An Annotated Index to All Previous Essays
Titles are embedded links - click to access that essay
Previously published essays are now being read as frequently as new posts, and I understand that some are being used in classrooms. I also hear of essays being forwarded to friends and family. I think that is wonderful. Thank you!
Since several older essays continue to be read, I thought it might be useful to provide a structured index to the full list. Here is that index, organized into 8 topics (1. Introduction, 2. Rare Chances and Simpler Approaches, 3. Seeing Planet Earth, 4. Insights Into the Climate System, 5. Where We Are Headed, 6. Outcomes and Responses, 7. Changing Directions and 8. Reflections). If I were teaching a class or compiling these essays in a book, this is the sequence in which I would present them, but as each essay can stand alone, there is no need to read them in any particular order.
As the essays are no longer in time sequence in this index, some references to "earlier" or "following" titles are now inaccurate. I apologize for this and also for any broken links in the “Sources” sections that may have developed since the essays were first posted.
Thanks again for reading these essays!
A Rare Earth - Essays on a Changing Planet
1. Introduction – Why These Essays?
Less Heat – More Light - Focusing on the science, not the politics
2. Rare Chances and Simpler Approaches
A Rare Earth - So many things could have gone wrong - it's amazing we are here at all!
Life is Simple - Can a 14th century philosopher help with the presentation of climate science?
Climate Change in Four Easy Steps - We have known the basics for a long time
Why Carbon Dioxide Predicts Temperature Increases - And when it might not - how greenhouse gases affect temperature
Quantitative Reasoning with Climate Data - With Scott Ollinger - Linking carbon dioxide and temperature using an older, one-parameter model – to my surprise, the most frequently read essay!
“It Was a 1000-Year Storm!” – Predicting the chance of extreme events – including ones that haven’t happened
3. Seeing Planet Earth
A Visual Tour of a Dynamic Planet - Daily updates on a NASA website present amazing images of a changing world
Visualizing a Greenhouse Gas - Stunning technologies provide dynamic images of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
Methane Super-Emitters - New high-tech satellites produce detailed emissions images for this powerful greenhouse gas.
Taking the Temperature of the Earth - Amazing technologies allow a precise calculation of the energy balance of the Earth
Hawaii is a Paradise for Scientists As Well - A "Hot Spot" in more ways than one
Mapping Seamounts - When light and sound fall short, gravity maps the ocean floor
A Good News Story Captured by a Young and Innovative Researcher - A 23-year-old investigator uses low-cost technology to capture some magic off the coast of Long Island, NY
4. Insights into the Climate System
Why We Can’t Predict Next Year’s Weather – Oscillations are playing the parachute game with the climate system
Methane Bombs and Massive Sinkholes in Arctic Tundra - The future of permafrost and a tipping point long past
Block That Jet Stream - This dynamic and wildly variable part of the weather/climate system helps us visualize and understand extreme and persistent weather events
Block That Jet Stream II – Impacts of a Changing Climate System – Can a warmer Arctic mean more extreme and persistent weather across North America?
Rivers in the Sky - A recently discovered, large-scale cloud and storm pattern has serious connections to severe weather and climate change.
Some Good News for California? - Recent storms buck the El Niño pattern - again!
Weird Wild Western Weather - Why? - California had its MoJO working - and no one saw it coming
The Polar Vortex Strikes Again! - Can a warmer planet cause extremely cold weather?
Consider the Humble Leaf - Crafty green strategists, autumn leaf color and climate change
Subtle Changes to Autumn Leaf Color - Without an early frost, a longer but less red fall leaf season
The Power and Beauty of Hurricanes – An ode to the climate system’s most powerful actors
Hurricanes and the Global Energy Balance – How much energy do they move towards the poles?
Wet and Green from Hot and Dry - The biggest desert on Earth feeds the Amazon and spawns hurricanes
A Critical Control Point in Our Climate System? - Ocean circulation, the Gulf Stream, and a possible tipping point
The Global Conveyor Belt - A massive, global circulation of seawater buffers the effects of greenhouse gas emissions - and gives us time to deal with climate change
Arctic Amplification: Aerosols and Greenhouse Gases - Has the far north always warmed faster than the rest of the Earth?
