Culture & Ethics
Conflicting data need not make environmental controversies worse
Anyone interested in the resolution of environmental controversies featuring conflicting or incomplete scientific accounts (and what interesting environmental conflict doesn’t fit in that category?) should read this article by Biggs et al. in the January issue of BioScience (subscription required). As the authors explain, the fact that two scientific studies produce conflicting results or lead …
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CONTINUE READINGMore accusations of politics trumping science and law at Interior
The Washington Post reports that officials at the Department of Interior ignored “key scientific findings” and the views of National Park Service officials “when they limited water flows in the Grand Canyon to optimize generation of electric power there, risking damage to the ecology of the spectacular national landmark.” The Post story, written by Juliet …
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CONTINUE READINGDust Bowl Redux
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqiblXFlZuk]According to a story in Tuesday’s New York Times: The new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, projects that if carbon dioxide concentrations peak at 600 ppm, several regions of the world — including southwestern North America, the Mediterranean and southern Africa — will face major droughts as bad or …
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CONTINUE READINGNew federal appointees’ sharp differences will make EPA/OMB relationship one to watch
As Dan notes in an earlier post, Cass Sunstein has been selected to direct the White House office that oversees regulation by agencies, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the Office of Management and budget. An in-depth article in today’s Los Angeles Times discusses the controversy over his nomination among environmental and labor advocates. From the Times: …
CONTINUE READINGNew research points to the need to build resilience to climate change’s impacts
Except when he does not!
While many among us are working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the climate is already changing and will continue to change for a long while even if we do everything we can to reduce emissions. As a result, we will need to adapt to our new reality, by building the resilience to deal with changing …
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CONTINUE READINGConservation in a warming world
The latest issue of the journal Science includes another reminder that our current approach to conservation is ill-suited to a world where the climate is changing rapidly. A study led by Phillip van Mentgem of the U.S. Geological Survey (323 Science 521 (Jan. 23, 2009), subscription required) finds that trees are dying more rapidly in …
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CONTINUE READINGHitting the right notes on science
The environmental science community is welcoming the new Obama administration with open arms. That’s no surprise, of course — there was never any love lost between environmental scientists and the George W. Bush administration. But for the science community this transition is more than the departure of an enemy. So far, the new president is …
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