Arctic sea ice is at the second-lowest point ever measured.

​About 11,500 years ago, at the tail end of the Pleistocene era, the Earth began to warm up. The planet's climate has fluctuated since time immemorial. But this period of climate change came less like a stone warming in the sun, and more like a marshmallow in a microwave.

In Greenland, the average annual temperature shot up 61 degrees Fahrenheit -- in less than 10 years. 

Larry Edwards, director of the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Minnesota, has studied this and other rapid shifts in Earth's climate, and recently contributed his expertise to a climate change study that literally spanned the globe and the last 800,000 years.

That research shows that such "abrupt shifts" in climate happen fairly often, and that they effect every inch of the planet. The findings are timely: Just yesterday, researchers announced that Arctic Sea ice had been measured at the second-lowest point in history, and still more of it might be melting.

Edwards' research predates the modern period of man-made climate change, but he said dramatic changes like the ones he's seen in the historical record must be kept in mind today.

"If we push hard enough," Edwards said, "we could generate an abrupt shift. So it's not a prediction -- in a sense, it's more of a warning."

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Sen. Mike Jungbauer, climate expert.

​State Sen. Michael Jungbauer says he's smarter than 98 percent of the men and women who have dedicated their lives to studying climatology, and dismisses their work on climate change and global warming as alarmist nonsense.

What gives the Republican from East Bethel such authority? A college degree and a master's program that don't exist, and the blessings of a front group for the oil and gas industries.

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Wikipedia

The northern lights, at another time, in another place (Alaska).

​The folks at Science Buzz say the sun spewed forth a mighty belch of solar particles yesterday, and they're expected to bombard the Earth tonight for a major display of the northern lights.

The spooky yet awesome light show is pretty common Up North, but it ought to be visible with the naked eye across a lot of Minnesota tonight -- if the sky is clear, and you can get away from city lights.

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Broken Haiku

Time to clear the air.

​Smell something bad? The American Lung Association is out with a new study today that shows Ramsey County fell from a "C" to a "D" grade when it comes to air quality -- the worst in the state.

Based on EPA data on ozone and particle pollution from 2007-2009, the State of the Air report also handed out "C" grades to Dakota, Olmsted, Scott and Stearns counties, all of which scored "B" in the last go-round.

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TwitPic

​The Minnesota Twins are avowed tree huggers, unless you're talking about the trees in their own stadium. They didn't want to see those trees, so they dug 'em up and shipped 'em off to greener pastures.

Now, this being Earth Day, the local nine are doubling down on their enviro street cred by rolling out green ball caps with the official team logo. Maybe they can break a bat or two, and we'll have a two-fer.

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E85: It's the corn.

​Minnesota is officially the best state when it comes to replacing gasoline with alternatives that don't line the pockets of Middle East oil sharks, according to the Department of Energy.

For that, we can thank the corn, and the Twin Cities Clean Cities Coalition.

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Topato

Maybe Blinky makes a guest appearance in the Mississippi this summer?

​Officials at the Environmental Protection Agency say it's raining radiation in St. Paul as a result of the damaged nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan.

The readings show elevated levels of radioactive iodine-131 in rainwater -- the same stuff that's been detected in Japanese spinach and tap water, and falling in the rainstorms on California's coast.

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@rstevens

​A major CenterPoint Energy natural gas pipeline exploded into a hellish fireball this morning in South Minneapolis on the street in front of a Cub Foods grocery store.

Firefighters from around Minneapolis and Richfield rushed to the scene of the 8:45 a.m. blast to find flames leaping into the sky from a swimming-pool sized crater. The fire was extinguished at about 10:30 a.m.

Luckily, no one was injured by the blast, though several cars were scorched by the heat and a Cub sign melted.

Slideshow: Fireball erupts in South Minneapolis

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xjasonrojersx

What's that floating in the water?

​The land of 10,000 lakes has some seriously nasty stuff in its rivers and streams, according to a new study by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

The biggest chemical culprits: antibiotics and attention-deficit medication, as well as antidepressants.

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Another bright idea from the Legislature.

​Keeping their eye on what's really important to a recovering economy, the GOP-controlled Legislature today let it be known that nobody in Washington, D.C., can tell Minnesotans whether they can sell incandescent light bulbs.

Those would be the energy-hog light bulbs the Bush administration banished back in 2007, and that Ikea just announced it's pulling from shelves across the country.

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