Burning fossil fuels costs the United States about $120 billion a year in health costs, mostly because of thousands of premature deaths from air pollution, the National Academy of Sciences reported in a study issued Monday. The damages are caused almost equally by coal and oil, according to the study, which was ordered by Congress.... Continue Reading →
Yes there exists a scientific consensus on global warming, and no we are not experiencing cooling of any sort
As difficult as it may seem there are still people who deny that an overwhelming consensus exists within the scientific community. Given this, and given the climate bill making its way through the senate, 16 scientific societies located in the US have re-affirmed that a scientific consensus exists and that climate change posed significant problems... Continue Reading →
Back from the dead
After a small break in blogging I am back, and posts should begin appearing here real soon. But first here are the two stories that most caught my eyes while I was away: It turns out that global warming is a lie. Don’t let the shrinking arctic ice cap fool you, temperatures over the past... Continue Reading →
Great Horned Owl
Taken at the Vancouver Zoo.
Quote of the day
A big reason we are having so much trouble these days is because the networks of trust, especially the connections between science and society, but also the connections between any sort of authority and society, are in bad condition. I think if the national science academies of the main science producing countries on every continent... Continue Reading →
A good video series on climate change
This is a great video series (currently only 4 videos long) that covers the history of climate science, the debate in the scientific community (yes it exists but it is very minimal, with the overwhelming majority of scientists supporting AGW, hence the consensus), and some popular myths.
Methane tipping point is close… very close
A possible explanation for the increasing methane concentrations in the atmosphere. From Yale360: British and German scientists have discovered 250 plumes of methane gas rising from the thawing seabed off the Spitsbergen archipelago in the Norwegian Arctic, apparently a result of the warming of the West Spitsbergen current. The researchers measured the plumes rising from... Continue Reading →
Quote of the day
Let's get back to having a public debate that is not overwhelmed by the ideological fanatics and deniers and instead focus on the very real and critical problems that this president was elected to address. The denialists and their scorched earth tactics have done a great deal of harm to our debate on reform. Now... Continue Reading →
The zombie apocalypse
A new scientific paper written by Neil Ferguson, one of the world's leading epidemiologists, a group of Canadian researchers is great cause for alarm: Zombies are a popular figure in pop culture/entertainment and they are usually portrayed as being brought about through an outbreak or epidemic. Consequently, we model a zombie attack, using biological assumptions... Continue Reading →
‘Watts up with Watts?’ copyright complain invalid
Anthony Watts’ teachable moment has fully backfired; Youtube has accepted Peter Sinclair’s DMCA counter-notice and put-back request, and restored the Climate Change Denier Crock of the Week video titled Watts up with Watts? For those of you who have been following the story, this isn’t particularly surprising. Despite Watts’ claims that YouTube agreed with his... Continue Reading →
How I feel
(h/t Climate Progress)
Gwillim Lakes
Pictures of my recent trip to Gwillim Lakes in Valhalla Provincial Park: The Locals were very friendly… …If a bit skittish. But don’t let the pretty pictures fool you the weather was bitterly cold (just above freezing!) cloudy and wet. But despite the miserable weather the place is absolutely stunning! Here are the rest of... Continue Reading →
Out of the wilderness
I am back from my camping trip to Gwillim lakes. My concerns about fires were completely unfounded; despite the fact that it has been very hot and exceptionally dry for most of the summer, the one week I go camping it was wet and cold. Very, very, cold. Much colder than any August should be.... Continue Reading →
Into the wilderness
I am off for a week of camping in Valhalla Provincial park. Gwillim Lakes to be precise. Hopefully there will be lots of beautiful scenery and great photo opportunities… and no fires.
