Latest / page 3
Will God Allow Us To Ruin Our Planet?
Posted by Greg Laden on May 16, 2013 It is being debated in the US Senate! (Unofficially.) Here’s Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on the issue: See also: Sen. Whitehouse destroys colleague who said God won’t allow climate change And this: Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Look at this tweet by Obama
Posted by Greg Laden on May 16, 2013 Ninety-seven percent of scientists agree: #climate change is real, man-made and dangerous. Read more: OFA.BO/gJsdFp — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 16, 2013
Global Warming Consensus: We can haz it!
Posted by Greg Laden on May 16, 2013 
An important study has just been published1 examining the level of consensus among scientists about climate change. The issue at hand is this: What is the level of agreement in the scientific community about the reality of climate change and about the human role in climate change? The new paper, Quantifying the consensus on anthropogenic…
When Are Nomads Not Really Nomads? (Efe Pygmy Ethnoarchaeology)
Posted by Greg Laden on May 16, 2013 “First, we’re going to collect our data,” Jack, the archaeologist, was telling me as we slogged down the narrow overgrown path. He seemed annoyed. “Then, we’ll leave. Until we leave, they won’t leave. They think it would be rude. After they leave, we’ll go back and map in the abandoned camp.” I had just arrived…
Dark Snow Project on The Weather Channel
Posted by Greg Laden on May 16, 2013 The melting of the Greenland ice sheet is a problem, and it seems to be happening faster than scientists had originally thought it might. This is probably because of soot darkening the snow, which collects solar heat and melts the ice. Some, perhaps much, of this soot may come from the extensive fires we are…
Can Obama’s Organizing For Action (OFA) help save the planet? The jury is out.
Posted by Greg Laden on May 15, 2013 You’ve gotta love South Minneapolis. My friend Sharon Sund passed me an email this morning about an Organizing for Action meeting in South Minneapolis to discuss climate change activism. Sharon and I had been talking about local climate change activism earlier in the week so she thought I’d liked to go to this meeting and…
Blockading A Coal Plant in Massachusetts (Breaking news)
Posted by Greg Laden on May 15, 2013 
Environmental activists have just taken up a position off shore of the Brayton Point coal plant, near Fall River Massachusetts, in an effort to block access by a ship attempting to deliver coal there. THIS is their web site, where there is a live Ustream. One of the activists, Jay O’Hara, is tweeting from here:…
Should you drink tap water or bottled water?
Posted by Greg Laden on May 14, 2013 
This is the time of year, spring, when a lot of people switch to drinking bottled water instead of tap water. They do this because in their particular area the tap water seems to “go bad” … usually it is a mild smell or a slightly icky taste. This makes people fear their tap water,…
Want to boycott stuff? There’s an app for that.
Posted by Greg Laden on May 14, 2013 
Vote with your wallet. Tired of the Koch Brothers ruining everything for everybody? Prefer to buy products from companies that contribute to Sandy relief? Do you just want to know which major megacorporation produced the item you are considering putting in your shopping cart? Wouldn’t it be nice to have an app that allowed you…
Who is the richest person in the world?
Posted by Greg Laden on May 14, 2013 This came up the other day, so I figured I’d note the answer(s) down and share it with you so we don’t have to look this up in the internet again until 2013 is over. The, I think they get new richest people. Most of these answers come from Forbes, which appears to be in…
Crowdfunding the Dark Snow Project
Posted by Greg Laden on May 14, 2013 New research indicates that the reflectivity of the surface of the Greenland Glacier is decreasing due to the deposition of dark particles from fires on the surface of the ice. This phenomenon is contributing to unprecedented melting of the ice sheet. This is a huge concern. One of the most significant outcomes of global warming…
Climate Scientist Mann on 400 ppm CO2
Posted by Greg Laden on May 13, 2013 Climate Scientists Michael Mann, author of The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines, interviewed on Democracy Now:
Dear [Elected Official] Please Note the 400 ppm benchmark!
Posted by Greg Laden on May 11, 2013 Here’s a template for a letter I hope you will consider sending/emailing to all of your elected representatives at the municipal, state, and federal levels, if you are in the US. Thanks Dear [elected official] I am writing to ask you to join the very small but hopefully growing number of elected representatives and executives…
Fancy Greenhouse Gas Demonstration
Posted by Greg Laden on May 9, 2013 Experiment showing the absoption of infrared radiation by carbon dioxide. From the BBC 2 program “Earth: The Climate Wars”
Greenhouse Gas Demonstration
Posted by Greg Laden on May 8, 2013 Simulate the ruination of the planet using common household ingredients!
