Category Archives: Uncategorized

A methane emergency?

Posted on August 30, 2021 by ...and Then There's Physics

There was an article a couple of days ago about why the climate emergency is now the methane emergency. I appreciate that the general argument is about limiting future warming, but some of what is suggested is essentially wrong. For … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Global warming, Policy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 46 Comments

Independent SAGE – Climate

Posted on June 20, 2021 by ...and Then There's Physics

Sir David King, who has been leading the Independent SAGE group, is planning to set up a similar group that will focus on climate change (H/T Doug McNeall). It will apparently have 14 experts, from 10 nations, and every continent. … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Environmental change, Global warming, Policy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 32 Comments

Declaring a climate emergency?

Posted on June 6, 2021 by ...and Then There's Physics

Matthew Nisbet, Professor of Communication, Public Policy, and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University, has a new article called Manufacturing Consent: The dangerous campaign behind climate emergency declarations. It makes similar arguments to those made by Mike Hulme in an article … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Philosophy for Bloggers, Policy, Politics, Science, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 57 Comments

Did a physicist become a climate truth teller?

Posted on April 18, 2021 by ...and Then There's Physics

Steven Koonin, a theoretical physicist, has been profiled in a recent Wall Street Journal article that suggests he’s become a climate truth teller. If you’re aware of Betteridge’s Law of Headlines you’ll already have worked out that I think this … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 25 Comments

Agricultural emissions

Posted on February 7, 2021 by ...and Then There's Physics

There’s a really nice recent paper by John Lynch, Michelle Cain, David Frame and Ray Pierrehumbert on Agriculture’s Contribution to Climate Change and Role in Mitigation Is Distinct From Predominantly Fossil CO2-Emitting Sectors. It’s largely discussing why there are important … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 179 Comments

The impact of climate change, and the cost of climate policies

Posted on December 27, 2020 by ...and Then There's Physics

There’s been a reasonable amount of discussion about Bjorn Lomborg’s fairly recent paper [w]elfare in the 21st century: Increasing development, reducing inequality, the impact of climate change, and the cost of climate policies. A key part of the paper is … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 65 Comments

A little domain knowledge can go a long way

Posted on November 14, 2020 by ...and Then There's Physics

A rather bizarre paper has been published in Scientific Reports (yes, that Scientific Reports) claiming that [an] earth system model shows self-sustained melting of permafrost even if all man-made GHG emissions stop in 2020. One immediate problem is that the … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Global warming, The philosophy of science, The scientific method, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments

Tropical cyclones and climate change

Posted on August 30, 2020 by ...and Then There's Physics

Michael Shellenberger has a recent Forbes article on [w]hy Deaths From Hurricanes And Other Natural Disasters Are Lower Than Ever. The article is based quite strongly on the work of a friend of this blog. The basic argument being that … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 65 Comments

Outgoing longwave radiation

Posted on April 30, 2020 by ...and Then There's Physics

Something that often strikes me is that when I think I understand something quite well, there often turns out to be an aspect that I haven’t understood particularly well. I sometimes think that this is can be an important thing … Continue reading →

Posted in Global warming, Greenhouse effect, Philosophy for Bloggers, The philosophy of science, The scientific method, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 40 Comments

A physicist for president?

Posted on March 19, 2020 by ...and Then There's Physics

Jim Al’Khalili has an article in Scientific American called [a] physicist for president? Jim is a physicist, so he’s probably being somewhat provactive. Also, he’s mostly arguing for someone who applies the scientific method to thinking and decision-making and is … Continue reading →

Posted in economics, physicists, Politics, Scientists, The scientific method, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 51 Comments