Miscellaneous material to end your week. – Amy Peng et al. examine the profound positive impact of mask mandates in reducing the spread of COVID-19 in Ontario. And Sheena Cruickshank warns about the avoidable harm we can expect as so many respond to the political and social signals to abandon
Continue readingTag: methane
Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Stephanie Soucheray examines new research showing that a large majority of respondents have concealed infectious diseases out of perceived economic or social necessity. And Zoya Teirstein discusses modeling showing that we’re vastly underestimating the death toll from the climate crisis – with
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Colin Carlson discusses why we should be treating the climate crisis as a health emergency (while also recognizing that such a thing demands urgent action rather than enforced denial). Debra Werner discusses the progress being made on at least identifying methane emissions
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Jackie Ruryk reports on the push by public health officials to have people take precautions against COVID-19 and seasonal illnesses only after there’s already been a massive degree of uncontrolled spread. And Alanna Smith exposes how Danielle Smith’s UCP is so deeply
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Jessica Wildfire examines how employees are being illegally forced to put their health at risk by employers determined to impose policies which facilitate the spread of COVID-19. And Craig Ellingson and Chelan Skulski report on the Alberta Medical Association’s warning that the province’s health
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Battling bovine belches and fighting farmyard flatulence was all very well until Ottawa got involved – now it’s an outrage!
Using the COP28 climate conference in Dubai as a news hook, on Sunday the federal government announced a new draft protocol on reducing enteric methane emissions from beef cattle, which is a fancy way of saying bovine burps and farmyard flatulence. The deceptive image tweeted by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith
Continue readingThings Are Good: USA to Clamp Down on Methane
When it comes to emissions from fuels methane is amongst the worst. The so-called natural gas is incredibly bad for the planet because it’s so effective at accelerating the greenhouse effect that is warming the Earth. Methane is an easy target as nations around the world are looking to reduce
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Elizabeth Payne reports on yet another COVID-19 wave in Ottawa which is far exceeding both the case numbers and harmful effects of seasonal viruses. And Brian To-Dang et al. confirm that the lasting coronary artery impacts of a COVID infection. – Nicole Mortarillo
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Jessica Wildfire examines the continued threat of COVID-19 even as governments have largely decided to stop recognizing its devastating effects on public health. And Tom Kitchin points out how the same phenomenon has played out even in New Zealand (which was once
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Rebecca Leber highlights how drilling in the Arctic and other high-cost fossil fuel extraction plans are based on a sociopathic bet against any prospect of limiting the harm from a climate breakdown. Carl Meyer reports on new research showing that 90% of Saskatchewan’s
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Crawford Kilian reviews two new books on the effects of an overheating planet. Damian Carrington reports on the science tracing unprecedented heat waves to climate change. And Jag Bhalla warns about the dangers of undue optimism about the state of our living environment – with the people with
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Ekaterina Pesheva writes about the continued uncertainty as to the driving mechanism behind long COVID even as large numbers of people suffer from it. Eric Berger notes that experts are cautioning Americans to keep a close eye on COVID exposure as new
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Cory Doctorow examines how private equity systematically loots both the pension funds which provide capital for its acquisitions, and the businesses which it purchases in order to extract transaction and management fees. And Nancy Fraser discusses how capitalism in any guise – not
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Mitchell Beer writes about the Canada Energy Regulator’s recognition that the future will involve far less fossil fuel use than the oil industry and its spokespuppets want us to believe. And Marc Fawcett-Atkinson discusses how biomethane is just another distraction intended to turn
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Beth Mole reports on research showing that U.S. children suffered a spike in brain abscesses after COVID protections were removed – and that the levels continue to be elevated long after everybody has been told not to bother doing anything to avoid the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Tara Kiran et al. examine the use of virtual care in Ontario, and find no evidence to support the anti-public-health claim that interactions being pushed back in person served any purpose in avoiding emergency room visits. And CBC News reports on a
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Linda McQuaig discusses how the Biden administration is providing the Trudeau Libs with an example to follow in ensuring that the ultra-wealthy contribute something closer to their fair share of the cost of a functional society. And Alexandria Nassopoulos highlights the realities facing
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Rob Stein discusses the CDC’s recognition that new, more evasive COVID strains are becoming dominant in the U.S. Megan Ogilvie and Kenyon Wallace report on the growing calls for a return to preventative masking in Ontario, while Aline Schnake-Mahl et al. examine the connection
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Knvul Sheikh reports on new research showing how a single COVID-19 can “rebound” whether or not it’s been treated with Paxlovid. Pooja Toshniwal Paharia discusses another study estimating that 15% of the U.S.’ adult population is new suffering from long COVID. And David Shield reports on
Continue readingThings Are Good: NASA Starts Spotting Super Methane Emitters
Natural gas, AKA methane, is really bad for the planet, and since it occurs some places “naturally” we need to find these new sources to stop them emitting. A classic example of “natural” methane production is a garbage dump in which the organic compounds mix together and release natural gas,
Continue reading