cmooney
Posts by this author
July 5, 2006
Apart from Tropical Storm Alberto, the 2006 North Atlantic hurricane season has been pretty slow so far. That's not unexpected; June is never exactly a rockin' month for hurricanes, although last year, July was a rockin' month. So far it's not clear what to expect; I find the best source of day-to-…
July 3, 2006
Not only did they give a journalism award to Michael Crichton for State of Fear. Now, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) is asking its members to comment on a draft "card" stating the group's position on climate change that is designed to be given out to the general public.…
June 30, 2006
As I told you all before, I saw An Inconvenient Truth, and though I am not a scientist, being pretty familiar with much climate science I felt that most of what I saw was accurate. However, I was most troubled by the treatment of the hurricane issue. Not because there isn't an issue, but because…
June 29, 2006
I was supposed to stay and chat at the Clark Community Network after my posting went up earlier today, but I goofed...so I'm coming back tonight at 7 PM ET for an hour of chatting. Come on over and ask questions...I see that a number have piled up already....
June 29, 2006
I have a guest posting up on the Clark Community Network about the Supreme Court deciding to hear a global warming case. You can read my take here. I'll be answering comments over on that site....but you can leave them here as well.
June 28, 2006
I've always known that spammers are big losers. But I've been surprised and a bit offended to learn recently that spammers apparently think that blog readers are big losers as well.
Let me explain. I screen all blog comments to weed out all the spam; and lately I've been detecting a pattern. Here…
June 27, 2006
For reasons that will remain obscure, I was recently reading a 1978 volume of the journal Oceanus, published by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. And in light of the tripe we often hear about how in the 1970s scientists were worried about a New Ice Age, one passage in particular stuck out…
June 27, 2006
Well, here's what he said yesterday:
In the White House, only hours after that old elm had fallen, Bush was addressed by a reporter, thus: "I know that you are not planning to see Al Gore's new movie, but do you agree with the premise that global warming is a real and significant threat to the…
June 25, 2006
The famous physicist once remarked: "All science is either physics or stamp collecting." What do you think he meant by this? I'm thinking about using the quote in the new book to underscore two different views of science--a deductive approach based upon theory and a Baconian inductive approach…
June 22, 2006
Well, I was thrilled last night when my very first ever New Orleans event was totally packed. I estimate about 80 people showed up at the Garden District Book Shop uptown for wine, food, and then a lecture by yours truly. I had actually had a beer beforehand, breaking one of my cardinal rules of…
June 21, 2006
I am doing my southern talks starting today: Details here. New Orleans tonight; Houston tomorrow night. I'm trying to think of regionally specific humor to use for New Orleans but also Houston in particular, so feel free to post any suggestions. You know, something along the lines of, when in…
June 19, 2006
There is still a lot of chatter about my Science Friday debate with Tom Bethell last week. Apparently it made some waves, so I'd like to make sure that anyone who hasn't heard it yet gets a chance to. If you'd like to listen with Real Audio, click here; for Windows Media Player, click here; and for…
June 17, 2006
I just arrived in New Orleans this morning, where I'll be hanging out for about a week. I'm laying low for a while to do some writing, but this coming Wednesday I'll be speaking for the very first time in my hometown. (Details here). Interestingly, tomorrow night my brother Davy, the jazz ace, is…
June 16, 2006
Well folks: The debate on NPR's "Science Friday" is today, starting around 3:15 ET. There will be a fair number of listener calls, I believe; remember, you can call in at 1-800-989-8255. To find a way to listen live, click here.
Meanwhile, I'm continuing to prepare, and want to thank you all very…
June 15, 2006
Okay, here's round two of Bethell mania. Once again, I'm going to post several brief excerpts from his arguments (this time on evolution), and let you respond to them--thereby helping me out with my debate prep. You did a stellar job with global warming, so I expect no less this time around!
Here…
June 15, 2006
Seeing as I'm debating Bethell on NPR's Science Friday tomorrow, I thought I would begin the warm-up session here by posting some samples of what he's had to say about various scientific topics, starting with the biggie--global warming. I am not going to comment on these passages; I'm simply going…
June 15, 2006
Just realized that the paperback version of the book is already available for preorder on Amazon.com (and probably elsewhere). See here. I've changed my book link on the left hand margin to go to the paperback preorder page, rather than to the hardcover page as it has done for the last nine months…
June 14, 2006
Jeff Masters gives us a useful rundown on Alberto's life history; here's the part I find most interesting:
Alberto formed from a tropical wave that moved off of the coast of Africa on May 30. The wave tracked farther north than usual for June, entering the eastern Caribbean on June 5, and the…
June 14, 2006
From hurricane guru Jeff Masters: "It could be an exceptionally active June." He's promising to explain why he thinks so later today. If he's right, it's certainly not good news for New Orleans, still with crippled levees, and where I'm headed this Saturday...
June 13, 2006
Got some news, folks: I'm going to be on NPR's Science Friday with Ira Flatow, this Friday, from 3:15 to 4:00 ET, debating Tom Bethell about the politics of science. If you want to call in, the number is (800) 989-8255. It's not up on the website yet that this is happening but I can confirm it. The…
June 13, 2006
Seed has just posted my column from the latest issue. It's a piece in which I try to grapple with the question of why the science/politics issue has become such a big deal--much bigger than even I anticipated (and I had every reason to overestimate its potency). The answer, I conclude, can be…
June 12, 2006
The line of demarcation between a tropical storm and a hurricane is, obviously, somewhat arbitrary in nature. Why should the official cutoff point be sustained winds of 74 miles per hour, rather than 73 mph or 75 mph? Defined in terms of their true meteorological species, all three storms are…
June 12, 2006
As I was traveling through various airports yesterday, I couldn't help hearing about Tropical Depression, and then Tropical Storm, and now what may possibly become Hurricane Alberto. Or not. We just don't know yet, but a reading of the National Hurricane Center's archived discussions of the storm…
June 12, 2006
Check it out here. Key quote: "It's so important that we continue to fight against right-wing efforts to hijack and distort science for their own partisan purposes." Amen to that...
June 12, 2006
I'm pleased to see that the Las Vegas Sun covered the remarks made by myself and General Clark at the Yearly Kos science panel last Friday. I made sure to give my comments a local hook, and the paper picked up on that. Get ready for a long excerpt:
Mooney specifically criticized President Bush and…
June 9, 2006
Wow. The Yearly Kos science panel this morning was awesome, really a tour de force. Facing a full room, Wesley Clark got up there and riffed for at least twenty minutes, with impressive eloquence, about the importance of science to the American future. I wish I'd been taking notes. Here's a guy…
June 7, 2006
Well, I've just spent three days writing...the "manuscript" is starting to actually look like something where the scare quotes can be removed around that word....But now I must shift into public speaking mode again. Tomorrow the rent car and I will be heading from Flagstaff slightly northwest to…
June 5, 2006
Well, my old website, ChrisCMooney.com, has been hacked. I have no idea how to deal with it. I meant to set the old URL up to redirect here, but I have been way too busy to set that up...and now the problems are compounded. Will someone please email me if they can help out with this?
June 3, 2006
Well, the event yesterday at the Skeptics Society conference here in Pasadena went very well, I think. I'm not going to speculate on who "won" the debate between Ron Bailey and myself, but certainly a lot of people came up to me afterwards and thanked me for what I had to say.
I won't give you the…
June 1, 2006
Part of debating, of course, is knowing your opponent. In the case of Ron Bailey, I've appeared at three separate events with him in the past, so we do know each other's arguments fairly well. Still, I've done a little background research now that we're going to be going head-on (we've been more…