Climate experts: Global warming report ‘hijacked by bureaucrats’

Ξ April 7th, 2007 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Ecology |

Climate experts: Global warming report ‘hijacked by bureaucrats’:

Despite issuing numerous warnings on the future dangers presented by global warming, a UN report issued yesterday on climate was grossly inadequate, some top US scientists are claiming.

“The science got hijacked by the political bureaucrats at the late stage of the game,” argued John Walsh, a climate expert at the University of Alaska Fairbanks who helped draft parts of the report.

An article in today’s Washington Post describes how the US as well as Chinese officials were effective in softening much of the language directed their way. One sentence in particular saying that “Mitigation measures will…be required,” to cope with climate change did not appear in the final draft.

Billions face climate change risk

Ξ April 7th, 2007 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Ecology |

Billions face climate change risk:

Billions of people face shortages of food and water and increased risk of flooding, experts at a major climate change conference have warned.

The bleak conclusion came ahead of the publication of a key report by hundreds of international environmental experts.

Agreement on the final wording of the report was reached after a marathon debate through the night in Brussels.

People living in poverty would be worst affected by the effects of climate change, the gathered experts said.

Climate Chnage Around the World

Ξ April 7th, 2007 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Ecology |

See this summary of how continents and resources will be affected.

Key Democrats Demand NASA Inspector’s Ouster

Ξ April 4th, 2007 | → 0 Comments | ∇ BushCo, Science |

Key Democrats Demand NASA Inspector’s Ouster:

A month after the White House surrendered sensitive information about NASA Inspector General Robert Cobb, three key Democrats have called on Cobb to resign.

Rep. Bart Gordon of Tennessee, chairman of the House Science Committee, was joined by Rep. Brad Miller of North Carolina, chairman of the investigations and oversight subcommittee, and Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, who oversees the space program in the Senate, in a letter to the president calling for the resignation. The senior Democrats say information gleaned from the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency revealed a host of abuses by Cobb, including a cozy relationship with the very NASA officials he was charged with reviewing. Cobb is also accused of creating a hostile work environment.

Joan of Arc remains ‘are fakes’

Ξ April 4th, 2007 | → 0 Comments | ∇ History |

Joan of Arc remains ‘are fakes’:

Bones thought to be the holy remains of 15th Century French heroine Joan of Arc were in fact made from an Egyptian mummy and a cat, research has revealed.

In 1867, a jar was found in a Paris pharmacy attic, along with a label claiming it held relics of Joan’s body.

But new forensic tests suggest that the remains date from between the third and sixth centuries BC - hundreds of years before Joan was even born.

Breaking: New Gag Rule Issued on US Scientists

Ξ April 3rd, 2007 | → 0 Comments | ∇ BushCo, Science |

Breaking: New Gag Rule Issued on US Scientists

Federal climate, weather and marine scientists will be subject to new restrictions as to what they can say to the media or in public, according to agency documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Under rules posted last week, these federal scientists must obtain agency pre-approval to speak or write, whether on or off-duty, concerning any scientific topic deemed “of official interest.”

On March 29, 2007, the Commerce Department posted a new administrative order governing “Public Communications.” This new order covers the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which includes the National Weather Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Commerce’s new order will become effective in 45 days and would repeal a more liberal “open science” policy adopted by NOAA on February 14, 2006.

Although couched in rhetoric about the need for “broad and open dissemination of research results [and] open exchange of scientific ideas,” the new order forbids agency scientists from communicating any relevant information, even if prepared and delivered on their own time as private citizens, which has not been approved by the official chain-of-command