Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to everyone! ‘Tis the season for resolutions, and one of mine is to resurrect this blog. My writing is pretty rusty by now, so we’ll see how it goes. I think it’s important for us to talk about the promising but difficult transition to move to a less extractive, more sustainable economy. I would like to focus more on our water service this year as well as issues of culture, consumption, and how we value biodiversity. I hope we can have some productive and insightful conversations about local developments and newer research in these and other areas. But first I have to shake off the cobwebs!
While I am figuring out how to do that, I want to thank everyone who became a member or renewed their membership with Embarcadero Media last year, and everyone who made a separate donation. I am on Embarcadero’s board of directors where I have seen first-hand how challenging it is to operate our papers at a profit. Our new publisher and CEO Adam Dawes, with assistance from senior leadership and Executive Chairman Bill Johnson, orchestrated a difficult and significant turnaround this past year to get our financials in better shape. All that effort would have been for naught without your support. I am so grateful that many of you recognize how important quality local news is to creating strong, informed, well-connected communities.
At the same time, I understand that many of you (me included) were pretty frustrated with some of the more visible changes with the papers and newsletters over the past year. The organization heard loud and clear issues related to signing in, searching for day-old content, scanning for news on laptops, finding the most active conversations, and more. The move to a new digital publishing backend was more fraught than anticipated, increasing rather than decreasing the workload of key people at the paper. Embarcadero’s staff have been diligently identifying, tracking down, prioritizing, and addressing these issues, and I expect to see some nice changes this year as they continue to roll out improvements. I personally would love to see some form of Town Square return, though that is one of the more difficult things to do.
In the meantime, I want to thank all of you for your support. It’s been a transformative year for Embarcadero Media and I look forward to seeing our papers continuing to improve in 2025. Thank you for supporting local news!
Current Climate Data
Global impacts (November 2024), US impacts (November 2024), CO2 metric, NOAA climate dashboard
Want to be Notified of New “A New Shade of Green” Blog Posts?
If you would like to be notified, please send an email to notify@newshadeofgreen.com with “Subscribe” in the subject.
Comment Guidelines
I hope that your contributions will be an important part of this blog. To keep the discussion productive, please adhere to these guidelines or your comment may be edited or removed.
- Avoid disrespectful, disparaging, snide, angry, or ad hominem comments.
- Stay fact-based and refer to reputable sources.
- Stay on topic.
- In general, maintain this as a welcoming space for all readers.
Pleasanton council shows early support for annexation, downtown plan, other priority projectsMarch 25, 2026 2:36 pm
Nighttime lane closures on I-580 near Pleasanton, I-680 through San Ramon ValleyMarch 25, 2026 2:05 pm
Abstract concepts are often complex and can be difficult to fully grasp because they are not directly tied to physical objects or experience. Abstract concepts are essential in philosophy, art, science, and many other fields because they help us understand and describe the world in more nuanced ways.
Considering climate change, several natural phenomena in the universe impact Earth’s climate change. Solar cycles and sunspots can affect the amount of solar energy reaching Earth.
Volcanic activity can release large amounts of ash and sulfuric dioxide into the atmosphere. Ocean currents like El Nino events can significantly influence global weather patterns and temperatures.
Earth’s orbital changes (Milankovitch) refer to long-term variations in Earth’s orbit and tilt, which can affect the distribution of solar energy received by the planet, leading to climate changes over thousands of years.
Cosmic events (asteroid impacts) can have dramatic effects by injecting large amounts of dust and aerosols into the atmosphere, blocking sunlight and causing cooling. Each of these phenomena can play a role in the complex web of factors influencing Earth’s climate.
In China, the Three Gorgeous Dam slowed Earth’s rotation by 0.06 microseconds. Earth’s north pole has moved to Siberia. China is building another dam that will double the slow down of Earth’s rotation over what the Three Gorgeous did, which may change Earth’s tilt more so. That is beginning to sound alarm bells in NASA and with scientists, and astrophysicists.