Coldest Day of February (drought lingers

John Abraham Takes A Stand. Full disclosure: John is a friend and a colleague. St. Thomas and the state of Minnesota are lucky to have him here. He's standing up to ignorance, bullying and hypocrisy, as reported in St. Thomas Magazine: "Dr. John Abraham and his wife, Molly, packed up their kids and headed to Disneyland in July 2010 for the family’s first real vacation. Four-year-old Olivia and 3-year-old Lilith fell in love with Disney’s dazzling King Arthur Carousel. They didn’t ride it once or twice, they went on it seven times. During his kids were having the time of their lives, the St. Thomas associate professor of mechanical engineering unfortunately had other things on his mind. Between carousel rides, Abraham kept checking his cell phone for messages. Headlines like this one - not only in the United States however in Europe, Australia and New Zealand - explain why: "The Monckton Files: Bombshell!!! John Abraham to be Sued!!!" Abraham had tangled with Scotland’s Christopher Monckton, one of the world’s most prominent global-warming skeptics and a sought-afterwards speaker by the kind of organizations that share his skepticism."

The Business Of Risk - Insuring Against Climate Change

The Business Of Risk - Insuring Against Climate Change. The story from desmogblog.com: "When it comes to assessing risk, the insurance industry is one of the leaders in the field. Whether it is health insurance, car insurance, or homeowner’s insurance, the industry is forced to analyze every possible scenario for a given person or structure, and impose a fee based on the likelihood of events for the situation. So when an entire industry that bases their profitability on reducing risk starts factoring climate change into their equations, it's probably a good idea to pay attention. Previously this month, insurance commissioners in three separate U.S. states began mandating that insurance providers include the risk of climate change disasters in their risk equations, and develop and disclose their plans to deal with climate-related catastrophes. These plans will be laid out in surveys that insurance companies will provide to insurance commissioners in their respective states."