In 46 years of records, more snow covered the Northern Hemisphere this fall than any other time. It is a very surprising result, especially when you consider temperatures have tracked warmest on record over the same period. Data from Rutgers University…
There’s growing evidence that global warming is driving crazy winters
It may be the timeliest — and most troubling — idea in climate science. Back in 2012, two researchers with a particular interest in the Arctic, Rutgers’ Jennifer Francis and the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Stephen Vavrus, published a paper called “Evidence linking Arctic amplification to extreme weather in mid-latitudes.” In it, they suggested that the fact that the Arctic is warming so rapidly is leading to an unexpected but profound effect on the weather where the vast majority of us live — a change that, if their theory is correct, may have something to do with the extreme winter weather the U.S. has seen lately.
Here’s why GMO labeling initiatives might fail – again
Yesterday, the Oregonian released a new poll it had commissioned showing that Measure 92, a ballot initiative to require the labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients in the state, was trailing 48 to 42 percent among likely voters. Yet back in July, another poll conducted for Earthfix of Oregon, an environmentally focused branch of Oregon Public Broadcasting, put support for the initiative at a very impressive 77 percent…One 2013 survey conducted by researchers at Rutgers University found that 54 percent of Americans say they know “very little or nothing at all” about genetically modified foods, and 25 percent have never even heard of them. ..”It’s really clear that people don’t know very much about the subject,” says Rutgers’ William Hallman, lead researcher on the poll. “And when people don’t know much abut a subject, how you ask them a question about it largely determines the answer you get back.”
Bedbugs! Many DIY methods of getting rid of them don’t work, but some do.
As bedbugs become more resistant to various pesticides, other defenses are growing in importance. But new tests give low grades to several homespun methods of bedbug defense. Rubbing alcohol is often recommended for killing bedbugs, for example. But sp…
Study: Pacific ocean now warming 15 times faster than in past 10,000 years
A new study finds Pacific ocean is taking in heat at the most rapid rate in many thousands of years, providing yet another indicator of global warming. The authors of the study, published in Science magazine, analyzed Pacific ocean sediment cores to re…
Grape tomatoes prevail this summer
Summer started agreeably cold and wet. It ended miserably hot and dry. To a gardener, the dryness has some redemptive value: It concentrates the sugars in grapes, melons and, of greatest relevance to most of us, tomatoes. When I traveled to the grand a…
Scientists studying solar radiation management as a way to cool planet
The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, a volcano in the Philippines, blasted enough fine particles and sulfur dioxide gas into the atmosphere to envelop the Earth in a high-altitude cloud for the better part of two months. When scientists checked in 1992…
Researcher defends work linking Arctic warming and extreme weather
On Monday, I wrote about a study that pushed back against a theory that a warming Arctic and melting ice are leading to a more volatile jet stream and an increase in extreme weather in the U.S. and elsewhere. Jennifer Francis, an atmospheric scientist …
Arctic warming and our extreme weather: no clear link new study finds
Is the dramatic decline of Arctic sea ice, spurred by manmade global warming, making the weather where we live more extreme? Several recent studies have made this claim. But a new study finds little evidence to support the idea that the plummeting Arct…
What makes a hamburger and other cooked meat so enticing to humans?
According to those who tried it last week, lab-grown beef doesn’t really taste like meat. So what exactly gives meat its flavor and makes us beg for more? We’ve long known why ice cream and chocolate appeal so much to our taste buds: It’s that bl…
