Blog Action Day and Climate Change

Have you heard about this thing called "climate change?" I think it's been in the news. Apparently the climate's, uh, changing, according to some experts. And not in a good way.

To help bring you up to speed about all things climate change-y, Blogger's sponsoring Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change because it seems not enough people out there are blogging about it. Suggested topics:

* A Technology or Business blog might write about emerging clean tech and how innovative companies might be able to help address the problem of climate change.

* A Health or Lifestyle blog might write about how climate change will affect our children's health and daily living.

* A Nonprofit or Political blog might write about how climate change is deeply connected to many other issues - such as poverty and conflict.

* A Design blog might write about new trends in eco-friendly or sustainable design.

* A Travel blog might write about the places you want to see now before climate change makes them difficult to access or, well, under the sea.

Nary a word about the skeptics of climate change but then this isn't called "Climate Change and Skeptics," is it? No, be original and get on board with everyone else and blog away about climate change. Just don't doubt it.

Oh, but this little tidbit might put a damper on things:

What happened to global warming? This headline may come as a bit of a surprise, so too might that fact that the warmest year recorded globally was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998.

But it is true. For the last 11 years we have not observed any increase in global temperatures.

And our climate models did not forecast it, even though man-made carbon dioxide, the gas thought to be responsible for warming our planet, has continued to rise.

So what on Earth is going on?

In a fairly even-handed article, the BBC points out that though global warming seems to have stopped way back in 1998, this doesn't mean that climate change isn't going on right now. But the inverse is true as well: prior years of global warming doesn't mean that climate change - or, more specifically, man-made climate change - is underway as well. No matter the pros and cons, one things clear - the reason behind whatever change may be occurring is largely unknown. Climate is complex, with a variety of factors contributing and the bottom line is there may not be much we can do about it.

Not something that Blogger has room to talk about on Blog Action Day.

Best Places to Launch a Small Business 2009? Oklahoma City!

Ah, here's the link I was looking for yesterday:

Stable and affordable, Oklahoma City is a haven for entrepreneurial risk takers. It boasts the second lowest foreclosure rate among large U.S. metro areas, along with the second lowest median rent. Through the Great Recession this former Dust Bowl capital has been spared many hardships, with a diverse local economy spread across medical research, energy, education and government.

Oklahoma City also benefits from a high concentration of deep-pocketed local investors, many of them veterans of the oil and gas industry, who are willing to take a gamble on companies that might spend 10 years bringing a new product to fruition. And the city itself has been a powerful friend to life-science startups, funding the 1996 construction of the Presbyterian Health Foundation Research Park. The complex -- 700,000 square feet of space in seven buildings on a 27-acre site -- has attracted an influx of innovative biomedical firms.

So come on, start your business here! But first, find a good CPA to consult with. Like I said yesterday, I happen to know a pretty good firm. Ask me.

(A side note: I first saw this story on print on Monday and blogged about it yesterday, a post which found it's way to my Twitter feed. I looked for a link online to the story but it wasn't available until yesterday afternoon and only then did I hear about it on Twitter. Now I'm blogging about it again and this post, too, will find its way to Twitter. Though it started out in old media, and I see this morning the old media outlets are just now picking up the story, it's old news now thanks to the new media.)