Tag Archives: christmas

4 Ways to Celebrate the Solstice

by LacyHostetler Posted on December 21, 2015

The winter solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere and the official beginning of winter, has had deep spiritual significance since neolithic times. “Throughout history, humans have observed this seasonal milestone and created spiritual and cultural traditions to celebrate the rebirth of sunlight after the darkest period of the year,” explains National Geographic.

This year the winter solstice, the moment when the Earth is farthest away from the Sun, falls on December 22 (or December 21 depending on where you live), and for many, this is a holiday to celebrate. Many people are turning to non-denomination celebrations to avoid the consumer frenzy of this time of year, but also as a way to build their own traditions, particularly as eco-consciousness expands.

But why is it important to celebrate this event? According to Deena Wade of Mother Earth Living,

“Attuning our senses to the subtle changes and cycles of the seasons might help us attune more lovingly to the subtle changes and cycles in ourselves. By performing simple rituals with personal meaning to celebrate the solstice, these rituals will serve as touchstones to help us cultivate an attitude of receptiveness and appreciation that will carry us through the holiday season with more ease.”

For many, celebrating solstice is about acknowledging the divine energy of nature, often said to be heightened during this important celestial event, and being mindful of our connection to the natural world. Here are five easy ways to celebrate the solstice this year.

1. Do an Energy Fast

This idea comes to us from Richard Heinberg, author of Celebrate the Solstice. You can turn off the television, games, lights and cell phones and enjoy the day without technology to remember what our lives we like before technology. Turning off the electronics will allow you to tune into yourself, perhaps setting intentions for the new year, or reflecting on the year past.

2. Get Outside

Whether you’re in a city or in the forest, finding time for nature time is good for you anytime of year, but can be particularly grounding during these holiday weeks. If you can find water, the winter solstice is a great time to experience the benefits of finding your blue mind, but even just getting outside for a walk in green space is proven to have numerous scientific benefits.

3. Celebrate with Food

Connecting with food is an important part of any celebration, but it seems especially important during the winter months as we work hard to keep our body and souls warm. Whether holiday baking is your style, or making warming, nourishing plant-based meals, or making a warming fireside Wassail, a traditional German drink if spiced, simmered beer, rooting yourself in healthy traditions is a good option for any holiday.

4. Get Crafty to Connect with Nature

Cait Johnson, a writer here at Care2, has shared two of her favorite solstice projects: making a prayer stick and celebrating stones. These projects give adults and children a chance to reconnect with both nature and the spirit world, whatever that means to you.

Another great project is to make paper lanterns from recycled, upcycled, and natural items from in or near the home. Get the tutorial here.

Related:

Winter Solstice Savory Pie
5 Reasons to Love the Winter Solstice
Christmas and Hanukkah Co-opted Paganism

Images from ThinkStock

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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4 Ways to Celebrate the Solstice

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Why Were Last Night’s Debaters Cut Off When They Actually Started to Debate?

by ErnestiZff Posted on December 20, 2015

Mother Jones

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Rebecca Traister, along with practically everyone on the left, is dumbfounded that the Democratic National Committee has gone out of its way to reduce viewership for its debates. The first two were both held on Saturdays, and yesterday’s debate was on the Saturday before Christmas. Do they really want to lower the profile of the party that badly? It’s a wonder anyone tuned in at all. But there’s more:

The DNC’s poor choices pale in comparison to the choices of Saturday night’s ABC News moderators, the usually terrific Raddatz and her colleague, World News anchor Muir. They did fine for the first hour, but as the candidates began to actually debate each other in compelling and important ways, Muir especially began to talk over them in an effort to cut them off and adhere to the rules. That precision reffing may be necessary when it comes to shutting down an offensive monologue from Donald Trump, or halting a candidate’s whine about not getting enough time. But when, as on Saturday, the top contenders for the nomination are engaging each other seriously about tax policy, drowning them out and preventing the audience from hearing what they have to say doesn’t do anyone any favors.

For what it’s worth, Twitter opinion on Martha Raddatz shifted so fast it almost gave me a neck sprain last night. At first everyone thought she was great. By the second hour, she was the worst moderator ever. Mostly, I think, this was because she spent too much time interrupting the candidates when she didn’t happen to like their answers. This was especially annoying since, for the most part, they didn’t really dodge or tap dance very much. They mostly provided substantive answers.

