Tag Archives: Geology

Fracking off in Lancashire (and elsewhere?)

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Rick Altman

I know this is very late but, it is such significant moment, I feel I must comment on the recent decision of Lancashire County Council to refuse to allow fracking to proceed in their county. Never mind that their decision … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Science, Denial, Economics, Environment, Ethics, Fossil Fuels, Hydraulic Fracturing, IPCC, James Delingpole, Merchants of Doubt, Politics, Renewable Energy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Geoscientists get all ethical about climate change

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Rick Altman

The Geoscientist is the Fellowship magazine of the Geological Society of London. With the Permission of the Editor of the magazine, I hereby republish extracts from three items in the most recent issue (cover image shown here) of the magazine: … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropocene, Climate Science, Energy Crisis, Environment, Ethics, Fossil Fuels, Limits to Growth, Sustainable development | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

A riotous assembly of data leads to a ground breaking conclusion

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Rick Altman

Or should that have been: ‘Ground-breaking data leads to riotous conclusion’…? One of the incidental benefits of being a Fellow of the Geological Society and a Chartered Geologist is that I get the society’s monthly Geoscientist magazine. This month’s edition … Continue reading →

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Posted in Civil Disorder, Environment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 36 Comments

I think it is time to start dealing with reality

Posted on September 20, 2013 by Rick Altman

The text below is reproduced from a comment I have just posted on the Climate Slate website. The comment itself was prompted by my having recently watched the movie ‘Chasing Ice’, conceived and produced by James Balog and Jeff Orlowski. … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Science, Cognitive Dissonance, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Mass Extinctions, Palaeoclimatology, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Scotland – in all its panoramic glory

Posted on August 18, 2013 by Rick Altman

Following on from yesterday’s light-hearted offering, today I give you the delights of my own photographic efforts (as spliced together using Adobe Photoshop). I really will have to get myself a smartphone to do this for me. An almost 180 … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Photography | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

The carbon cycle and climate change

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Rick Altman

I have appended below the introduction to an excellent article on this subject, written by John Mason (part of the Skeptical Science team), as posted on the Climate State blog yesterday. If the link between geology, plate tectonics, and climate … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropocene, Climate Science, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Palaeoclimatology | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

I’m sorry but – this will happen

Posted on April 20, 2013 by Rick Altman

Just over seven months ago, I posted an item about the near-term probability of a catastrophic eruption of the Katla volcano on Iceland. Today, sadly, I think I have discovered that this might not be the worst natural disaster in … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Disorder, Cognitive Dissonance, Denial, Environment | Tagged , , , , , | 63 Comments

Why don’t we mine asbestos again?

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Rick Altman

Yesterday, I mentioned that I worked as a mine geologist in Australia in the late 1980s. One of the weirdest places I visited, while living and working in the Hammersley Range of Pilbara Region in the NW of Western Australia, … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Science, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Politics, Scepticism, Sustainable development | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

When in hole keep digging?

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Rick Altman

To mark the occasion of our World leaders converging on Rio de Janeiro this week, the BBC’s Science Editor, David Shukman, has visited the World’s largest iron ore mine, Carajas, in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil. See: Forests and caves … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Science, Consumerism, Economics, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Limits to Growth, Politics, Renewable Energy, Sustainable development | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

The Yellow River basin in China – Part 4

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Rick Altman

This is the fourth and final part of my 5000-word essay (researched and written in March 2011) on the water resource problems being encountered within the Yellow River catchment of northern China as a consequence of ongoing climate change. Having … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Science, Economics, Environment, Sustainable development | Tagged , , , , | 17 Comments