TalkClimateChange

This post was originally published on TalkClimateChange.

Much has happened in the world since the beginning of the TalkClimateChange blog in 2007. .

From tears in Bali, to the signing of the US Energy Bill, to dramatic reforms to EU energy policy, a Nobel Prize for Al Gore and the IPCC and the growing backlash against biofuels - the topic of climate change continues to shape much of our world’s future.

To ensure that TalkClimateChange continues to spark debate on these important issues, I’m pleased to introduce two additional contributing authors who bring new and important perspectives to the climate discussion:

Daryl, writing for the Red Team and the Blue Team

Daryl’s primary focus is upon the economic effects of policies and legislation as well as the politics of mitigation proposals and strategies. He has passion for knowledge and has educated himself on the subjects of world politics, global economics, energy infrastructure, psychology, climate science, equation based modelling, stellar science, space weather, geology, paleo-climatology and more recently transportation infrastructure.

Daryl is a defender of airline travel, champion of the incentive actually being an incentive approach, and probably the most sarcastic person in the room. Despite being a self proclaimed “denier” on the subject of Global Warming - to the level that anything in an ecosystem will impact the rest of it: it’s the extent of that impact that is relevant - Daryl still lives an environmentally conscious lifestyle, using public transit, recycling and even placing a CFL recycle bin in the shared refuse area of his condo building. He is a strange mix of a hard line conservative, progressive socialist, and a free-market capitalist. He could debate himself, and actually does, on some topics.

Matt, writing for the Red Team and the Blue Team, with the occasional bit of Green

Matt’s approach to climate change can be summed up nicely as follows "The 1980s and 1990s brought proof (chiefly from studies of ancient ice) that the global climate could indeed shift, radically and catastrophically, within a century - perhaps even within a decade." - Meaning that records show that at some point in the past the climate changed dramatically, in a very short period of time, even without emissions of Co2 from the burning of fossil fuels. From this starting point, Matt believes that the climate change debate should focus on creating a fair, prosperous and positive world for as many people as possible.

Matt is a consulting engineer based in London, holding degrees in chemical engineering and international development. Having worked extensively in the field of sustainability, he is keen to point out that the terms climate change, anthropogenic global warming (AGW), environmental degradation, sustainability and sustainable development should not be used interchangeably - each term has subtleties that differentiate it, and misuse has led to a fog of information.

We are looking forwards to hearing Daryl and Matt TalkClimateChange in the coming weeks!