Category Archives: science education

One year, and ten years of carbon dioxide concentration readings, Mauna Loa

From NOAA.

Posted in carbon dioxide, Carbon Tax, climate, climate change, climate disruption, climate education, consumption, diffusion processes, dynamical systems, ecology, environment, ethics, exponential growth, forecasting, fossil fuel divestment, geophysics, investment in wind and solar energy, IPCC, meteorology, NOAA, open data, Principles of Planetary Climate, rationality, reasonableness, risk, science, science education, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, statistics, sustainability, temporal myopia, the right to know, time series, zero carbon | Leave a comment

‘The Solutions Project’

Mark Ruffalo on the Daily Show, mentioning, among other things, his keen interest in the 100% campaign, a program, begun by people at Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley, to switch 100% of all 50 states in … Continue reading

Posted in bifurcations, civilization, clean disruption, climate change, climate disruption, compassion, conservation, consumption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, ecology, economics, efficiency, environment, ethics, forecasting, fossil fuel divestment, geophysics, global warming, investment in wind and solar energy, meteorology, microgrids, rationality, reasonableness, risk, science education, sea level rise, solar power, sustainability, wind power, zero carbon | 3 Comments

“Ecological impacts”

I could not get through this video with dry eyes. It is as bad as the (great) Cosmos episode on the Permian mass extinction. This is from a couse I am taking, “Denial 101x: The Science of Climate Denial“, from … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, climate, climate change, climate disruption, climate education, ecology, environment, forecasting, global warming, mass extinctions, Neill deGrasse Tyson, population biology, rationality, reasonableness, risk, science, science education, sustainability, UU Humanists | 1 Comment

“How mankind blew the fight against climate change” (Bill McKibben)

Worth a read. More pessimistic than usual from Mr McKibben. If historians someday need to explain how mankind managed to blow the fight against climate change, they need only point to last month’s shareholder meeting at Exxon Mobil headquarters in … Continue reading

Posted in bifurcations, bridge to nowhere, carbon dioxide, Carbon Tax, civilization, clean disruption, climate, climate change, climate disruption, conservation, consumption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, ecology, economics, environment, exponential growth, fossil fuel divestment, geophysics, global warming, investment in wind and solar energy, meteorology, microgrids, physics, rationality, reasonableness, risk, science, science education, solar power, statistics, temporal myopia, UU Humanists, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

“Storm-proven forecasting gets yearlong trial”

Storm-studying scientists have made their next-generation forecasting system available online so the wider weather community can put it to the test. After using the real-time system during short-lived field research campaigns, developers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) … Continue reading

Posted in citizen science, ensembles, ENSO, environment, forecasting, geophysics, maths, meteorology, NCAR, open data, physics, precipitation, science, science education, scientific publishing, spatial statistics, statistics | Leave a comment

On the Climate Club

But if the other advanced nations had a stick — a tariff of 4 percent on the imports from countries not in the “climate club” — the cost-benefit calculation for the United States would flip. Not participating in the club … Continue reading

Posted in citizenship, civilization, climate, climate change, climate disruption, climate education, ecology, economics, education, environment, ethics, geophysics, global warming, humanism, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, IPCC, mathematics, mathematics education, maths, meteorology, NASA, NCAR, NOAA, open data, open source scientific software, politics, rationality, reasonableness, risk, science, science education, sociology, state-space models, statistics, stochastic search, stochastics, sustainability, temporal myopia, time series, transparency, Unitarian Universalism, UU Humanists, wind power, zero carbon | 2 Comments

The CWSLab workflow tool: an experiment in community code development

Posted in climate, climate education, climate models, computation, differential equations, dynamical systems, environment, forecasting, geophysics, global warming, IPCC, mathematics, mathematics education, maths, meteorology, model comparison, NCAR, oceanography, open source scientific software, physics, Principles of Planetary Climate, Python 3, rationality, reasonableness, science, science education, state-space models, statistics, time series, transparency | Leave a comment

“All large oil companies now use a shadow price of carbon”

See https://plus.google.com/110148824733929465219/posts/cN46vebpUvi.

