science

Categories under science

John Key ‘may’ be able to understand it?

Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, August 6th, 2009 - 11 comments

John Key has recently acted like a jerk to a young mother worried about what climate change is going to mean for her future and that of her child. Essentially he said that she should stick to what she knew. Bearing in mind the complete lack of understanding that both John Key and his NACT […]

Greens show the way forward

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, August 6th, 2009 - 42 comments

The Greens have presented a sensible and feasible plan to reduce our greenhouse emissions to 40% less than 1990 levels by 2020. Contrary to Nick Smith’s scaremongering, it won’t break the bank. In fact, at current carbon credit prices, they will save us money. phase out fossil fuel plants and set higher energy efficency standards. […]

Flogging our future

Written By: - Date published: 9:18 am, August 6th, 2009 - 18 comments

Hot Topic has very interesting post up about how Act took a sudden interest in climate change denial after they received $100k from prominent climate change denier Alan Gibbs. As Gareth at HT points out: Hide’s repositioning coincided with a major donation to ACT by Alan Gibbs, a wealthy NZ businessman best known here for […]

John beats up on young Mum

Written By: - Date published: 4:27 pm, August 5th, 2009 - 89 comments

Seems John Key’s been name-dropping Kiwi film stars to business leaders in Brizzie. In today’s NZ Herald Key is quoted slamming actress Keisha Castle-Hughes for speaking out on climate change, saying that she should ‘stick to the acting’. Remember it’s just a matter of days after public consultation wrapped up over what the Government’s 2020 […]

Key: Don’t join the conversation

Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, August 5th, 2009 - 72 comments

By telling Keisha Castle-Hughes she should “stick to acting” and keep out of the climate change debate, Prime Minister John Key is signalling to young New Zealanders everywhere keep out of politics. I guess he doesn’t want us to “join the conversation” after all. Speak up, get shot down. That’s the modus operandi of the […]

Nick Smith lying with numbers.

Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, July 29th, 2009 - 12 comments

Nick Smith is the front-man for this government on climate change, and it appears that he knows absolutely nothing about the numbers. The ones he has been using are not related to his claims. It is puzzling because he was an engineer who are usually accurate users of numbers. It is more likely he is […]

Govt opts for weak climate change target

Written By: - Date published: 6:21 am, July 27th, 2009 - 44 comments

As expected, the Key Government has decided not to listen to the scientists on climate change. Rather than the 40% reduction in emissions by 2020 that the scientists are saying the the minimum developed nations need to achieve to start greenhouse gas levels heading back to safe levels, they’ll be setting a weaker target instead, […]

Wobbling boobs distract Darby from Global Warning

Written By: - Date published: 3:49 pm, July 24th, 2009 - 21 comments

Just saw this…pretty good. Didn’t realise Darby was another Signer Oner. Nice to see a bit of humour injected into something as grim as a toiling planet.

No more excuses, time to act

Written By: - Date published: 5:39 am, July 22nd, 2009 - 48 comments

Greenpeace and others are campaigning for the Government to agree to a target of 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2020. Where did they get that number from? From the science. The scientific consensus is that if we let carbon dioxide rise stay above 350 parts per million in the atmosphere we will […]

DL Wgtn this Thursday

Written By: - Date published: 3:58 pm, July 21st, 2009 - 2 comments

Short notice, but just got this in from the Drinking Liberally Wellington crew: This week Drinking Liberally is hosting Geoff Keey from Greenpeace. Geoff has been attending the recent climate change negotiations in Bonn and will reflect upon them, and Greenpeace’s “Sign On” campaign. The Sign On campaign is to advocate for for a commitment […]

Oil company backs Greenpeace

Written By: - Date published: 2:07 pm, July 14th, 2009 - 6 comments

Who’d have thought? An oil company coming out on the side of New Zealand’s biggest environmental organisation over emission reduction targets. Gull says let the science dictate how much New Zealand cuts its greenhouse gases by, and that the cost of inaction will far outweigh the cost of urgent cuts. Curious times call for curious […]

