clair031

Summary .   The scientific method dictates that research be carried out in an open, unbiased way.   Desired results may not be determined ahead of time.   Peer review by anonymous reviewers ensures that published reports are objectively presented and that their conclusions are supported by the data.   This post presents six examples of important scientific and technological advances that have improved human life over the past 150 years, and two examples in which useful technologies carried with them unintended, harmful side effects.   Scientific research helped identify the causes of the harms, and provided ways to overcome them. Recognition of global warming did not occur by predetermining this result and seeking data to support the concept.   Rather it was characterized by open scientific inquiry conducted by myriad scientists around the globe for the last several decades.   Global warming and its harms to human life and to the ecology of the earth a...

Summary .   The U. S. Energy Information Agency issued its International Energy Outlook 2011 on Sept. 19, 2011 .   The report forecasts worldwide energy usage from 2008 through 2035 assuming no regulatory limits on burning of fossil fuels.   The report envisions an increase in overall energy usage that grows year by year, and is 53% higher in 2035 than in 2008.   Much of that increase arises in China , India and other developing countries.   In 2035 80% of energy needs are furnished by burning fossil fuels.   The development of renewable energy grows to about 14% of the total in 2035.   Because of the pronounced increase in use of fossil fuels, the annual rate of emission of carbon dioxide also grows dramatically during this period. This post concludes that the high rate of emissions of carbon dioxide envisioned by the report in the absence of regulations has to be minimized in order to limit the worsening of global warming and its attendant harms to ...

Summary .   Global warming continues to proceed unabated, producing more, and more severe, extreme weather events.   These include heat waves, drought, floods, forest wildfires and beetle infestations of stressed forests.   These events cause major personal, physical and economic harms to society.   Seeking to minimize the further emission of greenhouse gases originating from the burning of fossil fuels, we should install renewable energy sources and develop energy efficiency practices.   In this post we summarize the contents of several previous posts that have presented various aspects of these subjects.   The benefits of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects include reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing dependence on foreign sources of fossil fuels, helping stabilize the atmospheric CO 2 concentration, lowering the rate of worsening of extreme weather events, rapid payback from energy efficiency projects, and significant job creation. ...