As for the “precision reffing” that cut off a potentially interesting argument, I suspect that Martin O’Malley is the person to blame here. O’Malley may be a vanity candidate at this point, but he’s still a candidate, and that means he’s supposed to get equal time in the debates. If the moderators allow Sanders and Clinton to get into long arguments, it takes away from O’Malley’s time and there’s really no way to entirely make that up. So the moderators apply the rules strictly and demand that Sanders and Clinton shut up and allow them to ask O’Malley a question.

This is one among many reasons that O’Malley needs to grow up and get out of the race. He’s polling at 3 percent in a 3-person race, and he’s doing himself no favors by stubbornly staying in. It makes him look like a sore loser, not a serious politician.

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Why Were Last Night’s Debaters Cut Off When They Actually Started to Debate?

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5 Energy-Saving Gifts Any Home Can Use

by SophiaCable Posted on December 14, 2015

Are you running out of gift ideas? Here are five possibilities that are popular because they save money, help reduce climate change and are just unusual enough that someone probably wouldn’t by them for him or herself.

1) Nest Thermostat – The Nest Thermostat takes programmable thermostats to a whole new level. Its auto-schedule feature enables it to learn what temperatures you like throughout the day, and then program itself to automatically operate at those temps. The device will automatically turn itself down when nobody’s home to help you save energy. You can connect to your WiFi and control the temperature in your home from your phone, tablet or laptop. And to give you an incentive to save energy, a cute little green leaf will show up on the front of the thermostat when you choose an energy-saving temperature. Though the Nest costs about $250, it could save you 10-12 percent a year on your heating bills and as much as 15 percent on your cooling bills, so it will pay for itself in just a couple of year. The device works with 95 percent of 24V heating and cooling systems, including gas, electric, forced air, heat pump, radiant, oil, hot water, solar and geothermal. You can buy it online at Nest.com or at Home Depot.

2) LED bulb – LED bulbs are starting to catch on, but because they’re somewhat more expensive and sometimes look a little unusual, some consumers have been dragging their heels about buying them. I always give LED bulbs to people as housewarming gifts, but they make good holiday gifts, as well. They are more durable than compact fluorescent bulbs, so can withstand significant temperature fluctuations (CFLs can be very slow to turn on and illuminate in cold weather). Unlike regular incandescents, they don’t generate mostly heat. An LED is all about light, and a lot of it. The key is to get an LED that meets ENERGY STAR’s certifications for light quality and performance. You can get more information about LED bulbs on the ENERGY STAR website. Once installed, you may not have to change an LED bulb for a good 10 years or so. That in itself is a gift worth giving!

3) The Wonderbag – Wonderbag is a non-electric, portable slow cooker. It almost looks like a medium sized pouffy pillow that your cat might sit on. But in fact, it’s made up nifty insulated blocks wrapped in colorful fabric that, by some genius means, can effectively cook food that’s placed inside the bag. All you have to do is bring food to a boil, then take it off your stove, and put a lid on it. Wonderbag will do all the rest. I’ve used mine to make yogurt in; instead of keeping my oven on warm while my yogurt firms up, I put that hot bowl of yogurt mix, covered, into the Wonderbag and tie it close. Six or so hours later, I’ve got delicious yogurt. BONUS: For every Wonderbag purchased in North America, one is donated to a family in Africa. This low-tech cooking technology is being hailed as an affordable solution to climate change because it can help families stop burning coal and wood when they cook. Can’t figure out how it works? These videos explain.

4) Heated shawl or heated lap blanket – Do you hate to shiver when you’re working, reading, knitting or watching TV? But hate more turning up the heat for the whole house just so you won’t freeze in your chair? An electric shawl or lap blanket could be the perfect gift either for yourself or for family or friends. You can adjust the temperature to be warm or hot, and if you go with a shawl design, you’ll be able to use your hands to read, sew, knit, work on your computer, or do other tasks. Search online for “heated shawl.” You’ll find several options to choose from if you search “heated shawl or lap blanket” online.

