Periodically, some readers accuse me of characterizing climate skepticism in an overly broad manner. There are various subspecies, they insist. So I should stop painting all climate skeptics as frothing conspiracy mongers. My rejoinder is that I base my characterization on the loudest, most relentless climate skeptics, who have made themselves the representative voices of…Continue Reading…
The politicized and polarized nature of the climate debate is well established. Those who track the testy, emotionally-charged conversation on agricultural biotechnology wonder if the GMO discourse is heading down that road. I’ve argued that the rhetorical tactics of GMO skeptics and climate skeptics are similar. Others have also come to see these commonalities (cherry-picking…Continue Reading…
A straightforward definition from Wikipedia: Green revolution refers to to a series of research, development, and technology transfer initiatives, occurring between the 1940s and the late 1960s, that increased agriculture production worldwide, particularly in the developing world, beginning most markedly in the late 1960s. The initiatives, led by Norman Borlaug, the “Father of the Green Revolution” credited with…Continue Reading…
As I have discovered, there are numerous ways to get yourself on the outs with groups of people who otherwise share your values and politics. You could, for example, call out screechy climate demagogues or critique the rhetoric of saintly, well-meaning climate activists. You could also argue that environmentalism needs to be reinvented and make…Continue Reading…
You’re a scientist who publishes research that suggests a certain product is harmful to the environment and public health. The company that makes the product disputes your findings and wages a campaign to sully your professional reputation. How do you respond? If you’re Tyrone Hayes, the Berkley biologist whose studies point to harmful impacts of…Continue Reading…
A hypothetical: You are a journalist who has written a great deal about the anti-vaccine movement and you have been asked to participate in a panel on the safety of childhood vaccines. This panel was organized by professional medical and health journalists. Also on this hypothetical panel would be a prominent scientist, such as Paul…Continue Reading…
In recent days and weeks, we’ve been seeing similar-sounding headlines out of California, such as this: Sacramento breaks 130-year old for low rainfall And this: LA is on track to set dry-weather record Indeed, as my fellow Discover blogger Tom Yulsman noted last month: We’ll have to wait a couple of weeks for the official year-end precipitation…Continue Reading…
Several weeks ago, Nathanael Johnson at Grist reflected on what he had learned after spending half a year dissecting all the major claims and counter-claims that dominated the GMO debate. It was a very thoughtful post with a jarring headline: What I learned from six months of GMO research: None of it matters Many smart people…Continue Reading…
We ofter hear that global warming is the existential issue of our day. And that reducing carbon emissions from fossil fuels will be essential if we are to preserve a livable climate for civilization. People can quibble with the various risk scenarios and which computer models are more accurate and so on, but in the…Continue Reading…
I have often asked myself, What was Jared Diamond thinking when he first learned that everything Easter Island symbolized to him might be wrong? Did the prize-winning, internationally celebrated writer ever look around at the accumulating evidence and think that maybe–just maybe–Easter Island isn’t the best metaphor for ecocide? By all indications, Diamond has not allowed such…Continue Reading…