End the Week with THB

Some cool, crazy and confounding items that crossed my desk this week

Whisky or water?

This week I attended the West Slope Water Summit in Montrose, Colorado. I had a chance to chat with elected officials, water managers and members of the local community — it was great. I also was able to catch up with Connie Woodhouse, a leading paleoclimatologist with expertise in tree ring proxies for precipitation and streamflow in the U.S. southwest.

Woodhouse showed a figure from her and colleagues research that reconstructed Colorado River streamflow dating back more than 1,000 years.

Meko et al. 2007

In my remarks at the conference I emphasized the futility of arguing over the science of climate change, when it is energy policies that we should be discussing. I also emphasized that we experts spend too much time studying climate models projections and too little researching the actual climate. Woodhouse’s research is exactly the sort of work that we need more of.

Have a look at the figure above and zero in on the 1100s where there is a decades-long, deep drought. I pointed to this historical drought and asked the participants at the conference what would happen if the drought of the 1100s happened in the 21st century. Forget the future for a moment, are we even prepared for the past? I’d wager that if the Colorado River Basin were prepared for the documented variability of the long-term past, it would be well prepared for an uncertain future under climate change.

Below is a wide-ranging round-up of interesting and provocative items that crossed my desk this week, that I recommend to you. I ask for your help on energy data and comments welcomed on any and all!