go team.jpg One striking feature of the liberal psyche is how it is simultaneously outraged by hypocrisy on the conservative side of the aisle—and yet also morbidly fascinated by it. Just this morning, reading, I came across the following examples: 1. Ezra Klein’s much discussed New Yorker article, on how Republicans came to
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350 or bust: Earth May Reach Tipping Point
* More links: Scientists Uncover Evidence Of Impending Tipping Point For Earth Carbon Targets Need Strong New Measures, Panel Argues
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The New ExxonMobil: Has the Tiger Changed Its Stripes?
Private-Empire-ExxonMobil-and-American-Power-by-Steve-Coll.cover_.jpg For a decade, now, I’ve been a reporter on climate science. And one of my earliest stories was a Mother Jones cover, exposing ExxonMobil’s funding of think tanks that support climate denialism. The piece was actually nominated for a National Magazine Award. It got around. With this article and others,
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Mann Handled: A Decade Ago, Conservatives Attacked a Scientist—And Created a Leader
hockeybookmann (1).jpg This is a review of The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches From the Front Lines, by Michael Mann. I first became familiar with the name Michael Mann in the year 2003. I was working on what would become my book The Republican War on Science, and had
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: God Created Adam and Eve Not Adam and Steve
I’m really not sure why religious right wingers always seem to use this phrase in reference to the Adam and Eve story (as well as other Old Testament references) to justify their claims that homosexuality is an abomination (and as the Catholic school system would call it “intrinsically disordered”). The
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Is BP’s Attempted Climategate Strategy To Attack Scientists Ethical?
fish oil.jpg In late 2009, climate change deniers thought they had found the Holy Grail in terms of climate denial – a collection of more than 3,000 hacked emails that they took out of context to “prove” that scientists were lying about human-driven climate change. This so-called scandal became known
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: How Do We Explain Scientifically Literate But Anti-Science Conservatives? Paging Drs. Dunning and Kruger
dunning_kruger_percieved_actual_graph.gif As regular readers of this blog know, I have spent a lot of time discussing what we call the “smart idiot” effect: Political conservatives who know more about science—or, have a higher level of education—tend to be more in denial of science or facts in contested areas, like global
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Death of Stars – Hubblecast
Astronomy is another passion of mine. Enjoy this short clip on the fate of our Sun and similar stars. Filed under: Science Tagged: Astronomy, The Sun, White Dwarf
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Transit of Venus from Saskatchewan
The last chance for humans alive today to witness a transit of the planet Venus (directly from Earth), happens in a little over one hour from now. There are 7 hours after that to catch the event on the Internet or from other positions on the planet. What you need
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Polarizing Poles: Yet Another Study Shows That More Knowledgeable Conservatives Are *Worse* on Global Warming
Figure1b.png Bloggers and commentators have been talking a lot lately about a recent study, by Dan Kahan and colleagues in Nature Climate Change, capturing what I call the “smart idiot” effect: Conservatives who are more educated, or have a higher degree of scientific literacy, are more strongly in denial (or
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Transit of Venus – Worth Watching, but do it safely.
It is one of those lifetime events, as Venus rarely crosses the plane of our orbit while in front of the sun. “Our nearest planetary neighbour will be passing between the Earth and the sun starting at 6:04 p.m. ET on June 5 and will be aligned in such
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: Two reports on pesticide risks
Thursday, May 31, 2012 When a politician says that his report is about the science, and not about the politics, it’s probably wise to take that claim with a grain of salt. That’s made crystal clear by two studies released in the last month about the risks of pesticides –
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Big Waffle? New Report Exposes Corporations That Try to Split the Difference on Global Warming
caterpillar-logo-2401.jpg We hear a lot about the Koch brothers. And before them, we heard a lot about ExxonMobil. In other words, we all know the names of the corporations, and the corporate leaders, who have sought to undermine public understanding about global warming—for instance, by supporting think tanks that misrepresent
Continue readingTerahertz: Quacks invade Richmond City Council
Richmond’s city council recently approved a motion to ban genetically-modified crops from being planted in their municipality. Richmond is likely the largest municipality in BC to pass such a ban and is one of the few with a large area of agricultural land. The motion was largely symbolic, as crop
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: A Top Scientist Ignores the Science of Why People Deny Science
800px-Richard_Leakey.jpg In the world of evolutionary science, you don’t get much more prominent than Richard Leakey (pictured here). An anthropologist and conservationist, he’s the son of the archaeologist couple Louis and Mary Leakey, famed for their human origins research in Africa. Richard Leakey is credited with multiple major discoveries, including his
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Meaning of Tropical Storm Alberto–and a 2012 Hurricane Rap Session
800px-Atlantic_hurricane_tracks.jpg Uh oh. Hurricane season has started early. On Saturday (the 19th), when Tropical Storm Alberto spun up off the Carolina coast, forecaster Brennan of the National Hurricane Center had this to say: ALBERTO IS EARLIEST–FORMING TROPICAL STORM IN THE ATLANTIC BASIN SINCE ANA IN 2003. THIS IS ALSO THE FIRST
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Some more eclipse
I posted my eclipse photos the other day, but there are more to look through too. There’s an amazing coincidence photo from Japan, with a plane transiting the lunar transit. That’s a lot of lining up to do. WHOA RT @greenpost unbelievable shot of a plane flying by the #eclipse
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Will Climate Denial, Like, Ever End?
The_Heartland_Institute_logo.png This week, as the Heartland Institute commences its annual conference, the organization is clearly back on its heels. Funders, experts, and even some staff are bailing, reports The Guardian. Apparently pushed into defensive mode by Peter Gleick and his attempt to expose its funding, the Institute struck back with its
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Annular Solar Eclipse from Regina, Saskatchewan
I showed some of my neighbours the eclipse as I took photos, and here it is for those who missed it, or wanted to see it the easier/safer way (second hand using indirect viewing). -The lens flare underneath, on the roof, blows me away. -A couple sunspots visible in this
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