Dan’s Wild Wild Science Journal

The war on science in America shows no signs of abating. If anything, it’s gotten much worse.

While I try hard to avoid politics on this journal, when people try to change science to their own beliefs or rewrite history for the same reasons, I’m going to talk about it. It doesn’t matter what political party you belong to. This case has to do with some political extremists who run the Texas public schools. Just find me some crazy on the other side of the political spectrum attacking science, and I will gladly give equal time. It’s not about the politics, it IS about the science.

From Climate Progress by Joe Romm. What is happening to science in Texas is downright scary. The cartoon is kinda funny though...

Joe Romm at Climate Progress has this cartoon up. It speaks volumes.

There is not much more that I can add except to say that I was not kidding in the title of this post. If you have kids in Texas public schools, you should probably consider  pulling them out and get them a real science education.

Astronomer Phil Plait has an excellent post on this as well.  It’s not an exaggeration to say that the faculty of almost every science department at every major university in America, are incredulous over these kind of things.

The reason for all of this is the lack of basic science education in the first place. The public’s idea of what a scientific theory is and the reality of what a scientific theory is are totally different.

In many ways- Scientific theories OUT RANK Laws.

Scientific method has taken us from living in wood huts, to walking on the Moon and exploring the outer planets in 400 years. See Science Fights back.

Science will win this war. It always has. It will win because science is based on observation and evidence.

Not political belief.

Update: The NYT has published an editorial today on this subject.

Who has to change that clock??? Dan's picture.

The U.S. has recently lengthened by one month the annual setting of the clocks ahead by one hour. If you are in the USA, the time to do this is 2 AM this Sunday morning 14 March.

The UK, and most of western Europe, will not jump forward until 28 March.

Supposedly, the first person to have the idea was none other than Ben Franklin who argued it would save lamp oil and candles in summer. The reason being that it would get dark much later than in winter and people would go to bed soon after darkness fell. This makes sense and it likely did save energy when first enacted during the first world war.

It almost certainly does not now. There is very good evidence that it actually costs us more money.

Two studies on the past 3 years have come up with the same conclusions. The extra air conditioning use in the evening when people are home from work, costs far more energy than the lower use of lighting. As more and more compact fluorescent lights are used, the difference will be even greater I suspect.

Joe Romm over at Climate Progress has a good post on this. (He actually beat me to it!)

Better yet, read the actual paper. Mouse on the image below to read it.

Kotchen and Grant found, that in Indiana, the change to the clocks in summer cost Indiana folks around 9 million dollars a year extra in power bills! That was BEFORE the congress added a month to it!

Since we still get most of our electricity from the dirtiest method possible by  burning coal, this is adding a lot of pollution and green house gases to the atmosphere.  See A REMINDER ABOUT COAL. A report on CBS News says heart attacks go up 6% during daylight time. Not sure why.

Here is my vote for leaving the darn clocks alone!

Later,

one hour later to be exact,

Dan

I am a proud member of the International Association of Broadcast Meteorologists. Many of us who do weather on TV and radio realise that we may very well be the only person of science the average person sees each day. Those of us in the IABM take that responsibility very seriously. We strive to give accurate information on not only weather but on science in general.

Paul Gross of the IABM and the chair of the AMS Station Science Committee has an excellent editorial in the most recent issue of the IABM journal UP FRONT. (Full disclosure- Paul is a friend, and I am a member of the committee)

Here is a well reasoned and fact based look at the issue. I deserved wider dissemination than just us TV science types.

Click image for full pdf.

I have my own little mention in the UP FRONT. It is a summary of my trip to Antarctica. You can read it below.

Click to read. TV types- you should consider applying for membership in the IABM.

One of the very best science blogs online is written by astronomer and author Phil Plait. He has been covering the story of the magic wands the Iraqi government has been buying to detect bombs. These things work as well as those copper bracelets you see advertised on late night TV. You know, the ones that are supposed to make you feel great and work better.

They even have sports stars singing their praises! (This advert would be totally banned in most countries)

Horse Hockey

It’s all bunk of course.

There has never been any scientific study (or known physics) for that matter that would indicate that they can do anything except turn your wrist green from wearing it!

Now copper bracelets are one thing. If someone wants to spend their money on them, it’s their business. When people are wasting millions on a product that is so fraudulent the British government has arrested the maker, then that is something different. The sad fact is that it is daily costing lives. Lives of innocent men, women and children. Possibly lives of American servicemen as well.

So click the image below to read Phil’s post and bookmark his site. He is one of the best science writers out there. His book Death from the Skies would be a great one for a high school astronomy class too.

See what I mean. Carl Sagan is turning over in his grave. Before you get smug about how archaic they are in Iraq, open your morning paper and read your horoscope.

Later,
Dan

The National Climate Data Center (NOAA) has released the January global temperature data. January 2010 is the 4th warmest on record globally. What is more interesting is that looking at ocean temps. alone it was the second warmest on record. Only 1998, with it’s very strong El Nino, were the oceans warmer.

As I mentioned in the previous post, the heavy snowfall events of the past 6 weeks along the Eastern Seaboard could very well be related to the fact that the atmosphere holds more water now than 40 years ago. The unusually warm oceans may very well have played a role in the record snow event in Washington. Keep in mind we are talking about climate, and not weather. You cannot ascribe any one event to climate change. You can however say if the changes we have seen would make such an event more likely.

In this case the answer seems to be a “likely yes”.

It would not surprise me to hear some people claim that a blizzard somehow nullifies 100 years of peer reviewed science. Even someone like Donald Trump expressing such ignorance is not really surprising. What IS surprising that some United States Senators, and members of Congress, people who make our laws and run the country, are that ignorant.

These people really have no excuse. They should be ashamed to hold such a high office and be so uninformed.

No matter what party they belong to.

Later,
Dan