Cleverly avoiding real discussion of greenhouse gases and their effects on Venus, climate change denialists often claim warming to be a solar system-wide event, caused by the Sun — evidenced, they say, by warming on all the other planets in the solar system.
Peter Sinclair’s “Climate Denial Crock of the Week” dealt with the issue several months ago, but he’s redone the piece, with improvements in sound especially.
Spread the word:
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Accuracy, Astronomy, Climate change, climate_change, Conservation, Cost of Green, denialism, Global warming, Green Politics, International Year of Astronomy 2009, Science | Tagged: Accuracy, Astronomy, Climate change, Cost of Green, denialism, Global warming, Green Politics, Greenhouse Effect, Mars, Science | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
Click on the graphic for more information.
Leave a Comment » | Accuracy, Education, Government, Health care, medicine, Science | Tagged: Centers for Disease Control, Flu, Government, Influenza, Public health, Science, Swine Flu | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Polychaete worm, 4-foot long version. A product of intelligent design?
Fish and coral-eating polychaete worms can cause destruction in otherwise peaceful fish tanks. Read about it here.
Fish tongue-eating isopod parasite. Image from Pharyngula, borrowed from someone else
Does William Dembski really explain these things with his maths? What was God thinking then?
Tip of the old scrub brush and a shake of the old lobster trap to Pharyngula.
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3 Comments | Biology, Creationism, Evolution, Intelligent Design, Natural history, Science | Tagged: Biology, Fish Tongue-eating Parasites, Intelligent Design in Action, Isopods, Natural history, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Texas holds more than its share of nasty pests: Imported Argentine Fire Ants, Canadian thistle, zebra mussels, creationists — and now, Rasberry Crazy Ants, Paratrechina sp. nr. pubens.
(Hey, Texas A&M spells it “Rasberry” without a “p,” so do I. It’s named after Pearland, Texas, exterminator Tom Rasberry, who first identified the Texas pest.)
Remember the wonderful old Japanese monster movies, where monsters from past Tokyo ransackings would return to fight the new monsters? Texas could use a good Godzilla or two.
Texas A&M’s Center for Urban and Structural Entomology has an extensive information and warning piece out on the beasts — reprinted for you below the fold.
Look what else you can find:
6 Comments | Biology, Environmental protection, History, Natural history, Science, Texas | Tagged: Entomology, Environmental protection, History, Insects, Invasive Species, Natural history, Rasberry Crazy Ant, Science, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
1 Comment | Creationism, Evolution, Humor, Rampant stupidity, Science, War on Science | Tagged: Creationism, Evolution, P. Z. Myers, Rampant stupidity, Science, War on Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
If you do not read Robert Park regularly, you should. His weekly missive on September 4 succinctly deals with the two big climate change stories of the week, with vim and vigor:
1. CLIMATE CHANGE: HOTTEST ARCTIC SUMMER IN 2,000 YEARS.
A major study published in today’s Science marks a seminal advance in Sediments from Arctic lakes were used to compile proxy for the last 2000 years. Arctic summer temperature declined for thousands of years due to a shift in Earth’s orbit. Although the orbital shift has been going on for 8000 years and will continue, an increase in greenhouse gases produced by the overpowered the cooling trend. The warming has been more rapid since about 1950. Moreover, thawing permafrost will release methane into the atmosphere, accelerating warming. The latest study comes just months after scientists at NOAA warned that within the next 30 years Arctic sea ice could vanish completely during the summer; that will further accelerate warming due to decline in reflective ice cover.2. CLIMATE SOLUTIONS: IN THE LONG RUN, THERE IS ONLY ONE.
Even as the study on Arctic warming was making its way into print, a group at the controversial Center proposed a quick geo-engineered solution to. The group is headed by statistician Bjorn Lomborg, a follower of the late Julian Simon, the libertarian economist at the University of Maryland, who believed there are no limits. Lomborg proposes puffing lots of white clouds into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight. It would be the perfect job for Lomborg, who has been puffing clouds of obscurantism since he wrote
(Cambridge, 2001). Presumably we should just keep puffing out bigger white clouds to compensate for the ever growing population.
White clouds of vapor indeed. Park is a great fog-cutter.
