Climate Lynx

Celebrating Christmas can be hectic and stressful for many of us. I hope you all have a little time to reflect and give thanks. As a Christian, it is a time to give thanks for the birth of Jesus.   In addition, I know how lucky I am to have the privilege of writing a column defending the Lord’s creation, Earth. Having life on a beautiful planet is a great blessing, and being given an avenue to protect it is a gift.    Here is an Arctic night flight recollection that helps me remember our blessings at Christmas: When looking back at my North Slope flying experiences in Alaska, I often remember flying in fog, high winds, blizzards, and icing. It is not much fun to recollect.    But there is one pleasant experience that always comes back to me. It was a mission to resupply an oil rig on an Arctic Ocean Island called Tigvariak. It was late fall, and the temperatures were freezing the Arctic Ocean. It was night, which meant I had to use my instruments t...

I have occasionally mentioned, "Democracy is the best form of government, and to be effective, a democracy must have educated citizens." How are we doing? If recent articles from the American Legion are accurate, we are losing the battle. In June, the American Legion magazine reported the Armed Services were having a tough time fulfilling their recruiting goals because many volunteers were obese. Only 23% of the population eligible for service are fit to serve. Recently, the news is even more depressing. The November issue of the American Legion notes the Navy, Air Force, and especially the Army are struggling to meet recruitment numbers because only one-third of the applicants can pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). This is down from two-thirds who passed only a decade before. Here is what the authors of the article had to say, "Years of dwindling resources in the nation's public schools resulted in a batch of high school graduates w...

 I flew helicopters for close to 40 years. The FAA and the US Army require a flight physical every year to maintain airmanship privileges. One of the uncomfortable psychological aspects of these physicals is if you fail a flight physical, your career ends. Many of my pilot friends temporarily or permanently ended their careers at the flight surgeon's office. You would think the high-risk mandatory trips to the doctor's office for a flight physical would be memories best suppressed. Surprisingly, no. What I remember about my required flight exams was the fact waiting rooms usually had copies of National Geographic. (Nat Geo). You know the routine at the doctor's or dentist's office. You arrive, check-in, and wait…and wait. Waiting didn't bother me because it was a chance to learn something new by browsing through new Nat Geo mags. Sometimes, I would take the magazine along to the exam room to maximize my opportunity to read. There is a good chance while waiting f...

The study of climate change is not just a depressing observation of our deteriorating weather. Our climate will be saved if we act; learning about the solutions is exciting and encouraging. When you start to explore what our scientists, entrepreneurs, leaders of industry, and financers are accomplishing, it is an exploration and discovery of what the human spirit can create and build. This article is about how industry loves cheap energy. Business gravitates to it. Here is a close-to-home example. The UP had some of the richest deposits of iron ore. Why didn't the captains of industry locate the smelters and refineries in the UP? To create steel, they also needed heat, and coal was the best source of heat. It came from Appalachia. Our ore was loaded on the Big Lake Freighters and shipped to the steel mills along the shores of Lake Michigan, Erie, and Ontario, where our ore met cheap coal.    The challenge for American Science and Engineering is to completely decarbonize ...