hrynyshyn
Posts by this author
New Scientist's Fred Pearce reports today on climatologist Tim Lenton's warnings about climate change "tipping points," some of which may already have been passed, although his story doesn't actually mention any of these past-tense points. Lenton was speaking at a meeting organized by the British…
Sooner or later, at least one member of the audience that has turned out to see me present Al Gore's climate change slide show wants to know why I haven't included nuclear power in the list of technologies that can help cut our carbon emissions. The question is usually put by the likes of a retired…
The headline for this week's current reading on the Island is perhaps unfair. It's become trite to point out that algebra and algorithm, to name just two mathematical terms, are derived from Muslim scholars. But as Taner Edis, the author of the book "An Illusion of Harmony: Science and Religion in…
That portion of the blogosphere that takes no shame in including Ann Coulter in their blogrolls is all atwitter with the news that NASA has "silently" released adjusted temperature records showing that 1934 is the warmest year on record, not 1998 or 2005 or 2006. How will Al Gore, James Hansen and…
Yet more evidence that the Arctic ice cap is disappearing at (yes, here comes that word again) alarming rates. This time the harbinger of bad news is William L. Chapman of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Today, the Northern Hemisphere sea ice area broke the record for the lowest…
When they talk about dangerous climate change, I don't think this is what they had in mind.
The South Nahanni River defies description. It is one of the most spectacular lengths of runnable river in the world. It lies in the southwestern corner of Canada's Northwest Territories and offers one of the more accessible wilderness adventures in the Arctic. Canoeing the Nahanni should be on…
First, the bad news: the current issue of Biology Letters reports the extinction of the baiji, or Yangtze River dolphin, in what amounts to the official publication of an earlier announcement that the species could no longer be found in its already limited habitat. That would make the baiji (…
Today's Washington Post includes an exploration of a relatively recent trend among evangelical Christians: environmentalism, or more specifically, climate change activism. There's not a lot new here, as the story has been covered in some depth for the last year or so. But it's worth reviewing,…
As a Canadian, it's long been a bit of an embarrassment for me that Michael Ignatieff is considered one of Canada's leading intellectuals. Worse now that he's also a sitting member of Parliament. But today's quasi-apology in the New York Times for supporting the invasion of Iraq is perhaps the…
One of the best environment reporters, not just in Canada but anywhere, died last week at the age of 57. Dennis Bueckert, was one of the best, knowing what constituted a story of importance, like climate change, long before his editors would agree to let him devote serious company resources to it…
What with all the enthusiasm about the energy legislation now working its way through the U.S. Congress, it's easy to forget there is a fundamental contradiction between the goals of conservationists and those of the utilities involved in supplying the energy. And this inconvenient contradiction,…
If this isn't a sign of the apocalypse, I don't know what is. Seven legs, double-gendered and bowel-challenged, according to the Herald-Sun. What a way to start your weekend. (Click for full size image.)
I came across the story while reading that Pope B16 says "there is much scientific proof in…
Richard Dawkins and PZ Myers have endorsed the "OUT" campaign that encourages atheists (or agnostics, if that's your semantic druthers) to publicly declare their lack of believe in gods and the supernatural. To help make the point, the campaign comes equipped with a red letter "A" that can be worn…
James Hansen isn't satisfied with an audience limited to those that read his peer-reviewed scientific papers and the odd Congressional hearing attendee. In this essay, NASA's top climate scientist takes the substance of a recent paper that discusses the "reticence" of some climatologists to make…
Are we ScienceBloggers just wasting our time when it comes to politics? While I'm sure that none of us are operating under the delusion that anything we write has a significant influence on the outcome of pivotal events like presidential elections, could it be that the scientific, rational approach…
A new study that shows people who say radio waves from cell phone towers are making them sick are exhibiting a purely pyschosomatic reaction won't be the last nail required to seal this particular coffin of pseudo-science. But as a double-blind randomized test of the alleged effect, it surely…
The Guardian wins the prize for best headline for its coverage of the tipsy astronauts: "Drunk astronauts go from Right Stuff to the hard stuff." While we're on the subject, though, how about this, even less amusing, story: "Three die in Branson's space tourism tests."
Now here's something you don't see every day: a cogent argument in defense of cloning. Not just therapeutic cloning, the better to produce embryonic stem cells, but full-on human reproductive cloning. And from a bioethicist, no less. Hugh McLachlan of Glasgow Caledonian University, doesn't actually…
Steven Pinker of The Blank Slate fame, weighs in on the nature and temptation of "dangerous ideas" in the latest must-read for visitors to the Island. Not too surprisingly, he likes them. Among the questions we should not be afraid to ask, says Pinker, are:
* Do parents have any effect on the…
Among the most common questions that follow my presentations of Al Gore's climate change slide show is "What about vegetarianism?" I usually respond that eating less meat will probably be a consequence of climate change, due to the enormous water and energy costs associated with raising livestock,…
A committee of the North Carolina House has come up with the state's first renewable-energy bill at long last, one that would require electrical utilities to produce 12.5% of their product from renewable sources. Which is a good thing, if a bit on the weak side. In a bizarre twist, however,…
They say the devil is in the details, and climate change is no different. While climatologists have agreed on the general trend of global temperature rise, it's proving quite tricky to predict regional effects. A new paper in the current Nature won't get us that level of precision, but it does take…
Last week, the city council of Brevard, N.C, a community just over a couple of hills from here that's known for its vibrant musical culture, voted to remove the fluoride they've been adding to the public water supply for last 27 years. The decision was prompted by one councillor who had "had read…
Just in case you were wondering why so many science bloggers devote so much keystrokes to criticizing religion, the Washington Post's Rob Stein has this convenient reminder of the danger of letting faith inform public policy:
The long decline in sexual activity among U.S. teenagers, hailed as one…
I have no idea if the staff at ScienceBlogs anticipated just how popular the religion vs. atheism debate would be on these pages, but it would seem we're not the only home of passionate and often thoughtful argument over the God Question. Over at the Washington Post's "On Faith" blog, there a…
Before you read anything else about the Chilean sea bass served Al Gore at his daughter's wedding rehearsal party, read Deltoid's thoroughly researched review of how lazy journalists and bloggers once again did their best to undermine the world most popular climate change campaigner, and a guy who'…
Here on the Island of Doubt, climate change is a favored topic for two reasons. First, there is no more important a public policy challenge, no matter what Bjorn Lomborg says. Second, the role of uncertainty in climate science -- and science in general -- has been grossly distorted in many popular…
I've only read the introduction to Natalie Angier's The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science but everyone else is blogging about it, and what I've read so far is so damn good that I'm going to add my precipitous two cents now.
Angier has long been a favorite of mine, ever…
The word from Canada's most rectangular province is that Saskatchewan could soon be home to North American's first "commercial-scale, coal-fired power plants that would produce virtually no greenhouse gas emissions." The estimated $2 billion plant will capture its carbon dioxide and pump it into…