For example, there is this note from his August 28 edition:
3. SCOPES REDUX: LOBBYISTS MAY BE NOSTALGIC FOR DAYTON.
Newspapers around the country have carried the story of the US Chamber of Commerce, the top US lobbying group, calling for the EPA to hold a Scopes- like hearing on the evidence that climate change is man-made. The EPA dismisses such a stunt as a “waste of time,” but that’s the least of its problems. Having lost the contest over scientific peer review of journal articles, the global warming deniers are accused have cooked up a Hollywood stunt.
Global warming deniers are steamed, and may just stew.
More:
Leave a Comment » | air pollution, Climate change, denialism, Economics, Global warming, Green Politics, History, Physics, Science | Tagged: air pollution, Climage Change, denialism, Economics, Global warming, Green Politics, History, Physics, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Family funerals combine bitter and sweet. A long life well-lived, the grief over loss, getting together with family and friends from eight decades — and then it’s back to work in a jolt.
Trying to stay caught up:
Outrageous insult to Darwin and Constitution in Missouri: Were the parents concerned about the quality of the brass section in the band, or did they really object to a humorous depiction of “the evolution of brass” in 2009, the bicentennial of Darwin’s birth?
They deserve to have their brasses kicked, but the innocent kids don’t.
P. Z. Myers caught the grossest tragedy:
Band parent Sherry Melby, who is a teacher in the district, stands behind Pollitt’s decision. Melby said she associated the image on the T-shirt with Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
“I was disappointed with the image on the shirt.” Melby said. “I don’t think evolution should be associated with our school.”
She doesn’t want her school associated with evolution? How about associating the school with the Taliban of Afghanistan? How about associating her school with Homer Simpson’s stupider brother? How about associating her school with backwards thinking, 16th century bad science? How about associating her school with the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre and the sort of stupidity that leads religiously-based violence?
Ray Mummert probably got the call to help Sedalia out, and he’s organizing to fight the forces of smart and intelligent people. Comments from residents of Sedalia are shocking in their lack of information, and depressing.
Kids, pay attention in science class: A proud science teacher in Minnesota, and probably some proud parents, too. Tip of the old scrub brush to Pharyngula on this one.
Anybody who complains about this deserves to get their tail kicked with Tom Delay and every Republican who redistricted Texas last time around. (Sen. Ted Kennedy suggested the Massachusetts legislature should allow the governor to appoint a temporary replacement to represent the state in the U.S. Senate in the event of a vacancy, until a special election can be held.)
First Amendment wins again: Kentucky had a law that said the state could be safe from al Quaeda attack only by the grace of God. A judge, noting that it will take a lot of work by a lot of dedicated Kentuckians who deserve credit, and that it’s illegal to make such a claim in law, overturned the law.
Private insurance failed this woman; Medicare would pay for the treatment under some circumstances, but there is no lie opponents to health care reform won’t tell in order to scare people away from the facts. They claim the woman couldn’t be treated under government care, but Medicare pays for the expensive drug in question. Can’t they at least tell the truth?
This is getting depressing. I’m going to go look at mountains.
Leave a Comment » | Death Panels, Education, Religion, Science, Science and faith, Separation of church and state | Tagged: Education, Evolution, First Amendment, H.R. 3200, Health care, Homeland Security, Medicare, Science, Separation of church and state | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Here’s something that will make the Texas State Board of Education cringe and cower under their desks; watch it in good health:
2 Comments | Accuracy, animation, Astronomy, Big Bang, Science, State school boards, Texas | Tagged: 3-D, animation, Astronomy, Hubble Deep Field, Science, Texas State Board of Education | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Ralph Maughan’s Wildlife News reports that Maximus, an 800-pound grizzly bear thought to be Montana’s second largest, was illegally killed recently.
The poacher shot the bear about four weeks ago. A reward has been offered for information leading to the capture of the poacher.
Can you tell a grizzly from a brown bear? Chart from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Update, 1-30-2010: The chart linked to above has disappeared in a website redesign. Below is a crude representation of the chart I made from a U.S. Fish and Wildlife information sheet on grizzlies, here.
How to tell a grizzly from a black (.pdf download)
Grizzly bear/black bear identification chart, adapted from USFWS by Ed Darrell, Millard Fillmore's Bathtub
4 Comments | endangered species, Geography - Physical, Natural history, Science, Wildlife, Yellowstone, Zoology | Tagged: Crime, endangered species, geography, Grizzly Bear, Hunting, Maximus, Montana, Natural history, Poaching, Science, Wildlife | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
It’s a pretty picture, but it should strike a bit of fear once you know what it is.
