Science Feeds

Minnesotan Republicans Disrupt Attempts to Save Civilization From Itself [Greg Laden's Blog]

Science Blogs - Wed, 02/01/2012 - 6:20pm

State Legislator Ellen Anderson is an energy expert, who authored seven energy related bills one of which became a national model, all of which were signed into law by a Republican Governor. She was recently appointed by Governor Dayton to the Public Utilities Commission. Republicans, however, organized a vote against the apointment because her views on energy are too radical.

What are her radical views? Well, she she thinks coal is dirty, for one thing. She'd like to see more conservation and use of solar and wind. That sort of thing.

Here's the story on our local news station.

Who owns the Republican Party? Who do you think ....

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William M. Briggs has misunderstood a high-school level data graph [Greg Laden's Blog]

Science Blogs - Wed, 02/01/2012 - 2:11pm

And I suspect he's done so willingly. Well, you know what they say about statistics and liars.

Here's the story. The Wall Street Journal and the Daily Mail independently published highly misleading and blatantly idiotic pieces on climate change. We've covered this extensively already over the last few days. Phil Plait, of the Bad Astronomy Blog on Discovermagazine.com, was one of numerous scientists to respond to those flaming examples of horrific bottom feeding journalism with the post "While temperatures rise, denialists reach lower." In that post, he presented a still-image from a moving GIF that has been going around, originally from Skeptical Science. I've used the GIF myself just recently, but I'll re-post it here for your convenience:

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Actual Scientists Respond to Fake Scientists at Wall Street Journal [Greg Laden's Blog]

Science Blogs - Tue, 01/31/2012 - 11:52pm

It starts like this:

Do you consult your dentist about your heart condition? In science, as in any area, reputations are based on knowledge and expertise in a field and on published, peer-reviewed work. If you need surgery, you want a highly experienced expert in the field who has done a large number of the proposed operations.

You published "No Need to Panic About Global Warming" (op-ed, Jan. 27) on climate change by the climate-science equivalent of dentists practicing cardiology...

... and gets even better. Go read it!


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Meteorologist Exposed as Scientific Fraud (And a really cool graphic) [Greg Laden's Blog]

Science Blogs - Tue, 01/31/2012 - 5:51pm

Brad Johnson at Think Progress has written a piece on Meteorologist Mark Johnson, of ABC's WEWS-TV in Cleveland Ohio. Johnson has apparently purposefully misrepresented data that was previously pre-misrepresented by the Daily Mail to make the statement that the earth has been cooling since 1998.

The earth has actually been warming since the 1990s, and the first decade of the present century is the warmest on record, but will almost certainly be exceeded in global temperature by the present decade, I write from my home in Minneapolis where temperatures on this fine January day stayed well above 40 until just moments ago when they plunged to a chilly 39 degrees F.

Brad makes his case here: AMS Certified Meteorologist Mark Johnson Claims 'Earth Hasn't Warmed In 15 Years'. In his post, he shows a great graphic which I've stolen, here (It's a moving GIF so stare at it for a moment):

SkepticsvRealists_500.gif

I believe the graph is originally from Skeptical Science.

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The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars [Greg Laden's Blog]

Science Blogs - Tue, 01/31/2012 - 10:20am

Michael Mann, famous climate scientist, has released a book called The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines (also available as a Kindle edition). I've not read it yet but I thought you'd like to know about it.

Michael Mann is the guy who came up with the Hockey Stick graph and metaphor. Early reviews are positive:

In this meticulous and engaging brief on climate change research and the political backlash to legitimate scientific work, Penn State professor Mann narrates the fight against misinformation from the inside. (Publishers Weekly )

An important and disturbing account of the fossil-fuel industry's well-funded public-relations campaign to sow doubt about the validity of the science of climate change.
Kirkus (STARRED REVIEW)

If you don't believe our climate is changing, read this book. Dr. Mann will change your mind. For us, it's a war of words. Preserve the Earth, and pass the ammunition. (Bill Nye the Science Guy )

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Unless you really know what you are doing stay off the ice! [Greg Laden's Blog]

Science Blogs - Tue, 01/31/2012 - 9:08am

The following is a fictionalized version of a true story recently told to me by two of the people involved. All the names of those still living have been changed. Please do not let this happen to you.

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