Thoughts of 4th of July parade spectators on global warming and solutions.

A little after noon, before Nevada City's (2pm) 4th of July parade, I started up Broad Street with voice recorder in hand,  asking the earlybird spectators what came to mind when they heard the term "global warming", and then if they indicated it was a problem, what came to mind for solutions.

How to report city and county issues that need fixing

This month's Nevada City Advocate (story not online AFAIK)  reports that Nevada County has an online and mobile "citizen service request" app for reporting potholes, environmental hazards etc, that went live several months ago (link). (Update: The City of Grass Valley has one too)

Jeff Masters: next week may be our turn

"Around July 11, a sharp ridge of high pressure is expected to build in over the Western U.S., bringing the potential for crazy-hot conditions capable of toppling all-time heat records in many western states. "

- from Weather Underground co-founder Jeff Masters, in his post The June 2012 U.S. heat wave: one of the greatest in recorded history.  He continues,

"The intense heat and lack of rain, combined with soils that dried out early in the year due to lack of snowfall, have led to widespread areas of moderate to extreme drought over much of the nation's grain growing regions, from Kansas to Indiana. The USDA is reporting steadily deteriorating crop conditions for corn and soybeans, and it is likely that a multi-billion dollar drought disaster is underway in the Midwest."

See also Sierra Voices: this is what global warming looks like.

Kevin Trenberth: We're looking at the future (of global warming)

Trenberth on PBS, talking about the wild weather & record heat as a taste of the future under global warming.

Stock responses to "inaction" talking points on climate change

Why engage? “The thing humans fear more than anything else is the inability to care for our children," says Auden Schendler (*).  Caring would seem to include protecting their home and life support system.

After the primary - which of our U.S. congressional candidates&officeholders support ending the $12b/yr taxpayer subsidies to fossil fuel industry?

Spoiler: Only Reed and a McClintock aide have responded. 

Future sea level rise under inaction today - the big picture looks ugly

David Roberts has a "big picture" post today, Rising sea levels: It’s worse than you think.

What to bequeath those who follow us?

So, if we f*ck around and allow temperature to rise 4.5 degrees C, by 2300 sea levels could be up to 5 meters (16.4 feet) higher and rising at around 13 mm a year. That will be tons of fun to adapt to for all Earth’s creatures, I’m sure.

Here (Source: flood.firetree.net)  is what the Sacramento valley would look like under a 5 meter sea level rise.  Who will be cleaning up the toxic stuff in garages and industrial parks, before they get flooded?  - since the bulk of the damage will come from extreme weather events amplified by the sea level rise.

Mitigation is preventing the problem, like keeping kids from smoking (video).  Adaptation means trying to adjust to living with the problem, like giving smokers an oxygen tank when they develop emphysema.  Or like mandating wider roads, to help drivers escape forest fires.


Failing to decide to act is itself a decision, whose effects fall on the kids, and on their descendants.  They would tell you "it's not fair" - what would you tell them?

David Roberts, "Climate change is simple.."

David Roberts of Grist is the among the top online communicators about climate change - which is why I've added his feed to Nevada County Voices.  Here's his 17-minute TEDx presentation (video, and notes)  "Climate change is simple: We do something or we’re screwed."

Soapbox derby crew accident - life flight helicopter (edited)

The Union's story (Update: it's moved here) has now appeared & has info, including identities.

Record hot spring in contiguous U.S. - crushing old record for "most extreme season".

From Jeff Masters' Wunderblog, here:

Spring 2012 in the contiguous U.S. demolished the old records for hottest spring and most extreme season of any kind, said NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) .... The March - April - May spring season was 5.2°F above average--the largest temperature departure from average of any season on record for the contiguous United States. What's truly remarkable is the margin the old record was broken by--spring 2012 temperatures were a full 1°F above the previous most extreme season, the winter of 1999 - 2000. All-time seasonal temperature records are very difficult to break, and are usually broken by only a tenth of a degree. To see the old record crushed by a full degree is a stunning and unparalleled event in U.S. meteorological history.

Meanwhile, a local paper runs an op-ed from a woman indicating concerns about climate are groundless, only a ruse.  But placing political ideology before climate science makes for poor long-run prioritizing, as another op-ed points out.

Nevada County alternative transportation options?

What alternative vehicles (or rideshare apps, or ?) have we got, here in western Nevada County?

Memorial Day writing

Read Don Pelton's In Praise of Warriors, Not War.

Every citizen who understands that some wars are unavoidable and necessary owes this same effort – to understand what combat really is – to those whom he may ask to risk their lives. ...

And Charles Pierce's Loving the Warrior, Hating the Wars: Our Memorial Daze.

Our methods of repayment [to veterans and activs service members] ... are curious, to say the least. We let them get on planes ahead of us, with the elderly and the infirm and the toddlers, but we underfund hospital care... We pay tribute to them at ballgames, but send them into battle ill-prepared, and bring them home to decrepit facilities and heedless bureaucracies. We give them parades, but had to be blackjacked into giving them a "new G.I. Bill" that is but a pale shadow of the original one, which did no less than create the modern American middle class. ...

An action that can make a difference

Having a thriving sustainability movement and a culture that encourages personal "carbon footprint" action  is great, but what's needed is policy action, and there's the danger that focusing on  personal "footprint" efforts can distract from solving the problem.

But here's a personal action that does make a difference:
(Note: but it might need some tweaking, before it's worth spending time on)

Public transportation report: to Palo Alto and back

(I'm way behind on trip & talk reports.  Here's a simple one.)

Thoughts on politics, factions, alliances, effectiveness, cooperation, ...,

This is train-of-thought stuff; apologies in advance for its lack of polish.