Big Picture News, Informed Analysis

Canadian journalist Donna Laframboise. Former National Post & Toronto Star columnist, past vice president of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

NASA, Climate Change, and Children

NASA used to be about the right stuff. It used to be about knowledge, human ingenuity, and the triumph of sheer brainpower in the face of unfavourable odds. Now, rather than seeking to inspire kids, NASA tries to frighten them.

February 4, 2011

Want Kids to Learn Science?

A comic that contemplates how children might be motivated to take more of an interest during science class.

February 3, 2011

What They Said About the Climate Models

Governments around the world are convinced CO2 emissions are dangerous. Where did they get that idea? From computer models that even IPCC insiders say are uncertain, unreliable, and unvalidated.

February 2, 2011

Teachers: the New Green Police

Canadian teachers (who are employees of the state) are attempting to dictate how children’s lunchbox sandwiches get packaged. Intruding so intimately into people’s private lives is not an acceptable way to save the planet.

February 1, 2011

Does the IPCC Follow the Rules? Insiders Say ‘No’

According to insiders, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change rules are being ignored on the one hand – and circumvented on the other.

January 31, 2011

Credit Where It’s Due

A news account suggests Michael Oppenheimer is a class act. Rather than calling climate skeptics “deniers” he admits they might be smart people.

January 29, 2011

Mr. Chairman, Your Carriage Awaits

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is dysfunctional and unaccountable. That Rajendra Pachauri remains as its chairman – despite widespread calls for his resignation – is proof of this.

January 28, 2011

If IPCC Meetings Were Televised

The IPCC documents most likely to be read by outsiders – the Summaries for Policymakers – are not scientific statements at all. Rather, they are the result of a messy, arduous political negotiation that pits scientists against politicians.

January 27, 2011

The Sneaky, Not-So-Secret Purpose of the IPCC

According to scientists who’ve helped write its reports, the IPCC is not a scientific body first and foremost. Rather, its primary purpose is to lay the necessary groundwork so that an international climate change treaty can be negotiated.

January 26, 2011

All For a Nobel Cause

How often does the media imply that IPCC Peace Prize winners are scientific Nobel laureates?

January 24, 2011

Perceptions of Pachauri

What do IPCC insiders really think of chairman Rajendra Pachauri?

January 22, 2011

Grey Literature: IPCC Insiders Speak Candidly

IPCC insiders say non-peer-reviewed literature is essential and unavoidable when they write one of the world’s most important reports. Yet chairman Pachauri has, for years, insisted only peer-reviewed material gets used. Why haven’t scientific organizations set the record straight?

January 21, 2011

IPCC Experts Lack Scientific Credibility

IPCC insiders say many of those who shared in the 2007 Peace Prize lack appropriate scientific credentials. They were selected because they are of the right gender or come from the right country.

January 20, 2011

The Uses and Abuses of a Nobel Prize

A news story tells us we should believe a report because a “Nobel Prize-winning climate scientist” is associated with it. But the Nobel turns out to be the same Peace Prize awarded to Al Gore – and the report’s findings are highly improbable.

January 19, 2011

The Sad State of the Debate

According to some people, only a “climatologist” can be a credible scientific voice in the climate debate. Why do we spend so much time trying to disqualify people – rather than addressing their ideas?

January 17, 2011

Is the IPCC a Scrutiny-Free Zone?

A senior author thinks the IPCC should take a stand by declaring Freedom of Information requests a form of harassment.

January 16, 2011

The Silent Treatment

Should AGW proponents acknowledge critics? Or should they avert their eyes and block their ears?

January 14, 2011

Is a Meteorologist a Drought Expert?

Why does the media keep interviewing a meteorologist about droughts & floods instead of those with genuine expertise?

January 13, 2011

Science Website Publishes WWF Press Releases Verbatim

A website called ScienceCentric.com contains more than 400 “articles” written by the World Wildlife Fund. Activist group press releases are not bona fide science news.

January 12, 2011

Flooding in Australia

Australia’s poets have written about alternating droughts and floods since the early 1900s. Is a preoccupation with alleged global-warming-induced-droughts linked to too little government attention on precautionary flood measures?

January 11, 2011

IPCC Errors: in the Eye of the Beholder

Opinions regarding how the IPCC deals with errors are diverse. They can also be provocative. One IPCC official thinks public scrutiny of its reports should be discouraged.

January 10, 2011

New Blog Examines Green History

Haunting the Library, a new blog, digs up news clippings that add important historical context to the climate debate.

January 9, 2011

Does Global Warming Look Like Australia?

In early 2009 the Los Angeles Times said hot, dry Australia was a warning to us all – and that things would only get worse. The very next year, dry areas were flooded and snow fell during the summer.

January 7, 2011

Greenpeace: Corporate Stocks & Noah’s Arks

Greenpeace spends its time trashing corporations. Yet it solicits donations in the form of corporate stocks. Any kind of corporate stocks, apparently.

January 5, 2011

If You Don’t Believe in Global Warming, the Terrorists Win

A writer fabricates imaginary Osama bin Laden opinions. Then he fabricates imaginary climate skeptic opinions. The fact that they’re identical, he says, proves that skeptics are morally reprehensible “deniers” who should be ignored.

January 3, 2011

Last Call

The donation button on this blog will retire at midnight tomorrow (Monday, January 3rd).

I took some great photos today and it seems to me that nature is unendingly, searingly beautiful. But it should be respected – rather than romanticized.

January 2, 2011

Celebrating Science

A web comic that reminds us what’s powerful, noble, and inspiring about the scientific endeavour.

January 1, 2011