Posted in carbon dioxide, Carbon Tax, citizenship, clean disruption, climate, climate change, climate disruption, decentralized energy, economics, energy, environment, exponential growth, forecasting, fossil fuel divestment, geophysics, global warming, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, meteorology, natural gas, physics, rationality, reasonableness, risk, science, science education, temporal myopia, zero carbon | Leave a comment

on the state of New England wind power

Cape Wind suffers more setbacks, as one commentator said, being “litigated to death”. See the details. And on the good side, the Block Island project proceeds, even if that is a much smaller project. New England, I hope you enjoy … Continue reading

Posted in climate change, climate disruption, geophysics, hurricanes, meteorology, nor'easters, oceanography, rationality, reasonableness, science education, sea level rise, WHOI, wind power | Leave a comment

carbon dioxide and saturation

One of the “climate zombies” that get’s trotted out from time to time and at places on the Internet is the argument of Knut Ångström, trying to rebut the calculations of Svante Arrhenius regarding the impact a doubling of carbon … Continue reading

Posted in astrophysics, carbon dioxide, chemistry, climate, climate change, climate disruption, climate education, climate zombies, geophysics, meteorology, physics, Ray Pierrehumbert, science, science education | Leave a comment

“Clean burnin’ natural gas …”

The carbon dioxide emissions of the United States are increasing again, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration in their Monthly Energy Review. Guess what fuel is heavily contributing to the rise: Of course, clean burnin’ natural gas: A bridge … Continue reading

Posted in bridge to nowhere, carbon dioxide, Carbon Tax, climate, climate change, climate disruption, conservation, consumption, decentralized electric power generation, decentralized energy, demand-side solutions, ecology, economics, education, environment, exponential growth, fossil fuel divestment, fracking, global warming, investment in wind and solar energy, meteorology, methane, microgrids, natural gas, politics, rationality, reasonableness, risk, science, science education, statistics, sustainability, temporal myopia, zero carbon | Leave a comment

“Response” (to “…I would be interested to see how one can prove from such varying data that the warming has accelerated over time”), by Tamino

Denialist tripe, swatted by Tamino. Now, I know I am learning via the Denial101x course by John Cook (and many others) that the reason why Deniers are Deniers is because the notion of global warming itself challenges their values or … Continue reading

Posted in anemic data, Anthropocene, carbon dioxide, chance, climate, climate change, climate disruption, climate education, denial, ecology, education, forecasting, geophysics, global warming, maths, obfuscating data, open data, physics, politics, rationality, science, science education, sea level rise, statistics, sustainability, time series | 1 Comment

The pending disintegration of the Larsen B Ice Shelf, Antarctica

Estimates place the disintegration of the remainder of this shelf within 10 years, after losing a chunk the size of the State of Rhode Island in 2002.

Posted in Antarctica, carbon dioxide, climate, climate change, climate disruption, environment, geophysics, global warming, meteorology, NOAA, oceanography, physics, rationality, reasonableness, science, science education, sea level rise, statistics, Uncategorized, WAIS | Leave a comment

“el Niño and the Non-Spherical Cow”

With the emergence of an el Niño, this post by Tamino about ENSO from 2013 is good to review, as an antidote to the rubbish that will be and is coming from the shills paid by the fossil fuel obfuscation … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, bridge to nowhere, carbon dioxide, Carbon Tax, civilization, clean disruption, climate, climate change, climate disruption, climate education, ecology, economics, ENSO, ethics, forecasting, global warming, meteorology, NCAR, NOAA, oceanography, open data, open source scientific software, physics, politics, rationality, Ray Pierrehumbert, reasonableness, reproducible research, risk, science, science education, sea level rise, statistics, stochastics, temporal myopia, time series, transparency | Leave a comment

Brian Swett discusses Boston’s climate future | NOAA Climate.gov

Brian Swett discusses Boston’s climate future | NOAA Climate.gov.

Posted in Boston, climate change, climate disruption, ecology, economics, environment, forecasting, geophysics, global warming, history, investment in wind and solar energy, living shorelines, mass transit, meteorology, NOAA, oceanography, physics, politics, population biology, Principles of Planetary Climate, public transport, rationality, reasonableness, risk, science, science education, sea level rise, sociology, statistics, temporal myopia, the right to know, time series, wind power, zero carbon | Leave a comment

“Hot Water”, from Tamino

“‘Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.’” — The “Humbug” from the Wizard of Oz And as Tamino points out, that might as well be the words of Florida governor Rick Scott.