5) Solar chargers to recharge phones, tablets, possibly laptops – Who could use a solar charger? Someone who goes hiking and camping and needs to keep his devices powered up. Someone who lives in an area that is prone to power outages. Someone who is traveling and can’t rely on having an electrical outlet and the right amount of power available. Or just anyone who’d like to cut their carbon footprint a little bit by recharging via the sun rather than a coal-fired plug. You can find solar chargers online, but also at stores as diverse as REI, Land’s End, Home Depot and Best Buy. Before you buy, you might want to read this review in the Wirecutter. They researched 69 solar chargers and spent 22 hours testing eight of them in the desert. They recommend the RAVPower 15W Solar Charger, which costs $50, saying it can charge most phones at near full speed and an iPad Air2 in roughly five hours of clear sunlight.

Related
Tips and Tricks to Avoid Overspending This Holiday
5 Ways to Help Others on Christmas Day

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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SantaCon Is the Devil. We Apparently Created It. We Are So Sorry.

by JaimieEnderby Posted on December 12, 2015

Mother Jones

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Every day I wake up and check my iPhone and read hundreds of comments from Twitter eggs calling me a stupid libtard intern who hates America and only got his job (or is it an internship?) at pinko commie rag Mother Jones because of nepotism. As though my dad called up SAG and was like “I am an actor from the 70s. Get my son a job at a magazine …founded in the 70s?” It grows tiring, but I get it: It’s an act! It’s a show stupid people—or who my beloved Welsh call “simple”—engage in to demonstrate to their team or to God or to whoever that they are the type of person who doesn’t like our type of publication.

Team sports is what politics is all about. No one wants to admit it, but it’s a well studied field. No one cares about every issue. It would be a huge waste of time to do that. They care strongly about one or two issues, identify with the team that shares their position and then take on the rest of the team’s platform as a form of solidarity, albeit unconsciously,

(A great example of this is southern Democrats who loved infrastructure spending but hated black people and then became Republicans because Democrats were too nice to black people and suddenly they also hated infrastructure spending.)

Anyway, Mother Jones isn’t perfect. Far from it. A lot of our articles I disagree with. But Mother Jones doesn’t really have institutional opinions. The articles are the vetted and edited opinions of the bylined author. (For instance: Not everyone here loves Love Actually)

However, one of the things we here at Mother Jones totally deserve group collective criticism for is being inadvertently responsible for New York City’s worst event of the year: SantaCon.

Atlas Obscura explains:

The original inspiration for SantaCon actually came from a 1977 article in Mother Jones about a four-day event organized by Solvognen, a socio-politically charged anarchist theater group in Denmark. Solvognen, literally “Chariot of the Sun,” took their name from Norse mythology and the name of a highly prized national artifact that represents a horse pulling the sun across the sky.

I hate SantaCon. I hate their vomit. I hate their attitudes. I hate their irascibility. I hate their piss-soaked costumes. I hate their souls. I hate them on a profound level. If I were the type of person who believed in letting people drown, these are the type of people I would let drown. I wish they would just go back to whatever hell they came from (Long Island? Staten Island? Murray Hill?). Their very existence in New York makes me wish we had never fleeced this land from the Native Americans.

SantaCon is just an excuse for people with severe emotional problems to get together and act extra out of control because they’re in a mob. It’s like if The Ox-Bow Incident were set at Christmas and filled with vomit. Or if the Stanford Prison Experiment were set at Christmas and, well, filled with vomit.

I know what you’re going to say: “Oh, the fun police are here! Policing our fun!” I am not a member of the fun police. I am a member of the social contract, which dictates there are ways to act in public police. If you want to drink half a bottle of Jäger and piss yourself while shouting about some imaginary injustice you suffered playing Madden ’98 on Nintendo Dreamcast, go right ahead. But do it in your own home. Don’t do it in public. Being in public means being in public, and when you are in public dressed like Santa—drunk, covered in piss, shouting about some nonsense—you are ruining the experience of other people who happen to be in public. You are a selfish jerk.

What about Halloween or Saint Patrick’s Day, you say? Well, those days are awful too. They’re all just excuses for stupid people who lack the conviction to do what they want to do—be drunk and piss themselves—on a normal day. They need society to arbitrarily say it’s okay to be a stupid drunk with your stupid drunk friends this one day a year. If you were at least an honest asshole you’d let your sociopathic flag fly and be a stupid drunk with your stupid friends just because it’s a Tuesday! Or a Monday! Or Easter! On any given day you can win or you can lose, but if you do it because of an email blast saying other people are going to make it nominally socially acceptable, then you’re a coward. SantaCon is not legally binding. It’s not like The Purge but for bros to act out. You do you, bros. But just know that the fact that you’re doing your thing on the day when normal society has tried to cordon you off means you’re a sheep.

