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On Experts And Global Warming

July 15, 2011 by ·

Experts have always posed a problem for democracies.  Plato scorned democracy, rating it the worst form of government short of tyranny, largely because it gave power to the ignorant many rather than to knowledgeable experts (philosophers, as he saw it).  But, if, as we insist, the people must ultimately decide, the question remains: How can we, nonexperts, take account of expert opinion when it is relevant to decisions about public policy?

To answer this question, we need to reflect on the logic of appeals to the authority of experts.  First of all, such appeals require a decision about who the experts on a given topic are.  Until there is agreement about this, expert opinion can have no persuasive role in our discussions.  Another requirement is that there be a consensus among the experts about points relevant to our discussion.   Precisely because we are not experts, we are in no position to adjudicate disputes among those who are.  Finally, given a consensus on a claim among recognized experts, we nonexperts have no basis for rejecting the truth of the claim. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Change, Global Warming, Nature ·

Plant A Tree In The Fall For Shade In Years To Come

July 8, 2011 by ·

The hot summer weather may have home owners thinking about trees, but experts say now’s not the best time to plant them.

If you can, wait until fall because fall trees do better, said Brian Jervis, horticulture extension educator with Tulsa Master Gardeners.

A 3- to 6-inch layer of mulch and daily water are important to helping keep any plant healthy in this heat, he said.

Jervis recommends home owners plant trees in September, October or November.

If home owners or landscapers must plant trees now, Jervis said, keeping the root ball intact is critical. Trees can’t pull up the necessary moisture if the root ball is broken. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Ecology, Environment, Nature ·

Oceans On Brink Of Catastrophe

June 23, 2011 by ·

Marine life facing mass extinction ‘within one human generation’ / State of seas ‘much worse than we thought’, says global panel of scientists

The world’s oceans are faced with an unprecedented loss of species comparable to the great mass extinctions of prehistory, a major report suggests today. The seas are degenerating far faster than anyone has predicted, the report says, because of the cumulative impact of a number of severe individual stresses, ranging from climate warming and sea-water acidification, to widespread chemical pollution and gross overfishing.

The coming together of these factors is now threatening the marine environment with a catastrophe “unprecedented in human history”, according to the report, from a panel of leading marine scientists brought together in Oxford earlier this year by the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Change, Environment, Global Warming, Nature, Research & Study ·

Biodiversity: It’s The Ecology, Stupid

May 11, 2011 by ·

At every level, human civilisation is underwritten by the planet’s countless and still mostly unidentified wild things

The water we drink falls as rain, usually on higher ground, often designated as a catchment area. The terrain would ideally be covered in vegetation, because otherwise the runoff would be muddy, the reservoirs would silt up and the valleys would flood. But plants depend on billions of insects to pollinate them. Insects also devour foliage, so forests depend on birds by day and bats by night to keep insect populations under control. To prevent a population crash, there must also be raptors to keep the insectivores in order – and the taps running. At every level, human civilisation is underwritten by the planet’s countless and still mostly unidentified wild things – the jargon word is biodiversity – that pollinate our crops, cleanse, conserve and recycle our water, maintain oxygen levels, and deliver all the things on which human comfort, health, and security depend. Economists and conservationists have tried to put a value on the services of nature: if we had to buy what biodiversity provides for nothing, how much cash would we need? The answer runs into trillions, but the question is nonsensical. Without healthy ecosystems, there would be no cotton and linen to make banknotes and no bread or clean water for sale. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Change, Ecology, Nature ·

Earthquake, Tsunami Hit Japan

March 11, 2011 by ·

The biggest earthquake to hit Japan in 140 years struck the northeast coast on Friday, triggering a 10-metre tsunami that swept away everything in its path, including houses, cars and farm buildings on fire, media and witnesses said. At least one person was killed in Fukushima prefecture, north of Tokyo where four million homes were without power. The 8.9 magnitude quake caused many injuries, public broadcaster NHK said, sparked fires and the wall of water, prompting warnings to people to move to higher ground in coastal areas.

The Philippines, Taiwan and Indonesia all issued tsunami alerts, reviving memories of the giant tsunami which struck Asia in 2004. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued alerts for countries as far away as Colombia and Peru.

There were several strong aftershocks. In the capital Tokyo, buildings shook violently. An oil refinery near Tokyo was on fire, with dozens of storage tanks under threat. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Nature, News ·

Study Finds How Sea Urchins Affect Coral Reefs’ Growth

January 16, 2011 by ·

An 18-year-old study has found that overfished reef systems have more sea urchins—organisms that in turn eat coral algae that build tropical reef systems.

According to the study of Kenya’s coral reefs by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of California at Santa Cruz, reef systems closed to fishing have fewer sea urchins because predatory fish keep their growth in check, thereby encouraging higher coral growth rates.

Jennifer O’Leary of the University of California at Santa Cruz and Tim McClanahan of the Wildlife Conservation Society found that reefs with large numbers of grazing sea urchins reduced the abundance of crustose coralline algae, a species of algae that produce calcium carbonate.

The study found that sea urchins were the dominant grazer in the fished reefs, where the predators, triggerfish and wrasses were largely absent. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Coral Reefs, Nature ·

2010 Ties For Warmest Year, Emissions To Blame

January 14, 2011 by ·

Last year tied for the warmest since data started in 1880, capping a decade of record high temperatures that shows mankind’s greenhouse gas emissions are heating the planet, two U.S. agencies said.

Global surface temperatures in 2010 were 1.12 degrees Fahrenheit (0.62 Celsius) above the 20th century average, tying the record set in 2005, the National Climatic Data Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Wednesday.

“These results show that the climate is continuing to show the influence of greenhouse gases. It’s showing evidence of warming,” David Easterling, the chief of the scientific services division at the NCDC, told reporters in a teleconference.

Many places, such as Russia and Pakistan, suffered from heat waves and floods that killed thousands, scorched crops and inundated countless farm acres. Those events, caused in part by a shifted jet stream in the atmosphere, helped lead to record global food prices and threaten to lead to food riots like those seen in 2008. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Change, Environment, Nature ·