Yet more about climate change and the media (yawn)

Posted by & filed under Mountains & hills, Science, July 17 2007.

It is often assumed in many media reports that: All the mountain glaciers on earth are melting and receding rapidly They will all vanish in a few years This is an unprecedented change in the Earth’s (and hence mankind’s) environment This is entirely due to the effects of modern industrial civilisation, particularly increased air and… Read more »

Scottish glaciers

Posted by & filed under Books, Mountains & hills, Science, April 23 2007.

Ever since my first real mountain walking trip, to the Cairngorm plateau, I have been fascinated by the idea that in Scotland there can exist at high altitudes, even in the summer months, a small portion of the arctic. This trip was in June 1983, and the Cairngorm plateau then truly was arctic in nature,… Read more »

The global warming debate, the scientific method, fortean philosophy and the paranormal, and the Iraq war

Posted by & filed under Books, Personal, Science, March 18 2007.

My previous posting, ‘Is global warming really caused by human activity‘ caused some debate, notably on the Scran Scribble discussion forum. The television documentary that prompted my posting has also generated a lot of discussion, and the blog of the science journalist Ben Goldacre (who writes for the Guardian) contains a good sampling of the… Read more »

Is global warming really caused by human activity?

Posted by & filed under Personal, Science, March 9 2007.

Last night there was a documentary on Channel 4 (one of the main broadcasters on UK television), that essentially asked the question above. It was shocking and startling. There seems to be a very good chance that the answer to the question is no. Many atmospheric, oceanographic and biological scientists were interviewed, and they were… Read more »

Cheltenham moon

Posted by & filed under Personal, Science, Travel, March 5 2007.

Last weekend I spent a couple of days in Cheltenham visiting an old school friend, John. I had a great tour of most of the pubs and clubs and can confirm that yes, the place is small and peaceful, and just a bit upmarket (maybe too much for an unsophisticate like me), whilst at the… Read more »