Fake news, and any interesting news, can spread like wildfire. Unfortunately, recent wildfires in Greece generated more fake news. It has now become popular to blame every natural disaster on global warming. Here I try to explain why this attitude is wrong and can sometimes even impede our scientific progress. Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming (CAGW) is a scientific theory that states that carbon dioxide emissions from human sources are causing global temperature to rise … [Read more...]
Flipping Out Over the Solar Flip?
Nowadays it seems we’re trained to be afraid. Reports that the sun’s magnetic field is flipping have caused not a few ripples of excitement. Some popular media report responsibly. Others play on fears, claiming that the magnetic field’s reversal means we’re in for some stormy weather. The good news? We’re not doomed. At just shy of 100 million miles away, our solar dance partner might seem too distant for relatively small events within it to have much impact on the earth. But the sun … [Read more...]
The Sun Also Sets
Back in 1991, before Al Gore first shouted that the Earth was in the balance, the Danish Meteorological Institute released a study using data that went back centuries that showed that global temperatures closely tracked solar cycles. To many, those data were convincing. Now, Canadian scientists are seeking additional funding for more and better "eyes" with which to observe our sun, which has a bigger impact on Earth's climate than all the tailpipes and smokestacks on our planet combined. And … [Read more...]
