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Climate Change & Online Discussion

In the web world, the public conversation about climate change on mainstream discussion and media websites is quite distorted. The comments sections are filled with poorly informed opinions (on all sides of the debate), personal attacks and disinformation.  (It’s widely documented that the fossil fuel industries and other motivated groups are pouring significant amounts of [...]

Asides

• The Copenhagenize blog has some interesting thoughts on cycling and subcultures: do the various cycling subcultures (racers, couriers, mountain bikers) in North America get in the way of making cycling appealing to normal citizens? The subcultures define themselves by gear or attitude - and I think this is quite offputting for normal people. It's like a world where choosing to drive made everyone think you were a Formula One fan or a fix-your-own-car-guy. That said, the various European cycle chic blogs are perhaps guilty of pushing another subculture: beautiful people. #
• Joe Romm discusses a plausible worst case scenario for climate change. The UK's Hadley Centre model was used to look at the effects of continued growth in fossil fuel use, including carbon feedbacks - and the results aren't pretty. In 10% of the model runs, very high temperatures are seen as soon as 2060, and the North American numbers are 6-12°C rises. #