Sonar image of methane plumes rising from methane hydrates on the Arctic Ocean floor; image from National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (Britain)
It’s been predicted for years, and now it’s happening. Deep in the Arctic Ocean, water warmed by climate change is forcing the release of methane from beneath the sea floor.
Over 250 plumes of gas have been discovered bubbling up from the sea floor to the west of the Svalbard archipelago, which lies north of Norway. The bubbles are mostly methane, which is a greenhouse gas much more powerful than carbon dioxide.
The methane is probably coming from reserves of methane hydrate beneath the sea bed. These hydrates, also known as clathrates, are water ice with methane molecules embedded in them.
The methane plumes were discovered by an expedition aboard the research ship James Clark Ross, led by Graham Westbrook of the University of Birmingham and Tim Minshull of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, both in the UK.
Fortunately, the methane is not making it out of the water — yet. The gases are absorbed before they get to the surface — but that increases ocean acidity. If, and when, the methane hits the atmosphere, it will contribute to greenhouse warming of the planet. This could create a runaway heat effect: Warmer waters cause hydrates to release methane to the atmosphere, which causes the atmosphere to warm more, faster.
Scientists have not dismissed all other possibilities, but methane hydrate melting is the most likely cause:
Cohen cautions that the Arctic methane may not be from hydrate, but could be coming from the methane’s primary source, which might be deep within the Earth.
If that was the case, the warming of the West Spitsbergen current may not be to blame.
He says that the large amounts of methane being released make this unlikely, however: “If the methane is all primary, it would be an unprecedented amount.” So the idea that the hydrates are at least partly to blame is more plausible. “It’s not definitively proven, but it’s certainly reasonable,” he says.
8 Comments | Climate change, climate_change, Cost of Green, Environmental protection, Geography - Physical, Global warming, Green Politics, History, oceans, Research, Science | Tagged: Climate change, Cost of Green, Global warming, Green Politics, Greenhouse Gases, oceans, pollution, Research, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
It’s one of those environmental mysteries that would be fun and intrigueing, were it not so worrisome.
Alaska’s King Salmon disappeared from traditional river runs this year. Again.
From Reuters: "A sockeye salmon scurries through shallow water in the Adams River while preparing to spawn near Chase, British Columbia northeast of Vancouver October 11, 2006. REUTERS/Andy Clark"
Reasons could be one of many, or several: Changing ocean currents, pollock fishing accidental catches of salmon, plankton blooms, conditions on the rivers, competition from “ranched” salmon.
Consumers may see only the rise in price and a change in labeling in the supermarket.
Effects on employment and food supply in Alaska are huge, and crippling.
Canada fisheries are affected, too.
Climate change probably plays a role, in any scenario anyone poses:
“It’s quite the shocking drop,” said Stan Proboszcz, fisheries biologist at the Watershed Watch Salmon Society. “No one’s exactly sure what happened to these fish.”
Salmon are born in fresh water before migrating to oceans to feed. They return as adults to the same rivers to spawn.
Several theories have been put forward to try to explain the sockeye’s disappearance:
* Climate change may have reduced food supply for salmon in the ocean.
* The commercial fish farms that the young Fraser River salmon pass en route to the ocean may have infected them with sea lice, a marine parasite.
* The rising temperature of the river may have weakened the fish.
The Canadian government doesn’t know what’s killing the fish, but believes the sockeye are dying off in the ocean, not in fresh water, based on healthy out-migrations, said Jeff Grout, regional resource manager of salmon for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
In this case, even a small change in climate can have huge effects on ecosystems and specific populations of animals. It’s one of those climate change issues that climate change skeptics and denialists prefer not to talk about at all. If, as they allege, concern over climate change is entirely political, driven by bad information and false claims from over-active environmentalists, these problems should not exist at all.
But the problems do exist. A fishery that had been stable for 50 years previously, the entire time it was tracked so carefully, suddenly becomes fishless. Watch those rivers and fisheries.
Tip of the old scrub brush to Pamela Bumsted.
1 Comment | Climate change, climate_change, Cost of Green, Economics, Environmental protection, Geography - Economic, Geography - Physical, Global warming, Globalization, Green Politics, Politics, Research, Science | Tagged: Alaska, Climate change, Cost of Green, Economics, Food history, Food Supply, geography, Global warming, Green Politics, Politics, Science, Sockeye Salmon | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Texas’s ACLU chapter’s convention on August 1 featured a lively and informative session on intelligent design. It might seem like it was set up as a debate, but as the video shows, the two views complemented each other surprisingly.
