Just saw this absolutely ridiculous article posted on Digg, by way of the Guardian: “Water vapour caused one-third of global warming in 1990s, study reveals.”

That’s gotta be one of the more sensationalist titles ever written in the climate change debate, which will help fuel and legitimize claims made by climate change deniers. Anyway, the article does have some interesting nuggets and things that should be discussed.

Scientists have underestimated the role that water vapour plays in determining global temperature changes, according to a new study that could fuel further attacks on the science of climate change.

The research, led by one of the world’s top climate scientists, suggests that almost one-third of the global warming recorded during the 1990s was due to an increase in water vapour in the high atmosphere, not human emissions of greenhouse gases. A subsequent decline in water vapour after 2000 could explain a recent slowdown in global temperature rise, the scientists add.

Basically, scientists need to do a better job modeling how water vapor plays a role in climate change. That said, there are few interesting things to consider, that this article fails to mention:

• Examples of common greenhouse gases are CH₄ (methane), CO₂ (carbon dioxide), N₂O (nitrous oxide), and H₂O (water!).
• The atmospheric concentration of CO₂ and CH₄ *is* increasing, mainly due to anthropogenic causes (burning coal, oil, and natural gas).
• In general, the concentration of H₂O in the atmosphere varies (but is dependent on atmospheric temperature), however there is a complex relationship between increased H₂O -> increased cloud cover -> increased albedo.

The second thing to consider is the relative impact each of these gases have on trapping heat. In general, all greenhouse gases are compared to CO₂ (which has a value of 1.0). This is called the global warming potential.

Methane is 25x stronger at trapping heat than carbon dioxide! Again, the atmospheric concentration of both of these gases is increasing. What is water vapor’s effect on trapping heat?

A GWP is not usually calculated for water vapour. Water vapour has a significant influence with regard to absorbing infrared radiation (which is the green house effect); however its concentration in the atmosphere mainly depends on air temperature. As there is no possibility to directly influence atmospheric water vapour concentration, the GWP-level for water vapour is not calculated.

Anyway, how do we know that concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are increasing? I wrote an article about that on the Geology News Blog awhile ago. Check it out.

Tomorrow is a big day! It’s Apple’s latest keynote / Stevenote and rumor has it that they’ll finally be debuting their revolutionary new tablet. Either that, or a new paint ball gun.

We haven’t seen this much hype prior to an Apple keynote since Macworld 2007, when Apple announced the iPhone. It’ll be exciting to see what Steve unveils.

We’ll be there, covering it live at gdgt. Tune into our live blog at 10AM Pacific for live commentary and photos from the event as it happens.

It’ll be exciting no matter what happens. Personally, I want some new software. Multitasking on the iPhone. Please?

First up, we have a cat scaring off a bear. Granted, the bear still got the garbage bag, but this cat was ready to throw down and show who is boss.

Next, we have dogs. What happens when dogs meet polar bears? Apparently, love.

As much as I love dogs, I might have to reconsider what animal I want guarding my house!

[Cat video via Laughing Squid]

Footage from the front of a cable car, traveling down Market Street, circa 1906. Fantastic. I absolutely adore these old videos of San Francisco!

Originally, this video was thought to have been recorded sometime in 1905. Recently, someone analyzed the weather, vehicles, and shadows from people / objects and concluded it was filmed four days before the Great San Francisco earthquake of 1906!

This film, originally thought to be from 1905 until David Kiehn with the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum figured out exactly when it was shot. From New York trade papers announcing the film showing to the wet streets from recent heavy rainfall & shadows indicating time of year & actual weather and conditions on historical record, even when the cars were registered (he even knows who owned them and when the plates were issued!). It was filmed only four days before the quake and shipped by train to NY for processing.

[Via Long Now Foundation and Flixxy]

(Photo by Daniel McCullum)

This resolution (H.R. 1018 IH), introduced into the House this week [PDF link], is something I could get behind!

Requesting the Senate to adjust its rules to reflect the intent of the framers of the Constitution by amending the Sen- ate’s filibuster rule, Rule 22, to facilitate the consider- ation of bills and amendments.

Whereas the Constitution requires a super majority in certain circumstances only and, in all other votes, a simple ma- jority was intended to be sufficient;

Whereas the procedural filibuster rule of the Senate effec- tively removes the Vice President’s constitutional right to cast a vote when the Senate is equally divided;

Whereas the Senate’s filibuster rule, Rule 22, extends the power of individual Senators and the minority in the Sen- ate beyond the power intended by the Constitution;

Whereas the Constitution does not contemplate in letter or spirit allowing a single member of Congress in either house, or the party in the minority in either house, to prevent votes from being taken on bills and amendments; and

Whereas the Senate’s filibuster rule prevents the majority from governing and, therefore, distorts the outcome of elections: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives requests the Senate to adjust its rules to reflect the intent of the framers of the Constitution by amending the Senate’s filibuster rule, Rule 22, to facilitate the consideration of bill and amendments.

I like it, and it’s fine and dandy, except for the fact that the Republicans now have a 41% “majority” in the Senate. There’s no way this will ever get passed. Too little, too late.

(Flag via Adbusters)

Daily Kos has more about the Supreme Court’s horrible decision here. Basically, it overturns previous campaign finance laws and allows corporations to pour money into political campaigns

In a stinging dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that the ruling “threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions across the nation. The path it has taken to reach its outcome will, I fear, do damage to this institution.”

President Obama led a chorus of Democrats and public interest groups attacking the decision, saying in a statement that the court “has given a green light to a new stampede of special interest money in our politics,” and vowing that he will work with congressional leaders “to develop a forceful response.”

“It is a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans,” the president said. “This ruling gives the special interests and their lobbyists even more power in Washington—while undermining the influence of average Americans who make small contributions to support their preferred candidates.”

It’s been a pretty bad week for progressives.

Drawing by Ted McCagg.

A lot of people feel pretty burned by what happened in Massachusetts yesterday, myself included.

Andrew Sullivan does a fantastic job explaining why many feel so shafted after last night’s special election.

The glee with which the GOP is greeting the end of any access too health insurance for millions of the working poor, even as they propose nothing in its stead to help them or to restrain soaring costs for everyone else, is instructive. This really is a game to them. But to the sincere progressives who backed this moderate bill as the best they could get, this is, simply, tragic. And to those of us who wanted politics to become something more than a game, given the accelerating decline of this country on all fronts, it’s a body blow.

Seriously! The sky above San Francisco just decided to open up. My Twitter timeline was, let’s say “flooded”, with thoughts about the storm.

The next time I’m down in LA, I totally want to visit Galco’s Soda Pop Shop. He knows his soda!

Via Jon Ursenbach.

Recently, I downloaded a game for the iPhone called “Words with Friends.” It’s very similar to Scrabble, with a different board and slightly different letter values (one would assume to avoid Scrabble’s IP lawyers).

Many of my family and friends are playing the game and we’re all having fun trying to best each other’s scores. I like to think I have a good vocabulary, but apparently I don’t know how to effectively play for points, as evidenced above by the 60-point bomb that Kerry dropped on me, two moves into the game!

No matter though. I’ll just have to brush up on the following video, “Fighting dirty in Scrabble.”