Ozone: the good, the bad and the ugly? - A highly reactive gas plays different roles in different parts of the atmosphere
Not a Great Day to Be a Plant - Effects of dry soils on plants can help droughts persist
Deforestation and Carbon - A long and complex history
Forests have had a good week - What is their real impact on atmospheric carbon?
5. What We Have Done - Where We Are Headed
An Intuitive View of the Climate System And a Surprising Result - Viewing data graphs as pictures in an exhibition
Nuts and Bolts of a Simple Model of Climate Change - A full description of the model used in the essay above
Losing Ocean Ice, Gaining Ocean Heat – Tipping points or accelerated change?
Tipping Points Revisited – Have We Initiated the Anthropocene? – Maybe so
Greenhouse Gases Drive a Warming World - An interactive graphic that eliminates alternative explanations
What is Driving Rising Sea Levels? - Heat storage, ice melt, or both – and how do we know?
Taking the Pulse of the Planet - Exquisite technologies add an "Ocean Pulse" to the Keeling Curve
How Are We Doing? - Personal picks for a dashboard to track global change
Poking It With Sticks - Is the rate of sea level rise increasing?
Back to the future - Ancient climates give an integrated view of our possible climate futures.
6. Outcomes and Responses
The Climate Future of the U.S. and How We Might Change It - A summary of the 2023 Fifth National Climate Assessment
Happy New Year! How Did We Do in 2023? - Updating a dashboard that tracks global change
Resisting the Inevitable Rise in Sea Level - A Tale of Four Cities
Resisting Rising Seas in the US - A guided tour of plans and projects
Zombie Ice - A new name for a known problem grabs the headlines. Will it catalyze action?
Hurricane Ian - A "500-year" Storm? - Not really - category 4 and 5 storms happen every 30-80 years
After Ian - Using the past to plan for the future
Predicting the Big One - Not an earthquake but a catastrophic series of storms
The Massive Sargassum Blob - Coming Soon to a Beach Near You! - Is this the biggest shift in global biology in the last 12 years?
7. Changing Direction
Cognitive Dissonance – Are We of Two Minds on Climate Change? - The gap between what we know and what we do – and a proposal to empower the younger generations
Fun with the Sun - Playing with the numbers on solar energy
We are Flooded with Renewable Energy Every Day - The sun drives both solar and wind energy production - but which has the greater potential?
Keeping It Local: "Behind the Meter" Alternatives for Growing Low-Carbon Electricity - Working on your side of the meter allows creative solutions
You May Not Need A Roof in the Sun to Access Solar Energy - Communities create a market for renewable energy from the bottom up
Storing the Sun - We are awash in solar energy - how can we store it for use in the dark?
Gridlock - Why are there 8,100 renewable energy projects waiting for permission to join the U.S. grid?
Bill Gates, Vaclav Smil and the All-Electric Economy - Can we get there from here?
Rethinking Hydrogen - A hydrogen energy skeptic reconsiders the possibilities
Energy From Underground - Nuclear and solar energy can be drawn from the solid Earth
Hot Air from Cold and Cold Air from Hot - A small miracle on your windowsill
Energy Down on the Farm - A perfect pairing of waste management and greenhouse crop production
Geoengineering the Climate System - Can control points in the climate system be manipulated safely?
8. Reflections
Once Upon a Time - A Folktale for the Solstice
Solstice - There are some things we can't change
A Solstice Anniversary and a New Book – Marking two years of essays
Experiencing the Eclipse - Combining scientific precision with a sense of wonder
The Carbon Cost of War - War destroys human lives, and also the built environment supporting those lives
Stephen J Gould’s Last University Presentation - Courage and professionalism on Earth Day 2002
Earth Day 1 and Earth Day 51 - Never the biggest story in town