Weather, Water, Energy 3-19-07

• A Canadian economist makes the point I've been making for two decades now (yes, two decades): If global warming is false (or, now, if not caused by humans), will actions taken as if it were true be worse than if it's true and we don't take action at all? Since the possible answers to the latter include "failure of human species," we can see where this is going. Only he deals with it statistically, so that must make it even truer. (Here's an example only a little less dramatic--two decades of warming temps have cost annual losses of $5b. for major food crops. $5b. And that's before things really start heating up, so to speak. And, another example, do those Indians really need those islands anyway???)
• List after list of things happening in Europe two, three months earlier than normal, in case you want it all in one spot. Oh, and check out all the bird species living farther north and some not even bothering to migrate anymore. Just think what will happen if warming waters really do bring these Antarctic glaciers into play.
• Again, business types will drive us to do something serious about global warming long before the morons in government will. They need a stable investment environment and what the ditherers in nation capitals have been coming up with just won't cut it. So leading fund investors are calling for action while "the U.S. House of Representatives is pushing back its deadline to pass climate-change legislation from spring to fall, and political observers say Congress is unlikely to pass a comprehensive global warming bill before the 2008 presidential elections." (h/t Grist) Pass me some more seed corn, please.
• This poll finding greater concern in the US about global warming isn't as surprising as the results that only 45% of Americans trust newspapers as a source of environment info and 27% say they don't trust papers at all. I don't understand how this could . . . sorry, can't even finish the snark.
• Those of you sitting cocky around the Great Lakes thinking you've got an edge on water supplies over the rest of us? Too bad about that "Lake Michigan down a foot and a half from normal averages" thing (since Lake Superior seems to be the culprit and affecting the other lakes as well). Meanwhile, folks in CO are not only retiring wells voluntarily but also taxing themselves to force conservation. Granted, they may be trying a preemptive strike on harsher gov't action later, but still. They're thinking ahead. Not sure everyone is but I'm sure everyone should be.