Climate Science

Climate models are creating a false sense of security, or at least insufficient terror

A commentary in Nature Geosciences has succeeded in ruining my Thursday by scaring the sh*t out of me. If you value your Thursday peace of mind, you should not read this post.

We might have to geoengineer the planet to save ourselves from renewable energy

Mark Lynas, an author whose pop-sci books about climate change are scrupulous enough to get favorable reviews from the likes of climate scientist Eric Steig, proposed a funny little thought experiment on his blog: Could switching to renewables strip the planet of its sun-protective smog? And if so, will we need to replace it with artificial smog instead?

How much hotter has your state gotten?

Lost boys: In a warmer world, will males die sooner?

New research shows climate change could have biological impacts that shorten the lifespans of many men.

Did ExxonMobil break its promise to stop funding climate deniers?

The oil giant ExxonMobil may have given big bucks to scientist Wei Hock "Willie" Soon, who blames global warming on the sun.

Turtle sex disrupts air travel

Some flights out of JFK International Airport were delayed today as officials scrambled to clear runways of turtles. Apparently the diamondback terrapins, which live in nearby Jamaica Bay, were all "oh yeah, buiding a runway next to our habitat? That's how you're gonna play it? Fine, WE F*CK ON YOUR RUNWAY. DEAL WITH IT." Still, if there's a cuter reason to get stuck in the airport than turtles putting baby turtles inside other turtles, we don't know about it.

Top 5 animals going extinct because some guy can't get it up

Madagascar's tortoises are being wiped out by a "tortoise mafia" that authorities are powerless to stop. One reason: their shells are prized as an aphrodisiac in some parts of Asia. You might ask, "well, what hasn't been touted as the hidden folk-medical secret to letting old men impregnate everything in a five-mile radius?" The answer is: hardly anything.

U.S. politicians' campaign of terror against climate scientists

U.S. politicians aren't just denying that climate change is happening, they're actively using their position and power to try to intimidate climate scientists into keeping silent on the subject, says Raymond S. Bradley, director of the Climate System Research Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Climate change side effect: overworked doctors?

Hospital admissions diabetes, kidney stones, and suicide attempts will rise along with the temperature. An increase could overwhelm small hospitals.

Over 1,000 new species discovered in New Guinea

Researchers found more than 1,000 new species in New Guinea over the ten years from 1998 to 2008, according to a new report from the World Wildlife Fund. Previously unknown species -- including an 8-foot river shark, a frog with fangs, and pink dolphin -- were discovered at a rate of two a week. But New Guinea could lose half its forest to logging by 2020, and already some of these new species are so rare that they went onto the endangered list as soon as they were discovered.