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5. desember 2003
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Hot or not?
A new tool for the blogger-without-a-cause, or just a good start for browsing around: HotLinks.
8:14:23 PM 
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Experts: no doubt about global warming (or is it?)
Two leading experts on climate research says there is no doubt that the Earth's tenperatures are increasing, and that this is caused by human activity. That is at least how it is interpreted in the media. And maybe that is the way it is intended to be interpreted.
Industrial emissions are a leading cause, they say -- contradicting critics, already in the minority, who argue that climate change could be caused by mostly natural forces.
"There is no doubt that the composition of the atmosphere is changing because of human activities, and today greenhouse gases are the largest human influence on global climate," wrote Thomas Karl, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center, and Kevin Trenberth, head of the Climate Analysis Section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
"The likely result is more frequent heat waves, droughts, extreme precipitation events, and related impacts, e.g., wildfires, heat stress, vegetation changes, and sea-level rise," they added in a commentary to be published in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
Karl and Trenberth estimate that, between 1990 and 2100, there is a 90 percent probability that average global temperatures will rise by between 3.1 and 8.9 degrees Fahrenheit (1.7 and 4.9 degrees Celsius) because of human influences on climate.
Well, if there is a 10% chance it will not, then it's not possible to say it is "no doubt." If you read the quotation above a bit more carefully, you will see that what there is no doubt about, is the change in the composition of the atmosphere, not the climate changes that follow.
It has caused irritation among many scientists that political leaders like George Bush have used the residual doubt to justify declining to reduce climate gas reduction. Some scientists have argued that it may be necessary to drop the cautionary words otherwise compulsory in science when writing about climate and other environmentalist issues. In other words, some scientists think they have to lie just a little bit to get across the truth (as they see it).
6:23:53 PM
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Boob job for no frills airliner
The flying angel logo for the wildly successful no frills airliner Ryanair has received a face lift, or rather, a boob job. The once flat chested angel/harp has clearly reached puberty now, as you can see from the before (left) and after (right) pictures above.
Ryanair, which handles 24million passengers a year, yesterday admitted tweaking the flying harp motif.
A spokesman said: “We decided to give our customers a more uplifting experience. We think she is rather aerodynamic.”
All newer aircraft will receive the new "uplifting" logo on its tail.
3:57:42 PM
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Today's breaking science news
"Ancient fossil penis discovered" (BBC News)
12:55:18 PM
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Train blast near Chechnya
 At least 35 people were killed by an explosion on a crowded commuter train near Chechnya in Russia. Early reports blame a suicide bomber, but the security services FSB has been cautious in its statements.
Early success in the war in Chechnya was important for Vladimir Putin's surprise election success some years back. This blast coincides with upcoming parliamentary elections in the breakaway province.
The significant number of terrorist incidents may also be intended to demonstrate that the Russian president do not have the control he claims to have.
11:36:52 AM
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Steel tariffs lifted
The rumours were true, and Bush has now officially lifted the steel import tariffs. The EU responded by halting the announced sanctions, and essentially declared victory.
Lawmakers who are home to US steel industry accused Bush over giving in to foreign pressure.
"These safeguard measures have now achieved their purpose, and as a result of changed economic circumstances, it is time to lift them," Bush said in a statement.
Not many are buying that argument.
The good thing coming out of this is that Bush has lost politically on his betrayal of free trade. He has not harvested the windfall of his protectionism, and he will now face criticism for giving in to pressure as well as criticism for having instituted the tariffs in the first place. This is almost certainly a political net loss. Why do I think that is good? Because it will hopefully make politicians think twice before trying to use short sighted protectionism to win favour again.
1:45:06 AM
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We're running out of oil... or maybe not
The Daily Ablution debunks the scaremongering of people like George Monbiot, who claims that we are running out of oil and civilization is going to hell.
Oil is running out, but no one wants to talk about it.
Actually, lots of people have talked about it.
In 1914 ... When the US Bureau of Mines estimated reserves at 10 years.
In 1939 ... When the Department of the Interior gave a 13 year projection.
In 1972 ... When The Limits to Growth predicted we'd be out of oil in 20 years.
In 1987 ... When Paul Erlich said the oil shock would come in the '90s.
... and so on.
Very true. Actually, the "we're running out of oil" scare had a precursor in the 19th century: We're running out of coal! Max Weber, in his classic work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, made a reference to this fear:
This order is now bound to the technical and economic conditions of machine production which to-day determine the lives of all the individuals who are born into this mechanism, not only those directly concerned with economic acquisition, with irresistible force. Perhaps it will so determine them until the last ton of fossilized coal is burnt.
People were frequently predicting more than a century ago that we would run out of coal and that would be the end of western civilization and the industrial age.As you should be aware, we still haven't run out of coal, but we've moved on and even if we did run out, it would not be a big deal. And I make the prediction that long before humans have run out of oil, we will have moved on to other energy sources.
12:05:32 AM
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© Copyright 2004 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.01.2004; 02:46:23.
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This is my blogchalk:
Norway, Bergen, Norwegian, English, Jan, Male, 31-35.
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