Latest Articles

On Bjorn Lomborg and species diversity

Bjorn Lomborg opens his chapter on biodiversity by citing my 1979 estimate of 40,000 species lost per year. He gets a lot of mileage out of that estimate throughout the chapter, although he does not cite any of my subsequent writings except for a single mention of a 1983 paper and a 1999 paper, neither of which deals much with extinction rates. Why doesn't he refer to the 80-plus papers I have published on biodiversity and mass extinction during the 20-year interim?

Zed, last of his species, in "There's One Bjorn Every Minute"

Yes, Virginia, There Is Global Warming

On Bjorn Lomborg and climate change

Bjorn Lomborg's chapter on global climate change is a clever polemic; it seems like a sober and well-researched presentation of balanced information, whereas in fact it makes use of selective inattention to inconvenient literature and overemphasis of work that supports his lopsided views. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports and other honest assessments don't have the luxury of using such tactics, given the hundreds of external reviewers and dozens of review editors.

On Bjorn Lomborg and extinction

My greatest regret about the Lomborg scam is the extraordinary amount of scientific talent that has to be expended to combat it in the media. We will always have contrarians like Lomborg whose sallies are characterized by willful ignorance, selective quotations, disregard for communication with genuine experts, and destructive campaigning to attract the attention of […]

A skeptical look at The Skeptical Environmentalist

Before the terrible events of Sept. 11 nudged our national mood towards nouveau-earnestness, skepticism was the disposition of the day. Bred in the swamps of transparent consumer manipulation, untrustworthy political leaders, and information overload, skepticism stamped a permanent question mark onto the brows of Generation X and seemed poised to become the watchword of our nation.

Food for Thought: Britain’s food system

The fixings for a traditional British turkey dinner could travel more than 24,000 miles before they reach the table, according to a report released yesterday by the U.K. lobby group Sustain. On average, food consumed in Britain travels 50 percent more than it did a decade ago, at the expense of human and environmental health. […]

Ice, Ice, Maybe Not

The South Pole is treading on thin ice, according to a study presented yesterday that found rapid thinning in three of Antarctica’s largest glaciers. In the last 10 years, the glaciers have lost up to 150 feet of thickness, or a collective 37.6 cubic miles of ice. According to the authors of the study, who […]

Sunder Water

The home of one of India’s leading environmentalists, Sunderlal Bahuguna, was flooded last week when the Indian government resumed work on the massive Tehri dam project. Bahuguna has spent two decades protesting the project, which is expected to totally submerge the town of Tehri by November. Activists, including author Arundhati Roy, have condemned the project […]

That Extincts!

Environmentalists in Florida are concerned about state plans to weaken protections for the manatee and the red-cockaded woodpecker. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has developed a new set of criteria to gauge what levels of protection animals deserve, and it has indicated that the woodpecker and manatee may now merit lower levels. To […]