History, Evolution, and the Darwin Debate
Aquatic ‘Dead Zones’ Contributing to Climate Change
ScienceDaily (Mar. 12, 2010) — The increased frequency and intensity of oxygen-deprived “dead zones” along the world’s coasts can negatively impact environmental conditions in far more than just local waters
Methane releases from Arctic shelf may be much larger and faster than anticipated
Thawing by climate change of subsea layer of permafrost may release stores of underlying, seabed methane
A High-Tech Entrepreneur
After making his fortune with Idealab and a host of technology start-ups, Bill Gross has turned his attention to renewable energy. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, Gross talks about the solar power plant technology his company eSolar is developing and about the future of solar.
Published on Saturday, March 6, 2010 by The Nation
The Wrong Kind of Greenby Johann Hari
Why did America’s leading environmental groups jet to Copenhagen and lobby for policies that will lead to the faster death of the rainforests–and runaway global warming? Why are their lobbyists on Capitol Hill dismissing the only real solutions to climate change as “unworkable” and “unrealistic,” as though they were just another sooty tentacle of Big Coal?
What Do Darwinism and “Climate Change” Have in Common?
Very little that I can see, and the effort by the Discovery people to create a link simply discredits their Darwin critique, which as already wrecked by the design theology grafted on to it.
Time to realize that climate change denial and design evolutionism are both distractions from the real Darwin debate
Surprise! Morons who hate Darwin also hate Al Gore
The Discovery group ought to be cognizant of the damage they do to the Darwin debate, and the critique of Darwinism when they meld it the climate debate.
And the defenders of Darwinism must be laughing up their sleeve at this windfall to defend their con.
Those intellectual giants are back, and this time they’re attempting to attack Climate Change using the same strategies – namely by playing the victim and by attempting to muddy the water with ”differing” views. These two strategies often overlap, as is perfectly illustrated by John G West, of the fundamentalist Discovery Institute in Seattle. Leslie Kaufman, the Times reporter, quotes him as saying:
“There is a lot of similar dogmatism on [the climate change] issue,” he said, “with scientists being persecuted for findings that are not in keeping with the orthodoxy. We think analyzing and evaluating scientific evidence is a good thing, whether that is about global warming or evolution.” [emphasis added.]
West’s bizarre allegations make it seem as though there is a Science Mafia, hellbent on enforcing set-in-stone “orthodoxy.” That makes sense, I guess, because if there’s one group of people opposed to rigorous examination of held beliefs, it’s scientists. Yes, it is often science, not religion, who desperately clings to out-dated or unprovable positions as though their very institutional survival depends on it.
Turbine design breathes new life into hopes for UK’s renewable targetsAerogenerator turns conventional windmills on their side, with a 100m tall V-shaped blade rotating on a vertical axis
Published on Thursday, March 4, 2010 by CommonDreams.org
Paradise Lost: The Poisoning of Vieques
by Robert C. Koehler
We owe the residents of the tiny island paradise called Vieques full compensation for the illnesses they are suffering courtesy of the U.S. Navy – and we owe them so much more than that.
Making Sense of Wal-Mart’s Big Green Announcement
Wal-Mart announced a goal to cut 20 million metric tons of greenhouse-gas emissions by the end 2015, so what’s behind the curtain?
Tomdispatch.com / By Bill McKibben How the Mountain of Climate Change Evidence Is Being Used to Undermine the Cause
As the backlash against climate science grows, the number of Americans who believe humans are to blame for warming the planet is shrinking.
Coral reefs in danger of being destroyed
Rising acidity of the oceans is threat to marine ecosystems, study warns
We Can’t Wish Away Climate Change
By AL GORE
Published: February 27, 2010
It would be an enormous relief if the recent attacks on the science of global warming actually indicated that we do not face an unimaginable calamity requiring large-scale, preventive measures to protect human civilization as we know it.
Tropics: Global Warming Likely to Significantly Affect Rainfall Patterns
ScienceDaily (Feb. 28, 2010) — Climate models project that the global average temperature will rise about 1°C by the middle of the century, if we continue with business as usual and emit greenhouse gases as we have been. The global average, though, does not tell us anything about what will happen to regional climates, for example rainfall in the western United States or in paradisical islands like Hawai’i.
Climate Change and Coral Reefs: Coral Species Has Developed the ‘Skills’ to Cope With Rising Temperatures
ScienceDaily (Feb. 27, 2010) — Move, adapt or die. Those are the options marine plants and animals have in the face of climate change, said Stanford biologist Steve Palumbi, who has been exploring how to help them go with the first two options, rather than the third. He’s come up with some surprising answers.
Threat to Monkey Numbers from Forest Decline
ScienceDaily (Feb. 27, 2010) — Monkey populations in threatened forests are far more sensitive to damage to their habitat than previously thought, according to new research.
Large Iceberg Breaks Off Antarctica’s Mertz Glacier
ScienceDaily (Feb. 26, 2010) — A joint Australian-French study has discovered the calving of a large iceberg from the Mertz Glacier in the Australian Antarctic Territory. The iceberg — 78 kilometres long with a surface area of roughly 2,500 square kilometres, about the size of Luxembourg — broke off the Mertz Glacier after being rammed by another iceberg, 97 kilometres long.
CLIMATE AND CAPITALISM
An online journal focusing on capitalism, climate change,
and the ecosocialist alternative.
February 23, 2010
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Grizzly Bears Move Into Polar Bear Habitat in Manitoba, Canada
ScienceDaily (Feb. 23, 2010) — Biologists affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History and City College of the City University of New York have found that grizzly bears are roaming into what was traditionally thought of as polar bear habitat
Methane levels may see ‘runaway’ rise, scientists warn
A rapid acceleration may have begun in levels of a gas far more harmful than CO2
Ecological Intelligence: Do Humans Have What it Takes to Survive?
Society has lost touch with what may be the singular sensibility crucial to our survival as a species.
Diversity of Corals, Algae in Warm Indian Ocean Suggests Resilience to Future Global Warming
ScienceDaily (Feb. 22, 2010) — Penn State researchers and their international collaborators have discovered a diversity of corals harboring unusual species of symbiotic algae in the warm waters of the Andaman Sea in the northeastern Indian Ocean.
RG mail
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2010/feb/19/climate-change-sceptics-science
Climate sceptics are recycled critics of controls on tobacco and acid rain
We must not be distracted from science’s urgent message: we are fuelling dangerous changes in Earth’s climate
Jeffrey Sachs
Warmer Planet Temperatures Could Cause Longer-Lasting Weather Patterns
ScienceDaily (Feb. 21, 2010) — Whether it’s never-ending heat waves or winter storms, atmospheric blocking can have a significant impact on local agriculture, business and the environment. Although these stagnant weather patterns are often difficult to predict, University of Missouri researchers are now studying whether increasing planet temperatures and carbon dioxide levels could lead to atmospheric blocking and when this blocking might occur, leading to more accurate forecasts.
Published on Sunday, February 21, 2010 by McClatchy Newspapers
Asia-Produced Ozone Making its Way to U.S., Study Finds
by Les Blumenthal
WASHINGTON – A new study further bolsters concerns that pollution blowing across the Pacific Ocean from China and other rapidly developing Asian nations may swamp efforts to clean up the air in the Western United States and make it difficult for states and cities to meet federal standards.