Presenters were Liberty Legal Institute’s Hiram Sasser and Barbara Forrest, a professor of philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University, the premier chronicler of the creationism wars in the U.S.
Help others to see:
Leave a Comment » | Creationism, Darwin, Education, Evolution, Freedom - Political, Intelligent Design, Religious Freedom, Science, Separation of church and state, Teaching, Texas, War on Education, War on Science | Tagged: ACLU, Creationism, Education, Evolution, First Amendment, Intelligent Design, Religion, Science, Separation of church and state, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Encore post from September 17, 2007 — maybe more appropriate today than ever before.
Found this on my coffee cup today:
So-called “global warming” is just
a secret ploy by wacko tree-
huggers to make America energy
independent, clean our air and
water, improve the fuel efficiency
of our vehicles, kick-start
21st-century industries, and make
our cities safer and more livable.
Don’t let them get away with it!
— Chip Giller
Founder of Grist.org, where
environmentally-minded people
gather online.
Look! Someone found the same cup I found!
8 Comments | air pollution, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Climate change, climate_change, Cost of Green, Environmental protection, Famous quotes, Green Politics, Humor, Politics, Science, War on Science | Tagged: air pollution, Climate change, Cost of Green, Environmental protection, Green Politics, Humor, Politics, Science, Water Pollution | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Plus, she’ll answer your questions.
But hurry.
One of the world’s great authorities on mosquitoes, May Berenbaum at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, spends this week talking about mosquitoes and malaria, and answering your questions.
Public Radio International runs a feature this week with Dr. Berenbaum answering questions.
(Hey, Beck! Are you decent this week?)
(Steven Milloy? Got the guts to ask a real scientist a question?)
You should see these first:
Life Cycle of Malaria, WHO and Campaign to Roll Back Malaria
13 Comments | Africa, Cost of Green, DDT, Disease, Green Politics, Health care, History, Malaria, medicine, Public health, Rachel Carson, Radio, Research, Science, WHO - World Health Organization | Tagged: Africa, Berenbaum, Cost of Green, DDT, Disasters, Disease, Environmental protection, Foreign Aid, Green Politics, Health care, Malaria, medicine, Politics, Public health, Science, UIUC | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Climate change denialists (sorry, Mr. Watts – denialism is what it is) frequently argue that since the peak heat year of 1998, the planet has been cooling, and may be in a long-term trend to a much cooler planet.
Has anyone told the beetles?
Has anyone told the pine bark beetles (Dendroctonus ponderosae) that are devastating North American forests?
Colorado conifers affected by pine bark beetles (brown trees are dead) - image from Chad Crawford, Homebrewed Christianity
I was interested to find this photo and this post at Homebrewed Christianity, by Chad Crawford.
But my trips to the mountains are always simultaneously joyful and mournful. The story I want to tell is about seeing the effects up close of the North American pine beetle outbreak. It’s devastating the Rocky Mountain forests in the U.S. and Canada and growing exponentially each year. The epidemic is occurring because our winters have not been cold enough to stop the beetles from multiplying. Bark beetles are good for the ecosystem, but not in this amount. The fall colors in our evergreen forests are telling us that global warming is no longer something our kids will face; it’s happening now. And it will accelerate if our forests disappear.
Mr. Watts, it’s not me you have to convince. There are several millions of beetles in Colorado who must be persuaded the climate is not warming — and they’ll be a tough sell, since a colder climate means death to their future generations.
A greater challenge for you, Mr. Watts: Not one of those beetles reads your blog. How will you reach them?
Crawford went to Colorado and saw Fr. Thomas Berry. Maybe we should buy a ticket to Colorado for Watts.
9 Comments | Biology, Cost of Green, Disasters, Environmental protection, Geography - Economic, Geography - Physical, Global warming, Green Politics, Politics, Reason, Religion, Science, Voodoo science | Tagged: Climate change, Climate Data, Colorado, Cost of Green, Disasters, Global warming, Green Politics, Pine Bark Beetles, Politics, Religion, Ridiculae, Science, Voodoo science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
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Ed Darrell on Texas's Colorado River
Come on in, the water's fine. Come often: Cleanliness is next to godliness.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 