Society hates you.

I hate you, SantaCon. I hate you the way Eddie Murphy hated Alan Arkin when Arkin surprisingly won an Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine and Murphy lost for Dreamgirls. I hate you the way I hate people with poor posture, which many of you stupid Santas have, by the way. The religious say, “Love the sinner, hate the sin.” I hate you the way the religious hate the sin.

Why are you the way you are? We could lay you on the couch and play psychology—Daddy wasn’t around! Mommy loved your sister more! You come from a long line of alcoholics with no shame and are just playing the part!—but we don’t have to. Ours is not to wonder why, ours is but to watch in horror as you stumble around drunk, secreting fluids on yourself.

I hope you all make it home alive this Saturday and don’t stumble into the street and drown in your own vomit, but Darwin suggests many of you should probably in fact stumble into the street and drown in your own vomit. I’ve been to the Galapagos. It has a lot of things. It does not have SantaCon.

There’s a line in Richard II where he’s about to be tossed from the throne by Bolingbroke and he says, “Let’s make dust our paper and with rainy eyes write sorrow on the bosom of the world.” Saturday, thousands of drunken bros will make snow their paper and with bleeding kidneys write sorrow on the bosom of our streets.

So anyway, have a great Saturday! (Have a great life!) Stay safe. And for our part in the creation of SantaCon, we’re eternally sorry.

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SantaCon Is the Devil. We Apparently Created It. We Are So Sorry.

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9 House Plants That Make Great Gifts

by TheronTracey5 Posted on December 11, 2015

Plants make great gifts because they last all year round. You don’t need to wrap them in anything fancy, other than maybe a bow. And depending on the plant you give, it will flower every year around December, reminding the person who receives it of you and your love or friendship.

Here are 9 house plants that make great gifts because they’re inexpensive, hardy, easy to care for, and either flower or smell great. Note: Poinsettias are not on this list, mostly because they don’t last very long and they really are mostly a Christmas plant.

1) Amaryllis Bulbs – These giant bulbs grow into magnificent flowers (pictured above) on stalks that may be over 2 feet tall. You can usually find them in grocery or hardware stores, in a box that comes with a pot as well as a “soil” disc. Put the disc in the bottom of the pot and add a couple of cups of warm water. The disc will absorb the water and expand to fill the pot. Bury the bulb so about a third peeks out at the top, water, and set in bright but not direct sunlight. Then watch the magic happen. Tall stalks will form first, followed by beautiful blooms. When the plant is finished blooming, you can cut off the stalk and store the bulb for next year.

2) Christmas/Thanksgiving Cactus – This plant will develop many flower buds and keep getting larger the older it gets. The flowers come in a variety of colors, from white to deep pink to flaming red and gorgeous coral. You’ll have to put it away in a darkish spot after it flowers, but then bring it back out in the fall next year and watch the flowers bloom again.

3) Rosemary Mini Bush – This is one of my favorite gifts, to either give or receive. You can get rosemary in a small bush, maybe 18 inches tall and 12 inches around. Pick from it all winter long whenever you need some rosemary to cook from. Dry it and put it into small jars you can take as a hostess gift when you go somewhere for dinner. Plant it in your own yard in the spring. It’s got many uses, all of them good!

4) Spider Plant – This plant is one that NASA determined was particularly effective in helping to purify the air. Plus, it’s just cool to watch it send out shoots that turn into mini plants. You can also cut off those shoots, pot them, and give them to someone else as a gift. Available in a variegated or striped life, or solid green.

5) Peace Lily – This plant, also known by its Latin name Spathiphyllum, is perfect for homes that don’t get a lot of direct sunlight, but still want to add some greenery to a living space. It’s also another plant NASA suggests is good for air purification. A couple of times a year, it will send up a shoot that turns into a beautiful white or pink blossom.

6) Indoor Windowbox Mini Herb Garden – This is a great gift for someone who enjoys cooking with fresh herbs. You can either buy an herb gift set, which comes with seeds, soil and little pots; or, you can make up a gift set yourself. One option is to box up three packs of different seeds; a small bag of soil; and three small pots that you can put on a tray or on a small saucer so they won’t leak when watered. Another option is to go ahead and plant the guide seeds in the pots so whoever gets them just has to put them in a sunny window.

