Significant Figures by Peter Gleick
The Last Time Atmospheric CO2 was at 400 parts per million Humans Didn’t Exist
Posted by Peter Gleick on May 10, 2013 The planet has passed a disturbing landmark, a marker on a continuing highway to climate disruption. On May 9th, the NOAA and the Mauna Loa observatory reported that atmospheric CO2 levels touched 400 parts per million. Before humans started burning fossil fuels, they were around 280 parts per million. The last time atmospheric CO2…
A Step toward Fixing the Colorado River
Posted by Peter Gleick on May 10, 2013 The Colorado River, recently named America’s most endangered river, supports millions of people in the American Southwest and northwest Mexico and helps irrigate millions of acres of land. It is shared by seven states in the U.S. and Mexico, through a complex series of legal agreements and treaties. Yet every drop of water on the river…
Bottled Water Tax
Posted by Peter Gleick on May 9, 2013 Municipalities are trying to find ways of dealing with the scourge of plastic bottles in their garbage, and with falling revenues from many sources. Plastic bottles have become a significant fraction of total garbage volume, and raise collection, handling, and landfill costs when they are not recycled. In 2011, according to NAPCOR (the National Association…
Bottled Water Sales: The Shocking Reality
Posted by Peter Gleick on April 25, 2013 The numbers are in for 2012, and they are shocking. The Beverage Marketing Corporation, which tracks sales and consumption of beverages, is reporting that sales of bottled water grew nearly 7 percent between 2011 and 2012, with consumption reaching a staggering 30.8 gallons per person. And since I (and some of you) consume almost zero…
Happy Water, er, Earth Day: Give up Bottled Water
Posted by Peter Gleick on April 22, 2013 We live on solid ground, but the truth is, our planet is mostly covered in water. The famous writer Arthur C. Clarke noted this when he said, “How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean.” Today is Earth Day, when we celebrate the planet, and in particular the functioning ecosystem…
Iconic Curves #2: On Exponential Curves, “Hockey Sticks,” and Environmental Crises
Posted by Peter Gleick on April 10, 2013 On April 2nd, I posted three iconic graphs showing some of the clear observational evidence that we’re changing the climate. That post produced a substantial, and largely thoughtful response, and a request for more information and data along these lines. Here are three more, along with a bonus fourth, all with a theme of exponential…
Three iconic graphs showing the climate fix we’re in.
Posted by Peter Gleick on April 2, 2013 Here are three iconic graphs (unfortunately, there are many, many more) showing just some of the clear observational evidence that we’re changing the climate. The first is the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, measured at the Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii. It shows the little ups and downs in concentration that varies with the seasons,…
Three people, three days in the desert, 7 gallons of water
Posted by Peter Gleick on March 31, 2013 There’s nothing like spending time in the desert to make one appreciate water. It might seem strange to some that a water wonk like me spends considerable time in the desert. I’ve tried to go down to the vast Southern California desert for some time every year, typically in the spring when the winter cold is receding…
World Water Day 2013
Posted by Peter Gleick on March 21, 2013 Some thoughts for today: the bad news and good news for World Water Day. [First, I think every day should be World Water Day, not just March 22nd, but hey, that’s just me.] Stop taking your tap water for granted. Go to your tap, draw a glass of water, and drink it. Then remember that…
Climate Change and the Integrity of Science redux
Posted by Peter Gleick on March 21, 2013 Nearly two years ago, Science magazine published the following Lead Letter, signed by 255 members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences addressing attacks on the integrity of climate science. The science has continued to strengthen, the evidence in real world observations has become even stronger and more obvious. In response, in the past few months, there…