AFP PHOTO/Emmanuel DUNAND

There is a nice article by Stan Cox on Alternet today that debunks four bogus scientific theories. As in: "Is the Earth continuously producing new oil—more than we could ever burn?" or:  "Was 'The Flintstones' a work of nonfiction!?" Go laugh, a bit scary though. Strange what people want to believe in if given a chance.... But Cox remarks that

mainstream science does recognize mechanisms by which climate change can affect geological activity.

At least according to a conference held in London at the end of last year. Amongst other things, wrote the Guardian then,

the disappearance of ice caps will change the pressures acting on the Earth's crust and set off volcanic eruptions across the globe.

This does not necessarely mean that the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, the Icelandic volcano, has anything to do with it.  But it might just give us an idea what is in store ... some empty skies, at least once in a while. And for more on eruptions, check out the blog Eruptions by Dr Erik Klemetti, a geologist at Denison U, Ohio.

Lonnie Thompson, Ohio State University

British environmentalist and journalist George Monbiot seems to think so. In his latest post he reports that

on Amazon.co.uk, books championing climate change denial are currently ranked at 1,2,4,5,7 and 8 in the global warming category.

The majority of climate change  deniers seem to be older people. And this, says Monbiot, has to do with their fear of death. Monbiot quotes various studies about this psychological reaction, one by Janis L. Dickinson from Cornell University who suggests that people respond to constant reporting of climate change with projects that

bring us symbolic immortality (but) often conflict with our prospects for survival.

and denial doesn't stop climate change from happening. Researchers from Ohio State University have just published new findings by paleoclimatologist Lonnie Thompson, professor of earth sciences at Ohio State University, and his collegues:

The remaining ice fields atop famed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania could be gone within two decades and perhaps even sooner...The findings indicate a major cause of this ice loss is very likely to be the rise in global temperatures.

Lonnie Thompson, Ohio State University

... what has a melting glacier in Argentina  to do with hanging laundry outdoors in Florida?

Quite a bit.

An common sight in Europe (sometimes even a tourist attraction), hanging laundry in your back yard is  not allowed in parts of America. Many communities,  gated, private, otherwise, have specific rules against it. It pushes down property prices. Or that's what they believe - clotheslines make a neighborhood look poor. But since everybody uses a dryer instead, by NOT hanging your washing you are producing a lot of CO2.

In fact, writes Alexander P. Lee from the Project Laundry List,

the tumble dryer is the second largest energy-consuming appliance...There is no such sense as an Energy Star dryer; these machines are inherently inefficient, using natural gas or electricity to heat air.

Some Americans start to question these community rules and  try to change it,  writes the New York Times.

Should Americans have the right to hang their laundry outdoors, even if many of their neighbors oppose it and community rules ban clotheslines as unsightly threats to property values? Legislators in Colorado, Hawaii, Maine and Vermont have prohibited anti-clothesline rules, and similar action is being considered in several other states.

If the rules are changed, it would be inefficient, energy-wasting suburbia that could help prevent emissions. And yes, laundry will smell a lot nicer.