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  • Dr. Grist’s four-part prescription for managing climate change

    Dr. Grist fills in the blanks.We are not going to solve climate change. That’s not pessimism — it’s just not the kind of thing that can be “solved.” It’s already underway. There’s enough carbon stocked in the atmosphere to keep the temperature going up for decades even if we cease polluting entirely, which isn’t going […]

    David Roberts Science

  • Extreme weather costs lives, health, economy — and could be here to stay

    A wildfire burns out of control in Texas earlier this month.Photo: Texas Military ForcesCross-posted from the Center for American Progress. This post was coauthored by Valeri Vasquez, special assistant for energy policy at the Center for American Progress, and Ben Kaldunski, a former intern with the Energy Team at American Progress. “April is the cruelest […]

    Daniel J. Weiss Science

  • City birds have bigger brains than country birds, says study

    Will the intrusion of cities into the natural environment cause birds to become brainier? That appears to be the case, say a passel of ecologists in the April 27 issue of Biology Letters. (This story has no implications for humans. Really. It just illustrates a principle that might possibly generalize to other animals. Including apes? […]

    Christopher Mims Science

  • Awesome bird records its own habitat destruction

    Robert Krulwich has a post up about the superb lyrebird (real name!), which is COMPLETELY RIDIC. What's so superb? How about the ability to mimic any noise it hears with astonishing faithfulness, that do anything for you? It's the auditory equivalent of that girl from Heroes who could copy anything she saw on TV and […]

    Jess Zimmerman Science

  • Climate legislation advances in 16 major countries

    A new study [PDF] released by GLOBE international — a coalition of legislators from around the world — found that “climate change is featuring prominently on the legislative agenda across the 16 major economies.” The study, conducted by the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at the London School of Economics, documents the kinds of actions […]

    Jake Schmidt Science
  • I'm climbing in my douchecanoe to paddle back into the debate over the green-bashing by the Breakthrough crowd.
    I'm climbing in my douchecanoe to paddle back into the debate over the green-bashing by the Breakthrough crowd.

    Why I’ve avoided commenting on Nisbet’s ‘Climate Shift’ report

    Last week, Matt Nisbet, an associate professor at American University, released a report called “Climate Shift.” It argued that, contrary to what most people think, pro-climate-bill forces spent more than their opponents, media coverage of climate science has been generally fair, and Al Gore is just as responsible as Republicans for politicizing the subject of […]

    David Roberts Science

  • Unsure about nuclear power? Here are the five questions you must answer to decide

    Chernobyl begs a lot of questions 25 years later.Photo: Pedro Moura PinheiroCross-posted from The Guardian. Containing the elemental forces that rage inside a nuclear reactor is one of the great achievements of science, but losing control, as happened 25 years ago today at Chernobyl, is one of its greatest failures. So what to think of nuclear […]

    Damian Carrington, The Guardian Science

  • Open letter to a conservative climate change convert

    Mr. Tucker, Your story about transitioning from climate skepticism to climate realism has gotten quite a bit of attention and interest among folks on “my side” of that debate, as you can imagine. I had wondered if it were still possible for people to be “defeated by facts” and change their minds about issues tangled […]

    David Roberts Science

  • Me, in NYT’s Room for Debate, on the Endangered Species Act

    Photo: Reed LakefieldLast week, Todd Woody wrote a great piece in The New York Times about the growing crisis around the Endangered Species Act, as the Fish and Wildlife Service is overwhelmed with new applications for species in danger. NYT’s Room for Debate asked me and some other folks to weigh in on the piece. […]

    David Roberts Science

  • Everyone’s apparently psyched to kill some wolves now

    Well, Sarah Palin will like this one: Congress has quietly removed wolves from the endangered species list in almost every state, leading hunters in the Rocky Mountain states to gear up for an unprecedented wolf-slaughtering party. Wolf numbers have grown to 1,700 since 1994, and proponents of the delisting say the new healthier population of […]

    Jess Zimmerman Science