Melting Permafront

A study of Siberian caves indicates that a temperature rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial mean could release massive amounts of carbon from melting permafrost.  It's important to note that this is below the 2 degrees Celsius target set by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to avoid catastrophic warming.

Update (April 30, 2015):  There's a lot of concern about permafrost.

Minimum Wage is Poverty

It's incredible that anyone tries to make an argument against raising the minimum wage.

Update (June 1):  Food security is a growing problem.  The International Human Rights Clinic at New York University Law School estimates that 50 million Americans live in a household that can't afford adequate food.

Long Term Trend for Income Distribution

Not only has the bottom 90 percent been losing ground for thirty years, but the richest of the rich are pulling away from the ordinary rich.

Update (March 26):  Real income in 2011 for the bottom 90 percent dropped to the lowest level since 1966.  That amounts to an increase of only $59 to an adjusted gross income of $30,437 per taxpayer.  David Cay Johnston has another way of visualizing how mean real incomes have changed over 45 years.

Two Futures

It may be simply indicative of the political climate that such contrasting views should appear within two days of each other.  Is the United States in the midst of an energy renaissance or is it a false hope?  The analogy used for fracking is a Red Queen's race -- running faster and faster to stay where you are.

Which brings to mind the phrase, "diminishing returns on investments in social complexity."