Greenpeace to Obama: Show some leadership

Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, July 10th, 2009 - Comments Off on Greenpeace to Obama: Show some leadership

From Greenpeace USA: Greenpeace climbers hung a banner on Mount Rushmore challenging President Obama to show real leadership on global warming. The banner read “America honors leaders not politicians: Stop Global Warming.” The demonstration comes as President Obama meets other G8 leaders in L’Aquila, Italy to discuss the global warming crisis in the lead-up to […]

Unassailable Evidence

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, July 8th, 2009 - 101 comments

Inaugural Lectures are very traditional University events; held these days to permit outstanding researchers to present an overview of their work to the wider academic community and public. Last night Prof. Tim Naish delivered a clear and decisive verdict about human induced climate change; the evidence is unassailable. Held in the very formal surrounds of […]

40 by 2020

Written By: - Date published: 4:05 pm, July 6th, 2009 - 11 comments

Great new video from 350.org.nz calling on the Government to back a 40% reduction in emissions by 2020. Current National Party policy is 50 by 2050. Public meetings on the Government’s emissions target start today. Check out frogblog for more information about how you can have your say.

Climate change, passing the pain.

Written By: - Date published: 10:15 am, July 6th, 2009 - 22 comments

The US has finally managed to pass a bill through the house of representatives dealing with climate change (sort of). It is laden with pork-barrel initiatives because the congress members realised that they could treat carbon credits as a type of free-money boondoggle. It still has to pass the senate and get approval from Obama, […]

A lecture on the WAIS

Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, July 5th, 2009 - 12 comments

There are a few odd times that I wish I was living in Wellington instead of Auckland (not often).This is one of them. There is a lecture by one of the leading researchers looking at the geology of the West Antarctica ice sheet (WAIS) and the critical medium-term effects of climate change. Tim Naish says […]

350.org

Written By: - Date published: 3:30 pm, June 18th, 2009 - 1 comment

This is the latest YouTube clip from 350.org, the international movement planning a worldwide day of protest on October 24 to demand our political leaders negotiate a fair and effective global climate treaty. There are a few events listed in New Zealand but it doesn’t look like anything major has been planned at this stage. […]

Cataclysm

Written By: - Date published: 9:01 am, June 9th, 2009 - 10 comments

Six Degrees Could Change the World This is a documentary detailing the possible effects as temperatures rise throughout the world degree by degree. We are shown deserts spreading out across West/Central America (Stretching from Texas up into Canada) as rains fail to reach there. New York becoming inundated as seas rise and storm surges increase […]

The legitimacy of distraction

Written By: - Date published: 1:41 pm, May 23rd, 2009 - 1 comment

A cold weekend afternoon. Perfect timing for a distracting article on Twitter, Adderall, lifehacking, mindful jogging, power browsing, Obama’s BlackBerry, and the benefits of overstimulation. Sam Anderson presents thoughts in defence of distraction. Over the last several years, the problem of attention has migrated right into the center of our cultural attention. We hunt it […]

NACT: Going backwards for politics

Written By: - Date published: 7:10 pm, May 20th, 2009 - 33 comments

The Fast Forward Fund was axed by the NACT government in Feburary. This was a fund that was to be invested and the proceeds and capital drawn down over 10-15 years to invest in agriculture. The funds would be distributed with equal contributions from agricultural businesses. Farming provides well over a third of our overseas […]

CCD Myths – East Antarctica

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 pm, May 11th, 2009 - 20 comments

In east Antarctica, the sea ice sheets have been larger recently. Predictably this has been seized on by the scientifically simple-minded climate change deniers (CCD’s) as evidence that climate change models are incorrect. This is despite it being predicted very closely by the same climate models well before it happened. I remember it being pointed […]

Retrograde NZ

Written By: - Date published: 3:46 pm, May 4th, 2009 - 18 comments

I had the pleasure of meeting lauded climate activist and author Bill McKibben this morning. McKibben is in New Zealand as part of a tour encouraging action on climate change, in the lead up to the big UN climate talks in Copenhagen in December. He’s a good guy tall, frank and realistic about the distinct […]

Coincidence?

