Prof. Mario Molina, who won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for elucidating the threat that refrigerant gases (chlorofluorocarbons) pose to the ozone layer, uses the image above to convey the state of understanding of human-driven climate change. Prof. Molina:
There appears to be a gross misunderstanding of the nature of climate change science among those that have attempted to discredit it. They convey the idea that the science in question behaves like a house of cards: if you remove just one of them, the whole structure falls apart. However, this is certainly not the way the science of complex systems has evolved. A much better analogy is a jigsaw puzzle: many pieces are missing, and some might even be in the wrong place, but there is little doubt that the overall image is clear, namely that climate change is a serious threat that needs to be urgently addressed. It is also clear that modest amounts of warming will have both positive and negative impacts, but above about 4 or 5 degrees Fahrenheit most impacts turn negative for many ecological systems, and for most nations.
Must Read
- Andrew Revkin, Certainties, Uncertainties and Choices with Global Warming
- Ethan Gilsdorf, Look Up! Small Screens, Big Distractions And The Lost Art Of Knowing Your Place
Should Read/Watch
- Massachusetts State Legislature, Bill H.532: An Act relative to shifting from carbon emissions to transportation investment
- Dean Baker, Rising Dollar Costs Jobs
- Carl Hulse, First Draft Video: [Sen. Elizabeth] Warren on Fixing Washington
Environment
- Joe Romm, The Wall Street Journal Publishes Long-Debunked Myths To Promote Climate Inaction
- Rabett Run, We don’t know everything, but we know enough!
- Katie Valentine, Denying Climate Change ‘Will Cost Us Billions Of Dollars,’ U.S. Budget Director Warns
- Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Revenue-Neutral Carbon Tax
- Brad Plumer, 7 charts that help make sense of this week’s UN climate talks
- Brad Plumer, Past UN climate talks have failed. Will this next round be any different?
- Justin Gillis, Testing Future Conditions for the Food Chain
- Save the North 40 Wellesley
Health Care
- WBUR, Coakley Submits Amended Partners Agreement Capping Hallmark Prices
- Cary Goldberg, Surprise In Mass. Primary: 21 Percent For Single-Payer Candidate Berwick
- USA Today, Vermont is ‘single-payer’ trailblazer
Guns
- NY Times Editorial Board, The Quickening Pace of Gun Sprees
- Tom Scocca, NRA press conference: The lesson of Newtown—when gun nuts write gun laws, nuts have guns.
Miscellany
- Danielle Kurtzleben, Here’s Obama’s plan to curb corporate tax inversions
- Matthew Rothschild, Eric Holder’s Five Crucial Failures
- Mark Sager, Are There Still Boy Scouts?