Reporting from the Summer ESIP meeting in Knoxville, Tn.

Tom Wilbanks has just finished talking about the changing CO2 scenario picture. His talk concluded that we are now looking at higher-end scenarios (up to 1200 ppm CO2) that will take the planet into a climate environment that is very risk filled. So the high-end scenarios that the IPCC were most concerned about are now the middle range expectations for the near future. The mitigation efforts have failed to gain sufficient international impetus to maintain the hope for a limited climate change response to human activities. The focus is shifting to adaptation.

Eileen Shea from NOAA is now talking about the new NOAA Climate Service. The job for NOAA is to enable individuals to take responsible actions at all levels, from local responses to national policy. NOAA will need to be a central partner in the proposed National Climate Service, which is a multi-agency effort. Check out the NOAA strategic plan on the web: www.noaa.gov/ngsp

NOAA is looking to build more agency-wide climate capabilities so that all of the parts of NOAA are prepared to work together toward a more climate literate public. NOAA is looking for people who can walk between science and decision making. This is a move away from a pure-science effort.

NOAA has an interest and a responsibility to support mitigation efforts and to model how climate change might lead to extreme weather events. This fall, NOAA will be formally submitting a package to Congress to authorize the Climate Service.

The NOAA Climate Services Portal is at www.climate.gov
They are looking for user feedback.

Google is moving ahead with their gigabit internet decision

A thousand communities await their decision, but you have to believe that Google's real intention here was to put a clear light on the lack of world-class broadband in American cities.
Check out their website: Google Fiber to the Home

Here in Santa Barbara, we never got to the point of hi-jinks and cyber-begging, but you have to believe that the local mix of internet mavens and Hollywood stars might prove a highly visible target for Google's effort. Once you get Brad Pitt, Al Gore, and Oprah up on gigabit internet, you can forget about the mayor of Outerbumfrak buzz cutting her hair and tattooing "I love Google" on her bleeding scalp.

So Google, if you are indeed still pondering where to put your gigabit internet, ponder this: Santa Barbara will put you on the map like no other small town in the US. Of course, it's already a Google Map, but you know what we mean.