Monthly Archives: April 2012

World’s biggest watermelon found in Washington DC

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Rick Altman

No doubt, this is what James Delingpole would say but, yet again, he would be wrong… For those not quite with me on this, Delingpole has written two versions of a reality-deficient book, Watermelons, in which he massages the consciences … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Disorder, Climate Science, Climategate, Cognitive Dissonance, Confirmation Bias, Economics, Energy Crisis, Environment, Financial Crisis, Fossil Fuels, James Delingpole, Politics | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Can we de-carbonise the Internet?

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Rick Altman

A few months ago, Greenpeace succeeded in getting Facebook to unfriend Coal. Now they are trying to get Apple Amazon and Microsoft all to clean up their acts also; to use only electricity from renewable energy sources to power the … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Science, Energy Crisis, Environment, Ethics, Fossil Fuels, Renewable Energy | 8 Comments

Climate Ostriches* caught Knappenbergering

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Rick Altman

Posted on 24 April 2012 at Skeptical Science by dana1981 (now including fascinating discussion with Knappenberger himself): Global Warming Causing Heat Fatalities One of the fallback positions of climate denial after the assertions that “It’s not happening” and “It’s not … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Science, Cognitive Dissonance, Confirmation Bias, Environment, Junk Science, Pseudo science, Scepticism | Tagged | 4 Comments

How could I forget?

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Rick Altman

Even though dragons don’t exist… and he we wasn’t even British… to all you those who feel intimidated by everyone else celebrating their national identity… Happy St George’s Day! How long will it be until the whole thing is turned … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumerism, Populism | Tagged | 2 Comments

Another damn import from the USA

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Rick Altman

Record-breaking temperatures in March? Check. Drought conditions declared? Check. What is it people used to say, “when America sneezes, Britain catches a cold”….? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HTAZue6ylZ8 Peter Sinclair (of Climate Denial Crock of the Week fame) has been a busy man: However, … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Science, Economics, Environment, Politics, Scepticism, Sustainable development | Tagged , | 14 Comments

A brief history of Earth – part 3

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Rick Altman

Brought forward 24 hours in order to mark Earth Day, this is the third (and possibly the last) part of my mini-series of posts looking at what we can and should learn about the fragility and contingency of our existence … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Mass Extinctions, Philosophy | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Go – Theresa May but Abu Qan’t-be-harder

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Rick Altman

Another catastrophic week for our banana-skin prone Coalition government in the UK. Talk about an unforced error by Home Secretary Theresa May. Whoever, or whatever will it be next? However, leaving aside arguments over appeal deadlines, the case of Abu … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics, Liberalism, Politics | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A brief history of Earth – part 2

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Rick Altman

Yesterday, I began a review of the recently-broadcast Australia: The Time Traveller’s Guide. However, this is such an information-rich programme, I went well over my 1000-word limit without even getting to the end of Episode 1. Also, it was clearly … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Mass Extinctions, Philosophy | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

A brief history of Earth – part 1

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Rick Altman

A couple of weeks ago, I got into a spot of bother for suggesting that only geologists have the required sense of perspective to appreciate how contingent Life on Earth actually is (i.e. that things could quite easily have not … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Mass Extinctions, Philosophy | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Postcard from a Herculean guilt trip

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Rick Altman

Schoolchildren love to play games. One of their favourites is blame-shifting. This is particularly common when they feel (or know) they are guilty. As the name suggests, it is usually an attempt to blame a problem on somebody else, or … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Science, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Palaeoclimatology, Photography, Scepticism | Tagged | 22 Comments