7) African Violets – These beauties prefer indirect light, so they’re perfect for many households that don’t have a sunny window. Give one in a beautiful pot; or give three that have different kinds of leaves and varying flower colors. You may need to get some special fertilizer for this plant, and you need to water it so the leaves don’t get wet. You’ll find other growing instructions here.

8) Cyclamen – This plant is another fall and winter bloomer. It’s deep pink flowers make a gorgeous statement against the mottled green leaves. It will go dormant in the summer, but as long as you don’t overwater it, and you repot it in the spring, you should have a lovely plant for many years.

9) Ferns – Ferns have a way of filling up drab corners and bringing them to life. If you’ve thought ahead, you could have potted some ferns from your own garden to give as gifts. Otherwise, garden centers and even some big box stores will have a variety of ferns on hand that you can give as gifts. Caution: Before taking them out in the cold, even if you’re going from the store to your car, cover them lightly or put them in a bag so they won’t suffer shock from the elements. Here’s a good list of the 9 top ferns to grow as houseplants.

Related
15 Handmade Gifts for Animal Lovers
Feminist Holiday Gift Guide

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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10 Things to Do Instead of Shopping to Celebrate Buy Nothing Day

by LashondWilde Posted on November 23, 2015

Sure, Thanksgiving is right around the corner. But after giving thanks and gratitude for abundance with family and friends thousands of people across the country head out to big-box stores, malls and online to shop their way into oblivion on the infamous Black Friday.

Black Friday, one of the biggest shopping day of the year, falls the day after Thanksgiving. This tradition has been growing each year: stores open earlier on Black Friday, while others open on Thanksgiving evening to give shoppers a head start. And as shoppers move more online, retail outlets have tried to keep up, offering Black Friday deals all weekend (and even longer) and extra special offers all season long.

But what if we tried to enjoy the spirit of the season without shopping? Welcome to Buy Nothing Day, a campaign started by AdBusters to encourage shoppers to opt-out of the Black Friday shenanigans.

Buy Nothing Day is an international day of protest celebrated internationally this year on November 27 against excessive consumption and the unrestrained shopping frenzy of the holiday season. The website encourages us to take back our sanity by buying nothing on purpose:

“In a world where every inch of the capitalist system is bullying you into submission, can you resist? When advertisers hound you day and night, can you escape? This Black Friday, a massive, absurd, and destructive consumerist machine will coordinate against you for one simple reason – to convince you to max out your credit card to buy shit you dont need so that a broken system stays afloat. So when they say ‘BUY!’, will you say NOTHING!?

Buy Nothing Day is legendary for instigating this type of personal transformation as you suddenly remember what real living is all about you sense an upsurge of radical empowerment [as you join] Join millions of us in over 60 countries on November 28/29 and see what it feels like. Then, after Buy Nothing Day, take the next step for generations, Christmas has been hijacked by commercial forces this year, lets take it back.”

You can choose to be a more conscious consumer on Black Friday/Buy Nothing Day by opting out of the shopping madness (and dangers!) by taking on these 10 things to do instead of shopping.

1. Get outside! Legendary outdoor gear store REI is closing this year to encourage their employees to get outside, and you should too. Nature is good for our body, mind and spirit, so take advantage of the day off and go wander.

2. If you’re going outside, get yourself to water. Research shows that water can help us feel calm and collected, and can reset our brain after stress.

3. Make a gift: Instead of spending your day shopping for the perfect gift, why not make it? Find crafty ways to recycle, upcycle and make the perfect gift for your loved ones.

4. Cook some food: Nothing says love like homemade foods, whether you’re cooking for yourself or others. Do some meal planning or batch cooking, or try out some new recipes for your holiday parties.

5. Learn something new: Read a book about a new topic, try online courses for cooking or language development, or build your skills for food photography (this is what I will be doing!).

6. Practice mindfulness: The holiday season is arguably the most hectic season of all… if you let it become so. Learn some simple mindfulness techniques to help keep you grounded during these months.

7. Plan a trip: Give yourself something to look forward to in the upcoming months by planning a small road trip or an epic adventure.

8. Have a dance party: Most of your friends are probably off work, so why not throw a dance party? Get everybody moving joyfully to boost happiness and celebrate community.

9. Phone home: Whether your loved ones are near or far, give them an actual call, Skype or Facetime to let them know you love them and wish them a happy holiday season.

