by: holojojo

Wed, 31 Aug 2005 18:22:00 +0000

We seem to be getting better coverage of Katrina here in the UK; it’s been the lead item on the news for a couple of days. The possible tie-in to global warming is also being discussed, which I don’t get the impression is happening in the US, at least not on the Networks. Maybe the Arch-Kyoto-Sceptic George Dubya is embarrassed by such an own goal. Not being a complete sadist, I can’t do anything other than express my support and sympathy for the victims of this national disaster; however, it might be possible to turn misfortune to benefit for every citizen of the world - America, don’t vote Republican again!

by: Timothy Michel

Tue, 30 Aug 2005 19:11:24 +0000

Climate Change, ubiquitously not debated on the evening news. I have recently read a paper about the decline of Adelie penguins on the Antarctica peninsula. The author described the tenacity of these hardy bird by describing how one penguin he was observing was attacked by a leopard seal and had it’s collar bone broken and it’s chest ripped open. He described how the penguin stood over the nest while the male penguin brought food for a week until the injured penguin partly healed returned to the water to resume hunting krill. He said, “You can’t believe how tough these little birds are.” But the warming temperatures on the Antarctic peninsula has caused the sea ice to disappear and where there was once bare gravel for the penguins to build nests, there is now snow. The sea ice was also breeding grounds for krill, which has also declined dramatically. He said he saw the last penguin dive into the water never to return. Also from Siberia, a million square miles of peat bog permafrost is melting releasing millions of tons of methane and CO2 into the atmosphere, which wasn’t factored into the original global warming models. The rest is probably pretty well known,; sea surface temperatures are rising, 15% more moisture is present in the western Atlantic ocean and the Caribbean sea. What isn’t talked about, and what need to be talked about in the popular press is the feedback mechanisms inherent in global warming. Its not that the temperature is rising, it’s that we are rapidly moving to an entirely different temperature regime. It’s not that automobile emissions is causing the atmosphere to warm, it’s that the automobile emissions are a trigger starting processes that will greatly amplify small initial temperature increases. I can remember a time in the news when an event like Hurricane Katrina would dominate all channels and all time slots. this is a national disaster and all news services would have been exclusively devoted to coverage. Today I get a couple minutes of news with a few flashes of New Orleans and then Lee Iacocca selling more cars with his grand daughter. This isn’t how it should be. All news channels should be covering this national disaster. Commercials should be held to a minimum during this crisis and other news should be relegated to a five-minute segment at the beginning and end of the hour. Regular programming should be suspended fro the day and we shouldn’t expect to return to normal programming for a couple of days. where are the priorities of these conglomerated media services?

Comments on: Eyes on the Storm, Brains on Vacation

by: holojojo

by: Timothy Michel