Posted in bridge to nowhere, citizenship, civilization, climate, climate change, environment, ethics, geophysics, living shorelines, meteorology, oceanography, politics, rationality, reasonableness, science, science education, sea level rise, temporal myopia, the right to know | Leave a comment

“I’m sorry.”

“It is up to us to take care of this planet.”

Posted in carbon dioxide, citizenship, civilization, climate, climate change, climate education, compassion, ecology, economics, education, environment, ethics, fossil fuel divestment, humanism, meteorology, politics, rationality, reasonableness, risk, science, science education, the right to know, Unitarian Universalism, UU Humanists | Leave a comment

Eli Rabett on the APS “Draft Statement on Earth’s Changing Climate”

This is from Rabett Run. The American Physical Society (“APS”) is working on a draft statement on climate change. Compared to other scientific organizations (and my own primary society, the American Statistical Association), it’s sure taking them a long time. … Continue reading

Posted in carbon dioxide, Carbon Tax, chemistry, citizenship, civilization, climate, climate change, climate education, diffusion processes, ecology, environment, fossil fuel divestment, geophysics, meteorology, methane, NCAR, NOAA, oceanography, open data, politics, Principles of Planetary Climate, rationality, reasonableness, risk, science, science education, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, sea level rise, solar power, testing, the right to know, time series, WHOI, wind power | Leave a comment

“Climate Change, the Elevator Pitch”

Richard Alley: Katharine Hayhoe: Eric Rignot: Simon Donner: Mauri Pelto: Ken Caldeira:

Posted in Antarctica, Arctic, astrophysics, carbon dioxide, citizenship, civilization, climate, climate change, climate education, consumption, geophysics, IPCC, meteorology, NCAR, physics, Principles of Planetary Climate, rationality, Ray Pierrehumbert, risk, science, science education, statistics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Earth Day, my hope

Posted in carbon dioxide, Carl Sagan, Charles Darwin, citizen science, citizenship, civilization, clean disruption, climate, climate change, climate education, compassion, conservation, Darwin Day, demand-side solutions, ecology, economics, education, efficiency, energy reduction, environment, ethics, forecasting, fossil fuel divestment, geophysics, history, humanism, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, IPCC, mathematics, maths, meteorology, NCAR, NOAA, oceanography, open data, open source scientific software, physics, politics, population biology, Principles of Planetary Climate, privacy, probit regression, R, rationality, Ray Pierrehumbert, reasonableness, reproducible research, risk, science, science education, scientific publishing, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, sociology, the right to know, Unitarian Universalism, UU Humanists, WHOI, wind power | Leave a comment

Climate week at Harvard, 6th-10th April 2015

See the Gazette for a summary, and their Web page for more. Events are open to the public. Some highlights: April 7th, 1630, “Reinventing Fire: Profitable Low-Carbon Futures for the U.S. and China” with Amory Lovins, Chairman/Chief Scientist of the … Continue reading

Posted in citizenship, civilization, climate education, economics, education, environment, ethics, humanism, investing, physics, politics, rationality, reasonableness, science, science education | Leave a comment

We are trying. And the bitterest result is to have so-called colleagues align themselves with the Koch brothers

I attended a 350.org meeting tonight. One group A group presenting there called “Fighting Against Natural Gas” applauded themselves for assailing Senator Whitehouse of Rhode Island for his supportive position on natural gas pipelines. Now, I am no friend of … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, astrophysics, Boston Ethical Society, bridge to nowhere, carbon dioxide, carbon dioxide sequestration, Carbon Tax, chemistry, citizenship, climate, climate change, climate education, consumption, decentralized electric power generation, demand-side solutions, ecology, economics, energy reduction, engineering, forecasting, fossil fuel divestment, investment in wind and solar energy, IPCC, JAGS, meteorology, methane, model comparison, NASA, natural gas, NCAR, Neill deGrasse Tyson, oceanography, open data, physics, politics, population biology, Principles of Planetary Climate, Python 3, R, rationality, reasonableness, reproducible research, risk, science, science education, Scripps Institution of Oceanography | 4 Comments

2014

(These excellent figures are from Robbie Andrew, Oslo.)