The Story of Genie
Posted by Greg Laden on May 8, 2013 As you know, Genie Scott of the NCSE will retire this year. Here is her story.
“Evolution vs. Creationism” free book exerpt
Posted by Greg Laden on May 8, 2013 
In honor of Genie Scott’s imminent retirement as Executive Director of the NCSE, you are hereby offered a free downloadable PDF excerpt form Genie’s classic book. Click here to download the PDF. Click here to read my review of the book. Click here to find out about other books and resources related to creationism. Click…
Scicurious talks to the internet. Wow.
Posted by Greg Laden on May 8, 2013 This is interesting and important. Hello Bethany, I’ve always been a huge fan.
An Amazing Infographic on Coffee
Posted by Greg Laden on May 8, 2013 Your morning caffeine fix is but a drop in the global bucket that makes coffee the number two most traded commodity in the world after petroleum. But with 100 million Americans like you drinking coffee every day, the bucket easily overflows to make the US the world’s top coffee consumer… Courtesy of: Online Finance News…
Bill O’Reilly, you are ON NOTICE
Posted by Greg Laden on May 8, 2013 Stop lying to your fans. They are beginning to figure it out. Watch: Here is some background.
Bee loss be bad this year
Posted by Greg Laden on May 8, 2013 In the united states, bee keepers lose a certain number of colonies over the winter. This is normal, but bee keepers maintain that losses of about 15 percent or less are “acceptable.” I don’t know what the logical or empirical basis for that number is, however. Yesterday, the results of a report that surveys bee…
Genie Scott: Denialism of Climate Change and Evolution
Posted by Greg Laden on May 7, 2013 
Here is a presentation by Genie Scott of the National Center for Science Education. Far more people are climate change deniers than evolution deniers, but both camps use similar strategies to promote their views. Genie Scott explores the connections, the similarities, and the divergent ideologies. Where: New York. When: 10/23/2011. Hosted by the New York…
Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder
Posted by Greg Laden on May 6, 2013 
We recently discussed news from the EU on banning neonicotinoid pesticides in order to stem the so called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) among honey bees. Bug Girl has an important guest post on the phenomenon of CCD by bee expert Doug Yanega. This is a must read not only for those interested in bees and…
How to pass a secret life saving message to abused children
Posted by Greg Laden on May 6, 2013 This is fairly amazing. Watch:
NCSE’s Genie Scott will Retire
Posted by Greg Laden on May 6, 2013 My friend and colleague, executive director of the National Center for Science Education’s Genie Scott, will retire by the end of the year. She’s been director of the NCSE for 26 years. Genie is a key player, perhaps the key player, in the battle to keep science in the classroom and other things that are…
The Blair Witch Project but with Stairs.
Posted by Greg Laden on May 5, 2013 The Zodiac
Posted by Greg Laden on May 3, 2013 Standing there chest deep in the waves, my first thought was “I am so glad the bottom of The Big Lake is sandy and not muddy” When we abandoned ship, I knew shallow water was nearby, but I thought it might be mud, maybe something like quicksand. I thought this because the nearest ‘dry’ land…
Are Anthropologists a Dangerous Tribe?
Posted by Greg Laden on May 2, 2013 Two young boys are having an argument while their fathers, resting in hammocks, look on. The argument is over something silly but escalates until the dads decide to intervene. They equip each boy with a small pole and position them face to face, explaining the rules of the game. Each child has the opportunity to…
Senator Kelly Ayotte: Going down in flames
Posted by Greg Laden on May 1, 2013 Hey, guess what? It turns out that if 90% of the people want something, and it is the only right thing to do, and not doing it not only “not the right thing” but it is also an abysmally horrid, insensitive, immoral, and boneheaded thing to do, that YOU LOSE. Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte of…
Putting the 400 ppm CO2 thing in perspective
Posted by Greg Laden on April 30, 2013 Before the release of vast amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere mainly through the burning of fossil fuels, the atmospheric concentration of this gas was about 300 ppm or a bit more. Soon, that number will be 400 ppm. How soon? Let’s see … it is now Tuesday at about 7pm. Maybe mid morning tomorrow?…
, which is now available for the 
