rachel.blog

Tag: Climate change

  • Roadrunner, sea level rise, and the Bloggers Bash

    Roadrunner has gone viral so I thought I’d share it as well. What’s so fascinating about this clip that it gets over 3 million views in less that a week? The bird is really fast and I was reminded of Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner but I’ve seen better things on YouTube that get…

  • Interview with Professor Kevin Anderson – part 1

    I enjoyed watching this video interview with Professor Kevin Anderson of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Research in Manchester (Thanks to Manchester Climate Monthly). It’s about the recent Paris climate talks. From what I understand, although the Paris talks resulted in a very ambitious target – 1.5°C – there’s no plan to actually reduce our…

  • The Paris agreement

    I haven’t written anything about the Paris climate change agreement yet but have been wanting to put my thoughts down on my blog so here goes. On the one hand it’s quite ambitious. They agreed a 1.5°C target which is very ambitious and an improvement on the 2°C which is what is usually bandied about. But on…

  • How much do cows fart?

    I found this two-minute clip on Grist which shows how much cows fart in 2 hours. Spoiler: A lot!   A paper was published in Nature Climate Change in October 2015 which finds the temperature increase for parts of the Middle East is projected to exceed the level which humans can tolerate by the end of…

  • Global meat consumption

    I saw this graph in my Twitter feed today. It comes from an article in the World Economic Forum: I’m not surprised to see Australia at the top but the numbers are still mind-boggling – 93kg of meat per person, per year. I almost doubt their accuracy but the numbers come from here. They’re extraordinary and…

  • Thin Ice

    A little while ago I donated to the Kickstarter campaign to bring the Thin Ice climate change documentary to US television. My name is even listed on this page. WooHoo! I haven’t heard anything about it for some time and so went looking to see what stage they’re at. It turns out the documentary began…

  • How to fund several manned missions to Mars

    I watched this talk given by Exeter College student, Beth Barnes, a couple of months ago and it’s so good it needs to be shared. It’s only 6 minutes but very powerful and thought-provoking. It has nothing really to do with missions to Mars although she does mention this in her talk. It’s about a movement called effective…

  • Skip showers for beef

    I’ve been meaning to share the Skip Showers for Beef video which is very funny but has an important message. They’ve also got a website at: http://www.skipshowersforbeef.com A friend sent me a link to the Cowspiracy movie this morning and I’ve just been watching it. Most of it I am already aware of and indeed…

  • Scientific consensus and arguments from authority

    A British science journalist who posts to YouTube under the handle Potholer54 has released another video and it’s just as entertaining and informative as all his others. In it he demonstrates how to pick fact from bullshit with a funny commentary. Why are people so easily duped? A couple of times recently I’ve received some scam calls…

  • The age of science denial

    A commenter on the …andThenTheresPhysics blog has shared a terrific excerpt from a 100-year-old science book by Huxley and Gregory he found in his attic. It’s about the greenhouse effect and how we knew way back then that adding CO2 to the atmosphere would increase the surface temperature on earth. The atmosphere surrounding the earth…

  • Has Elon Musk solved the climate crisis?

    I just watched this video of Elon Musk revealing Tesla’s new “Powerwall”, a battery pack for the home. The Powerwall can store energy from solar panels when the sun’s shining and then deliver this stored energy to the home when it’s dark. I have to say it sounds wonderful and Elon Musk had me convinced…

  • Rants: Zips, Tony Abbott, and wills

    I feel like having a bit of a rant about a few things so if you don’t like that kind of thing then feel free to stop reading. Zips. They’re always getting stuck. They seem to be very poorly made these days and they always get stuck, usually when you’re in a public changing room half-undressed and…

  • Duthie Park and ice shelves

    I took this photo of Duthie Park today. I love watching the plants change as we move deeper into spring. There’s about to be an explosion of green there as all the buds on the trees open up probably in the next week or so. Duthie Park is a gorgeous place: great for running, walking,…

  • Ice-skating, The Satrosphere, and climate change

    It has been a very sunny and warm 17°C today. We’ve been out on our bicycles and I must admit that it was almost a bit too hot. Whose idea was it to move to such a balmy climate? For me the range from 5°C-10°C is the best for cycling otherwise I get stinky armpits. We went to…

  • Ethical investments?

    I just got around to joining the superannuation program offered by my employer in the UK and so I thought I’d investigate fossil fuel divestment. After all, I don’t want my, er, £364 going into the pockets of fossil fuel companies. I’m sure fossil fuel companies are shivering with fear just at the thought of…

  • In praise of cinnamon buns and hydro power

    I’ve just discovered something quite wonderful. Apparently the smell of cinnamon buns has been shown to increase blood flow to the penis. Just joking! I mean, it is true apparently, but that’s not the wonderful thing I want to talk about. It was just a cheap shot to get your attention 🙂 Perhaps not quite as exciting as an…

  • Global warming = smelly armpits

    One of the best things about living in a cold climate is an almost complete absence of armpit stink. Women aren’t supposed to get smelly armpits but we do in fact get just as smelly as men. Perhaps we have the heating too low in our home here in Scotland but for whatever reason, I find…

  • How whales change climate

    This is a wonderful 5 minute video about the many wonderful things whales do for our planet.

  • I shave my armpits and the ice is still melting

    I’m finding the school trip with Busby and two kids easier and easier. It’s almost too short a journey for me now. Certain “Skeptics” (you know who you are) might mock me and my bicycle and all I have to say in response is that I have a damn fine set of legs now thanks to cycling everyday. So…

  • Thin Ice kickstarter campaign

    Thin Ice is a brilliant documentary made by geologist and amateur cameraman, Simon Lamb. I’ve seen it a couple of times and it’s my favourite climate science film. It’s informative, clear, and it doesn’t have the Hollywood drama of some of the other climate documentaries which is a good thing in my view. I think…