10. Do NOTHING! When was the last time you allowed yourself to lounge in bed, drink coffee, read the news, or just nap? Taking time off is important to help ourselves truly relax.

If you do choose to shop on Black Friday (or any day), ask yourself a few questions before purchasing an item. Care2 blogger Dave Chameidesencourages consumers to ask10 questions before buying anything:

Whatever you decide to do this Black Friday, choose to do so mindfully to fully engage (or disengage) with the season as you wish!

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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The Science of Why Pumpkin Beer Arrived So Early This Year

by SallieAguirre Posted on September 28, 2015

Mother Jones

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This story was originally published by the Atlantic and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

It was scorching in Oregon this summer. So hot the autumn pumpkins ripened early.

Which meant the brewers at Rogue, best known for Dead Guy Ale, found themselves picking pumpkins five weeks ahead of schedule and concocting their annual pumpkin-flavored beer long before the dog days slipped away. (Last year, Rogue’s Pumpkin Patch Ale wasn’t released until October 7.)

“Oregon’s heat-wave sped up the growing process this year, giving us ripe pumpkins in the middle of August,” Rogue said in an announcement on its website, in early September. Pumpkins weren’t the only crop affected. Malting barley ran late, while hops and corn grew early.

The release of pumpkin beers, like the appearance of candy corn and Christmas lights, have become yet another disorienting marker of the passage of time, often arriving before people are emotionally ready for it. Given the blazing temperatures in Oregon, Rogue was lucky its pumpkins fared so well. Excessive heat, like excessive rain, can decimate a pumpkin crop, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

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8 Crazy Quotes In Support of Celebrating Robert E. Lee on MLK Day

by CortezSKMsqtt Posted on January 28, 2015

Mother Jones

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Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama are the only three states in the country that celebrate Robert E. Lee on the same day as the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday. Their reasoning for the combo celebration is that the two have birthdays just a few days apart—never mind the, uh, conflict of interest.

Today, Arkansas’ elected officials had the opportunity to pass a bill seeking to separate the two commemorations. By doing so, Arkansas would join Georgia, Florida, and Virginia, which honor Lee—but not on MLK Day.

But this morning, Arkansas representatives struck down the bill with a chorus of nays. Below are a few choice quotes from opponents of the bill explaining why:

1. “Everyone in this room owes Robert E. Lee a debt.”

2. “You’ve got MLK parades all over the nation, but no one celebrates Lee! Well, a lot of people do, a very large crowd.”

3. “This bill is out to change our constitution.”

4. “It’s called American history.”

5. “I really wish we could all celebrate a non-separate, but equal holiday.”

6. “You wouldn’t celebrate Christmas in July!”

7. “Why are we doing this? We are chasing a non-problem.”

8. “Separate is not equal.”

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8 Crazy Quotes In Support of Celebrating Robert E. Lee on MLK Day

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Anchorage, Alaska, is so hot right now

by FSZLazarots Posted on January 5, 2015

Baked Alaska

Anchorage, Alaska, is so hot right now

By on 5 Jan 2015commentsShare

If you’ve ever met an Alaskan, you know talking about disappeared sea ice and dead polar bears might get yawns or a semi-concerned shrugs. But try telling her that she’ll need to put wheels on her dog sled, or that her nordic team is now cross-country track, and you’re angling for a punch in the mouth.

Mouthguards, everyone: 2014 was one of the warmest years on record for America’s wintriest state. It was also the warmest for the Bering Sea and Anchorage’s warmest since 1926. In fact, for the first time in recorded history, the temperature never dropped below zero in Anchorage for a whole calendar year.

So with skis stuck in closets and White Christmas dreams dashed (see video above), Alaskans have more reason than ever to pay attention to climate change. From the LA Times:

“To me, the fact that Anchorage won’t dip below zero degrees in calendar year 2014 is just one more signal — as if we needed another one — of a rapidly changing climate,” said Andrew Hartsig, director of the Ocean Conservancy’s Arctic program.

Hartsig said Anchorage’s comparatively balmy weather is consistent with other long-term trends, including diminishing summer sea ice and increasing sea surface temperatures.

“These are definitely red flags that are very consistent with climate change,” said Chris Krenz, senior scientist at Oceana, an international conservation group. “These are anomalies … that show our climate system is off-kilter.”

