Bioscience for the future has an update o the bee situation in Europe. Europe has 13.4 million too few honeybee colonies to properly pollinate its crops, according to new research from the University of Reading. The discovery, made by scientists at the University's Centre for Agri-Environmental Research (CAER), shows that demand for insect pollination is growing five times as fast as the number of honeybee colonies across Europe as farmers grow more insect-pollinated oil crops, such as oilseed rape and sunflowers, and fruit. Click here to read all about it. Here's a video: Published on Jan 8…

Here's the thing: Shauna Theel has a video on the Polar Vortex vs. Rush Limbaugh: Published on Jan 9, 2014 Media Matters Climate & Energy Program Director Shauna Theel debunks Rush Limbaugh's conspiracy that the "polar vortex" was created by the media to lie to you about climate change. Peter Gleick previously posted this Google Ngram on the term "Polar Vortex" and al Roker tweeted about it as well: .@alroker @kaleekreider Here is the actual history of the use of term "polar vortex". I looked it up. pic.twitter.com/9ZtoDLawyD — Peter Gleick (@PeterGleick) January 8, 2014 Here's a…

As you know, Bill Nye has agreed to engage in a debate about evolution with Ken Ham at the Kentucky Creation Museum. You may also know that I suggested that this debate was a bad idea, not so much because it is Bill Nye doing it (he’s a great spokesperson for science and science education) but because the whole idea of a debate is questionable for a number of reasons (discussed here). Bill recently made a few comments on the debate on CNN. Here, I’d like to list a handful of the points I’d make if I was doing this debate. It is not necessary or even possible to argue against “creationism…

Bill Nye on CNN: I think Bill is going to make excellent points in this debate. I don't think changing creationists minds is the point, as Bill Nye says. I also like Nye asking about the sincerity of the creationist point of view. I wish him the best of luck. And not just luck, but Science-Power. Because we're right and they're wrong. __________________________________________ A rollicking adventure through the rift valley and rain forests of Central Africa in search of the elusive diminutive ape known locally as Sungudogo. More on science education HERE. Also, check out my novella,…

Everyone laughed ... earlier today ... when Rush Limbaugh claimed that the Polar Vortex, the ginormous weather phenomenon that brought so much cold to Canada and the United States over the last few days, was created by Liberals. If Liberals can indeed create a planetary-level weather phenomenon like the Polar Vortex, then Liberals are very powerful indeed and should not be messed with. Just sayin' Anyway, people made fun of Rush Limbaugh for saying this. Peter Gleick, who blogs here, went so far as to tweet a Google ngram he did showing that the peak of use of the term "Polar Vortex"…

I admit it is hard to imagine a National Center for Science Education without Genie Scott; the NCSE was Genie, and Genie was the NCSE. But I think I know what Genie would say if she heard me say that. The NCSE will be fine without her, Ann Reid is going to do great, etc. etc. And, I'm sure that is all true, owing both to Ann Reid being an excellent choice of Executive Director, and because Genie and the other staff at NCSE have done an excellent job. Here's part of the announcement of the change in leadership, which happened yesterday: Ann Reid is joining NCSE as Executive Director,…

Extreme weather events of all kinds seem to be more common now than they were then. By now I mean the last five to ten years, approximately, and by then I mean ... well, before that. This is because of global warming. The current Colding caused by a wandering Polar Vortex (which I've heard Rush Limbaugh has declared to be a liberal plot ... thanks Obama!) is probably a result of changes in the nature and configuration of the jet streams and related air masses, as discussed here. Warming caused by the release of fossil carbon, mainly as Carbon Dioxide, has affected the Arctic more than most…

I'll be giving a talk on climate change and related matters in Stillwater on Monday: The Global and Local Impacts of Climate Change Anthropogenic Climate Change, also misleadingly known as "Global Warming," has emerged as a significant reality affecting societies and economies around the world and at home. In this talk we'll examine the contentious questions of changes in weather patterns and sea level rise. Both of these effects of warming have already had impacts and these impacts are expected to increase in the future. What does the science say about "weather whiplash," severe storms, and…

If global warming is real, then why is it so cold? We are hearing this question quite often today and it will be asked many times by many people over the next few days as record low temperatures are set in many parts of the United States. Here in Minnesota, for example, we have a good chance of setting a record low daily high beating the previous record of 14 degrees below zero F. We may or may not beat the record daily low but we are going to get close. (Donald trump is probably the most famous person to have gotten this wrong over the last few days.) Global warming is real. The apparent…

