sheril | September 20, 2007
Last week, I posted about the release of the 2007 IUCN Red List and FOX News Radio's Holly Hickman called to find out more. I explained why we need to consider the Red List as a wake up call because what happens to other lifeforms will have tremendous implications for us. Dwindling biodiversity will not only alter our consumption patterns, but may lead to the spread of disease, lack of pollination, access to medicine, human health, and trophic cascades. This short - but surprisingly comprehensive piece - aired Saturday.
sheril | September 19, 2007I tried to keep mum. I really did. Honest! But sometimes I just can't help myself. I have a question for readers... What's up with this blogosphere being so gosh darn male dominated? I mean, sure we've got some incredibly talented boys here at Science Blogs. Razib's insightful, Bora's fun, PZ's amazing at stirring things up, Carl's got incredible style, and don't even get me started on my very favorite scibling (and co-blogger)... still it was recently brought to my attention that we ladies sure don't represent in the science blogging world. And I just can't help but postulate why that…
cmooney | September 18, 2007Drum roll please...
We are now officially able to announce that Andrew Binder, a graduate student in life sciences communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has won our "Crash the Intersection" banner contest.
Andrew's successful banner--which I've taken to calling the Sign & Cross-Genes--can be viewed at the top of the page, or here. You'll notice that we're still having technical difficulties in putting it up, though these should soon subside. Meanwhile, Andrew's various promised goodies are wending their way to Madison. (Cool town, by the way.)
We will display the banner…
sheril | September 18, 2007Over the months I've been blogging at The Intersection, I've shared a little bit about myself here... Readers may remember I'm drummer in a girl band, have a strange affinity for sea cucumbers, and a habit of pulling crazy stunts as a radio personality. What you may not know is it also happens I can legally preside over weddings. Just another little thing I do.
This past Sunday, family, friends, and community from all over the world and all walks of life converged in the misty mountains of western Massachusetts for three days of celebrating the marriage of my big brother, Seth, and new…
cmooney | September 17, 2007It was tough, but Sheril and I have now selected the winner of the Crash the Intersection banner art contest. We'll be announcing the name soon and showing you the artwork. And then finally--perhaps as soon as by week's end--we'll actually have the work on display up there.
At which point the Intersection will become a much more aesthetically pleasing place to work and to play.
Our thanks go out to everyone who submitted entries to the contest--as I said, it was a hard choice.
More soon....
cmooney | September 17, 2007
During the doldrums of August, Sheril and I were both around and posting repeatedly every day--which probably had something to do with our traffic record.
Alas, it's fall now, students are back on campuses, and we're on the road again more than ever, which really interrupts posting frequency. We'll be doing our best, but as I hope you'll understand, it will be difficult at times.
In particular, I'm speaking tomorrow in Dallas, and then on Thursday at Cornell. Then the week after that is the big framing smackdown/cataclysm in Minneapolis.
You've heard plenty about the latter already, but here…
sheril | September 17, 2007Nisbet and PZ are arguing as usual over science communication and atheism... a prescription for a popular post on science blogs we all know well. Let's expand the discussion of framing and science to issues that actually matter* like climate change. On Friday, I posted a clip where Bill Nye had trouble defending global warming in a debate staged by Larry King for the purpose of entertainment. What follows is reposted from my comment (long buried by now), because it's relevant in the great communication discourse.
I posted the clip because it highlights the importance of communication and…
cmooney | September 17, 2007
My latest "Storm Pundit" column on this subject, which has come to seem fairly pressing in the wakes of Hurricanes Felix and Humberto, is now up. Upshot: I want to know more about the mechanism by which climate change would presumably affect storm intensification rates. Still, it stands to reason that some type of change ought to occur--and given how dangerous rapidly intensifying hurricanes near landfall are, this is an urgent area of scientific inquiry.
For a counterpoint on the subject, see Stoat: "only now we've had an otherwise unexciting hurricane distinguished only by rapid…
cmooney | September 15, 2007Jeez, I go on vacation to New Orleans and all hell breaks loose between PZ and Matt over framing science stuff.
I feel less and less like a participant in this debate and more and more like a referee.
Folks, we're going to publicly debate all this in, as I count it, two weeks in Minneapolis. It's going to be a great event, and it's going to provoke much thought and generate tons of follow-up dialogue.