But Alaska’s hyper-variable weather conditions mean the climate connection isn’t a straight one:

James E. Overland, a research oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, […] argues that Alaska’s very cool heat wave is not evidence of climate change but rather the next stage in a long-term weather pattern that began with six years of warming in the Bering Sea and southern Alaska, followed by six cold years.

“This year, then, was the breakdown of the string of cold years,” Overland said. “What all the scientists are wondering now [is]: Is this just one warm year? Could we flip back to a cold sequence again, or is this the start of a warm sequence? … We don’t know, and it makes a big difference.”

Over at Andy Revkin’s DotEarth, scientist Mike McCracken argues that current weather extremes may offer a preview of new norms under advanced climate change:

Such large variations of the climate likely won’t occur every year over the next few decades given the limited global warming to date, but it would seem likely such conditions will occur more and more frequently as global warming continues, disrupting both social systems and ecosystems.

Of course, concerns about a warmer Alaska extend beyond mushier mushing. Alaska’s valuable pollock (McD’s Filet-o-Fish to you) stocks are threatened by too-warm waters, and even oil companies bemoan their inability to move around Alaska’s vast, roadless interior without reliably packed snow and frozen muskeg. We’d point out the irony in that last one, but we’ve misplaced our Alaska-sized neon irony sign.

Source:
Alaska’s toasty temperatures in 2014 worry observers

, L.A. Times.

While Much of the U.S. Shivers, Alaskan Fourth Graders Bemoan a Warm, Snowless December on YouTube

, New York Times.

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Anchorage, Alaska, is so hot right now

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Is 2015 the year Pope Francis defeats climate change?

by SherryGarsia Posted on December 30, 2014

Is 2015 the year Pope Francis defeats climate change?

By on 29 Dec 2014commentsShare

At the very beginning of 2014, we reported that Pope Francis had begun drafting a big green manifesto to guide the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics in their interactions with creation — that is, pretty much everything they do. As the year draws to a close, the environmental edict has at last been scheduled for publication next March, on the heels of a papal visit to Tacloban, the Philippine city most thoroughly destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.

Pope Francis cannot be blamed for the slow progress on his big encyclical, a letter from the papacy to all bishops of the Roman Catholic Church. He was busy getting shit done in 2014. Just in the past few weeks, he’s helped put the U.S. and Cuba back on speaking terms, and used his traditional Christmas speech to sharply criticize Vatican officials for their gossiping, power-hungry ways.

The forthcoming encyclical on climate change and human ecology is so important to Francis that he plans to distribute the 50- to 60-page document to the whole Catholic world, from priests to parishioners. The Guardian‘s John Vidal reports that this pronouncement is a key piece of the Holy Father’s grand plan to influence next year’s United Nations climate talks in Paris, where the world’s countries will try to end 20 years of climate change disagreement. Also on the docket for 2015: a trip to New York in September to meet with other global religious leaders, and then address the U.N.’s general assembly as it sets new anti-poverty and environmental goals.

No contents of the encyclical have been leaked, which these days means the procrastinating pope probably hasn’t written a word yet. But we can make some guesses as to what he might pontificate based on what he’s had to say this year on nature, humanity, and our economic system — which His Holiness equates with idolatry.

In May, on knowledge:

Creation is not a property that we can rule over at will, or, even less, the property of only a few. … Safeguard creation. Because if we destroy creation, creation will destroy us!

In October, to landless peasants from Latin America and Asia, as well as other social activists:

An economic system centered on the god of money needs to plunder nature to sustain the frenetic rhythm of consumption that is inherent to it. … The monopolising of lands, deforestation, the appropriation of water, inadequate agro-toxics are some of the evils that tear man from the land of his birth. Climate change, the loss of biodiversity and deforestation are already showing their devastating effects in the great cataclysms we witness.

And in November, from a letter to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott:

[T]here are constant assaults on the natural environment, the result of unbridled consumerism, and this will have serious consequences for the world economy.

Capitalism is an easy punching bag for anyone who thinks people and other life are more important than material wealth, but coming up with something better and a plan to get there peacefully is, of course, the complicated part. Perhaps the pontifical proclamation will lay out his vision for transforming the world economy into something, say, smaller and less destructive. In which case I’m converting to Catholicism.

Source:
Pope Francis’s edict on climate change will anger deniers and US churches

, The Guardian.

Pope Francis to tackle global warming, encyclical due in March

, Catholic Online.

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Is 2015 the year Pope Francis defeats climate change?

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