Chances are you are reading this on a device that has a “QWERTY” keyboard. Is that the most ‘sensible’ format for fast and accurate typing? Probably not – the most common letters in English (AERTSNI) should surely be clustered around the (right) index and forefingers. Why do we have QWERTY? Because back in the day... Continue Reading →
When PhD candidates review a book in 'their field' they face multiple dilemmas. If the book isn’t helpful to their research, they’ll be tempted (fairly or unfairly) to be dismissive. It’s too helpful, they’ll be resentful because someone else has Gotten To Their Topic first. And regardless, they may feel tempted (or scared) to slag... Continue Reading →
a crosspost from my "Climate Change histories" project - "All Our Yesterdays" You woulda thunk that the global "security" elite would be mildly concerned, given 20 years of warnings from their scientists. But they (and we) see the world as we want it to be, not as it is. #stoopidspecies and all that. The issue... Continue Reading →
Some Dutch citizens are suing their leaders for not taking climate change seriously (you can read about it here). While I wish them luck, a little historical context may be of interest. The Dutch were among the first (behind the Germans) to get their heads around climate change. There were high hopes and bold pronouncements. ... Continue Reading →
Here we go. Here we go with the summit-hopping and the protestations that we have to Build a Mass Movement and the only/best/sensible (delete as appropriate) way to do that is to have a big march/ruck at (Prague/Genoa/Copenhagen and… Paris. (Yeah, well – screw Paris. No, seriously, screw Paris.) Here we go with the sages... Continue Reading →
Last night I got to do a ten minute "what is my research about" spiel at "PhD in the Pub." It was followed by a slightly-less-than-20-minute q and a session (because I 'donated' some time from that to having folks confer before we began asking questions). My spiel covered - "meet someone you don't know"... Continue Reading →
Marc Hudson tries to put the “global human-caused carbon emissions not going up” news into context. I don’t know if there are people out there who, on hearing from the International Energy Agency that for the first time outside of a recession, the amount of carbon dioxide we’ve tipped into the atmosphere (from burning fossil... Continue Reading →
Who knows what about how the world works (on a geophysical level?) How do they find it out and what should “we” do with that knowledge? These were some of the questions that Professor Noel Castree grappled with (successfully!) yesterday afternoon at a seminar entitled “Changing while standing still? Global change scientists and the politics... Continue Reading →
Marc Hudson on the current state of play in the United Kingdom. From the march last Saturday, to a historical digression, to Industry and Government to Paris. There was a climate march in London on the weekend, that the organisers said they were hoping would be the biggest ever in the UK. (For the record,... Continue Reading →
Will there be a long loud legal global (LLLG) signal coming out of Paris? No (two words – "US Senate"). Two linked questions; a) In the absence of a LLLG signal/deal, will there be the enormous investment in renewables, energy efficiency and 'leap frog' technology transfers that would be necessary to change humanity's energy systems?... Continue Reading →
marchudson.net 