The ones that got away: global warming edition
A collection of stories that I never got around to comment on: Ecological debt: No way back from bankrupt "Nature Doesn't Do Bailouts!" said the banner strung across Bishopsgate in the City of London… Each year, humanity's ecological overdraft gets larger, and the day that the world as a whole goes into ecological debt -... Continue Reading →
Did a recent peer-review study really debunk climate change? [UPDATED]
Did a recent peer-review study really debunk climate change? No, but it did claim as much: Finally, this study has shown that natural climate forcing associated with ENSO is a major contributor to variability and perhaps recent trends in global temperature, a relationship that is not included in current global climate models. It is well... Continue Reading →
Orange Jelly
A Pacific sea nettle at the Vancouver Aquarium. Much better than my last picture of this orange jelly.
Why are deniers afraid of debate? [UPDATED]
Recently Peter Sinclair Posted a video (which I linked to in my sidebar) titled " What is up with Watts?” as part of his excellent “Climate Denier Crock of the Week” series. In it he debunkes (again) the notion that the increase surface temperature record is due to the heat Island effect. That video has... Continue Reading →
The worst case scenario
An accurate depiction of the worst case scenario. All of a sudden I am hoping for the worst!
The 4 denialists rules for discussion
What global warming deniers wont accept as evidence: Nothing that was recorded by instruments such as weather-stations, ocean buoys or satellite data. Since all instruments are subject to error, we cannot use them to measure climate. Nothing that has been corrected to account for the error of recording instruments. Any corrected data is a fudge.... Continue Reading →
Note to George Will: Using a creationist as your scientific authority is a bad idea
George Will is at it again. Thankfully this time he steers mostly away from argument’s requiring facts to back him up, preferring instead to argue that since China wont commit to firm GHG emissions reductions we should do anything. Despite the fact that such arguments only really make sense if your refuse to accept global... Continue Reading →
More Birds!
Pictures from my trips to the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary I seem to really like the Sandhill Crane. Here are the rest of the pics:
Magnificent desolation
40 years ago: That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind As reported by The Onion:
Bad news on the feedback front
A new study indicates that there may still exist some as of yet unidentified positive feedbacks in the climate system that could make future warming greater than previously estimated. A reconstruction of the Earth’s climatic history during a key hot period 55 million years ago has highlighted a yawning gap in our understanding: this period’s... Continue Reading →
The self-contradictions of Marc Morano
The fact that Marc Morano doesn’t present a synthesis view of the science of global warming will come as no surprise to my regular readers or anyone who knows of him. Morano grasps at anything that might (but frequently doesn’t) cast any doubt whatsoever on global warming, regardless of whether it contradicts other points he... Continue Reading →
Did the EPA really silence a dissenting report on global warming?
Did the Obama EPA really silence a dissenting report on global warming? Yes they did. But before anyone gets bent out of shape over this, it is worth noting that that is exactly what the EPA should have done. The report in question has been called a scientific report by many, but it is nothing... Continue Reading →
The folly of believing in a warming conspiracy
At the end of the day it is impossible to deny (though some still try) the overwhelming consensus of climate scientist that fully accept that our GHG emissions are causing the earth to warm. Therefore at the heart of most denier talking points lies some sort of conspiracy theory. That it is the biggest hoax... Continue Reading →
A question for anyone who thinks that addressing global warming will cripple the economy
A question for anyone who thinks that addressing global warming will cripple the economy, and also thinks that global warming is bunk: How do you know that addressing global warming will cripple the economy? Is your answer based on any economic models? If so why do you trust economic models, yet distrust climate models? Why... Continue Reading →
Gone Fishin’
Great Blue Heron
The folly of extrapolating from short term trends
Climate change deniers routinely make the same mistake as the comic above. Climate data are noisy. We see wild fluctuations in temperature as the temperature rises through out day and cools at night. On a longer (but still short) timescale we have the warming of spring and summer and the cooling of fall and winter.... Continue Reading →
From rational to irrational: just add heat
What is it about global warming that makes so many normally rational people discard ration and start parroting nonsense? I normally read the Unambiguously Ambidextrous blog written by Raphael Alexander. And while I don’t agree with a lot of what he says, I can see how, based on his values, he arrives at his conclusions.... Continue Reading →
Jellyfish
At the Vancouver Aquarium A Pacific sea nettle I think.