Via Stoat, an excellent survey of the epistemological value of peer review by Victor Venema. [more]

Naomi Klein, a couple of years ago, observed that "it is not opposition to the scientific facts of climate change that drives denialists but rather opposition to the real-world implications of those facts." She quotes Dellingpole: "Modern environmentalism successfully advances many of the causes dear to the left: redistribution of wealth, higher taxes, greater government intervention, regulation." and offers her own "inconvenient truth". She says that on this point, Dellingpole is right. [more]

The ‘Big Five’ primary causes of biodiversity loss … are habitat destruction, overharvesting and poaching, pollution, climate change and introduction of invasive species.” Migratory species are especially vulnerable “as they depend entirely on a network of well-functioning ecosystems to refuel, reproduce and survive in every ‘station’ they visit and upon unrestricted travel.” [more]

Andrew Coyne does an excellent job of demonstrating why the move away from pure science funding is a bad idea from an economic perspective [more]

A ban on the insecticide-soaked seed coating enforced by the Italian government last year seems to have worked wonders, judging from the freshest data collected on the ground by researchers, beekeepers and regional authorities alike. [more]

Phil Plait reports that the National Research Council—the Canadian scientific research and development agency—has now said that they will only perform research that has “social or economic gain”. In the past, civilized countries as a matter of pride contributed to the common pursuit of knowledge. [more]

Writing in The Guardian, Nafeez Ahmed explicitly points to climate change as a component of the humanitarian disaster that is the Syrian civil war. [more]

There's a thoughtful, beautifully written, and terrifying story about human/wildlife interaction, specifically an endangered seal in Hawai'i, written by Jon Mooallem, at the New York Times Magazine site. [more]

There's a lot of discussion of the fact that daily mean CO2 concentrations at Mauna Loa exceeded 400 ppmv for the first time. [more]

As argued recently, CO2 is not a defendant accused of a crime, and we should not care whether it can be proven guilty. By now it can be proven, but that was never the right framing. Emissions are a risk management issue. Nevertheless the Wall Street Journal just ran an op-ed entitled "In Defense of CO2". The explicit doubling down on the misframing of the problem is notable. [more]

A concerted push has begun within the party—in conservative think tanks and grassroots groups, and even in backroom, off-the-record conversations on Capitol Hill—to persuade Republicans to acknowledge and address climate change in their own terms, according to a feature story today in the National Journal. [more]

The recent very low tornadic activity in the US is even stranger than the very high tornadic activity of 2010-2011, according to an analysis by tornado expert Patrick Marsh. [more]

The CBC reports that a group of 12 prominent Canadian climate scientists, including P3 contributor SImon Donner, called out the federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver on his support for the expansion of oil infrastructure in a letter released today. [more]

In a remarkable communication, James Hansen summarizes his position, and announces that he will get more science done in his retirement, not less. [more]

There's a new video lecture from Genie Scott: Denialism of Climate Change and Evolution. [more]