So don't use up your best stuff too far in advance! And can we please keep it at least mildly friendly?
sheril | September 14, 2007It's a light day at The Intersection with Chris in New Orleans and me in Massachusetts. So while we're both on the road, here's a Larry King clip from earlier this year that takes on global warming. And added bonus -- it features Bill Nye the Science Guy.
cmooney | September 13, 2007From forecaster James Franklin:
BASED ON OPERATIONAL ESTIMATES...HUMBERTO STRENGTHENED FROM A 30 KT DEPRESSION AT 15Z YESTERDAY TO A 75 KT HURRICANE AT 09Z THIS
MORNING...AN INCREASE OF 45 KT IN 18 HOURS. TO PUT THIS DEVELOPMENT IN PERSPECTIVE...NO TROPICAL CYCLONE IN THE HISTORICAL RECORD HAS EVER REACHED THIS INTENSITY AT A FASTER RATE NEAR LANDFALL. IT WOULD BE NICE TO KNOW...SOMEDAY...WHY THIS HAPPENED.
Well, that's blunt enough, no? I'm not entirely clear on what Franklin means, though--the record hinges on "near landfall", I guess. Obviously there has been more rapid strengthening…
sheril | September 13, 2007In the grand epic that is life on planet Earth, what is it about labeling everything by color to emphasize significance? The US map is generally red and blue while our nation's threat level seems to be stuck at yellow and orange. On the latter, I still don't quite understand Homeland Security's scheme, and frankly I'm not positive they do either.
Today's colorful hot topic is one that really matters in the big picture: Red species. With yesterday's release of the '07 data from IUCN, conservation scientists all about the globe are scrambling to find out who's made the A-List... Er, I mean…
cmooney | September 13, 2007Leave it to The Onion:
MIAMI--South Florida residents were overcome with fear, confusion, and an unnerving sense of dread Tuesday when they learned that an unidentified hurricane is heading for their area--its origin uncertain, its intentions unclear, and perhaps most frightening, its name unknown....
...Lacking any reliable information on the character traits of the popularly dubbed "Hurricane That Shall Not Be Named," thousands have fled the area, hoping to escape its destructive winds, driving rain, and chilling impersonality.
"If this hurricane were a Wilma or a Frank, or even a Rebekah,…
cmooney | September 13, 2007
Jeez, Humberto came out of nowhere yesterday, eh?
And now I'm worried: I'm supposed to be celebrating my thirtieth birthday (technically Sept. 20) with family and friends and a trip to the hometown of New Orleans tomorrow. The idea was to kick back and hopefully achieve some acceptance of how I spent my dissolute twenties--aka doing odd stuff like writing a hurricane book.
Now, though, there may well be hurricane related rainfall to worry about all weekend!
Humberto, you suck; and no, I don't appreciate the irony....
sheril | September 12, 2007
"This year's IUCN Red List shows that the invaluable efforts made so far to protect species are not enough. The rate of biodiversity loss is increasing and we need to act now to significantly reduce it and stave off this global extinction crisis. This can be done, but only with a concerted effort by all levels of society."
- Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Director General of the World Conservation Union (IUCN)
There are now 41,415 species on the IUCN Red List and 16,306 of them are threatened with extinction, up from 16,118 last year. The total number of extinct species has reached 785 and a…
sheril | September 12, 2007As reported in the NYTimes, Florida's Governor Charlie Crist has asked the state's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to delay a vote scheduled today on reclassifying the Florida manatee to threatened from endangered. With factors like possible power plant closures to consider, Thank Crist!
sheril | September 12, 2007It's certainly no wonder lots of folks seem confused over the significance of climate change. I recently discussed media driven alarmism, but there's an equally relevant modern pressure that has enormous implications on our individual and collective attention span.
At the touch of a laptop, iphone, or blackberry, we are exposed to a limitless sea of information without the proper time to process it all. We've developed into an extremely fast-paced society that has the tremendous capacity to quickly exchange ideas at rates never before experienced by our species. Welcome to the…
sheril | September 12, 2007In 2006, the Ad Council brought this public service announcement to the basement of the Capitol to show policymakers and staff:
Global Warming. It may seem like an impossible problem: The Arctic ice is melting, storms are becoming fiercer, the resulting climate change is upsetting invaluable ecosystems, and the pollution is damaging our health.
But there is still time. Reversing the trend of global warming trend is possible and depends not only on the efforts of environmental scientists and researchers, governments of all nations, and leaders of business and industry, but just as…
cmooney | September 12, 2007Here's a picture of the Caribbean and Central Atlantic this morning. A tropical wave that came off of Africa a while back--and that the National Hurricane Center is designating 91L--looks much more organized than it did yesterday, as you can plainly see.
I'm not a forecaster, though I pay attention to some of the same stuff they do. In any event, I have a hunch we may be hearing more about this one soon.
Meanwhile, I am off to give various New Jersey talks, but hopefully will be checking in here at some point during the day....
cmooney | September 11, 2007I am heading up north a bit today in anticipation of a talk about Storm World tomorrow at the Stevens Institute of Technology's Center for Science Writings. My host is center director John Horgan, the author of The End of Science. Being on the road should cut down my posting frequency a bit, so Sheril will just have to write double.
Er, just kidding...