Scott Burgess from the Daily Ablution has returned after taking a bit of a rest (mental detox he calls it). And right out of the gate he's right there with some environmental information you will not be reading about in the MSM. This seems even more important in light of this post, too.
That's not to say that one or two end-of-year items didn't catch my interest – did you realise, for example, that last year was the coolest worldwide since 2001 (PDF – see page 3)? (Indeed, the Russian winter of 2005-06 was the coldest for decades). Would it surprise you to learn that the arctic ice cap recovered slightly from its 2005 extent (PDF – page 2)? Probably, given the spin on facts that most of the media almost invariably employ when the topic of climate change arises. Similarly, coverage of the IPCC's recent adjustment of its worst-case projections for sea level rise this century (from 34 to 17 inches) seems muted, especially when one considers the likely media response had the estimate been increased by the same proportion.
Incidentally, on the subject of climate, I was very happy as a former New Orleanian to see the unexpectedly mild hurricane season in the Atlantic – a phenomenon which may in part be explained by the fact that "at the opening of the 2006 hurricane season, sea surface temperatures were 2 degrees cooler than they had been at opening of the 2005 season", according to NASA.
As always, Burgess has quite a lot more on a number of subjects. Take a look and welcome him back with a little traffic.
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