Read On

NYPL: Lobby card, Nazimova in Salome (1922)


Another light posting day on the blog today as I work in the studio on the first non-Euro-2008 day in weeks.

The Observer (uk) profiles the dark side of John McCain.

There's a new website leading the charge to attack global warming: 350.org, which stands for 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the air. "Prior to the industrial era, the atmosphere was at about 280 parts per million of carbon dioxide. Now, we are about 387 and growing at nearly 2 ppm per year."

And we need to address global warming because, as everyone who doesn't live in the White House has noticed, weather extremes have become more pronounced in the past decade or so. This post from the LeftCoaster links to a U.S. Climate Change Science Program (part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) report which contains these specific projections:

* Abnormally hot days and nights, along with heat waves, are very likely to become more common. Cold nights are very likely to become less common.
* Sea ice extent is expected to continue to decrease and may even disappear in the Arctic Ocean in summer in coming decades.
* Precipitation, on average, is likely to be less frequent but more intense.
* Droughts are likely to become more frequent and severe in some regions.
* Hurricanes will likely have increased precipitation and wind.
* The strongest cold-season storms in the Atlantic and Pacific are likely to produce stronger winds and higher extreme wave heights.

The next time you find yourself seated next to a climate change denier telling you that it's not happening for x, y, or z reason, you will be happy that you read this handy guide from Gristmill: How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic

And now for something completely different: The Boston Globe has a great new photography blog, The Big Picture, which as its name suggests, contains BIG PICTURES. Really big, really beautiful images.