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Adaptation

How to Save a LOT of Money While Saving the Environment (Hint: Use LED lights!)

  I remember responding to a reader comment left in an article about the phasing out of compact fluorescent lights (CFL) due to their mercury content.  The commenter was saying how the government shouldn’t regulate the market and tell him that he can’t use CFL bulbs.  He likes the light from his CFLs and thinks they’re just fine. I don’t entirely disagree, but I think the irony was lost on him because incandescent bulb production was phased out in 2014 by — you guessed it — “the government”.  Maybe he was a youngster, not old and grizzled  like the Doc.  Anyhow, it struck me as… Read More »How to Save a LOT of Money While Saving the Environment (Hint: Use LED lights!)

Oklahoma farmer's son, Dust Bowl era, 1930s

Climate change, drought and the future of America

Climate change will likely lead to drought in the Southwest that make the historic Dust Bowl of the 1930’s look like good times.  A bunch of scientific studies assessing the risk of drought were recently covered in various media outlets, including Forbes, National Geographic, Scientific American and elsewhere. Several of these media reports are based on an excellent paper, published in Science Advances, called “Unprecedented 21st century drought risk in the American Southwest and Central Plains.”  Their findings were not encouraging. In this paper, scientists from NASA, Columbia and Cornell Universities used historical tree ring data and something called the Palmer Drought Severity Index… Read More »Climate change, drought and the future of America

The Top Five Climate Change Blogs

The Top Five Climate Change Blogs

(Image provided by ChristmasStockImages.com) Howdy Folks, I trust you are preparing for a wonderful holiday season.  The Doc will be on vacation visiting family at an undisclosed mountain hideout along the Rocky Mountain Front Range.  A place where it often snows this time of year (with any luck!). Before I go I will put The Climate Advisor on autopilot.  It should spit out a few posts over the holidays to keep you amused. But before I do that, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite climate blogs with you.  Some are oldies but goodies, and some I have recently… Read More »The Top Five Climate Change Blogs

smog layer

Ozone and Climate Change: The deadly truth

Ever seen a thick layer of haze hanging over a city in the summer?  That’s ozone.  I remember years back, mountain biking in the summer heat at South Mountain Park in Phoenix, Arizona. I would ride up the mountain until I was eye level with the layer of blue haze.  I used to think, “This can’t be good.”  Maybe that’s why old Doc Goodwell gets a little wheeze every now and again.  Who knows. Anyhow, the recent proposed change in the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation governing ozone has brought it back into the spotlight.  The EPA wants to lower the maximum amount of ground… Read More »Ozone and Climate Change: The deadly truth

riding in a Pavehawk over Kuwait

A Salute to a Reality-based Organization!

Happy Veteran’s Day! And thank you for your service if you’re a vet.  The Doc did his time with Uncle Sam a while back, and wholeheartedly supports America’s veterans. I’d just like to point out to you that the United States military is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, having responded to nearly every major disaster and humanitarian crisis around the globe in recent memory.  After all, who else has the disciplined, well-trained people, supplies, equipment and global reach?  That’s a rhetorical question.  The answer is nobody else does. This of course includes here at home, where the National Guard and… Read More »A Salute to a Reality-based Organization!