Environment

Koalas Not Functionally Extinct From Fires- 1000 Killed Out Of 300,000, Reduced Numbers In New South Wales For 1 Or 2 Decades

Short summary: A Koala population in New South Wales has been severely impacted by fires with loss of perhaps 70%, at least 350 of them killed, and it could be more, leading to headlines of "1000 koalas killed". However there is no way even this ...

Article - Robert Walker - Nov 25 2019 - 3:11am

If You Want To Bag A Turkey For Thanksgiving, Here Is What You Should Know About Archery Feathers

“The history of the bow and arrow is the history of mankind,” said Fred Bear. If you want to get a fresh turkey for Thanksgiving, you don't need to spend $120 for something that calls itself Heritage, you can honor your actual heritage and go get one ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 25 2019 - 9:58am

UN Emissions Gap Report- How To Get To 1.5°C Path In Graphs- With Paris Pledges In 2020 And 2025

We are headed for the next round of climate pledges in 2020. So, what do we need to do to stay within 1.5 C? This is based mainly on the new UN Emissions Gap Report 2019 ...

Article - Robert Walker - Nov 27 2019 - 7:36pm

XR- IPCC Are Not Ignoring The Arctic Albedo Effect- Clouds Making World More Reflective In The Tropics More Than Compensate

You’ll often hear about the “Ice albedo effect” as a supposed tipping point that the IPCC is ignoring. The idea is that as the Arctic ice melts, it absorbs more heat from the sun, and so warms the planet. What they ignore is that as the planet warms there ...

Article - Robert Walker - Nov 29 2019 - 9:53pm

Climate Tipping Points Paper Adds No New Research To IPCC Reports- We Have Not Erased The CO2 Budget For 1.5 °C

This is in response to a “Nature comment” Climate tipping points — too risky to bet against which is scaring people. There are no new research findings in it and nothing to overturn the IPCC's conclusions. Of course it is important to look carefully ...

Article - Robert Walker - Dec 1 2019 - 11:34am

North Sea Dogger Bank Wind Turbine Project Could Supply More Power To The EU By 2045 Than Coal Does Now

This is a plan for a wind turbine hub in the North Sea on Dogger Bank, that could up to 180GW by 2045 in time to help Europe achieve net zero emissions. The “Dogger Bank”, is the sunken Doggerland, a region of the North Sea that used to be above the sea i ...

Article - Robert Walker - Dec 2 2019 - 5:14am

"Food Evolution": A Tale Of Two Cities

Last night was the premiere of "Food Evolution", a documentary on the science in our dinner, and I saw it with a large audience for the second time. Wait, premiere? Second time? Which is it? It's both. And that is how it became a tale of two ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Dec 3 2019 - 11:22am

At 386 Million Years Old, New York Has The World's Oldest Forest

Scientists have discovered remnants of the world's oldest fossil forest in of all places, a sandstone quarry in Cairo, New York. It is believed the extensive network of trees is around 386 million years old and spread into Pennsylvania and beyond. ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 19 2019 - 9:26pm

Another Day, Another Statistical Claim About Pesticides And 'Risk' Of Death

To future scholars, the 2020s may be the decade that the public discovered epidemiologists don't understand the difference between a hazard, absolute risk, and relative risk. And that skepticism in the next decade will have resulted from too many shod ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Dec 31 2019 - 2:03pm

Genetically Rescued Organism: A GM Poplar That Produces Less Isoprene But Grows Just As Fast

Poplars have become popular for use in products like paper, pallets, plywood, furniture frames- even as a biofuel- because they grow quickly. But being natural doesn't mean being good for the environment. Poplars are a natural source of isoprene, whic ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 7 2020 - 10:53am