FREE Insights 2009-11-11
By: Pete GeddesPosted on November 11, 2009 FREE Insights Topics:
(1) “Give me half a tanker of iron, and I’ll give you an ice age.”
“Most people are aware that CO2 and temperature are positively correlated in the long historical record but fewer people know that iron dust correlates negatively on the same scale — that is, temperature and CO2 levels are low when iron-dust is high.”
Lessons from Nature, Models, and the Past
(2) Optical Illusions Show How We See
Beau Lotto's color games puzzle your vision, but they also spotlight what you can't normally see: how your brain works. This fun, first-hand look at your own versatile sense of sight reveals how evolution tints your perception of what's really out there.
(3) The Economic Effects of Climate Change
From: Tol, Richard S. J. 2009. “The Economic Effects of Climate Change.” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 23(2): 29–51.
“There have been 13...studies published in the peer reviewed literature that have wrestled with the economic implications of a doubling of atmospheric greenhouse gases.... Here are the estimated changes to GDP relative to a baseline scenario where no CO2 buildup occurs: +2.5%, +2.3%, +0.9%, +0.1%, no change, 0.1%. -0.4%, -0.9% -1.3%, -1.4%, -1.5% -1.7% -1.9% and -4.8%. In short, climate change will either add or subtract about one year of economic growth from the global economy in the second half of this century.”
The Peak Oil Secret is Revealed!
The Economic Effects of Climate Change
(4) Russia’s Deadly Demographic Trend
From: Slipping Growth By Nicholas Eberstadt and Hans Groth
“Ever since the days of the British political economist Thomas Robert Malthus [1766-1834], demographic commentators have been faulted for excessive despondency, for being overly ready to find ubiquitous “population problems” in virtually every new demographic development. Be that as it may, serious or even disastrous population problems can still threaten real existing countries—even today. In fact, we are currently witnessing a demographic crisis of historic proportions right before our very eyes.
“Russia today is a society at peace. But judging by vital statistics alone, it looks like a country trapped in a prolonged and devastating war. Since the end of the Communist era, in late 1991, the country’s birth rates have collapsed while its death rates have soared. Over the post-Communist era as a whole, Russia has reported three deaths for every two births. The year 2008 was a ‘good’ one for modern Russia: it registered ‘only’ five deaths for every four births.”
(5) Amazing Pictures, Pollution in China
October 14, 2009, the 30th annual awards ceremony of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund took place at the Asia Society in New York City. Lu Guang from People’s Republic of China won the $30,000 W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography for his documentary project “Pollution in China.”
(6) Debunking Myths About the So-Called “Developing World”
“You’ve never seen data presented like this. With the drama and urgency of a sportscaster, statistics guru Hans Rosling debunks myths about the developing world.”