See you in Stillwater?

I'll be giving a talk on climate change and related matters in Stillwater on Monday:

The Global and Local Impacts of Climate Change

Anthropogenic Climate Change, also misleadingly known as "Global Warming," has emerged as a significant reality affecting societies and economies around the world and at home. In this talk we'll examine the contentious questions of changes in weather patterns and sea level rise. Both of these effects of warming have already had impacts and these impacts are expected to increase in the future. What does the science say about "weather whiplash," severe storms, and the rise of seas in the near and longer term future, how certain are we of what may happen, and how severe might these impacts be?

Greg Laden is a science communicator and teacher who has studied the relationship between human evolution and ecology, climate change during the Holocene, and African and North American prehistory. He has addressed, mostly through his writing on National Geographic Scienceblogs, the science of climate change, and has presented several talks and workshops on this issue. He is currently teaching at Century College and is writing two books, one on fieldwork in the Congo and the other, a novel, on life in the upper Midwest and Plains in a post-climate change world. He strongly hopes that the novel remains fiction rather than prediction.

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A rollicking adventure through the rift valley and rain forests of Central Africa in search of the elusive diminutive ape known locally as Sungudogo.   A rollicking adventure through the rift valley and rain forests of Central Africa in search of the elusive diminutive ape known locally as Sungudogo.

More on climate change HERE.

Also, check out my novella, Sungudogo, HERE. It is an adventure story set in Central Africa which ultimately turns out to be a parody of the skeptics movement. It seems to have struck a nerve with a few of the skeptics, while others seem to have enjoyed it. Who knew?

More like this

Please join us. It will be at the West Metro Critical Thinking Club on Saturday, December 28, 2013, at 10:00 AM at the RidgePointe Senior Apartments on 12600 Marion Ln. W, Minnetonka, MN. I know these people. This will be a tough audience. This is a well educated and thoughtful group. Also,…
Tonight, at 7:00 PM, I'll be giving a talk at the Stillwater Critical Thinking Club on climate change, focusing on sea level rise and weather whiplash. We'll be discussing the Arctic Vortex as part of that. The Global and Local Impacts of Climate Change Anthropogenic Climate Change, also…
Extreme weather events of all kinds seem to be more common now than they were then. By now I mean the last five to ten years, approximately, and by then I mean ... well, before that. This is because of global warming. The current Colding caused by a wandering Polar Vortex (which I've heard Rush…
Bill Nye on CNN: I think Bill is going to make excellent points in this debate. I don't think changing creationists minds is the point, as Bill Nye says. I also like Nye asking about the sincerity of the creationist point of view. I wish him the best of luck. And not just luck, but Science-Power…

Good grief. Now we got anthropologists and sociologists getting on the global warming bandwagon--as if they know what they are talking about. Its bad enough to have pseudoscientists putting forth their irreproducible 'science' as fact without these clowns also seeking attention. There should be Nuremberg style trials for all these poseurs. What a joke. Copernicus and Galileo were right and we have learned nothing to continue entertaining these fools!!!

From a real scientist, not an "anthropologist"

By Lars Andersen (not verified) on 06 Jan 2014 #permalink

Lars, for starters, I'm a palaeoanthropologist. I assume you don't know what that means, but since I am one I can tell you that I am a "real scientist"

Second, I regard your comment as utterly inappropriate, verging on death threat; henceforth you will be silent.

Greg, what is gained by leaving such posts up (#1)? Just delete it.

By Geoff Harris (not verified) on 07 Jan 2014 #permalink

Geoff, I usually do delete comments like this. At present, though, there is an ongoing conversation on what climate science denialism looks like, and is a good example of one of its many manifestations. I may even use it in the talk I'm giving.

From the indispensable Crackpot Index:

36. 40 points for claiming that when your theory is finally appreciated, present-day science will be seen for the sham it truly is. (30 more points for fantasizing about show trials in which scientists who mocked your theories will be forced to recant.)

Since Baez gives everybody -5 points to start, that means that poster #1 has a crackpot score of at least +65, based on that post alone. That doesn't rule out his being a "real scientist" as he claims (far too many scientists have "gone emeritus" one way or another), but I wouldn't bet that he is.

By Eric Lund (not verified) on 07 Jan 2014 #permalink

The phrase "global warming" certainly does mislead many people ("if the globe is warming, why is it so cold out"), but I still think it's important. To anyone who's studied basic mechanics, pumping energy into a complicated system with numerous second-order (and higher) effects is exciting activity. Large oscillations and less-predictable behaviour in general are simply what you expect.

By Lowell Gilbert (not verified) on 07 Jan 2014 #permalink

Greg,
Being one of your students, I would never think of discrediting your knowledge or questioning the validity of it, because you know much more than I, and I thoroughly enjoyed your class. This is just a good example of the types of things I could face going into an anthropologists world, as well as the social sciences and liberal arts. Hope your holiday was wonderful!

By Brittney Shilson (not verified) on 07 Jan 2014 #permalink

He was one of the football coaches, and a known comedian in class. HD209458b, an exosolar planet in this constellation, has shown evidence of atmospheric water vapour on spectroscopic analysis.