James Hansen, num documento de divulgação, discute o ponto da situação da problemática do aquecimento global. O documento, em inglês e em PDF, intitula-se "Tipping Point - perspective of a climatologist" - podem acedê-lo aqui. É uma síntese clara do problema.
"... this figure on “cumulative fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions by different countries as a percent of global total”. China has a long way to go to catch up to this country — let alone the entire industrialized world — on cumulative emissions (though they are obviously trying as hard as they can)."
"The news from NOAA is that all our dawdling on climate action this decade is having real impact on the atmosphere:
- ver em NOAA news isn't good news Gristmill: The environmental news blog Grist.
"“He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind.” A Biblical proverb for our times, it turns out…. The bark beetle is devastating North American trees (see “Climate-Driven Pest Devours N. American Forests“). Global warming has created a perfect climate for these beetles — Milder winters since 1994 have reduced the winter death rate of beetle larvae in Wyoming from 80% per year to under 10%, and hotter, drier summers have made trees weaker, less able to fight off beetles. [Picture shows forests turned red by beetle.]"
"Check out this 4-minute clip of Dr. Rashid Sumaila, head of the Fisheries Economics Research Unit here at the UBC Fisheries Centre (and also one of my committee members), as he discusses overfishing, subsidies, and what we can do about it. The clip is an out-take from the PBS series Strange Days on Planet Earth and Rashid also gave a nice interview for the Strange Days website..."
Spiral Galaxies in Collision
"A recent Financial Times displayed this staggering map of the globe: Black dots marked each of the countries were food riots have been sparked in outrage against the rising prices of food. Thirty dots in all. A recent CNN report noted that "Riots, instability spread as food prices skyrocket." These surging costs, warns World Bank President Robert Zoellick, "could mean 'seven lost years' in the fight against worldwide poverty."
"... Productivity and competitiveness remain Spain's greatest challenges. These need reforms to the labour market, the education system and Spain's research and development infrastructure that may take years to produce results."
Brazil An economic superpower, and now oil too Economist.com: onde se lê natural endowment, pode-se ler, quando analisando outras situações, rendas, qualquer que seja o seu tipo:
"An oil gusher could also sharpen Brazil's already voracious appetite for the politics of the pork barrel. Lula has done much to make Brazil's democracy more genuine. But he was re-elected in 2006 despite a corruption scandal that would have felled a politician of lesser skills. Since then he has basked in popularity derived from sunny economic times and well-designed social policies. The danger is complacency. Compared with its past, Brazil is indeed doing much better. But before oil euphoria kicks in, Brazil's leaders should ask themselves why so many other countries have made bigger returns from a much smaller natural endowment."
For months, he has been writing newspaper articles explaining the basic tenets of Darwin's theory, hoping to change minds. He sits on round-table discussions and hands out booklets on evolution from the National Academy of Sciences. He races to the Capitol between lectures to give the fruit fly talk. To Kroto, and mainstream scientists like him, the idea that humans evolved from the world's earliest life forms is as obvious as the laws of gravity. "The bedrock of all biology," Kroto calls it. "It's beautiful."
But Florida lawmakers and a national movement of mostly religious-based groups believe evolution is less absolute. State proposals this year would undo a recent decision by the state Board of Education and allow teachers to "present scientific information relevant to the full range of views on biological and chemical evolution." Kroto and other scientists surmise such legislation would allow teachers to present as credible theories of creationism and intelligent design, basically beliefs that God or a higher being created humans.
Proponents say it allows teachers "academic freedom" to explore a theory, and that laws clearly ban the teaching of religious theories. The proposals would also protect from punishment students who refuse to accept Darwin's evolution. The bill's Senate sponsor, Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, says teachers and students feel too frightened to even discuss intelligent design. Senate Majority Leader Dan Webster, R-Winter Garden, said the theory of evolution "had flaws." Republicans have voted for the plan to the point where it will be considered by the full Senate, and has only one more committee to pass in the House..."
Paul Krurgman opina também sobre a análise de Obama em Clinging to a Stereotype , no New York Times, e remete para o seu blogue a informação estatística que suporta a sua posição: krugman.blogs.nytimes.com.
