Author Archives: climatechangefork

About climatechangefork

Micha Tomkiewicz, Ph.D., is a professor of physics in the Department of Physics, Brooklyn College, the City University of New York. He is also a professor of physics and chemistry in the School for Graduate Studies of the City University of New York. In addition, he is the founding-director of the Environmental Studies Program at Brooklyn College as well as director of the Electrochemistry Institute at that same institution.

Pope Francis’ US Visit

Posted on September 29, 2015 by climatechangefork

I am starting to write this blog on Thursday September 24th, two days after Pope Francis’ arrival to the United States, and the day after Yom-Kippur, The Day of Atonement; the holiest day of the year in Judaism. I am … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change | Tagged Abortion, Adaptation, Catholic, China, choice, Clean Energy, Climate Change, Climate Change Denial, Climate Change Deniers, Climate Skeptics, Congress, Democrat, Democratization, ecology, Global Population, golden rule, Jew, Jewish, Nature, Paris, Pope, Pope Francis, Population, Republican, responsibility, Roe v. Wade, Science, Sustainability, UN, United Nations, US, World Population, World Summit, Xi Jinping, Yom Kippur | 1 Comment

Assessment – Fall 2015: Religion’s Role in Saving the World

Posted on September 22, 2015 by climatechangefork

I missed my usual summer assessment this year. My main excuse is that it was scheduled for the first two weeks of July, when I was out in China. As it stands, since my last assessment (April 21st, 2015), I … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change | Tagged Al-Quaeda, assessment, Ban-Ki Moon, Boko Haram, Catholic Church, China, Christian, Clean Energy, Climate Change, Conference, encyclical, Energy, Environment, Global Warming, ISIL, Islam, Istanbul, Jew, Judaism, muslim, Papal Encyclical, Paris, Pope, Pope Francis, Power, refugee, religion, Sustainability, symposium, Taliban, Taoism, terrorist, Turkey, UN, United Nations, World Population | Leave a comment

Guest Blog by Jay Pei: Taoism

Posted on September 15, 2015 by climatechangefork

We were approaching Shanghai’s City God Temple (Chenghuang Miao), a well-known Taoist temple. Our guide, Jay Pei, started to explain the essence of Taoism. He had done his homework before meeting us and learned of my background on climate change, … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change | Tagged Buddhism, China, culture, doctrine, Earth, Fengshui, Guest Blog, Hong Kong, Japan, kongfu, Korea, kung fu, Nature, path, Pope, Pope Francis, religion, Sanqing, Shanghai, Shangqing, Shenzhen, spiritual, Tai Chi, taichi, Taiji-Bagua, Taiqing, Taiwan, tao, Taoism, way, yang, yin, Yuqing, Zhanguo | 1 Comment

Mongolia’s Nomads

Posted on September 8, 2015 by climatechangefork

Last week I described sailing along a segment of the Yangtze River and my visit to the Three Gorges Dam – a project that displaced 1.3 million people. The Chinese government provided them with alternative housing, and in many cases, … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change | Tagged China, Chinese, city, culture, Dal, displace, environmental migrant, goat, Gobi, Gobi desert, Han, herd, Inner Mongolia, lifestyle, Manchu, minority, Mongol, Mongolia, nomad, Pope, Population, Quing, river, semi-nomad, sheep, Solar, solar power, steppe, Technology, three gorges dam, tradition, Yangtze | 1 Comment

China – Water, Energy and the Yangtze

Posted on September 1, 2015 by climatechangefork

It seems right now that when China sneezes the world is shaken. Not only does that apply to the obvious recent economic upset, but it also means that in tackling any global issue we need the country’s involvement. Climate change, … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change | Tagged altitude, Chang Jiang, China, Chongqing, CO2, CO2 emissions, dam, displace, displacement, Emissions, Energy, Energy Consumption, energy generation, Fengdu, Flood, Glacier, Himalayas, Lhasa, mountain, Population, propaganda, river, snow, Sustainability, Sustainable, three gorges dam, Tibet, Water, Water Cycle, Yangtze, Yangzi, Yellow River, Yichang | Leave a comment

China – Air Quality

Posted on August 25, 2015 by climatechangefork

My last two blogs described some of China’s largest cities’ attempts to limit their number of cars. A lot of this had to do with reducing the terrible air pollution in these cities. Pollution is one of the key reasons … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change | Tagged air, air quality, AQI, Beijing, Cars, China, city, culture, cyanide, EPA, face mask, haze, Health, Lhasa, Pollution, safety, Shanghai, Tianjin, Tibet, toxin, unhealthy, US, Warning, Weather | 2 Comments

Cars in China – Cap and Pay

Posted on August 18, 2015 by climatechangefork

Last week’s blog ended with the following promise: “… a few of the largest cities in China are now taking drastic steps to limit car ownership – a fact that I was completely unaware of until my visit.” Time to … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change | Tagged auction, automobile, Beijing, Beijing Olympics, bid, buying, Cap and Trade, car ownership, Carbon Dioxide Emissions, Cars, China, city, Climate Change, CO2 emissions, Economics, Emissions, Environment, Fossil Fuels, fraud, greenhouse gas, Guangzhou, license plate, lottery, mechanism, Mitigation, Pollution, Population, Public Transportation, quota, regulation, restriction, saturation point, selling, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Sustainability, traffic, trend | 15 Comments

China – How Many Cars Can a City Handle?

Posted on August 11, 2015 by climatechangefork

Right now, China has the largest global market for new cars. According to the last count by the International Organization of Motor Vehicles Manufacturers, there are 833 million light vehicles currently (2015) in use worldwide. About 10% of these cars … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change | Tagged Beijing, car ownership, Cars, China, Economics, Emissions, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Gas, Gasoline, GDP, Global Population, Hong Kong, New York, New York City, NYC, Oil, Population, saturation point, Science, Shanghai, Sustainability, Technology, traffic, World Population, Xian | 1 Comment

China – The Price of Progress: Inequality and Transparency

Posted on August 4, 2015 by climatechangefork

While I was in China (see last week’s blog), one of the questions that I asked most often – especially of those who mentioned that they have small children – was how people imagine China 20 years from now. This … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change | Tagged Algebra, censorship, China, data source, Economic Growth, Economics, Economy, GDP, Gini Coefficients, Hong Kong, Kuznets curve, Mongolia, NBS, PNAS, reference, World Bank | 1 Comment

Back From China

Posted on July 28, 2015 by climatechangefork

In a previous blog (December 3, 2012) I described a common exercise that I give to students to highlight the important skill of scenario building: In the table below I ask undergraduates from my course (General Education – no prerequisites) … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change | Tagged 1992, 2012, China, CO2 emissions, Developing Countries, Economic Growth, Economy, Emissions, Energy, energy transition, GDP, generation, Hong Kong, India, indicator, Shanghai. Beijing, Shenzhen, Urban Development, urban population, US, World Bank, Xian | Leave a comment

Author Archives: climatechangefork

About climatechangefork

Pope Francis’ US Visit

Assessment – Fall 2015: Religion’s Role in Saving the World

Guest Blog by Jay Pei: Taoism

Mongolia’s Nomads

China – Water, Energy and the Yangtze

China – Air Quality

Cars in China – Cap and Pay

China – How Many Cars Can a City Handle?

China – The Price of Progress: Inequality and Transparency

Back From China

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