In my previous posts, I established, as is accepted in the scientific community, that global warming is a real phenomenon, and that human activity is what drives this warming trend. However, as alarming as the data appears, it makes sense to question what this actually means. What does a warming world look like? Would it …
Wednesday, May 1st Post moving to Friday, May 3rd
As I’m embroiled in finals, I am moving tomorrow’s post to Friday, and doubling up with the update originally planned for that time. We will be back on schedule for next week. I apologize for the inconvenience, and am looking forward to updating Friday!
Monday Links: WiFi to Replace Cables, Global Warming Denialism, and the Longest Sunset
The Economist predicts that 60-GHz range WiFi will quickly replace cables for transferring large amounts of data between home electronics. The obvious objection to using WiFi to connect your computer to monitors, keyboards, phones and printers is that others can eavesdrop on those signals and hack into them. Oddly enough, engineers have a solution for …
This Week On Runicfire: April 29th — May 5th
This Monday’s links cover the utility of emerging 60-GHz WiFi, political contention over global warming despite scientific consensus and an increasing overabundance of evidence, and the duration of the longest sunset you can see while driving on Earth. Wednesday concludes “The Case for Global Warming.” In Part 3, I explore the consequences of allowing global warming to …
The Hopeful Yet Dismal Science of Hydrogen Fuel Cells
Last week, I discussed how biodiesels carry promise as a transitional fuel in a more environmentally conscious economy. However, biodiesels do not seem a viable long-term alternative to gasoline or diesel due to its difficulty in fulfilling demand, not to mention the fact that it can only mitigate emissions—not eliminate them. There is another technology …
The Case for Global Warming, Part 2: How We Know It’s Us
In Part 1 of “The Case for Global Warming,” I presented an overview of the evidence that the Earth is indeed warming, and at a rate unprecedented in over 10,000 years. Today, I cover the evidence that we are its primary cause, and how, as a species, we manage to accomplish such a task. There …
This Week on Runicfire: April 22nd – April 28th
Monday’s links: astronomy, a short PDF from my biodiesel research for last week’s post, and the tragic suicide of a young woman from the Bay Area. Wednesday will see part two of “The Case for Global Warming,” in which I explain the greenhouse effect in detail, and how we know that humanity is the cause of global …
Monday Links: Double Super-Earths, Biodiesel Cheat Sheet, and a Tragedy Close to Home
This week’s links involve good news, and then far more tragic news. The fun bits first: astronomers have detected two planets near Earth’s diameter orbiting the star Kepler-62. The star is a slightly more orange cousin of the sun, and the planets orbit within the habitable zone. The Bad Astronomer has the details. Continuing from …
Biodiesel:An Alternative Fuel With a Foothold
Seeing the effect we’ve had on the world through industry—in particular, the burning of fossil fuels—can be depressing. With the world’s temperature increasing faster than it has in millennia, and our continued, voracious consumption of our rapidly depleting fossil fuels aiding that rise, despair seems the natural recourse. Nonetheless, countermeasures exist, and to my surprise …
The Case for Global Warming, Part 1
This is the first in a series of blog posts on anthropogenic global warming, or global warming caused by humans. Today, I introduce the subject and establish the existence of a sudden, unprecedented warming trend. I will discuss the subject in more detail in future installments. I have not always believed that global warming was …