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Latest Musing Pet Peeves: Absurd Sci Fi Films Division             Settle into my seat on a flight from Heathrow to JFK. Scan through movie options. Banshees of Inn... continue Books Fire & Flood Buy from Amazon Deep Past Buy from Amazon more info Articles by Category endangered animals rapid climate change global deforestation fragging Books The Ragged Edge of the World Winds of Change Buy from Amazon more info Afterword to the softbound edition. The Octopus and the Orangutan more info The Future In Plain Sight more info The Parrot's Lament more info Silent Partners more info Affluence and Discontent more info The Alms Race more info Apes, Men, & Language more info

Global Warming Denial Lite Thursday May 29, 2014              There’s more than one type of denialist behavior in the global warming saga. The loudest voices come from the “climate change is a hoax” crowd led by such mental giants as Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma and slavishly adhered to by legions of Republicans who should know better. Then there’s a far more widespread and softer denial, in which people who accept the science on global warming assume that while climate will probably change at some point, it is not something to worry about now. This "lite" denial was very much on display on CNBC this morning as the cast discussed the weaker than expected revision to first quarter GDP.             The GDP number came in at -1% annualized. Taken out of context, such weak performance would suggest that the U.S. was heading back into recession, but both the pundits and the markets discounted the number because everybody knew that the awful winter in the Midwest and northeast disrupted the economy, and everybody expects that the economy will rebound as people catch up on deferred spending. Really? Why do people blithely assume that once winter is over, the weather will stop disrupting the economy?             As we have seen over the past few years, the drumbeat of weather extremes is not purely a winter event. The Midwest drought wrecked havoc in the spring and summer of 2012, causing a huge spike in grain prices and disrupting barge traffic on the Mississippi for weeks. Hurricane Sandy disrupted the economy in the northeast that fall, and now extreme drought and attendant wildfires are penalizing the Southwest and California. Now it looks like an El Nino is building in the eastern Pacific. How many years of hurricanes, storm surges, floods, droughts, windstorms, tornadoes, and temperature extremes will we endure before the broad public realizes that extreme weather is the new normal?             Probably too many.    contact Eugene Linden

Short Take Summer Evenings in July   I go out to my porch, drink in hand, as the gloaming fades. I sit on a very comfortable rocking chair, given -- maybe loaned; it’s unclear -- by a friend. My cat, Noodles, joins me, settling on the couch facing me. He tends to his grooming, and I wait for the fireflies to appear. There are less every year and this is disquieting on an otherwise perfect night. I want them to be fruitful and multiply -- if possible by the millions. That would be a sign that, perhaps, all is well. It’s warm, and to my west is a wall of green, dominated by a very tall Linden. Hello, fellow Linden! As the warm air stills around me, emotions rise. I feel – I’m sure the Germans have a long word for it, but I’m too lazy to search on google – I feel… Something deep and strong; something like love for the world. It gives me hope for another day. read more

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