Posted: December 21st, 2011 | Author: Michael Courtenay | Filed under: Cankler, mcsixtyfive | Tags: Applied Science, Censorship, Chemically Engineered, Influenza, Killer Flu, Man Made Flu, National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, NSABB, Science, Science News | Comments Off
The journals Science and Nature are as we type and you read, mulling over whether to publish details of a man-made mutant flu virus with the potential to kill millions. A US government science advisory committee has urged key details be withheld so people seeking to do widespread harm would not be able to replicate the virus. The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) reviewed two scientific papers relating to the findings and recommended the journals considering them “make changes in the manuscripts”, a statement said. The virus in question is an H5N1 avian influenza strain that was genetically altered in a Dutch lab so it can pass easily between ferrets. The Dutch research team was led by Ron Fouchier at Rotterdam’s Erasmus Medical Centre. The team said in September it had created a mutant version of the H5N1 bird flu virus that could for the first time be spread among mammals. M★C
Posted: November 25th, 2011 | Author: M.Aaron Silverman | Filed under: mcsixtyfive | Tags: Climate Change, CO2, Engineered Life, Global Warming, Last Glacial Maximum, Macquarie University, Oregon State University, Science, Science News, Science of Green | Comments Off
High levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may have less of an impact on the rate of global warming than previously feared, a new study suggests. Associate Professor Schmittner notes that many previous studies only looked at periods spanning from 1850 to today, thus not taking into account a fully integrated palaeoclimate data on a global scale. The authors of the study stress that global warming is real and that increases in atmospheric CO2, which has doubled from pre-industrial standards, will have multiple serious impacts. But more severe estimates that predict temperatures could rise up to an average of 10 degrees Celsius are unlikely, the researchers report in the journal Science. The new study suggests temperatures will rise on average 2.3 degrees under the same conditions. Scientists have long struggled to quantify climate sensitivity, or how the Earth will respond to projected increases in carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas M★S READ MORE
Posted: November 25th, 2011 | Author: M.Aaron Silverman | Filed under: mcsixtyfive | Tags: Climate Change, CO2, Engineered Life, Global Warming, Last Glacial Maximum, Macquarie University, Oregon State University, Science, Science News, Science of Green | Comments Off
High levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may have less of an impact on the rate of global warming than previously feared, a new study suggests. Associate Professor Schmittner notes that many previous studies only looked at periods spanning from 1850 to today, thus not taking into account a fully integrated palaeoclimate data on a global scale. The authors of the study stress that global warming is real and that increases in atmospheric CO2, which has doubled from pre-industrial standards, will have multiple serious impacts. But more severe estimates that predict temperatures could rise up to an average of 10 degrees Celsius are unlikely, the researchers report in the journal Science. The new study suggests temperatures will rise on average 2.3 degrees under the same conditions. Scientists have long struggled to quantify climate sensitivity, or how the Earth will respond to projected increases in carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas M★S READ MORE
Posted: November 20th, 2011 | Author: M.Aaron Silverman | Filed under: mcsixtyfive | Tags: Climate Change, Ecology, Extreme Weather, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, International Energy Agency, IPCC, Science, Science News, Science of Green, United Nations | Comments Off
As the Earth’s climate warms, United Nations scientists are predicting an increase in heat waves, rainfall and flooding, stronger cyclones and more intense droughts across the globe this century. In a report released last week in Uganda, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – IPCC – urged countries to rapidly adopt disaster management plans to adapt to the growing risk of extreme weather. The report gives differing probabilities for weather events, but the thrust is that extreme weather is likely to increase and that the likely cause is humans. The IPCC defines “likely” as a 66-100 per cent probability, while “virtually certain” is 99-100 per cent. The report says it’s virtually certain that increases in the frequency and magnitude of warm daily temperature extremes will occur on the global scale in the 21st century. A 1-in-20 year hottest day is likely to become a 1-in-2 year event by the end of the 21st century in most regions. It is very likely that the length, frequency and intensity of heat waves will increase. Heat waves would likely get hotter by 1-3 degrees Celsius by mid-21st century and by 2-5 degrees by late-21st century M★S READ MORE
Posted: November 20th, 2011 | Author: M.Aaron Silverman | Filed under: mcsixtyfive | Tags: Climate Change, Ecology, Extreme Weather, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, International Energy Agency, IPCC, Science, Science News, Science of Green, United Nations | Comments Off
As the Earth’s climate warms, United Nations scientists are predicting an increase in heat waves, rainfall and flooding, stronger cyclones and more intense droughts across the globe this century. In a report released last week in Uganda, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – IPCC – urged countries to rapidly adopt disaster management plans to adapt to the growing risk of extreme weather. The report gives differing probabilities for weather events, but the thrust is that extreme weather is likely to increase and that the likely cause is humans. The IPCC defines “likely” as a 66-100 per cent probability, while “virtually certain” is 99-100 per cent. The report says it’s virtually certain that increases in the frequency and magnitude of warm daily temperature extremes will occur on the global scale in the 21st century. A 1-in-20 year hottest day is likely to become a 1-in-2 year event by the end of the 21st century in most regions. It is very likely that the length, frequency and intensity of heat waves will increase. Heat waves would likely get hotter by 1-3 degrees Celsius by mid-21st century and by 2-5 degrees by late-21st century M★S READ MORE
Posted: November 19th, 2011 | Author: Michael Courtenay | Filed under: mcsixtyfive | Tags: Cankler, china, Great Dying, Permian Mass Extinction, Permian-Triassic Boundary, Science, Science News | Comments Off
Throughout the history of our planet, there have been a number of mass extinction events, the largest was the “Great Dying,” which occurred at the cusp of the Permian and Triassic periods. A recent find in China has allowed researchers to pinpoint the events that appear to have precipitated the ‘Great Dying’ Scientists working in South China have pinpointed the timing of the Earth’s most dramatic extinction, an event that killed 96 per cent of all marine species, and 70 per cent of those on land. Their findings show the so-called end-Permian mass extinction, sometimes referred to as the ‘Great Dying’, peaked just before 252 million years ago and took place very quickly, over a period of less than 200,000 years. This precise timing should help scientists settle the contentious issue of what exactly stripped so much biodiversity from the face of the planet, says study author Sam Bowring, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Other researchers have proposed several mechanisms for the extinctions, including an asteroid impact, an enormous volcanic event, or a shift in ocean circulation driven by climate change. So far no hypothesis has gained widespread support among scientists. One obstacle has been a lack of precise information about the timing and length of the event M★C READ MORE
