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Renowned Authority On Climate Change Science, Ralph J. Cicerone Dies At 73 : NPR

Ralph Cicerone makes a few remarks at a Celebration Of Carl Sagan at The Library of Congress on Nov. 12, 2013 in Washington, D.C.

Paul Morigi/Getty Images

Richard Harris  November 6, 20169:18 AM ET

Ralph Cicerone, a celebrated scientist and a driving force in the effort to put climate change on the global agenda, died Saturday at the age of 73.

Cicerone had retired in June as president of the National Academy of Sciences. In his long association with that congressionally chartered organization, he had gradually helped scientists and politicians alike focus on how much human beings are changing the Earth’s atmosphere.

“Ralph Cicerone was a model for all of us of not only doing what counts, but doing it with honesty, integrity, and deep passion,” Marcia McNutt, his successor at the National Academy of Sciences said in a statement.

Cicerone was known for his soft-spoken passion around the power corridors of Washington. As he worked to understand man-made changes to the earth’s atmosphere such as climate change and ozone depletion, he also pressed to make the public and people in power be aware and responsive.

His passion extended far beyond climate science. As president of the academy, he helped develop a book to explain why evolution is based on the principles of science but creationism is not. And he recently convened a panel to talk about the ethics of genetically manipulating human embryos.

He also encouraged scientists to help Hollywood embed scientific thinking in movies and television.

Cicerone was educated as an engineer, but his globally recognized research was in the field of climate science.

He worked closely with F. Sherwood Rowland at the University of California, Irvine, and is credited with helping lay the groundwork for Rowland’s startling discovery that man-made chemicals were destroying the Earth’s protective ozone layer. Rowland shared a Nobel Prize with Mario Molina for that work, which spurred a global treaty to limit these dangerous chemicals.

Cicerone served as chancellor of UC Irvine from 1998 to 2005.

In 2001, a skeptical President George W. Bush asked the National Academy of Sciences to report back to him about climate change. He had just rejected the Kyoto climate treaty.

Cicerone led that 11-member panel, which included scientists who held a spectrum of views. The academy panel concluded that climate change was a serious concern and that was getting worse.

President Bush publicly accepted that finding, but was not swayed to take substantial action on climate change.

…(read more)

Ralph Cicerone, former UC Irvine chancellor who studied the causes of climate change, dies at 73 – LA Times

Ralph Cicerone conducted pioneering research into global warming before serving as UC Irvine’s fourth chancellor. (Al Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Angel JenningsContact Reporter

Ralph Cicerone, a distinguished UC Irvine scientist who conducted pioneering research into global warming and the depletion of Earth’s ozone layer before taking the helm as the university’s fourth chancellor, died Saturday. He was 73.

His family did not release a cause of death, UC Irvine spokeswoman Cathy Lawhon said. William Kearney, director of media relations for the Washington-based National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, said Cicerone died unexpectedly at his home in Short Hills, N.J.

Cicerone was an internationally renowned researcher heralded for work that revealed organic compounds called chlorofluorocarbons, methane and other trace gases were on track to surpass carbon dioxide as the main greenhouse gases driving global warming.

His research proved influential in developing environmental policies worldwide.

The Doubt Machine: Inside The Koch Brothers’ War on Climate Science​

Narrated by esteemed actor Emma Thompson, the documentary “The Doubt Machine: Inside the Koch Brothers’ War on Climate Science” reveals how the Koch Brothers have used their vast wealth to ensure the American political system takes no action on climate change, and are attempting to buy the 2016 Congressional elections
Scientists say Temperatures Will Rise to Critical 2° by 2050

The Real News Network is Building a Global Climate Change Bureau

2014 and 2015 each set the record for hottest calendar year since scientists began measuring surface temperatures over 150 years ago, and 2016 is shaping up to be even warmer. This will be the first time that we’ve seen three consecutive years with record-breaking temperatures.

A temperature increase of two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels will now be reached much sooner than earlier predicted according to a report by seven leading climate scientists.

“The 1.5°C target could be reached by the early 2030’s and the 2°C target by 2050” says the report that included Sir Robert Watson, former Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The scientists say that even if all the pledges made by the signatory countries to the Paris agreement are fully implemented, climate will pass this dangerous mark in 34 years.

This is a threshold that most scientists have warned cannot be crossed without dire consequences, including a rise in sea levels of several feet that would flood many coastal cities in the U.S., longer droughts, more intense heat waves that cause a major disruption in the world’s food supply, and large migrations of people from countries of the global south.

It is also a point where it becomes far more difficult to reverse the warming trend. Some scientists suggest temperatures by the end of the century could rise as much as 4-6°C above pre-industrial levels.

The report titled The Truth About Climate Change says, “Much of the public believes that climate change is only going to happen by the end of the century,” and that this is a misunderstanding of the urgency. Unless there is a dramatic change in current public policy, most people alive today will live to see the 2°C threshold crossed.

…(read more).

Big Pharma Big Money : Documentary on the Money and Corruption of Big Pharmaceutical Companies

Freddie Parks

Published on Oct 19, 2015

Big Pharma Big Money : Documentary on the Money and Corruption of Big Pharmaceutical Companies.

You are really going to enjoy this documentary. It’s very interesting and fun to watch. It’s part of a series of exciting and informative documentaries. This Youtube channel is for learning and educational purposes. Learning and Education are fundamental and important in today’s society and becoming increasingly more accessible and convenient online. The availability of important information which is also entertaining helps everyone grow mentally and emotionally as people both individually and as a whole. Documentaries are the resource of choice of the information and internet generations of students around the world. The documentary here along with the other documentaries on this channel relate to important times and people in history, historic places, archaeology, society, world culture, science, conspiracy theories, and education.