The Pale Blue Dot
H/T: Andrew Exum
Author Archive
Climate Hand Jive
The latest Congressional climate science hearing should be fun. Well, not as much fun as this. Tom Yulsman has a perspective well worth reading. In keeping with the spirit of my own superficial gloss (Have you noticed yet that I’m a Dennis Potter fan?), I’ll just add this.
Why It's Called News
Bud Ward has a nice dispatch on the AAAS session I wrote about last month, including this revealing back-and-forth I had wanted to follow up on: Another exchange involving an audience member “” in this case Peter Gleick, the head of the Pacific Institute “” also helped illustrate fundamentally different approaches distinguishing the media and…Continue Reading…
The Daily Climate Bummer
Has Glenn Beck peaked? In his NYT column today, David Carr thinks so and here’s why: The problem with “Glenn Beck” is that it has turned into a serial doomsday machine that’s a bummer to watch. There’s a lesson there for some climate bloggers.
The Earth Shapers
If you had to pick the human influences most responsible for altering the earth, what would they be? Half a century ago, this question was (dispassionately) addressed in a landmark symposium called, “Man’s Role in Changing the Face of the Earth.” A 2005 retrospective review of the volume of interdiscplinary scholarship that emerged in 1956 notes that the syposium was…Continue Reading…
Why Scientists Can't Tell Their Stories
Randy Olson, in response to this post, offers an unstinting and thought-provoking commentary on science communication. Olson is a marine biologist turned filmmaker. One of his movies is called Flock of Dodos, which might best characterize his view of the science community–with respect to their overall communication skills. Although critical of scientists, Olson also offers some constructive suggestions below. Have a read and let’s discuss….Continue Reading…
The Biotech Bogeyman
Andy Revkin has a post related to a conference I (and numerous other journalists) also attended this week. Due to computer challenges (my laptop died on Tuesday) and other obligations, I haven’t yet been able to post on any of the sessions. But I’ll get something up by Monday. I’m still digesting it all. Meanwhile, for those who…Continue Reading…
Of Scapegoats and Minefields
Randy Olson, the scientist-turned-filmaker, dares to depart from conventional wisdom among climate advocates, many who would hang the news media in collective effigy over climategate: The media were irrelevant and largely blameless in Climategate. The whole incident was a case study in the absence of effective leadership in both the science and environmental communities. For…Continue Reading…
Where Greens Rule
Well, not exactly, but it seems that German greens have matured into a potent political force. I do think this Foreign Policy piece hypes their ascendancy, but there’s no denying that greens have long been players in German politics in a way that is unimaginable in the U.S. And it appears they are now appealing to a broader swath of the German populace. …Continue Reading…
Counting Carbon
Ever wonder how scientists can determine how much carbon dioxide (CO2) is accumulating in the atmosphere? In this engaging story, science writer Tom Yulsman visits a CO2 monitoring station high up in the Colorado mountains and brings a crucial part of climate science down to earth. Here’s the scene and a snippet of how the data…Continue Reading…