science

Fifty-five scientists from the Netherlands released the following open letter about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and errors discovered in its 2007 report on climate change.

In the letter, they explain how the IPCC works, and how the errors drawing so much attention "do not alter the key finding that human beings are very likely changing the climate, with far reaching impacts in the long run."

By Mark Pagani, John Wettlaufer, Jeffrey Park and David Bercovici

This week begins the United Nations Climate Change conference in Copenhagen, following the controversy of stolen emails from the University of East Anglia’s Climate Center. Both events have inspired a flood of news stories, editorials and blogs.

Although climate change remains one of our most urgent contemporary issues, it is wise to step back and view the big picture of what scientists do and do not understand about the Earth’s climate system and future climate change.

By Elizabeth May, Canada Green Party Leader

Strange, isn’t it that media are not wondering about who hacked into the computers and who paid them? Or why Dr. Andrew Weaver’s office in Victoria has been broken into twice. My guess is that all the computers of all the climate research centers of the world have been repeatedly attacked, but defenses held everywhere but East Anglia.

The scientists at East Anglia, plus colleagues around the world, are being hung out to dry as though they did something wrong. I did not want to spring to their defense until I read all their emails. Yes, all 3,000 or whatever of them.

Starting from 1996, these good and decent scientists write to each other on e-mail as colleagues and often as co-authors of work in paleoclimatology.

Twenty of the nation’s leading climate scientists called on President Obama today to take a more forceful role in fighting climate change, and they urged Congress to strengthen the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) climate bill, headed for the House floor as early as this week.

The ACES bill is an important foundation, and it must be enacted this year, “but at its best, it will be only a first step in the direction scientists now recognize as necessary to protect local and regional climates," the scientists write in an open letter to the president and Congress.

“Our purpose is to call attention to the large difference between what U.S. politics now seems capable of enacting and what scientists understand is necessary to prevent climatic disruption and protect the human future.

“We urge President Obama to exercise maximum personal leadership beginning now to ensure that the strongest possible legislation emerges from the Congress.”

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• Stacy Morford's blog
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A lot of adults, it seems, have a hard time wrapping their minds around basic Earth science (just tune into congressional hearings on the climate bill, particularly Reps. Joe Barton and John Shimkus, or Rep. John Boehner on the talk shows).

Fortunately, our kids still have a natural curiosity and insatiable desire to root out the truth.

One six-year-old's endless "why?" questions about the planet have become the inspiration for a creative new blog that's helping parents and teachers nurture their children's fascination with Earth science. Written by Jeff Goldstein, father to six-year-old Jordi and director of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, Blog On The Universe suggests ways to encourage questions and help kids discover the answers.

The blog poses challenges: How many new human beings will be on the planet a year from now, what resources will they need and where will they find them?

It also turns the news into teachable moments. The goal, Goldstein explains, is to get adults and children emotional about science and help them become good stewards of our planet.

"You've got to keep fighting for science literacy, and that's what this blog is all about," he says.

Here's a sample from a recent Blog On The Universe post that started with a question from Jordi: “Daddy, how long is a billion years?”

The United States' role in climate disruption is far greater than most people realize. Not only does the U.S. emit more carbon dioxide (CO2) than any other nation besides China, not only does the U.S. have one of the highest per-capita emissions levels in the world, but the U.S. economy also accounts for a massive amount of emissions released by the rest of the world.

I crunched the numbers to see just how much CO2 the United States economy is actually responsible for. The results are disturbing.