Utah has gay marriage. Say no more. It's officially over at the highest levels, folks. You can't spend decades legislating and ordering equality from the chambers of congress, statehouses, and the benches of the high courts before, eventually, it becomes part of our culture to assume that the state and society supports equality even if an obnoxiously large minority of citizens does not. Struggle is followed by reluctant acceptance and regulation which is followed by shifting norms. What happens then is interesting: You have to shut up. STFU in fact. If you are really against equal…

Word on the street is that Bill Nye is going to debate Ken Hamm at the Creationism "Museum" on February 4th. This is a bad idea for several reasons. First, Bill Nye is not really an expert on evolution and is actually not that experienced in debates. Being really really pro science and science education isn't enough. When they went in after Osama Bin Laden (my errand distant cousin) they did not send people who are really really against terrorism. They sent in Seal Team Six with a huge amount of support such as Army Rangers and such and even that was risky. Second, there isn't a debate so…

ALERT ALERT ALERT Totally obvious phishing scam. Have a look: If you look at the URL's this email links out to they are from .es domain and have nothing to do with apple. Pass it on.

How to make pumpkin pie This makes one pie. You probably want two, so double everything. PROCEDURE PREHEAT oven to 425F. Set the rack to above the middle of the oven but not too high up. Mix dry ingredients in one bowl. Mix wet ingredients in a different bowl. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Put a pie crust in a pie shell. Make the edges all fancy looking by using a fork. Stir the ingredients up one more time and put it in the pie shell. Place the pie in the center of the rack. Bake for 15 minutes Remove pie, shut oven. Put strips of aluminum foil around the crust to slow…

Many, many things happened in the area of bird science this year, so this review can not be comprehensive. But I’ve compiled a sampling of this year’s news and events for your edification. I’ve organized them by date (month/day) of the approximate reporting or blogging time of the item of interest, which does not necessarily reflect the actual date of occurrence. click here to see my review at 10,000 Birds...

A new study has been published demonstrating, among other things, that the climate of Middle Earth has strong analogies in certain areas of Modern Earth. In particular, climate modeling indicates that The Shire is most similar to either Lincolnshire or Leicestershire in the UK or the vicinity of Dunedin in New Zealand. Mordor is most analogous to Los Angeles and western Texas or Alice Springs in Australia. Radagast the Brown But I think the most interesting conclusion of this research is about forest cover in Middle Earth. Based on advanced climate modeling, the paper's author,…

Usually when I mention The Hobbit I'm talking about the hominid, or something related to the hominid, or a book about the hominid. But here I want to point you to something related to the book by Tolkien and, of more immediate importance, about the science of the Hobbit and things related. You've certainly already read this important book about the Science of Middle Earth. But you may not yet have seen this blog post by my friend Matt Kuchta on the geology of the Lonely Mountain. Like many of you, I saw The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug last weekend. Like many of you, I've read "The…

Storms these days are universally enhanced by Global Warming, and right now we are having one of those Jet Stream Blocking thingies which is doing some amazing weather making. In Norway, Storm Ivar did a pretty good job of messing up these people's shopping plans: I assume they started out with arms full of gift wrapped packages ... Hat tip: Miss Cellania who always has funny stuff for you.

In an ongoing effort to discredit mainstream climate science, climate contrarians have incorrectly asserted that there is a “pause” in the rate of global warming. This was never true, but now, it is even less true. (Originally Published Here) To any objective observer, the Earth is now a world warmed. The decade 2001–2010 was the hottest decade on record, and every single month since March 1985 has been warmer than the 20th century average. The present year promises to be the sixth warmest year on record. Already this year, our fellow Americans out West have been confronted by record…

The best way to not look like an idiot is to shut up. Works every time. Why just a few minutes ago I said something really stupid because I confused UPS and USPS. Should have just kept my mouth shut, but I didn't. This time of year a lot of people start sounding like idiots, quite possibly because they are idiots (but see below for alternative explanations), when it comes to global warming. For example, someone who may or may not be a "global warming denier" (i.e. a person who does not believe in physics) sent me, out of the blue, this string of tweets: First he tells me that the ice…

Surface temperatures are only one way to measure global warming, but it is a sort of standard and it is meaningful because surface temperatures have a lot to so with weather and such. Data for NASA's GLOBAL Land-Ocean Temperature Index in 0.01 degrees Celsius using a base period of 1951-1980 can be found HERE. Climate Communicator ThingsBreak put a graph on the internet based on those data for November. Here's a copy of it: Earth’s surface temperature in °C for each November since 1880 (compared to base period, 1951-1980). Stefan Rahmstorf, creator of the graphic, used the SSAtrend…