his theory that interstellar galactic cosmic rays may have a considerable effect on global climate.

Right: Cosmic rays affect global cloud cover

The theory is that when cosmic rays hit the Earth’s atmosphere, they speed up the process where ions combine with sulphuric acid. These combine to form condensation nucleii, or tiny specs of matter that allow water droplets to form. The widespread condensation of water droplets accumulate to form lower-atmospheric clouds, which serve to reflect sunlight back into space and allow the Earth’s surface to cool off. In the absence of heavy cosmic radiation, fewer clouds form and the surface of the planet heats up again.

The Sun affects cosmic rays entering into the Earth’s atmosphere by virtue of particle emission (solar winds) and solar magnetic flux — when particle emission and the magnetic field is strong due to high solar activity, cosmic rays are deflected away and thus allow fewer clouds to form.

Svensmark concludes “it now seems clear that stellar winds and magnetism are crucial factors in the origin and viability of life on wet earth-like planets,” as are “ever-changing galactic environments and star-formation rates.” When you consider the context of this galactic radiation effect, the impact of CO2 emissions caused by humanity literally fade away into climatic insignificance.”

References:

CO2 Science — Cosmoclimatology: A New Perspective on Global Warming

Telegraph.co.uk — Cosmic rays blamed for global warming

Thanks to my colleague Rick for bringing this to my attention.

22 Feb 2007 by Environment Global Warming Science

Birds in the Canals of Venice

(Our website has been intermittent due to a problem with the database server. We apologize and appreciate your patience while our ISP troubleshoots the problem. Cap’n Bob)

We were driving adjacent to the Grand Canal in Venice and spotted these white birds as they climbed up the bank. No, not Venice, Italy but Venice, California. We aren’t sure what species these waterfowl are, but they sure are pretty.

white birds

12 Feb 2007 by California Environment Photography

STEREO

sun-explode.jpg“The Sun is anything but a stable yellow ball in the sky” — That’s how the narration begins in the NASA video presentation about the STEREO mission. The video itself is well done, with informative commentary and the usual outstanding NASA animated graphics. I highly recommend that you follow the link above and watch the four-minute video.

NASA’s twin STEREO spacecraft completed a series of complex maneuvers Sunday to position the spacecraft in their mission orbits. The spacecraft will be in position to produce the first 3-D images of the sun by April.

As physicists learn more about the Sun and it’s less than subtle behavior, we can expect to be able to “connect the sunspots” and identify the extent to which the Sun influences Earth’s environment and climate.

29 Jan 2007 by Astronomy Environment Global Warming

An Aerial Encounter

I caught this encounter yesterday over the County Recycle Center. Adjacent to the center lies the open fields of an inactive landfill where critters dwell — both predators and prey. And there also, live scavengers like this crow who tries to discourage a red-tailed hawk from hunting in the area. The hawk, a voracious raptor, eventually drove the crows away and resumed its graceful search for prey on the landfill.

red-tail.jpg

28 Jan 2007 by California Environment Photography

A Rational Voice in the Senate

imhofe.jpgSenator Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) is one of the few rational voices in the Senate when it comes to addressing the global warming issue. The Senator and his staff have established a weblog on the website of the Environmental and Public Works Committee where they don’t pull any punches when it comes to taking on the hype and misstatements by the Congress or the public in general. When Heidi Cullen, host of the Weather Channel’s weekly global warming program “The Climate Code” called for the American Meteorological Society to decertify any TV weatherperson who exhibits undue skepticism about climate warming, the Senator and his staff wasted no time in publishing a rebuke.

Kudos, Senator! We have added the “Senate EPW Blog” to our blogroll.

Kimberley A. Strassel wrote the following in her article in Opinion Journal:

As the former Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Republican Jim Inhofe was a coruscating critic of climate change alarmism. Now in the minority, he plans to make sure his voice is heard over the din of the media-savvy environmental groups through a new blog. His team even intends to make a bit of Congressional history by conducting the first-ever live Senate blog during the president’s State of the Union Address tonight. Watch out, National Review Online.

24 Jan 2007 by Congress Environment Global Warming

Categories

Archives