Climate scientists are the target of an organized campaign of hate mail and threats that they say seem calculated to silence them. And some say the bullying campaign seems to be inspired by media superstars.
"Penn State University announced Wednesday it had dismissed three of the most serious charges against one of its top climate researchers, Michael E. Mann, but would continue to probe if he violated academic standards of conduct in connection with Climate-gate, a series of e-mail exchanges that came to light after hackers pirated the University of East Anglia's server."
A study by Univ. of California-Irvine researchers has found that while grass itself acted as a carbon sink, when other factors are taken into account — fuel burned to maintain the lawn, emissions from fertilizer spread to help it grow, etc. — four times as much carbon was emitted than was absorbed.
Dozens of sessions on environmental topics are on the agenda at the 2010 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, to be held Feb. 18-22 in San Diego.
Katharine Jacobs, chair of the forthcoming National Academy of Sciences report on Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change and a professor at the University of Arizona, will head up the effort to reinstate the National Assessment — with new emphasis on adaptation.
"The nation's top scientists and spies are collaborating on an effort to use the federal government's intelligence assets -- including spy satellites and other classified sensors -- as sensitive instruments that can assess the hidden complexities of environmental change. They seek insights from natural phenomena like clouds and glaciers, deserts and tropical forests."
A new tool makes finding, understanding, and communicating science easier for environmental reporters.
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