lightblueline

Last night New Yorker science writer Elizabeth Kolbert brought a message of alarm, a call to action, and sliver of hope to a full room of concerned residents in Campbell Hall. Focusing on the issue of sea-level rise from her book Field Notes from a Catastrophe, she described her experiences in Alaska and Greenland, and the fears and predictions of the scientists who are trying to gain a better understanding of how the planet's ice sheets will respond to global warming. She also mentioned our local lightblueline action (but not by name).
Here is the Santa Barbara Newsroom's article on her talk:
Climate Change Close-Up at UCSB
Here is a review from the Santa Barbara Independent:
It's Not Easy Teaching Green

Tam Hunt over at the Community Environmental Council sent me an article from the Real Climate site with a detailed examination of what's in, what's what, and what's NOT in the recent IPCC report about predicted sea-level rise. The article, submitted March 27th, is a great resource for scientists and others trying to determine how to use the IPCC report.

You can read the whole article here:

The IPCC sea level numbers

One point to note is that the author also suggests that cutting off discussion of sea-level rise to the next 90 years makes little sense if our actions in the coming decade might cause this to continue to rise, and perhaps to rise more dangerously over the subsequent decades and centuries. The point is to do what we can do NOW to limit future sea-level rise to at most, say, one meter. The author's conclusions are below:

In today's (April 15, 2007) Seattle Times, a journalist explores the various opportunities that a single family has to change their carbon footprint and do their share in the struggle against unwanted and perhaps dangerous climate change.

"...personal choices matter, said Dina Kruger, director of EPA's Climate Change Division in Washington, D.C.

'There are enormous opportunities for individuals to make a difference,' she said.

Yesterday, across the nation, more than a thousand local actions dramatized the need for the US to focus its attention to climate change. In Goleta, on the beach, an ice-cube toss into the ocean symbolized how half-way measures just won't cut it. Lightblueline congratulates these actions and everyone who participated! We all need to step up and show we are serious about stopping human induced climate change. In the face of the current administration, which continues to back-pedal on this issue, it will take a strong congress to step forward and lead.

In this week's (April 12, 2007) Santa Barbara Independent, Nick Welsh points out the ongoing effort that lightblueline is making to get the lines on the streets. He makes a lot of good points too about local impacts of climate change. Well barked!

The Fort Meyers News-Press (April 13, 2007) reports on the consequences that rising sea levels hold for the mostly low and flat countryside of South Florida:

"Sea-level rise is simple cause-and-effect: As the Earth gets warmer, glacial ice melts. That water goes into the sea, and the sea rises. Levels fluctuate naturally, but many scientists say the rate of sea-level rise has been accelerated by human activity, specifically pouring excessive carbon dioxide into the air.

Some scientists predict a 2-foot rise by the end of the century.

CNN reports (April 9, 2007) that Woodstock, New York is working to completely eliminate its carbon footprint in the face of climate change:

"Last month, the Woodstock town board approved a nonbinding resolution that called for 'implementing policies resulting in no net emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases' by 2017.

'Net' means residents can keep their cars as long as they produce enough clean power to offset their emissions.

The resolution lists ways to reach the zero carbon goal, including green building, bike paths, tree planting and biodiesel municipal fleets.

The recently released (April 6, 2007) IPCC report on the impacts of climate change underwent a final day-long edit, with political input from member countries. Mostly the edits were said to lessen the certainty that the scientists had proposed for these impacts. Several scientists were reported to be upset enough about the process to not participate in the future. On April 7, Climate Science Watch posted the official report and the internal document, as well as press notices from several sources.

Last Thursday we had our main opening reception for the "Drawing the Line on Climate Change" art exhibit at Santa Barbara City Hall. Adrianne Davis and Charlene Huston, and so many other people worked to make the event very festive. The " little ice cream cones were fantastic. David Lea came to answer questions, and had a concern about a new paper predicting drought conditions in the Southwest US.

Dave Davis from the Community Environmental Council provided the following words:

Dr. Vivian Gornitz (January 2007) at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies provides a concise account of global ice melt and sea level since the last ice age.