Posted in Anthropocene, carbon dioxide, citizenship, civilization, climate, climate change, climate education, consumption, ecology, economics, environment, forecasting, fossil fuel divestment, geophysics, IPCC, meteorology, NOAA, oceanography, physics, population biology, rationality, reasonableness, risk, science, science education, sea level rise, statistics, time series | Leave a comment

Scary Stuff; a Potential Nasty Surprise

If it were to come true, Wally Broecker would earn yet another, deserved scientific accolade: The Great Ocean Conveyor. More from WHOI here. “The climate system is an angry beast and we are poking it with sticks,” said Dr. Wallace … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, bridge to nowhere, carbon dioxide, Carbon Tax, Carl Sagan, citizen science, citizenship, civilization, climate, climate change, climate education, ecology, education, engineering, environment, forecasting, games of chance, mathematics, maths, meteorology, NOAA, oceanography, physics, Principles of Planetary Climate, rationality, Ray Pierrehumbert, reasonableness, science, science education, sea level rise, sociology, statistics | Leave a comment

Neil deGrasse Tyson on “60 Minutes”

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/astrophysicist-neil-degrasse-tysons-one-man-mission Hat tip to Dan Satterfield.

Posted in astronomy, astrophysics, Carl Sagan, Neill deGrasse Tyson, physics, science, science education | Leave a comment

“Human activity has nothing big enough to affect Earth”

“Human activity has nothing big enough to affect Earth.” That’s disingenuous and, usually, the speaker knows better but is trying to dissuade an audience from thinking human activity does. Or they parrot someone who is trying to do that. But … Continue reading

Posted in Anthropocene, biology, bridge to nowhere, carbon dioxide, Carbon Tax, citizenship, civilization, climate, climate change, climate education, consumption, ecology, economics, energy, energy reduction, engineering, environment, ethics, fossil fuel divestment, geophysics, history, investing, investment in wind and solar energy, IPCC, meteorology, methane, natural gas, notes, open data, physics, politics, population biology, reasonableness, risk, science, science education, solar power, statistics, the right to know, time series, wind power | Leave a comment

“Merchants of Doubt: What Climate Deniers Learned from Big Tobacco”

Posted in carbon dioxide, climate, climate change, climate education, ecology, economics, education, environment, ethics, fossil fuel divestment, geophysics, history, humanism, investing, IPCC, meteorology, new forms of scientific peer review, obfuscating data, physics, politics, rationality, reasonableness, risk, science, science education, scientific publishing, sociology | Tagged , | Leave a comment

“I don’t want Earth to look like Venus”

Posted in astronomy, astrophysics, Carl Sagan, civilization, climate, climate change, climate education, education, geophysics, meteorology, Neill deGrasse Tyson, oceanography, physics, Principles of Planetary Climate, rationality, reasonableness, risk, science, science education, sea level rise | Leave a comment

International Darwin Day: 12th February 2015

http://darwinday.org/ http://darwinday.org/about/

Posted in atheism, biology, Boston Ethical Society, Charles Darwin, civilization, Darwin Day, ecology, environment, evolution, science, science education, UU Humanists | Leave a comment

“Barking mad”

Today was a big day at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (“NAS”). The Academy released two important climate reports, each dealing with one of two categories of global countermeasures for the effects of dumping unprecedented amounts of carbon dioxide … Continue reading

Posted in astrophysics, bridge to nowhere, carbon dioxide, carbon dioxide capture, carbon dioxide sequestration, Carbon Tax, citizenship, civilization, climate, climate change, climate education, demand-side solutions, diffusion processes, ecology, economics, engineering, environment, ethics, forecasting, games of chance, geoengineering, geophysics, history, humanism, IPCC, meteorology, NCAR, NOAA, oceanography, physics, Principles of Planetary Climate, rationality, Ray Pierrehumbert, reasonableness, science, science education, sea level rise, the right to know | Tagged | Leave a comment