Written By: - Date published: 5:00 am, May 4th, 2009 - 17 comments

Here’s the cover of Ian Wishart’s latest piece of scientifically illiterate climate change denialism, Air Con: And here’s the poster for World Fair Trade Day 2008: It seems an unlikely coincidence. [Hat tip: forgetaboutthelastone in the comments.]

Book review of the insane

Written By: - Date published: 12:37 pm, May 3rd, 2009 - 51 comments

Robinsod is no longer here to do the book reviews of Wishart‘s latest insights into the world of the paranoid. As he said before pronouncing his severe disappointment with Wishart in his last book.. I had high hopes for Absolute Power, I really did. If Faulkner taught us anything with The Sound and the Fury […]

Imagine.

Written By: - Date published: 2:30 pm, April 28th, 2009 - 6 comments

Inspired by a forwarded e-mail about Obama’s speech to the NAS with this line in it Imagine Key committing to invest 3% of GDP in R&D Obama 27th April 2009 at the National Academy of Science I am here today to set this goal: we will devote more than three percent of our GDP to […]

How did we miss the sweet spot?

Written By: - Date published: 11:15 am, April 20th, 2009 - 19 comments

This fascinating article (with many links) describes some of the radical technologies America is considering to address the urgent problem of global warming. … global warming is so dire, the Obama administration is discussing radical technologies to cool Earth’s air … One such extreme option includes shooting pollution particles into the upper atmosphere to reflect […]

Burn baby burn

Written By: - Date published: 9:33 am, April 8th, 2009 - 2 comments

The future is starting to look decidedly sci fi. As the UN climate talks in Bonn draw to a close, developed countries have refused to forward an overall mid-term emissions reduction target ( the cuts they’re willing to make collectively by 2020). Despite science telling us this needs to be in the range of 40 […]

Key paralytic as ice melts

Written By: - Date published: 11:45 am, April 7th, 2009 - 42 comments

John Key’s government is at the climate change talks in Bonn avoiding doing their part in combating more climate change in the future (along with Russia and the Ukraine). Meanwhile the British Antarctic Survey is reporting that the Wilkins ice shelf is likely to disappear shortly. A large part of the Wilkins Ice Shelf on […]

US warns: don’t cling to carbon

Written By: - Date published: 6:59 pm, April 1st, 2009 - 43 comments

Take heed, for the Superpower has spoken. At Round One of this year’s international climate change negotiations (in Bonn, Germany) the US has stolen the spotlight with a rousing opening address. President Barack Obama’s envoy Todd Stern stressed the need for action and warned countries like New Zealand that they’re set to become losers in […]

What’s a Poor Pragmatic Key to do?

Written By: - Date published: 8:53 am, March 29th, 2009 - Comments Off on What’s a Poor Pragmatic Key to do?

Just when the Kiwi corporate kleptocracy was kicking into high gear to ensure that the taxpayer is properly stuck with the paying the whole of New Zealand’s Kyoto carbon bill according to the time honoured ‘privatise the profit, socialize the loss’ principle, the Labour /Green Opposition may well crank up the thermostat on the Govt […]

Sinking shipping is stupid

Written By: - Date published: 10:18 am, March 26th, 2009 - 10 comments

Toad’s post on coastal shipping deserves re-posting: Coastal shipping is the most energy efficient means of moving freight. A ship consumes 75 – 80 percent less fuel than a truck per tonne hauled. It’s just got to be the way to go. The United States finally seems to be seeing this. A Bill before the […]

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