Geoorge Monbiot: Credit crunch? The real crisis is global hunger. And if you care, eat less meat Comment is free The Guardian:
"Never mind the economic crisis. Focus for a moment on a more urgent threat: the great food recession that is sweeping the world faster than the credit crunch. You have probably seen the figures by now: the price of rice has risen by three-quarters over the past year, that of wheat by 130%. There are food crises in 37 countries. One hundred million people, according to the World Bank, could be pushed into deeper poverty by the high prices. But I bet that you have missed the most telling statistic. At 2.1bn tonnes, the global grain harvest broke all records last year - it beat the previous year's by almost 5%. The crisis, in other words, has begun before world food supplies are hit by climate change. If hunger can strike now, what will happen if harvests decline? There is plenty of food. It is just not reaching human stomachs. Of the 2.13bn tonnes likely to be consumed this year, only 1.01bn, according to the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation, will feed people."
Food The silent tsunami Economist.com: "Agriculture is now in limbo. The world of cheap food has gone. With luck and good policy, there will be a new equilibrium. The transition from one to the other is proving more costly and painful than anyone had expected. But the change is desirable, and governments should be seeking to ease the pain of transition, not to stop the process itself."
Food and the poor The new face of hunger Economist.com: "But the food scare of 2008, severe as it is, is only a symptom of a broader problem. The surge in food prices has ended 30 years in which food was cheap, farming was subsidised in rich countries and international food markets were wildly distorted. Eventually, no doubt, farmers will respond to higher prices by growing more and a new equilibrium will be established. If all goes well, food will be affordable again without the subsidies, dumping and distortions of the earlier period. But at the moment, agriculture has been caught in limbo. The era of cheap food is over. The transition to a new equilibrium is proving costlier, more prolonged and much more painful than anyone had expected."
Aditamento (08.04.21)
A-propósito ver também Les biocarburants sont-ils coupables ? Telos.
"The HiRISE camera onboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter keeps churning out incredible images of Mars. This one is very cool, but it’s not obvious why at a glance:..."
"Svetlana Jevrejeva of the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, UK, says a new, more accurate reconstruction of sea levels over the past 2000 years suggests that the prediction of a an 18-59 centimetre rise by 2100 made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is wildly inaccurate. Meeting at European Geosciences Union conference in Vienna, Austria, this week, researchers including Jevrejeva said in a statement that the pace at which sea levels are rising is accelerating. They predict they will be 0.8-1.5 metres higher by next century."
"March 2008 missed the record for the warmest March (2002) by a whopping 0.07°F. March 2008 was the warmest March over land in the record, beating the previous record by nearly 0.3°F. And it was the warmest March over land and sea in the northern hemisphere on record by 0.2°F . "
...Yet I am not that optimistic about regulation either. Regulators are doomed to close the stable doors behind financial institutions that always find new and more exciting ways of losing money. It is, for this reason, crucial that the institutions, and unsecured creditors, feel some pain: the burned child fears the fire; singeing is less effective. Yet the fire must never burn too far, since that might destroy the entire economy. If regulation is to be effective, it must cover all relevant institutions and the entire balance sheet, in all significant countries; it must focus on capital, liquidity and transparency; and, not least, it must make finance less pro-cyclical. Will it ever work perfectly? Certainly not. It is impossible and probably even undesirable to create a crisis-free financial system. Crises will always be with us. But we can surely do far better than we have been doing. In any case, we are doomed to try."
Brechas no consenso de Miguel Castro Coelho. A desigualdade (e o enfraquecimento das redes de segurança social nalguns países, e.g., caso dos EUA) induz reacções que poderão por em causa a globalização e o comércio internacional:
"Israel has achieved some remarkable things during its 60 years. But for the sake of its security and domestic well-being, it now needs a system that makes politicians answerable to voters, not to other politicians. What shape it should take—whether a mixture of proportional representation with electoral districts, higher thresholds to keep small parties out of the parliament, or just rules to make it harder to topple governments—is up to Israelis. Unfortunately, since their politicians will design and vote on it, it is unlikely to be optimal; but almost anything would be better than what there is now."
